Animals
S


Question

Mysterious purple blob discovered on ocean floor off Californian coast


Canada Journal
Wed, 27 Jul 2016 20:51 UTC
Mystery purple blob
© Screen CaptureMystery purple blob discovered on ocean floor.
We're not saying it's aliens, but a team of researchers has just discovered a glowing purple orb at the bottom of the ocean, and if you've ever seen The Abyss, I think you know how this will end.

While researching previously unmapped regions of the Channel Islands off the California coast, the research vessel Nautilus came across an unusual purple mass peeking out of a coral crevice. As the scientists zoomed in on the beautiful creature, they began wondering aloud what it could possibly be.

After guesses of everything from a species of plankton to a colorful egg sack, the team decided to use their deep sea rover's vacuum tube to grab the mystery species and bring it to the surface.

"This unidentified purple orb stumped our scientists onboard," Nautilus posted to its website. "After sampling, it began to unfold to reveal two distinct lobes. This could possibly be a new species of nudibranch."
Read More...
Attention

Over 90 dead dolphins found on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast this summer


The Sofia Globe
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:47 UTC
Dead dolphin
Dead dolphin
A total of 91 dead dolphins have been found on beaches on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast so far in summer 2016, according to regional inspectorates of the environment.

This figure, as of July 19, is higher than the total 90 dead dolphins found on the country's coast in all of 2015.

There have been repeated cases, and ensuing media reports, in recent years about dolphins being found dead on Bulgarian beaches. In spite of repeated allegations, often with finger-pointing at fishermen, no cause for the deaths has been established conclusively.

A joint Bulgarian-Romanian investigation is underway, after the finding of dead dolphins horrified tourists at Black Sea beaches, a report by Bulgarian National Television said.

The findings have taken place from the northernmost to the southernmost points of Bulgaria's coast.

In some cases, the appearance of the dead dolphins suggested that they had been slashed, and possibly meat even removed.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 20 cows in Uganda

Peter Labeja
URN
Wed, 27 Jul 2016 12:28 UTC
Lightning
Pennington Okeny, a resident of Guda Palwo village says the thunderbolt struck the animals as they retreated from grazing.

The disaster struck as livestock farming is taking shape in Lamwo district after two decades of LRA war in the region.

It is a big blow to to government effort to restock the region.
Read More...
Info

New species of rare beaked whale found in the Bering Sea

Kale Williams
The Oregonian
Tue, 26 Jul 2016 12:06 UTC
In 2004 Reid Brewer of the University of Alaska Southeast measured an unusual beaked whale that turned up dead in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. A tissue sample from the carcass later showed that the whale was one of the newly identified species.
© Don GravesIn 2004 Reid Brewer of the University of Alaska Southeast measured an unusual beaked whale that turned up dead in Alaska's Aleutian Islands. A tissue sample from the carcass later showed that the whale was one of the newly identified species.
A new species of incredibly rare beaked whale was identified after one of the animals washed ashore on an island in the Bering Sea and, after an extensive search through tissue samples at museums, it was discovered the cetacean was a completely new species, researchers said Tuesday.

In 2014, the animal turned up dead on the shores of St. George Island, one of the Pribilof Islands in the rugged Bering Sea. It appeared to be similar to a Baird's beaked whale, but it was smaller and had darker skin than the more common cetacean.

"We knew it was not any whale we knew from our area," Michelle Ridgway, a marine ecologist with Oceanus Alaska who documented the whale in the Pribilofs, said in a statement.

Phillip Morin, a research molecular biologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center inspected the DNA of nearly 180 beaked whales discovered around the Pacific Rim. The whale in question, he discovered, along with seven other animals, were members of the new unnamed species, which the Japanese call "karasu," the Japanese word for raven.
Read More...
Attention

Rescued humpback whale later found dead off Mar del Tuyú, Argentina

Kevin Michael
Star Pulse
Mon, 25 Jul 2016 13:31 UTC
Stranded whale
A humpback whale appeared to wave to its rescuers after being helped back to the sea off the coast of Mar del Tuyú, Argentina last week after becoming trapped in the shallow waters.

The whale fought the tides for over 24 hours, and dozens of rescue workers helped get it back to deeper waters, even employing a hose to help drag it further out to sea, according to reports in the Argentine media (via Reuters).

Weighing in at around 10 tons and measuring 50 feet long, the humpback whale was successfully returned to sea despite a tide that didn't get as high as rescuers hoped.

The animals are rarely spotted off the coast of Buenos Aires province and are usually are seen much further south, off the Valdes Peninsula, and between the months of September and March.


Unfortunately the story doesn't have a happy ending -- just days after its rescue, the Argentine Naval Prefecture reported that the whale was found dead, and experts believe it was sick to begin with.
Read More...
Attention

Humpback whale found dead at Pescadero Beach, California

Natalia Hall
Northern California News
Tue, 26 Jul 2016 13:16 UTC
Whale
Remove one whale from the list of total number of humpback whales around the world as a young member of the family has been found beached near Pescadero, California.

Humpback whale species is an endangered species whose one whale washed ashore at Pescadero's Bean Hollow State Beach. It was a 32-foot juvenile female humpback whose carcass was found on Monday at the beach.

Seagulls were also seen on Monday flying over the dead whale. Officials came to know about the beached animal when some Austrian tourists noticed something unusual on the beach. According to the tourists, they were en route to Monterey when they stopped to check what was wrong there. No one in the group was sure what it was. At first, they thought it could be a huge tent or something similar to it, said Verena Ebner, a witness.

While providing details on the whale carcass, Lisa Schiller, who saw the whale closely, said it was shredded completely, and it was very sad to see that. Another witness, Lesya Castillo, said, "Picnickers also stopped, but the stench quickly drove them away. The smell is incredible. We're going to go a little bit farther".
Read More...
Sun

Wildlife dying en masse as Pilcomayo river runs dry in Paraguay

Aaron Sidder
National Georaphic.
Fri, 22 Jul 2016 12:33 UTC
A cattle carcass on the Agropil ranch, in Boquerón, on the border between Paraguay and Argentina. The Pilcomayo River is suffering through its worst drought in almost two decades while cattle and wildlife pay the price.
© Jorge AdornoA cattle carcass on the Agropil ranch, in Boquerón, on the border between Paraguay and Argentina. The Pilcomayo River is suffering through its worst drought in almost two decades while cattle and wildlife pay the price.
Vultures rest in the tree's upper branches, their black bodies in stark contrast to the blanched wood beneath their feet. Below them, caimans and capybaras crawl in sucking mud through the Agropil lagoon, seeking water that is unlikely to arrive for many months. The river has dried up, and there is nowhere for them to go.

The lagoon, located in the western Paraguayan province of Boquerón, is just one of many stretches of the Pilcomayo River suffering an extensive die-off of caiman, fish, and other river creatures. There have not been any official estimates from the Ministry of the Environment, but Roque González Vera, a journalist for ABC Color in Paraguay, reports utter devastation in some places: Up to 98 percent of caimans (Caiman yacare) are suspected dead, and 80 percent of the capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) population has died.

Paraguay is in the midst of an ecological crisis.
Read More...
Eye 2

American surfer attacked by crocodile in Tamarindo, Costa Rica


New York Daily News
Mon, 25 Jul 2016 17:38 UTC
croc
© Kung_Mangkorn
An American surfer was in serious but stable condition after he was attacked by a large crocodile at a popular tourist beach in Costa Rica on Friday, according to an emergency responder who credited the man's friend for fighting off the reptile with his bare hands.

Pat McNulty, who works as a consultant and is a certified trained lifeguard in Tamarindo, a northwestern town favored by surfers and eco-tourists, said the man was crossing a river with the friend when the crocodile struck.

"It was a vicious attack, and he was bitten several times in the leg as well as the head," McNulty told The Associated Press by phone from Costa Rica.

"They were able to get him free, swim him to safety and then trained lifeguards responded ... and we administered first aid and called an ambulance."
Read More...
Attention

Man recovering after shark attack in the Bahamas

Julie Hays
kwtx.com
Sat, 23 Jul 2016 11:47 UTC
shark attack
A well-known restorative dentist in Central Texas, who also has a teaching center in Dallas, is recovering after being attacked by a shark Saturday morning while vacationing with his family in the Bahamas.

Dr. Steve Cutbirth, of Waco, was free diving and spear fishing with his son-in-law and two guides when the attack happened.

In a phone interview, Cutbirth said he had just speared a 10-pound fish and was swimming the fish to the boat when the incident happened.

"Out of nowhere, I felt like I was hit by a freight train in the head," Cutbirth said.

When Cutbirth turned around, he saw the white underside of 6-feet-long bull shark's mouth.

"He kept hitting me, so I started knocking him off with my arm," Cutbirth said. "He finally took off with the fish."
Read More...
Evil Rays

Altered EMF environment: A killing field for marine mammals

Christopher Fontenot
Waking Times
Fri, 22 Jul 2016 15:10 UTC
Fin whales are second only in size to the blue whale and can grow up to 24 metres in length.
© Callum Lilley
Our oceans are fast becoming a killing field for many marine mammals and other sea dwellers. Beachings are occurring with more frequency than ever. Mass fish kills are a common occurrence. Scientists are calling this the "Sixth Great Extinction Event". Yet, few are correlating these changes to increases in energy and perturbations in the electromagnetic spectrum. Modern technology is having a profound impact on marine life, the likes of which hasn't been witnessed by modern man.

Comment: The earth has its own electromagnetic field, and the vast majority of species on Earth rely on these electromagnetic forces to remain relatively stable so that they can exist and can function properly. Organisms are extremely sensitive to any alteration in this field, and find it difficult to adapt to changes. In the past 100 years, humans have drastically altered the electromagnetic environment on the surface of the earth, and this is now having some serious adverse effects on the health of everything inhabiting this planet.

Although man-made EMF may not be solely responsible for all of the changes we are seeing with regard to crazy weather, mass animal die-offs, and other strange phenomena... it is still clearly a significant contributing factor.

Read More...