Animals
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Heart

Large whale rescued on beach in Myanmar (Burma)

Residents of Manaung rescue a beached whale.
Residents of Manaung rescue a beached whale.
The whale was discovered beached in Manaung township's Kha Ohn Maw Ywar Ma village, according to State Department of Fisheries officer U Nyunt Wai.

More than 22 feet (6 metres) long and 8 feet (2.4m) in girth, with 3-foot (0.9m) pectoral fins and a 3-foot fluke, the whale weighed 2 tonnes. It hit the shore around 6am, U Nyunt Wai said.

"A stranded whale is a strange thing in nature," he said. "The stranding might be related to magnetic fields, as this type of animal goes around seeking the magnetic field."

Villagers and members of the township's Department of Fisheries successfully pushed the whale back into the water and along the canal until it reached a place where it could swim by itself.

Wolf

50,000 dog and monkey attacks recorded in 8 months for the city of Agra, India

Dog attack
Terrifying as it sounds, an average of over 201 cases of monkey and dog attacks are reported every day in Agra district. In the eight months from January to August, 48,876 people have been treated for such bites at the district hospital here. The highest number of cases (7,913) were reported in the month of May. Last year, over 38,000 people were treated for animal attacks in Agra.

Speaking to TOI, chief medical superintendent of the district hospital Dr R K Sharma said, "We have apprised the administration about the increasing number of cases. This year the number of victims of dog and monkey attack has almost reached 50,000 already. The situation has worsened and it's the responsibility of the civic body to control the animal population in the district."

Chief veterinary officer of Agra Municipal Corporation Dr Yogesh Sharma said, "We catch 30-40 dogs who are then vaccinated and sterilized by private animal rehabilitation centres such as People For Animals (PFA). Wildlife SOS is making efforts to catch and vaccinate or sterilize monkeys. In the last six months, 401 monkeys have been taken care of."

Last month, given the high number of rabies cases being reported every day in the city, Wildlife SOS submitted a proposal to the administration for opening a clinic and carrying out vaccination and sterilization programme at a cost of Rs 89 lakh. The proposal is under consideration.

Attention

Great white shark attacks boat off Adelaide, South Australia

Adon Samoilenko got too close for comfort with a great white shark while fishing in South Australia
Adon Samoilenko got too close for comfort with a great white shark while fishing in South Australia
A fisherman got too close for comfort with a great white when the monster shark rammed his boat and took a bite of his motor in deep waters.

The four metre man-eater had been circling Adon Samoilenko's fishing boat off the coast of O'Sullivan's Beach in Adelaide before it set upon the vessel with its jaws.

The veteran fisherman and his fellow angler decided to cut their losses and call it a day when the predator descended back to the depths.

'We knew it was time to go. He's been hanging around all day but the moment he rammed into us that the alarm bells,' Mr Samoilenko told Daily Mail Australia.

He said the shark had been lurking around their boat all day, scaring off their would-be catches.

'It was slow going all day, the fish took fright as soon as he turned up.'


Fish

Mystery disease killing thousands of fish in Nepal

Dead Fishes at Lake in Katmandu
© Katmandu Post
Nearly 50,000 fish have perished in the past one month in different parts of Bardia due to a mystery disease.

Most of the deaths have been reported from Sorahawa and Basgadi which are known as fish pocket areas. Fish farmers said that around 1,000 fish farmed in ponds and lakes were dying daily.

Fish ponds are filling up with dead fish and farmers have not been able to identify the disease that may cause their ruin. More than 20,000 fish raised on 75 hectares in Bardia Lake have died.

Pushpa Bhusal of Sorahawa has been rearing fish in the lake. He has leased the lake from the district development committee to rear fish. Local fish farmer Lallu Ram Tharu said he was losing 200 to 300 fish daily.

The District Agriculture Office has started to spray medicines on the ponds and lakes to control the disease. There are no labs in the Mid-Western Region to identify the disease, said fisheries development officer Ram Awatar Harijan.

He said that the fish could have died due to low oxygen levels in the water and lack of nutrition. "The agriculture office has recommended spraying herbicides."

Arrow Down

Gruesome Japanese dolphin hunt begins despite protests

Dolphin Hunt in Taiji
© Wikipedia OrgARCHIVE: Fishermen kill dolphin pods using spikes which sever the spinal cord, Taiji, Japan.
Controversial annual dolphin hunt has begun in Taiji, Japan despite protests of animal rights activists. Hundreds of dolphins are going to be killed in the bloodied waters of the town's infamous cove.

"We finally caught them. I'm relieved," Yoshifumi Kai, senior officer of the local fishermen association, told Kyodo News agency.


Hunters in diving costumes brawl with dolphins to select the best ones for aquariums. According to Dolphin Project, the best-looking and rarest live dolphins can cost up to hefty $300,000.

Comment:
This slaughter is 'lawful', says Japan: More than 200 dolphins trapped in a remote bay are expected to be killed by hunters tomorrow

Annual Japanese dolphin hunt spurs social media outrage

Japanese town's controversial dolphin hunt begins

Japanese Dolphin Slaughter Caught on Video

Filmmaker who documents Taiji dolphin drives detained in Osaka


Arrow Down

Serious decline for the beluga population of the St Lawrence estuary

Beluga mother and calf. The Beluga of the St Lawrence as of this week are listed as endangered as their numbers continue to decline.
© J. Klenner, DFOBeluga mother and calf. The Beluga of the St Lawrence as of this week are listed as endangered as their numbers continue to decline.
This week the federal government officially recognized the continuing decline in numbers of the white whales of the St Lawrence estuary by changing their status.

Previously labelled as "threatened" the beluga are now listed in the more worrisome category of "endangered".

While the whales were already protected under the threatened listing, the new category means a recovery plan will have to be developed among the federal and Quebec governments, scientists, industry, fisherman, aboriginal groups and other affected groups.

Over 100 years ago there were an estimated 10,000 beluga in the St Lawrence estuary, in 2012, there were only about 900.

St Lawrence beluga distribution range
© Dept Fisheries and Oceans CanadaSt Lawrence beluga distribution range

Comment: See also: Beluga whale population in St. Lawrence estuary on 'catastrophic' path, Canada


Attention

Dead minke whale washes ashore on beach in Kennebunkport, Maine

A dead minke whale on Goose Rocks Beach.
© Kennebunkport Police DepartmentA dead minke whale on Goose Rocks Beach.
A decomposing minke whale has washed up on a Kennebunkport beach.

The dead whale washed ashore some time before dawn Friday on Goose Rocks Beach, according to police.

Minke whales are common in the Gulf of Maine and are among the smaller whale species. They grow to be less than 30 feet long when fully mature and weigh about four to five tons. They can live for 50 years or more.

Messages for Kennebunkport police and public works officials were not immediately returned, but a report from WMTW-TV showed a front-end loader attempting to remove the carcass Friday.

Black Cat

Streetwise cat uses Zebra Crossing to cross street in Dartford, UK

cat crossing
A chauffeur in England spotted a law abiding cat waiting for the light to change before crossing the street at a local crosswalk.

Justin Scrutton shared dash cam video of the "streetwise" cat as it waited patiently for traffic to stop before walking along a crosswalk.

"Cat using a Zebra Crossing," Scrutton wrote. "Only in Dartford..."

Scrutton applauded the feline as it appeared to follow proper traffic etiquette by looking both ways before crossing the two-way street.

"I was amazed when the car on the other side of the road stopped too and the cat calmly crossed," he told ITV.


Attention

12-year-old girl bitten by shark off Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Shark attacks
A North Carolina mother says her daughter was bitten by a shark in Myrtle Beach while vacationing over the Labor Day weekend.

Heather Williams, of Autryville, North Carolina, told WRAL in Raleigh that her daughter was bitten while the family was staying at the Kingston Plantation in Horry County.

Williams said her four children were riding boogie boards in the ocean for several hours when her 12-year-old daughter, Rylie, said something bit her.

According to Williams, lifeguards on shore treated the girl before she was taken to the hospital.

Attention

Woman seriously injured following shark attack in waters off Hawaii beach

Shark attacks
A 51-year-old woman was in serious condition Wednesday after an apparent shark attack at a popular Hawaii surfing beach.

Lifeguards pulled the woman out of the water. She appeared to be bitten in her arm and shoulder. An expert is expected to examine her wounds to confirm that it was in fact a shark bite.

The Honolulu Emergency Services Department said lifeguards paddled out on rescue boards and brought the woman to shore. Surfers in the water helped. According to the Honolulu Star Advertiser, the woman was about 300 yards from shore at Makaha Beach.

Officials said she frequently visits the Oahu beach regularly. No information was available on the type of shark.

Lifeguards have posted shark warning signs and cleared the water. Officials will reassess Thursday morning whether to reopen the beach.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.