Animals
S


Frog

Lost logs are a barrier to turtle breeding


NewScientist
Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:26 UTC
As if decimating rainforests isn't bad enough, now it turns out industrial logging is also preventing leatherback turtles from nesting.

There is a timber boom in central Africa, with logging now allowed in two-thirds of Gabon's rainforests. Felled logs are floated down rivers to the coast in their thousands, where they are packaged for shipping abroad. Some are lost in transit, though, and float out to sea, eventually washing up along Gabon's 1000-kilometre coastline. Those beached logs pose a threat to breeding turtles, says William Laurance of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama.
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Magnet

Great white shark eats anti-shark device

Pia Akerman
The Australian
Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:00 UTC
An electronic device designed to ward sharks away from surfers failed so spectacularly during a trial off South Africa that it was eaten by a great white.

Hungry shark
©Barcroft Media
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Fish

Six-legged octopus discovered


Agence France-Presse
Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:04 UTC
British marine experts have found what they claim is a world first - a six-legged octopus, or "hexapus", whom they have christened Henry.

Hexapus
©Blackpool Sealife Centre
Henry the Hexapus
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Stop

Six-ton albino whale found dead on Egyptian coast


RIA Novosti
Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:54 UTC
Coastguards in northern Egypt have discovered the dead body of a six-ton, 17-meter-long (56-feet) white whale, Egypt's official news agency MENA reported on Tuesday.

The rotten carcass of the rare albino whale was discovered lying on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, in the Kafr el-Sheikh Governorate. It is believed to have died of a stomach wound at sea.
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Life Preserver

Wind farms could drive bird species to extinction: conservationists


terradaily.com
Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:36 UTC
More than 60 years after it was pushed to the edge of extinction, one of North America's rarest birds, the whooping crane, faces new danger from environmentally-friendly wind farms, conservationists warned.

"Companies want to put their farms where the best wind is, and that overlaps with the migration corridor of the whooping crane," Tom Stehn, the whooping crane coordinator of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, told AFP.
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Life Preserver

China water supplies resume along China's algae-affected Hanjiang river


Xinhua
Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:29 UTC
Water supplies resumed on Wednesday to almost 200,000 people along the three tributaries of Hanjiang river affected by an algae bloom, local authorities of central China's Hubei Province said.

The algae bloom had turned the water red since Sunday, forcing authorities to cut supplies to nearby residents and eight schools.

Image
©chinadaily.com.cn
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Fish

Pygmy sperm whale rescued off Florida Keys


news.yahoo.com
Sun, 24 Feb 2008 20:18 UTC
A pygmy sperm whale found stranded off the Florida Keys was in critical condition at a rehabilitation center on Sunday.

The 10 1/2-foot long male was discovered Saturday off Islamorada and transferred to the Marine Mammal Conservancy in Key Largo.

pygmy sperm whale
©Florida Keys News Bureau, Bob Care
In this photo released by the Florida Keys News Bureau, marine mammal rescue volunteers Bob Coakley, left, and Lloyd Brown, right, closely examine a pygmy sperm whale at the Marine Mammal Conservancy Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008, in Key Largo, Fla. The 10-foot-long male, estimated to weigh 1,000 pounds, was discovered stranded off the Florida Keys early Saturday, Feb. 23, and was subsequently transported to the Conservancy for care.
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Info

Python Snakes, An Invasive Species In Florida, Could Spread To One Third Of US


Science Daily
Sun, 24 Feb 2008 11:17 UTC
Burmese pythons - an invasive species in south Florida - could find comfortable climatic conditions in roughly a third of the United States according to new "climate maps" developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Although other factors such as type of food available and suitable shelter also play a role, Burmese pythons and other giant constrictor snakes have shown themselves to be highly adaptable to new environments.

The just-released USGS maps can help natural resource agencies manage and possibly control the spread of non-native giant constrictor snakes, such as the Burmese python, now spreading from Everglades National Park in Florida. These "climate match" maps show where climate in the U.S. is similar to places in which Burmese pythons live naturally (from Pakistan to Indonesia).

A look at the map shows why biologists are concerned.

pythons native range
©USGS
Areas of the continental United States with current climate matching that of the pythons' native range in Asia. By 2100 the yellow "maybe" area is expected to extend north substantially, due to projected climate change.
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Fish

Panic after 'Franken-fish' that is deadlier than a piranha is caught in Britain

Jaya Narain
The Daily Mail (UK)
Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:56 UTC
With its razor-sharp teeth, the fish known as the giant snakehead terrorises the warm waters of south-east Asia.

Which is why an angler was particularly startled to hook a 2ft specimen from a river in Lincolnshire.

Andrew Alder caught the snakehead using a sprat for bait while fishing for pike in the River Witham near North Hykeham.

Giant Snakehead
©Daily Mail
Known as the 'gangster' of the fish world, a snakehead was caught in Lincolnshire
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Bizarro Earth

U.N. says world fisheries face collapse


Reuters
Fri, 22 Feb 2008 22:32 UTC
Monaco - A deadly combination of climate change, over-fishing and pollution could cause the collapse of commercial fish stocks worldwide within decades, said Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Environment Program.
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