Animals

Once on the verge of extinction America's bald eagle population continues to soar

Graeme Massie
The Independent
Fri, 26 Mar 2021 02:19 UTC

© Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
An American bald eagle sits on a branch at Mill Pond on July 21, 2018 in Centerport, New York.

The population of bald eagles in the lower 48 states of the US has quadrupled to more than 316,000 federal wildlife officials say.

The population was once on the verge of extinction but a new survey by the US Fish and Wildlife Service found more than 70,000 breeding pairs of the iconic bird.

Experts say that in the late 1960s there were less than 500.

The success of the raptor, which is the national symbol of the United States, is a "historic conservation success story," said newly confirmed Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.

"The bald eagle has always been considered a sacred species to American Indian people, and similarly it's sacred to our nation as America's national symbol," said Ms Haaland, the first Native American Cabinet secretary.

Controllable 'Neutrobots' created that breach the blood-brain barrier

Ross Pomeroy
Real Clear Science
Thu, 25 Mar 2021 17:02 UTC

© Kellie Holoski / Science Robotics
Illustration of a future scenario of adopting dual-responsive neutrobots for targeted drug therapy in the treatment of malignant gliomas.

In one microscale step for machine, but a potentially significant leap for the treatment of brain cancer, researchers at the Harbin Institute of Technology in China have created controllable microrobots that can breach the blood-brain barrier and deliver cancer drugs to tumors in the brains of mice.

They detailed their efforts in the journal Science Robotics.

The blood-brain barrier is a layer of cells that prevents circulating blood and any potential pathogens in it from entering brain tissues. Though thin, it's nearly impenetrable. Normally, that's a good thing, but when the brain is afflicted with a malignant tumor, it's not. Just as the blood-brain barrier blocks pathogens from passing, so, too it locks out cancer drugs. That leaves surgery and radiation therapy as the two primary treatments for brain cancer.

Early-stage attempts have been made to temporarily disrupt the barrier, allowing treatments to pass, as well as to design nanoparticles so small that they can sneak through. These methods are progressing.

Gray whale dies after beaching at Dockweiler, California

Laylan Connelly
Daily Breeze
Wed, 17 Mar 2021 11:45 UTC

A beached juvenile gray whale died on the shoreline at Dockweiler State Beach, on Wednesday, March 17, as a rescue team had grappled with how to save the mammal.

The whale had washed up on shore about 4 p.m. Officials believed the whale was sick, also noting how thin it appeared. Two hours later, the animal died.

Since it washed up on shore, likelihood of survival for the whale, which was about 25 feet to 30 feet long, had been slim, Justin Viezbicke, California stranding coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said late Wednesday afternoon prior to its death.

"At this point, there's not much we can do," he said.

The NOAA response team couldn't pull the animal out to sea for fear of hurting the creature or causing even more damage.

"It can be super dangerous," Viezbicke said. "We don't try and pull a live whale."

Dead humpback whale washes up on Blyth beach, UK

David Sedgwick
News Post Leader
Fri, 19 Mar 2021 11:37 UTC

The whale on Blyth beach.

The 11-metre (33 feet) mammal, was spotted on the sands at Blyth beach this morning (Friday, March 19).

An HM Coastguard spokesman said: "We received reports of a beached whale at Blyth from numerous members of the public around 7.20am.

"Local coastguard officers are in attendance and a small cordon is in place to keep the public away."

The finding has been reported to Northumberland County Council which will have responsibility for disposing of the whale.

A council spokesperson said: "A deceased juvenile whale has washed up on Blyth beach.

Dead 18-foot-long humpback whale washes up on Pea Island, North Carolina

Sam Walker
OBX Today
Wed, 17 Mar 2021 11:26 UTC

The remains of the whale washed up Thursday

A dead adult humpback whale has washed up in the southern end of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge.

According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the dead whale was located about a half-mile north of Rodanthe on Thursday.

"It's in a decent state of decay already and displays some evidence of shark activity (not necessarily the cause of death, that likely happened after, according to a post on the USFWS in North Carolina Facebook page.

Refuge and National Park Service biologists were able to complete a field assessment, collect tissue samples, and photograph the carcass on site and will report the event to the marine mammal stranding network.

Given its current size and state, they anticipate it will remain on the beach, and stink, for awhile. And with the forecast of rough surf, and continued decomposition, parts of the whale may end up elsewhere on the beach.

Refuge officials said there is no need to call-in reports about the whale, and that nature will eventually take care of it.

Arctic Walrus spotted in Wales days after being seen in Ireland

Sam Hancock
Independent (UK)
Sun, 21 Mar 2021 21:38 UTC

Creature 'slightly underweight' but otherwise doing fine

A walrus has been spotted in Wales after being seen in Ireland.

The Arctic animal, which was seen on rocks near Broad Haven South beach, in Pembrokeshire, on Friday, is thought to be the same one seen off the coast of County Kerry the week before.

Officials have warned anyone who spots it in their area to respect the "sensitive species".

"The tired, young Walrus last spotted on Valentia Island, County Kerry, last Sunday has been spotted in Wales!" Sea Rescue Ireland said.

Baby girl killed by family dog in Springfield, Illinois

abc6onyourside.com
Fri, 19 Mar 2021 20:22 UTC

The baby girl was bitten on the head by her dog

A Springfield family is in mourning after a tragic dog attack claimed the life of a 1-year-old girl.

Springfield Police say young A'myrikal Hull was bitten on the head by the dog near the 800 block of Indiana Avenue.

She was taken to HSHS St. John's Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

A'myrikal Hull's family is sharing memories of their little girl.

"The dog [has] never snapped before," Cory Painter said. "I was in shock since 1:30 this morning. The fact that she didn't make it crushed my soul."

Cory Painter's grandson is A'myrikal's sibling. She has known the child since birth.

Enigmatic circling behavior observed in numerous marine animals

EurekAlert!
Thu, 18 Mar 2021 22:35 UTC

Technological advances have made it possible for researchers to track the movements of large ocean-dwelling animals in three dimensions with remarkable precision in both time and space. Researchers reporting in the journal iScience on March 18 have now used this biologging technology to find that, for reasons the researchers don't yet understand, green sea turtles, sharks, penguins, and marine mammals all do something rather unusual: swimming in circles.

"We've found that a wide variety of marine megafauna showed similar circling behavior, in which animals circled consecutively at a relatively constant speed more than twice," says Tomoko Narazaki of the University of Tokyo.

Narazaki's team first discovered the mysterious circling behaviors in homing green turtles during a displacement experiment. They had transferred nesting turtles from one place to another to study their navigation abilities.

"To be honest, I doubted my eyes when I first saw the data because the turtle circles so constantly, just like a machine!" Narazaki says. "When I got back in my lab, I reported this interesting discovery to my colleagues who use the same 3D data loggers to study a wide range of marine megafauna taxa."

What came next surprised the researchers even more: they realized that various species of marine animals showed more or less the same circling movements. This finding is surprising in part because swimming in a straight line is the most efficient way to move about. It suggests there must be some good reason that animals circle.

Ice Age Farmer Report: They're Coming for your Animals - UK confirms gassing chickens

Ice Age Farmer
Wed, 10 Mar 2021 19:36 UTC

Governments are moving rapidly to remove your right to raise animals completely. The UK has confirmed via FOIA the gassing of people's backyard chickens around a poultry facility in Kent.

Colorado's PAUSE act will destroy their meat industry. And livestock registration is rolling out around the world. There is a war on Animal Agriculture. Yes, factory farms are abhorrent, and we must rapidly move to a decentralized, regenerative food system--but rather than support this, governments are pointing at disgusting CAFOs and saying, "We must END ALL ANIMAL AGRICULTURE." They are precluding the solution, so that they take total control of food production.

Christian breaks it down AND explains why we cannot allow this to happen.

Sources

Child dead after dog attack in New Jersey

6abc.com
Wed, 17 Mar 2021 11:00 UTC

A dog attack in New Jersey has left a child dead, authorities say.

The incident happened in the backyard of a home on East Laurel Street in Carteret, Middlesex County.

It is possible others were critically injured as well.