Animals
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Question

Swordfish mysteriously washes up on beach in Rye, New Hampshire


UPI
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 13:08 UTC
deceased swordfish
© New Hampshire Marine Mammal Rescue Deceased swordfish
Marine biologists in New Hampshire were baffled after a deceased swordfish was found washed up on the shore of a local beach.

New Hampshire Marine Mammal Rescue arrived to investigate what happened to the large fish, which is typically found in deeper water.

"We decided to take it back to the Center to see if we could find any internal signs that may point to why it washed up, as swordfish would normally be offshore in deep water," New Hampshire Marine Mammal Rescue said.

Rescue Assistant and Aquarist Rob Royer performed an informal necropsy on the swordfish and did not discover any signs of having been hooked, according to CBS Boston.

The rescue group also reported there were no signs of plastic in its stomach, but said it appeared it had not eaten in some time.
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Attention

Dead humpback whale found on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

Steve Annear
Boston Globe
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 18:13 UTC
A 25-to-30 foot humpback whale was found dead on a private beach in Edgartown sometime Monday.
© Tom BoudreauA 25-to-30 foot humpback whale was found dead on a private beach in Edgartown sometime Monday.
Researchers took a trip to Martha's Vineyard Wednesday following a report of a dead humpback whale that apparently washed ashore earlier in the week.

Jennifer Goebel, a spokeswoman with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, said members of the International Fund for Animal Welfare went to a private property in Edgartown where a 25-to-30-foot humpback whale was found dead sometime Monday.

"Depending on the whale's condition, they will conduct a partial or full necropsy," she said in a telephone interview.

Goebel did not know how the whale died, its age, or whether the animal was a male or female.
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Attention

Bear attacks hunter in Teton County, Wyoming


Casper Star Tribune
Tue, 13 Sep 2016 14:06 UTC
bear print
A bow hunter was attacked by a bear Tuesday in Teton County.

Sheriff's officials say the bear attacked the man from behind in the Skull Creek area northeast of Jackson. The man suffered bites to his arm and a scalp injury.

Another hunter took the victim to a waiting ambulance in Jackson. The man's condition wasn't immediately available.

Sheriff's Lt. Slade Ross said the victim was alert and breathing.

Wyoming Game and Fish Department spokesman Mark Gocke said investigators are on the scene looking for tracks and other evidence. It was not immediately known if the bear was a black bear or a grizzly.
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Attention

Over 700 rare birds die due to storm in Majuli, India


The Times of India
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 18:08 UTC
Adjutant storks
Adjutant storks
More than 700 adjutant storks, an endangered species, were killed in a heavy storm that lashed Majuli district on Tuesday.

Haren Saikia, a forest officer on the island, said, "The birds were found dead in the Garmur area of the island on Tuesday morning. Many of them were chicks."

He added, "The storks died as their nests were damaged by the storm which hit the island at 1.30 am and lasted an hour."

According to data available with the forest department, Garmur is home to more than 6,000 endangered bird species.
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Attention

Russian scientists trapped inside an Arctic research lab for 2 weeks after 10 polar bears 'besieged' it

Julian Robinson
Daily Mail
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 16:26 UTC
Scientists have been trapped inside an Arctic
Scientists have been trapped inside an Arctic research lab for two weeks - after polar bears 'besieged' it and ate their dog (file picture)

Scientists have been trapped inside an Arctic research unit for two weeks - after polar bears 'besieged' it and ate their dog.

The five researchers have been camped out inside a weather station on the remote Troynoy island in the Kara Sea off Russia since August with 10 adult bears said to be circling the base.

One of the animals even spends its nights sleeping outside a window, preventing the Russian staff members from going outside.

Team members have run out of flares while one of their dogs has already been killed by a bear, Russian news agency TASS reports.

Russian authorities are sending out reinforcements, including dogs and new flares to scare the bears away.
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Binoculars

'Lost' pelican from Australia the first such bird to be seen in the Philippines


The Straits Times
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 13:35 UTC
An Australian white pelican in the coastal waters of General Santos City on Sept 12, 2016.
© AFPAn Australian white pelican in the coastal waters of General Santos City on Sept 12, 2016.
An Australian pelican that strayed hundreds of kilometres from its nearest known habitat to end up in the Philippines is the first such bird to be seen in the Asian archipelago, wildlife enthusiasts said.

The waterbird flew into a fish breeding farm on the outskirts of the southern port of General Santos in early September, resident Levy Discamento told AFP.

"We saw a small flock of swallows chasing this big strange bird. There was an air battle until the big bird gave up and ran towards the mangroves," Mr Discamento said, recounting his first sighting.

The mostly white pelican - a species which boasts the longest bill of any bird, measuring up to 47cm - has since attracted a flood of Filipino and foreign birdwatchers.

They rent dugouts to watch and photograph the bird while it gorges on fish in nearby Sarangani Bay, Mr Discamento said.

"We feel (it) is a blessing, bringing good vibes to people," Mr Jimmy Poja, a local fisherman, told AFP.
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Bug

Bee attack kills man in Uvalde County, Texas

Vanesa Brashier
Chron
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 11:55 UTC
Jerry Chapman
© Cleveland AdvocateJerry Chapman
A 74-year-old Liberty County man died after he was attacked by what are believed to be Africanized honey bees while on a hunting lease in Uvalde County, Texas.

Jerry Chapman and his wife of 52 years, Frances, of Hardin, were at their hunting lease over the Labor Day weekend when the attack occurred.

Frances says the bees had been discovered inside an exterior compartment of their fifth-wheel travel trailer. They had entered the compartment through a small screw hole. Jerry donned a borrowed beekeeper's mask and was in the process of removing the bees when he was attacked.

"The bees must have found a way to get into the mask. He started running and threw the head gear off and ran to our truck and got inside, but they were all over his bee suit," Frances said.

Trapped inside the travel trailer with a swarm of bees surrounding it, Frances called her husband's cell phone and asked what she could do to help.
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Question

Mass bird die-off in St. Pete Beach, Florida

Craig Pittman
Tampa Bay Times
Mon, 12 Sep 2016 15:53 UTC
The discovery of 45 juvenile seabirds called black skimmers, found dead along St. Pete Beach over the past six weeks, has alarmed environmental groups.
© Elizabeth Forys The discovery of 45 juvenile seabirds called black skimmers, found dead along St. Pete Beach over the past six weeks, has alarmed environmental groups.
A grisly discovery has alarmed environmental groups: 45 juvenile seabirds called black skimmers have been found dead along the beach over the past six weeks.

Volunteers who have been monitoring the mass die-off suspect the dumping of more than 1 million gallons of municipal sewage into Boca Ciega Bay has something to do with it.

"We fully expect more to die," said Lorraine Margeson of the Florida Shorebird Alliance, who found the first bird carcass on Aug. 12.

An Eckerd College scientist who has been studying the state's skimmer population for 16 years says that the affected young birds go into convulsions, then flop over on their backs and die.
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Attention

Stranded blue whale pushed back into the sea at Ratnagiri, India


Scroll.in
Tue, 13 Sep 2016 14:54 UTC
A team of four forest officials, local NGOs and fishermen worked for around eight hours to drag the animal into deeper waters.
A team of four forest officials, local NGOs and fishermen worked for around eight hours to drag the animal into deeper waters.
A rescue team in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri on Sunday successfully pulled a blue whale stranded in shallow waters back into deep sea. The 47-foot-long calf that weighed around 20 tonnes had been stranded near the district's Madban village for two days before locals spotted it. A team of four forest officials, local NGOs and fishermen worked for around eight hours to drag the animal into deeper waters.

This is the third blue whale to have been beached along the west coast of India in a little over a year and the second successful push back to the sea. Blue whales are an endangered species that live in deep oceans and are rarely seen near the shore.

In May 2015, a group of dolphin researchers recorded a confirmed sighting of an adult and calf blue whale in the coast off Ratnagiri. This was the first such sighting of the elusive mammals in a century.

A month later, a blue whale was beached in Alibaug, south of Mumbai. This whale could not be rescued. In February, days after a Bryde's whale washed up dead on Mumbai's Juhu Beach, another blue whale was stranded on a beach in Ratnagiri. Forest officials had succeeded in sending this one back to the sea.
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Attention

Rare bottlenose whale washes up on beach near Porthcawl, Wales

Heledd Pritchard
Western Mail
Tue, 13 Sep 2016 13:31 UTC
A rare northern bottlenose whale has washed up on a beach in Porthcawl
A rare northern bottlenose whale has washed up on a beach in Porthcawl
A rare whale measuring more than five metres long has washed up on a beach in Porthcawl .

The northern bottlenose whale is usually found in deep ocean trenches and only seen in British waters off the north-west coast of Scotland.

But this whale was found by walkers on Sker beach near Porthcawl on Sunday.

The Sea Watch Foundation's marine mammal strandings coordinator for Wales, Rod Penrose, took samples for DNA testing and said: "Due to the state of decomposition together with extensive scavenger damage of the carcass I was unable to determine the cause of death."
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