Animals
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Ice Cube

Mass deaths of reindeer on Yamal peninsula in Russia might be linked to climate change, scientists believe


The Siberian Times
Mon, 10 May 2021 12:53 UTC
First reports about winter rains followed by lengthy spells of extremely cold weather on Yamal appeared in December 2020.
© Arctic Lab YamalFirst reports about winter rains followed by lengthy spells of extremely cold weather on Yamal appeared in December 2020.
Thousands of domestic and wild animals perished because they couldn't get to forage locked under ice.

New ideas to rescue reindeer herding are urgently needed for the Yamal peninsula, said members of the scientific expedition that just returned from the trip to its northern tundra.

'The perished reindeer were observed all around the northern tundra, among them were wild reindeer who also suffered from icing and lack of forage. Herders showed us that their hooves were worn out because they had to dig through ice so much', said researchers Alexandra Terekhina and Alexander Volkovitsky from the Arctic Research Station in Labytnangi, part of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology.

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Attention

Lost young whale seen swimming upstream in Thames after being freed overnight

Lucia Binding
Sky News
Mon, 10 May 2021 12:23 UTC
The whale is between three to four metres long.
© Richard FrankThe whale is between three to four metres long.
A small whale which was freed in Richmond overnight is being monitored after it was seen swimming upstream in a different stretch of the River Thames.

The whale, thought to be a young minke whale, was first spotted at Richmond Lock and Weir at around 7pm on Sunday.

Hundreds of people gathered after the mammal, which was between three to four metres long, became stuck on the lock's boat rollers.

The Port London Authority (PLA) told Sky News the whale was freed at 1am after a joint operation by the London Fire Brigade, a Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) crew, and the British Divers Marine Life Rescue.

It has now been spotted at Teddington Lock where Twitter user Fiona Adams said the RNLI was in attendance.

"The whale has returned up river to #Teddington Lock. @rnli_teddington in attendance monitoring the situation. Husband monitoring from a safer distance on shore," she wrote.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning kills 4 carabaos in Bago City, Philippines

ERWIN P. NICAVERA
Sun Star
Sun, 09 May 2021 18:06 UTC
Lightning kills four carabaos at Purok Kalubihan, Barangay Bacong in Bago City over the weekend.
Lightning kills four carabaos at Purok Kalubihan, Barangay Bacong in Bago City over the weekend.
FOUR carabaos were struck to death by lightning in Purok Kalubihan, Barangay Bacong in Bago City over the weekend.

Eighteen-year-old Carlo Dellosa, whose family owns the carabaos, recalled that the rain poured around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Dellosa said the rain did not last long. The weather got hotter afterward.

"We then heard a strong sound [thunder] following a spark. It seemed that the lightning really hit something," he said, adding that "it was too close to the ground."

About 20 meters away from their house, they noticed that the four carabaos fell on the ground.

Upon checking on them, the family confirmed that the carabaos were the ones hit by lightning.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning strike kills elephant in Pattaya, Thailand


Pattaya Mail
Sun, 09 May 2021 09:29 UTC
Boonklong, a 40-year-old elephant, died after it was struck by lightning at a Pattaya elephant camp.
Boonklong, a 40-year-old elephant, died after it was struck by lightning at a Pattaya elephant camp.
A 40-year-old elephant died after it was struck by lightning at a Pattaya elephant camp.

Mahout Somnuk Tidsandod, 46, reported May 7 that he found the carcass of Boonklong under a tree. The cow had electrical burns on two ankles, the exit point for the lightning.

Veterinarian Padet Siridumrong, an elephant specialist from Nernplabwan Animal Hospital, concluded the elephant was struck while chained in the woods.
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Attention

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


Al Jazeera
Thu, 06 May 2021 11:56 UTC
Authorities previously reported the death of nearly 300 endangered seals on Dagestan's Caspian shore in December 2020.
© Musa Salgereyev / TASSAuthorities 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.

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Attention

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.
© Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles TimesMuir 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.
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Attention

Alberta man killed in suspected bear attack near Waiparous

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

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Attention

Lost Pacific grey whale spotted in French Mediterranean


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

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Fish

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


Ruptly
Sat, 01 May 2021 06:26 UTC
Lebanon dead fish
© YouTube/Ruptly (screen capture)
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.

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Attention

Fisherman dies following shark attack off Jamaica

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