Animals

About 170 endangered seals found dead on Russia's Caspian coast

Al Jazeera
Thu, 06 May 2021 11:56 UTC

© Musa Salgereyev / TASS
Authorities previously reported the death of nearly 300 endangered seals on Dagestan's Caspian shore in December 2020.

At least 170 endangered seals have washed up dead over the course of several days on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Russia's republic of Dagestan, according to researchers.

"These are the dead animals that we saw, photographed and whose GPS coordinates we noted," Viktor Nikiforov of the Moscow Marine Mammals research centre told the AFP news agency on Thursday.

Images shared with the AFP showed several seal carcasses washed up on the beach.

The deaths may have been caused by "industrial pollution, fishing or poaching when seals get caught in the nets", Nikiforov said.

Three more whales wash up dead near San Francisco — eight total in five weeks

Susanne Rust
L A Times
Thu, 06 May 2021 09:20 UTC

Muir Beach saw many visitors and a gray whale carcass on April 17, 2021.

Three more gray whales have washed up dead in the San Francisco Bay, adding to the fatal beachings of five others in the region over the last month, including a 46-foot fin whale, scientists from the Marine Mammal Center and the California Academy of Sciences said Thursday.

In 2019, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced it was going to investigate an unusually high number of gray whales found dead along the North American west coast. The investigation is continuing.

Although the number of dead whales may seem alarming, the numbers are actually lower than they have been the last two years, said Michael Milstein, an NOAA spokesman.

Alberta man killed in suspected bear attack near Waiparous

Dave Dormer
Calgary.ctvnews.ca
Wed, 05 May 2021 09:57 UTC

Police are investigating after a 59-year-old man was found dead near Waiparous Creek, northwest of Calgary, which officials believe was the result of a bear attack.

Cochrane RCMP were notified of a missing person just before midnight Tuesday when the man's wife called police to say he had gone for a run about 6 p.m. and not returned. A search was then launched involving a helicopter and a police dog.

Just after 2 a.m. Wednesday, the man was found deceased just off Moss Trail, which has been closed while officials investigate.

Friends have identified the victim as Dr. David Lertzman, a senior instuctor at the University of Calgary.

Lost Pacific grey whale spotted in French Mediterranean

rfi.fr
Thu, 06 May 2021 09:43 UTC

Pacific grey whale

A grey whale that has strayed far from the Pacific has been spotted for the first time off the French Mediterranean coast. The calf, about 15 months old and 8 metres long, was spotted at the weekend in the port of Bormes-les-Mimosas on the French Riviera.

The whale calf had already been seen off Morocco in early March and more recently Italy, from Naples, Rome and Genoa.

It has strayed into the Mediterranean Sea, from which it is trying to return to its natural habitat in the North Pacific.

"A specimen had already been observed in 2010 in the Mediterranean, on two occasions, but in Israel and Spain, this is a first for our French coast," said Adrien Gannier, veterinarian and member of the National Network of Marine Mammal Strandings, who himself observed the young whale on Friday off Bormes-les-Mimosas in southern France.

Tons of dead fish wash up on banks of Lebanon's Lake Qaraoun

Ruptly
Sat, 01 May 2021 06:26 UTC

Up to 80 tons of dead fish have been washed up on the banks of Lake Qaraoun on the Litani River, as seen in Beqaa Valley on Friday. Rotting fish and rubbish were seen floating next to the shores. While the exact cause of the fish deaths is yet unknown, a virus and unprecedented pollution have been reported as the most likely explanations.

"We were waiting all day for a fish expert who dissected the fish on the lake and discovered that these fish suffer from some kind of internal wear and tear in their guts and bleeding. They have internal bleeding," said Nasrallah Hajj, head of Qaraoun Dam Department, the National Authority for the Litani River.

He warned local residents not to eat the fish and cautioned that if the local waters spoil, a 'great loss' will be incurred. Initial reports said some 40 tons of fish had been washed up but Hajj suggested that around '70 to 80 tons' had now accrued.

Fisherman dies following shark attack off Jamaica

Hopeton Bucknor
The Gleaner (Jamaica)
Sun, 02 May 2021 12:13 UTC

A fisherman has died following a shark attack at sea on Saturday in Westmoreland.

He has been identified as 53-year-old Donovan Haywood, otherwise called 'Doggie', who lived at Darling Street in Savanna-la-mar in the parish.

It is reported that shortly after 8:00 a.m., Haywood and a group of other fishermen set out from the community of Russia in Savanna-la-mar to go spear fishing off the shores of Little Bay in Little London.

While under water, Haywood was attacked by a large shark which ripped off his left arm and inflicted several bite wounds to his upper body.

Lightning strike kills 12 cows in Nigeria

Matthew Omonigho
Daily Post (Nigeria)
Sun, 02 May 2021 09:28 UTC

Herdsmen on Sunday evening of May 2, ran away from Urhodo-Ovu community in Ethiope-East Local Government Area of Delta State as thunder strike killed 12 of their cows.

The herdsmen and the cows were in their settlement when the incident occurred minutes after the heavy downpour, DAILY POST gathered.

Indigenes and residents of the community especially farmers were, however, happy over the incident.

At the time of filing this report, the 12 dead cows were still lying fallow on the ground.

The incident caused serious tension amongst the herdsmen as they quickly moved their belongings and ran away from the community for fear of being struck dead by the same thunder.

Stingrays washed ashore at beach in Oman

Lakshmi Kothaneth
Oman Daily Observer
Mon, 03 May 2021 12:32 UTC

Numerous stingrays and mackerels were found dead by morning walkers on Monday.

Out for an early morning walk, Maryam Khalfan was in for a shock as she and her family kept coming across stingrays and another fish one after the other.

"Interesting was the fact that they were far away from the water, so maybe it happened during the high tide," said Maryam and added, "The more I walked, the more fish I saw."

The majority of the fish were spotted opposite Masjid Fatma on Al Hail beach.

Woman walking dogs found dead after apparent bear attack near Durango, Colorado

Robert Garrison
thedenverchannel.com
Sat, 01 May 2021 10:50 UTC

A 39-year-old woman walking her dogs was found dead Friday night after an apparent bear attack, according to a Colorado Parks and Wildlife release.

The woman's body was found off U.S. Highway 550 near Trimble, north of Durango.

According to the La Plata County Sheriff's office, the woman's boyfriend said the victim went walking with her two dogs earlier Friday.

When the boyfriend returned home later in the evening, he found the two dogs but the woman was missing.

The boyfriend found the woman's body around 9:30 p.m. and called 911 to report the incident.

Wildlife officers responded and observed signs of consumption on the body and an abundance of bear scat and hair at the scene.

Young child dies after dog attack in Fort Worth, Texas

nbcdfw.com
Fri, 30 Apr 2021 12:34 UTC

A young child died Friday night after being attacked by a dog at a home in Fort Worth.

Police were called to the 1400 block of Oak Grove Road just after 5 p.m.

Officers found a child under the age of five that had been attacked by the family dog in the backyard. They were taken to a nearby hospital, but later died.