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Rare deep water Polka-dot ribbon fish caught off Charna Island, Pakistan

Sameer Mandhro
The Express Tribune
Thu, 02 Apr 2015 20:42 UTC
Image
© WWF-P
Fishermen caught a rare marine species, a polka-dot ribbonfish.
A rare marine species known as polka-dot ribbonfish was caught off Charna Island by some local fishermen on Wednesday.

The fish, scientifically known as desmodema polystictum, was spotted in Murray Ridge after the last sighting nearly five years ago. This is the first time the fish was caught in a fisherman's gillnet as it is usually found in deep, circumtropical waters.

The fisherman, Nakhuda Nisar Hussain, has been trained by the World Wide Fund-Pakistan (WWF-P) to make sure they do not harm endangered species. He was working in the area where the water was at least 1,034 metres deep when he caught the specimen. The fish measured 32 inches with flashing red fins and faint polka dots all over the body. After taking photos of the ribbonfish, he released it back into the water.
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Attention

Elephant kills border guard in Bangladesh


Dhaka Tribune
Thu, 02 Apr 2015 20:09 UTC
Image

Elephant charging.
A member of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has been killed in an attack by wild elephant in Pechar Dwip Pahari area under Ramu upazila of Cox's Bazar district.

The deceased is Md Habibur Rahman, 43, son of Abdur Rashid Gazi, of Kandi village in Jhalakathi.

Cox's Bazar BGB 17 Captain Khondokar Saiful Alam said: "A BGB team conducted a special drive in the area early Thursday to catch the passengers and brokers who use the route to intrude into Malaysia."

He said Habibur got injured when wild elephant attacked him.

Meanwhile, other BGB members fired three rounds of ammunition to bring the elephant under control.

Later, the duty doctor declared Habibur dead when he was taken to Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital.

Comment: Interestingly, from the same region of Bangladesh came the following report just 5 days ago: Elephant attacks 2 children and kills boy in Bangladesh

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Attention

Elephant gores owner to death in Kerala, India - 4th mahout from the region to die in a fortnight


english.manoramaonline.com
Thu, 02 Apr 2015 19:41 UTC
Image

Elephant gores owner to death. Picture for representational purpose
An elephant owner was gored to death, while he was trying to pacify it. The man killed has been identified as Babu Thomas (49), Ozhakkal, Poonjar, one of the owners of Pala Timbers.

The tusker called Shekharan alias Kichan, had been chained at Babu's property during the last few days as he was not well. Shekharan again showed symptoms of 'musth' when he was moving timber at Muppathekkar, Mangalagiri, near Theekkoy. Babu, who came to know about it, arrived at the spot and went near the elephant with some fruit to placate it. The elephant gored Babu who died on the spot. Although the first mahot, also named Babu, was riding the elephant, he wasn't able to control the violent animal.

The animal then ran back to the place where he was chained in the morning through the road. Although the mahot, and Shaul from Erattupetta chained the elephant again, it kept on trying to break free. It even uprooted rubber trees near it. After that, the elephant let the mahout come down. The animal was calmed down after a tranquilliser shot was fired at it by Dr. Sabu Issac of Elephant Squad, Kottayam.

Comment: See also: Get off my back! Elephant tramples another mahout to death in India - third killing in less than a week

Second mahout to be killed by elephant within 5 days in Kerala, India

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Binoculars

An above average winter for sightings of snowy owls in Northeast America

Paula Tracy
wmur.com
Thu, 02 Apr 2015 18:34 UTC
Image

Snowy owl.
A snowy owl was spotted on Mount Moosilaukee this past week, likely migrating northward.

It was seen on this White Mountain peak on Wednesday, March 25.

This winter, there have been sporadic sightings of the majestic arctic owl in places like the Seacoast and near airports in the southeastern part of the state.

But their numbers were far from those seen in 2014.

According to Cornell University, "last year's blizzard of snowy owls in the Great Lakes states, the Northeast, and down the Atlantic coast was epic, an unprecedented irruption."

Comment: See also: SOTT Exclusive: Snowy owls flee northern latitudes for unprecedented fourth consecutive year - Sign of impending Ice Age?

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Wolf

Family dog mauls 4-year-old boy in Lacey, Washington


q13fox.com
Wed, 01 Apr 2015 17:48 UTC
Image
© Getty Images
American Pit Bull
A 4-year-old boy viciously attacked by his family dog is in stable condition at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, the Thurston County Sheriff's Office said.

At about 11:16 a.m. Wednesday, deputies received a call of a 4-year-old boy being severely bitten by a 1 1/2-year-old dog.

When deputies and medical staff arrived at the home, they found the boy with severe bite wounds to his face.

Joint Animal Services Officer Kenneth Maynard was called to seize the dog. He said it became a tense situation.

"I wasn't sure what he was going to do," Maynard said late Wednesday. "He had that look like he was going to attack me, and you're going into a situation where the dog just attacked a kid."
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Beaker

California issues first mandatory water restrictions


Rt
Thu, 02 Apr 2015 00:04 UTC
Lake Oroville, CA in 2014
© www.slate.com
Lake Oroville, 2014
California's governor issued the state's first mandatory water restrictions amid a devastating four-year drought. California may only have a year's worth of water left, and snowpack measurements for the year are set to hit record lows.

Governor Jerry Brown (D) made the announcement Wednesday at the Phillips snow course, near Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort, during the state's annual snow survey, where state officials measure the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Early data shows the snowpack in the range is lower than any year since 1950, and it was the first time in 75 years there was no snow at the Phillips location, which averages more than 66 inches on April 1, KTLA reported.

"Today we are standing on dry grass where there should be five feet of snow. This historic drought demands unprecedented action," Brown said. "Therefore, I'm issuing an executive order mandating substantial water reductions across our state. As Californians, we must pull together and save water in every way possible."

Comment: No water is a really, really bad thing. California has been an anchor in the US economy. In 2012 it had the 10th largest economy in the world out of 190 nations. Ranking: USA, China, Japan, Germany, France, UK, Brazil, Russia, Italy, (California). It is an agricultural giant that will be brought to its knees by this "current reversal" of fortune. Will the drought end in 2016? Perhaps a snowball's chance in hell...

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Dominoes

4.0 earthquake hits along New Madrid fault in Missouri; felt across the Mid-South

Eric Sorensen
46WQAD.com
Thu, 02 Apr 2015 10:46 UTC
Image
Shortly before 11pm local time Wednesday night, an earthquake occurred along the New Madrid Fault Zone in far southeastern Missouri. The epicenter of the quake was near Steele, Missouri. Nearby cities include Blytheville, Arkansas and Hayti-Caruthersville, Missouri. The USGS reports it as a magnitude 4.0, occurring about 11 miles below the surface of the Earth.

KFVS-TV in nearby Cape Girardeau, Missouri reports it being felt as far away as Carbondale, Illinois. People on the station's Facebook page report feeling the shaking as much as 100 miles from the center. No damage or injuries have been reported with this quake. Typically, earthquakes in this part of the world with a magnitude of 4.0 don't do damage. However, earthquakes just a little stronger have been known to do minor damage within 25 miles of the epicenter.
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Boat

Magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes off coast of Fiji


Staradvertiser.com
Wed, 01 Apr 2015 19:30 UTC
A strong earthquake struck off the coast of Fiji Wednesday evening but poses no tsunami threat to Hawaii.

The preliminary magnitude 6.0 temblor struck 162 miles southeast of Lambasa, Fiji at 6:10 Hawaii time at a depth of 332 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake did not generate a tsunami alert from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and no injuries were immediately reported.

Image
© USGS
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Radar

Geologists try to map potential seismic hazard risks of New Madrid region of US

Semi Missourian
Thje Extinction Protocol
Thu, 02 Apr 2015 00:00 UTC
Image
April 2015 - NEW MADRID - The most recent update of the U.S. Geologic Survey earthquake hazard maps shows a big bull's-eye over the Bootheel. But the agency says there's no reason to panic. "We don't know that an earthquake is imminent — we can't predict earthquakes. But we do expect the past behavior in the New Madrid region to be a representation of how things might happen," said Robert Williams, Central and Eastern U.S. regional coordinator for the USGS in Golden, Colorado. "This is a ground motion hazard map, not a map showing the expectation of where earthquakes will actually hit," Williams said. The map shows there's a 2 percent chance over the next 50 years the area will exceed 80 percent of the acceleration of gravity. The USGS builds its earthquake hazard maps for engineers based on quakes that have occurred, Williams said. "But it's estimating the chance of exceeding ground motions in the next 50 years." Williams said the 50-year period is a common engineering design time interval for the life of a building. "Obviously you have to have an earthquake to get the ground motions, but doesn't try to say exactly where the earthquakes are going to occur and when they'll happen, just an estimate of future ground motions."
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Arrow Down

Huge sinkhole creates safety concerns in Riverdale, New York

David Knox
tvtonight.com.au
Tue, 31 Mar 2015 10:51 UTC
Image

A gaping sinkhole has opened up in Riverdale, creating safety issues for people in the neighborhood.
A gaping sinkhole has opened up in Riverdale, creating safety issues for people in the neighborhood.

Crews began repairs at Oxford Avenue and West 236th Street Monday. They say the massive hole started as a water main break late last week.

The Department of Environmental Protection told News 12 that the hole was repaired yesterday afternoon. However, the spot was still cordoned off on Tuesday creating a tricky four-way intersection for drivers.

Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz's office looked more into the cause of the hole, and says the DEP inspectors determined that there were leaks to the 12-inch cast iron water main running underneath the street.
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