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Large tiger shark bites surfer in Hanalei Bay, Hawaii


Star Advertiser
Mon, 04 Feb 2019 17:47 UTC
SHARK
A surfer was bitten by a large tiger shark off Kauai this afternoon, prompting the closure of Hanalei Bay.

The shark bite happened shortly before 1:45 p.m. as the man was surfing at a spot known as "the bowl," according to Kauai ocean safety officials.

He suffered multiple cuts to his leg and was taken by medics to Wilcox Hospital, officials said. His condition was not immediately released.

Lifeguards have posted "Shark sighted" and "No swimming" signs along Hanalei Bay and are warning people to stay out of the water, officials said.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources was notified, officials said, and lifeguards will reassess the water Tuesday morning to determine if it is safe for swimming.
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Binoculars

Wrong place, wrong time: Songbird that should be wintering in Mexico turns up in Ottawa, Canada

Tom Spears
Ottawa Citizen
Wed, 06 Feb 2019 16:32 UTC
A Lazuli Bunting, photo by Bruce Di Labio on February 4, 2019.
© BRUCE DILABIO
A Lazuli Bunting, photo by Bruce Di Labio on February 4, 2019.
When Denise Smith spotted a songbird on her backyard feeder, she wasn't prepared for how rare it would turn out to be, or for having her home staked out by enthusiastic birders.

The lazuli bunting is a little fluffball from the southwestern United States. It is the eleventh time the species has been spotted in Ontario, and its first time in winter anywhere in Canada. It should be in Mexico now.

Now the power of listservs — an electronic mailing list for subscribers — has kicked in, bringing birders from all over Ottawa with cameras and binoculars.
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Attention

600 dead Olive Ridleys turtles wash ashore in two days in Odisha, India


The New Indian Express
Thu, 31 Jan 2019 16:08 UTC
Dead and dying turtles

Dead and dying turtles
Carcasses of around 600 Olive Ridley turtles and two dolphins washed ashore have been recovered by forest officials in the last two days. The carcasses were found on the beach from Hukitola to Eakakula in Gahirmatha marine sanctuary areas.

It is suspected that the turtles were killed after being hit by fishing trawlers or entangled in nets in the sea. Though there is a prohibition on fishing in 20 km distance from the beach in Gahirmatha, the trawler operators take fishing illegally there, alleged Hemant Rout, an environmentalist and secretary of Gahirmatha Marine Turtles and Mangrove Conservation Society.

The forest and wildlife officials have been hoodwinking the State Government and the people by providing less numbers of dead turtles to the authorities to save their skins. The death of nearly 1.7 lakh turtles over the past 17 years is sure to adversely affect the population of endangered marine species, he added.
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Attention

Hundreds of starfish wash ashore in Kinmel Bay and Prestatyn, Wales

Suzanne Kendrick
Rhyl Journal
Thu, 31 Jan 2019 15:51 UTC
starfish
Hundreds of starfish have been found washed up on the beach in Kinmel Bay.

The sad sight, which also included fish, was spotted on Monday, January 28.

A resident, who asked not to be named, was out walking with her sister at about 1pm when they stumbled across the "horror".

She said: "We were shocked and terrible saddened.

"The weather the night before was terrible and so windy. I actually walked to the sea wall and didn't realise that, while I was taking in the view, all those creatures were being thrown around.

"I've recently moved to the area and one of the reasons why is because I love this coast and the wonderful wildlife here."
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Attention

Eight more dolphins found stranded in Lee County, Florida

Jake Allen
Naples Daily News
Thu, 31 Jan 2019 15:40 UTC
A dead dolphin is washed up on the beach south
© Roger Jacobsen
A dead dolphin is washed up on the beach south of Lowdermilk Park close to North Lake Drive in Naples on Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018.
Eight dolphins were found stranded in Lee County during the government shutdown, but the shutdown's effects on the federal program that helps study the cause of the deaths are unclear.

Some of the eight animals were too decomposed to be identified with certainty, but it's likely all of them were bottlenose dolphins, said Kim Amendola, a communications supervisor for the fisheries division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

No stranded dolphins were found in Collier County, Amendola said. She could not be reached for further comment about where in Lee County the dolphins were found.

The discovery of the eight dolphins comes after 42 dolphins were found dead on beaches in Collier and Lee counties Nov. 21-30.

Comment: Agencies overwhelmed as over 127 dead dolphins wash up on Southwest Florida shores in 2018

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Fish

Thousands of dead fish wash up on beach in Western Australia

Chris Leitch and Stuart Horton
Perth Now
Wed, 06 Feb 2019 12:02 UTC
dead fish
© Carle Rothero-Maree
Thousands of dead fish - all of the same species - have washed up along several hundred metres of coast in Rockingham this morning.

The Department of Fisheries is investigating what caused the deaths of the fish, which officers said were scaly mackerel.

Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development's Brad Tilley said a report was first received about seven dead fish near Palm Beach jetty on Tuesday but no dead fish were observed by officers.

Mr Tilley, DPIRD's acting compliance manager, said officers returned to the beach after more reports came in on Wednesday morning.

"Fisheries officers attended and took water and fish samples around the Palm Beach jetty, and Rockingham yacht club jetty areas, which are about 500-600 metres apart," he said.

"The numbers of fish were estimated to be more than a thousand.

"The species of fish is scaly mackerel, with no other fish species observed among the dead fish.
      Read More...
Black Cat

Mountain lion attacks jogger near Fort Collins, Colorado

Keith Coffman
The Irish Times
Wed, 06 Feb 2019 11:32 UTC
A cougar
© Dreamstime
A cougar
A Colorado jogger strangled a juvenile mountain lion in the foothills of Horsetooth Mountain northwest of Denver, acting in self-defence after the predator attacked him, authorities said on Tuesday.

The man, who was not identified, survived the life-and-death struggle in the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, a mountain park less than 110km (70 miles) from Denver, officials said.

The man was running on a trail when the juvenile cougar attacked him from behind, biting and clawing his face, back, legs and arms, state and local officials said in a joint statement late on Monday.

During the struggle, the man strangled the wild animal with his bare hands, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Rebecca Ferrell said by phone on Tuesday.


Comment: Two of the 20 rare fatalities noted above occurred in 2018: Mountain lion kills biker near North Bend, Washington

Cougar blamed for fatal attack on woman in Oregon park - first for the state

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Sun

Incredible sun halo seen over Malaysia

Leigh McManus
Daily Mil, UK
Thu, 31 Jan 2019 13:17 UTC
Sun halo over Malaysia
© twitter@Bnguyen24
This video shows the moment a young man captures a rare phenomenon called a sun halo.

A Twitter user going by the name of @Bnguyen24 panned his camera towards the sky above a palm tree-lined street in Malaysia to show the blazing sun with a huge ring around it.

One user reacting to the video, said: 'I saw this in Cuba and thought the world was ending.'


The deep freeze gripping the Midwest of America also created the spectacle - also known as 'sun dogs' - thousands of miles away from Malaysia.

As temperatures plunged as low as -42F in Park Rapids, Minnesota and -31F in Fargo, North Dakota, sun dogs were spotted throughout the upper Midwest on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The National Weather Service in the US describes the phenomenon as colored spots of light that appear on either side of the sun due to the refraction of light through ice crystals.

They are located approximately 22 degrees either left, right, or both, from the sun, depending on where the ice crystals are present.
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Snowflake Cold

Cold weather leads to sun dogs over Michigan

Ben Hooper
UPI
Thu, 31 Jan 2019 14:41 UTC
Sun dogs over MI
© NWS
Sub-zero temperatures in West Michigan led to many residents spotting a "sun dog" phenomenon that made it look as though there were two extra suns in the sky.

Photos snapped Thursday morning in various locations on the lower west side of the state show the sun being flanked by two illusion suns caused by the refraction of sunlight off ice crystals in the atmosphere.

The illusion was spotted as temperatures in the area were below -10 degrees for the second consecutive day.

The National Weather Service said the ice crystals also created a "sun pillar" above the sun that is visible in some photographs.


Comment: Sun dogs were also seen in Michigan on January 21st: Arctic air leads to sun dogs in western Michigan

      Read More...
Camera

German photographer captures beautiful pictures of frozen methane bubbles in Alberta lake


RT
Tue, 05 Feb 2019 19:19 UTC
methane bubbles
© Emma Liang / Wikimedia Commons
File Photo: Frozen methane bubbles, Abraham Lake, Alberta Canada.
At first glance, they appear like swarms of jellyfish, but on closer inspection the mysterious, pale formations streaming from the frozen abyss of a western Canadian lake are far more... explosive.

German photographer Lennart Pagel has been blowing minds this past week, with his eerie footage and photographs of methane bubbles frozen in Abraham Lake in Alberta, Canada.

Video of the curious phenomenon has already accrued 5.6 million views since it was posted online and it's easy to see why.

Some might see stacks of white pancakes or a fluther of jellyfish frozen beneath the icy surface of the lake, but the strange sight is, in fact, methane bubbles emanating from decaying organic matter buried in the sediments of the lake bed frozen amid a sudden cold snap, which plummeted as low as -30°C (-22°F).
      Read More...
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