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Tue, 22 May 2018
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Dead Bryde's whale found on beach in Kuakata, Bangladesh


The Independent (Bangladesh)
Sat, 19 May 2018 12:37 UTC
whale
A large-sized dead whale washed up on Kuakata beach in Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali on Saturday morning.

Locals suspect that the 45-foot long marine mammal might have died some 15 days ago in the deep sea.

Farhana Akhter of Wildlife Conservation Society said it is a Bryde's whale or Baleen Whale, which has no teeth. The Bryde's whale lives their life eating small fishes and prawns, she added.

She said the Bryde's whale is usually black or grey in color and it could be around 40 to 50 foot long. These whales are mostly seen in Swatch of no Ground marine protected area of Bangladesh, Farhana said.

Md Kamrul Islam, Kalapara upazila fisheries officer said the beach management committee will take necessary steps regarding the dead whale.
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Attention

Two dead whales found in different parts of Bay Area, San Francisco - 5 for the region in 2018


sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com
Sat, 19 May 2018 12:21 UTC
Dead whale
Two dead whales were found washed up in two different parts of the Bay Area Friday, leading to some speculation as to what might be causing the marine mammals' deaths.

A large dead whale washed up Friday in the Oakland Estuary just a few miles downstream from the busy Port Of Oakland container ship hub, officials said.

The Marine Mammal Center said the whale was partially submerged near Jack London Square. NOAA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were able to tow the carcass out into San Francisco Bay with the plan of taking it to Angel Island State Park so that scientists can perform a necropsy, or animal autopsy, to determine the cause of death.

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Frog

The green blood in lizards likely evolved four times

Susan Milius
ScienceNews
Wed, 16 May 2018 02:10 UTC
GreenLizard
© C. AUSTIN
BLEEDS GREEN The few lizards with green blood, such as this green skink from Papua New Guinea, may have acquired the coloring via a spotty pattern of evolutionary history. Their muscles, bones, tongues and gums also look greenish.
Studying the bizarre color might someday offer insights into human jaundice

Green blood is weird enough. But now the first genealogical tree tracing green blood in New Guinea's Prasinohaema lizards is suggesting something even odder.

These skinks have been lumped into one genus just because of blood color, says biologist Christopher Austin of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Yet they don't all turn out to be close relatives. Green blood looks as if it arose four separate times in the island's lizards, he and colleagues propose May 16 in Science Advances.

These lizards do have crimson red blood cells, but that color is overwhelmed by extreme buildups of a green pigment called biliverdin at levels that could kill other animals. Biliverdin forms as the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin molecules break down in dead red blood cells. In humans, biliverdin is converted into the bile that, in excess, causes yellow jaundice. An excess of the biliverdin itself can cause green jaundice. In one case study, levels reaching nearly 50 micromoles of biliverdin per liter of blood were deadly in humans. Yet Austin has found lizards thriving with 714 to 1,020 micromoles per liter (SN: 8/20/16, p. 4).
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Attention

Wild elephant tramples a man to death in Jharkhand, India

Jessica Green
Daily Mail
Fri, 18 May 2018 13:56 UTC
the giant animal rapidly charges towards the group and in no time the elephant catches up with the limping man and brutally tramples him to death

The giant animal rapidly charges towards the group and in no time the elephant catches up with the limping man and brutally tramples him to death
This is the terrifying moment a wild elephant chases a man swimming in its watering hole before trampling him to death after he twists his ankle and falls over.

The horrific footage shows the man paddling in the water while the angered beast moves towards him in the Seraikela Kharsawan district of Jharkhand in east India.

As the man tries to get out of the lake and flee the scene, he twists his ankle and falls to the ground.

His friends endeavour to lift and carry him away from the encroaching male elephant.

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Wolf

Woman killed by 2 pit bull terriers in Gulfport, Mississippi

Alexa Knowles
weny.com
Thu, 17 May 2018 12:32 UTC
PIT BULL ATTACK
Gulfport Police said an elderly woman was mauled to death by two pit bulls Wednesday morning.

The attack happened just before 8 a.m. on Deidra Court. When officers arrived on the scene, they found the 75-year-old victim dead.

"We heard a cry, a scream...There was pieces of clothing and stuff all in the front yard... I hit the floor when I found out it was her," said next door neighbor Diana Jones. "She had a lot of love in her heart."

Investigators said the woman was on a walk when she opened a gate into a fenced yard of a neighbor. While in the yard, police said two pit bulls attacked her.

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Wolf

Pit bull attack on 4-year-old videoed in St. James City, Florida


fox4now.com
Wed, 16 May 2018 13:01 UTC
PIT BULL ATTACK
A dog owner says he will try to retrieve his pet from animal services after it attacked a small child in St. James City.

The incident happened Friday, in the parking lot of Winn Dixie on Stringfellow Road. The 4-year-old child involved in the attack was flown to Tampa General Hospital for injuries on his face. His family said he is expected to make a speedy recovery.

Meanwhile, Sage, the 4-year-old Pit Bull, is quarantined at Lee County Animal Services until May 21st. Surveillance video showed the dog dart between cars, and take down the child. Despite the incident, her owner believes Sage is a sweet dog, and said the incident was an accident.

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Attention

Two dead whale sharks discovered in Myanmar (Burma) - 4 found locally in 2 months

Phyo Zin
Eleven
Wed, 16 May 2018 12:54 UTC
Whale shark

Whale shark
Fishermen found two dead bodies of whale sharks, one of the endangered species, in a fishing net along the coastal areas of Yayphyu Township, Dawei district, Taninthayi region on May 13 and tugged them to Daminsake beach.

"The dead bodies arrived around 5:30 pm. The fishes got caught in the net and they couldn't escape. The fishermen could not free them in the sea and tugged them to the beach. We have found four dead whale sharks from April to May. We informed the authorities and they told me to bury them. So we dug a deep hole with a backhoe. They couldn't swim back to the deep sea after they arrived in shallow water," said a local Moe Naing.

Comment: There seems to have been a high number of such incidents involving this species over the last 2 years, see also: Body of whale shark found washed ashore in Tamil Nadu, India; third in the region since May

Another whale shark found dead, the latest in Gujarat, India

Three dead beached whale sharks found in Indonesia

Whale shark found washed ashore in Tamil Nadu, India

Dead whale shark washes ashore on beach in Puri, India

Dead whale shark found in Tanza Bay, Philippines

Dead whale shark found in Tamil Nadu, India

Dead whale shark found on beach in Odisha, India

Whale shark discovered dead in coastal waters of Shandong, China

Whale shark found dead at Palghar, India

Dead whale shark discovered on coast of Bukas Grande Island, Philippines

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Attention

Two Risso's dolphins wash ashore near Great Yarmouth, UK

Stuart Winter
Express (UK)
Wed, 16 May 2018 12:25 UTC
Risso Dolphin washed ashore Great Yarmouth beach
© HM Coastguard Gorleston
Risso Dolphin washed ashore Great Yarmouth beach

Marine experts are trying to discover why strange looking dolphins are beginning to turn up dead hundreds of miles from their deep sea haunts. Two bull-headed Risso's dolphins have washed ashore, the first time in 50 years the mysterious-looking creatures have been found in the southern reaches of the North Sea.

The Zoological Society of London has retrieved the dolphin carcasses from near Great Yarmouth over the weekend and will be conducting post mortems to discover how the creatures had died.

Rumours have emerged that the dolphins may have fallen victim to a great white shark attack because they were scarred, but skin gouges are a common sign on these type of marine mammals because of injuries they receive eating their favourite food, squid.

What concerns conservationists is the way the dolphins were found in a southern stretch of the North Sea when, by rights, they should be hunting squid and octopus around the western Scottish and Irish coastlines.
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Fish

Fish winterkill strikes several Central Alberta sites

Paul Cowley
Red Deer Advocate
Mon, 14 May 2018 18:59 UTC
Thousands of dead fish have surfaced in three Central Alberta ponds and lakes because of winterkill.
© Rory O’Connor
Thousands of dead fish have surfaced in three Central Alberta ponds and lakes because of winterkill.
Thousands of dead fish have surfaced in three Central Alberta ponds and lakes because of winterkill.

In Crimson Lake, thousands of perch died and collected around the shoreline.

While not pleasant for lake visitors to look at or smell, winterkill is a natural phenomenon.

"They're very common in Alberta," said Jessica Reilly, senior fisheries biologist out of Alberta Environment and Parks Rocky Mountain House office.

In Central Alberta, winterkill was also reported at Dickson Trout Pond and Pine Lake.

"Basically what happens is the plants and algae in the lake over winter die and decompose. When they decompose they use up oxygen."

The longer the decomposition, the more oxygen is used up. That is exacerbated in a long winter because oxygen can't be replenished while the water is covered by ice.

Comment: See also: Thousands of dead fish found at lake in Alberta

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Attention

10-year-old boy suffered heavy blood loss after shark attack at Hilton Head, South Carolina

Joan McDonough and Mandy Matney
The Island Packet
Mon, 14 May 2018 18:40 UTC
Jei Turrell, 10, was bitten by a shark while swimming at a Hilton Head Island beach on Sunday, May 13, 2018. He is recovering at the Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah.

Jei Turrell, 10, was bitten by a shark while swimming at a Hilton Head Island beach on Sunday, May 13, 2018.
A shark bit 10-year-old Jei's right forearm while he and his older brother were splashing in waist-deep water Sunday, his mom Tonya Turrell told the Island Packet.

They had only been at the beach for about an hour when Tonya heard her younger son screaming and made out the word "shark!" That's when she saw the blood, she said.

Jei was airlifted to the Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah. The rest of the family followed in their car.

"That was the longest hour of my life, driving here," his mom said. They didn't know how bad his injuries were. They didn't know what to expect. All they were told was that getting him to a trauma center was the first priority.
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