Animals
S


Fish

'Disaster-predicting fish' spotted in Peru days before earthquake


Sputnik
Sun, 26 May 2019 20:02 UTC
Oarfish
Oarfish
The massive deep sea fish is popularly believed to appear on the ocean surface before an earthquake, with the creature's latest appearance possibly reinforcing this belief.

A magnitude 8 earthquake that struck northern Peru early on 26 May might've been preceded by a herald straight from ancient folk tales, the Daily Star reports.

Mere days before the disaster struck the South American country, and shortly before a similar calamity hit eastern Japan, a deep sea dweller known as the giant oarfish or king of herrings was discovered by locals washed up on Vichayito beach in the Peruvian town of Máncora.


Comment: Massive magnitude-8 earthquake strikes north-central Peru

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Attention

Sperm whale found dead on beach with stomach full of plastic waste in Sicily, Italy


United News of Bangladesh
Sat, 25 May 2019 10:46 UTC
Sperm whale beached at Cefalu, Italy
© Greenpeace ItalySperm whale beached at Cefalu, Italy
Another whale has washed up on the shores of Italy and just like the last time, the sperm whale's stomach was full of plastic. It appears to be a juvenile seven-year-old whale and it's not known whether the plastic trash was the reason for its death, reports CNN.

The environmental organisation Greenpeace Italy posted videos and photos (graphic images) on social media that showed a huge amount of plastic being recovered from the whale's after officials cut open the carcass. Considering the young age of the whale and the incredible amount of plastic in its stomach, it could have been the cause of its untimely death. The plastic could have blocked its stomach from food going inside further. However, it's still under investigation.


Comment: Elsewhere recently a dead pygmy sperm whale was found at Huntington Beach, South Carolina on the 24th of May while the body of an unspecified whale species turned up on the coast of Hawaii on the 25th.

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Binoculars

Chimpanzees seen smashing and eating tortoises for the first time

Douglas Main
National Geographic
Thu, 23 May 2019 12:00 UTC
chimpanzee tortoise
© Erwan ThelestePandi, an adult male chimpanzee, was observed smashing and eating 20 tortoises, the most of any chimp in the group.
Tortoises' thick shells protect them from most predators. But our closest relatives have found a way to circumvent this defense: vigorously bashing them against trees.

In a paper published today in the journal Scientific Reports, scientists report seven chimpanzees breaking open forest hinge-back tortoises in Gabon's Loango National Park. The behavior occurred on multiple occasions over 5,000 hours of observation, and the primates often shared the meat with others in their group.

This is the first time than any chimpanzee has been documented eating any kind of reptile. It's also unique because the way in which the primates eat these tortoises-slamming them against tree branches and trunks-is a type of "percussive" technology that is akin to tool use, says study coauthor Simone Pika, who studies chimpanzees at Germany's University of Osnabrück.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's:

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Attention

Major die-off of Common Murres under way along the Mendocino Coast, California - over 300 found dead or dying

Michelle Blackwell
Fort-Bragg Advocate-News
Fri, 24 May 2019 18:37 UTC
Common Murre (dead)
Common Murre (dead) file photo
Starting on Wednesday, May 22, hundreds of Common Murres, an ocean-going bird native to the Pacific Coast from the Channel Islands to the tip of the Aleutians in Alaska, have been reported washed up dead or dying on beaches along a 10-mile stretch of coastline in Mendocino County between Noyo Bay and Seaside Beach.

Local wildlife observers say it's too early to tell what is causing the die-off.

The Common Murre looks a little like a penguin, but is more closely related to terns or gulls. It spends most of its time in the water. Murres can and do fly, but like penguins, they maneuver best in the water. Normally, the likelihood of a casual beachgoer seeing one ashore is slim.
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Attention

Dead gray whale found near Kalaloch, Washington is 24th on Pacific NW coast this year

Tom Banse
kuow.org
Sat, 25 May 2019 09:33 UTC
GRAY WHALE
Olympic National Park said a decomposing gray whale washed ashore Friday morning north of Kalaloch Campground. That makes the 24th dead whale stranding in Oregon and Washington this year during the northbound migration.

A common thread runs through the necropsies on the spate of dead gray whales washing up on West Coast beaches this spring, according to Cascadia Research Collective senior research biologist John Calambokidis. He said the perished whales appeared skinny, malnourished or even emaciated. The big unknown is why these whales didn't fatten up enough on their feeding grounds last year to get through the migration.

Calambokidis said he is reasonably confident the starving whales can be attributed to an increasing gray whale population intersecting with a downturn in their prey.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning strike kills 100 animals in Poonch, Kashmir

Sumit Bhargav
Greater Kashmir
Fri, 24 May 2019 09:23 UTC
lightning
© Johannes Plenio
Two nomads hailing from Rajouri district suffered a major loss after their animals got killed in lightning in dhoks of Loran area of Poonch district.

As per official reports, the incident took place on Thursday evening after lightning struck dhoks located in Loran.

Sixty goats and sheep of Mohammad Qasim son of Ghulam Hussain Bakerwal resident of Prat Nowshehra and 40 sheep and goats of Mohammad Junaid son of Abdul Aziz resident of Mangaldei Nowshera were killed.

"Police party was rushed to the spot," SSP Poonch Ramesh Angral told Greater Kashmir. "A loss report was entered in daily dairy of police station Loran".
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Attention

Dead gray whale found on island is Alaska's third this year


abcnews.go.com
Wed, 22 May 2019 09:21 UTC
GRAY WHALE
A third gray whale has been found dead in Alaska.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says a gray whale was spotted Tuesday on Kodiak Island.

Carcasses also were found this spring near Cordova and south of Anchorage.

NOAA in release says the dead whale on Kodiak was along a rocky shore below a steep cliff and inaccessible for a necropsy.

Comment: In addition recently and further south off the same Pacific coastline of North America: Dead gray whale washes ashore in Point Reyes - 12th for the San Francisco Bay Area this year

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Attention

Dead gray whale washes ashore in Point Reyes - 12th for the San Francisco Bay Area this year


abc7news.com
Thu, 23 May 2019 09:13 UTC
Dead whale
Another dead whale has washed up on Bay Area shores. The latest was found at Point Reyes Thursday morning.

This makes at least 12 whale deaths in the Bay Area this year.

Most have been gray whales that likely died from starvation during their migration to Alaska, according to officials.

ABC7 News has contacted the Marine Mammal Center about the latest whale.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 35 goats in Mansehra, Pakistan


The Nation (Pakistan)
Wed, 22 May 2019 09:58 UTC
bolt
A person was killed when roof of his house collapsed due to heavy rains and thunderstorm that hit different parts of Mansehra district on Tuesday. According to police Muhammad Nazeer of Lambi Dheri Mansehra was entrapped under the rubble of his house roof that collapsed due to heavy rains. Locals retrieved his body from the debris after hectic efforts.

Meanwhile corrugated roofs of several houses in Baffa, Shankiari and other localities of the district were blown away due to thunderstorm. Trees, billboards and electricity poles have also been reported fallen in the rain blocking many links roads. The storm also disrupted electricity supply to various localities of Mansehra city where power supply system was damaged due to fallen trees.

The inclement weather also killed 35 goats and injured many others due to lightning that struck a flock at Kund Bangla Manshera. A shepherd also sustained injuries in the incident.

Source: Associated Press of Pakistan

Comment: On the same day lightning strikes killed 3 people and a bull in the Indian state of Karnataka.

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Attention

Virus has killed 2,290 seals since July 2018 in U.S. Northeast

Bill Trotter
Maine Public
Sun, 19 May 2019 17:34 UTC
SEAL
© MARINE MAMMALS OF MAINE
As harbor seal pupping season picks up along the Maine coast, researchers continue to keep an eye out for signs of an ongoing outbreak of phocine distemper virus that has been killing seals.

So far this year, seal watchers in the Northeast have noticed an elevated number of grey seals stranded on beaches — which, for baby seals that have not been weaned, could be a sign that their mothers are sick — but they have not noticed the virus yet in seal pups.

Since July 2018, 2,290 grey and harbor seals have been reported sick or dead along the East Coast between Maine and Virginia, according to federal statistics that were updated last week. That is at least three times the number of any previous outbreak affecting seals that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has documented since 1991.

Of those strandings, 1,179 — more than half — have been reported in Maine. Massachusetts, the state with the second-highest total, has had 627.
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