Animals
S


Attention

Decomposed minke whale washes up on Old Orchard Beach, Maine

Beth Quimby
Portland Press Herald
Tue, 24 Jul 2018 15:08 UTC
A dead whale is towed off Old Orchard Beach after drawing a crowd.
© Lyndi CoteA dead whale is towed off Old Orchard Beach after drawing a crowd.
The smelly carcass, identified as that of an adult male minke whale, is the second large marine animal to turn up on shore in southern Maine in the past week.

A badly decomposed whale that washed up on Old Orchard Beach drew gasps and groans from beach walkers venturing out in the rain on Sunday.

The carcass - later identified as that of a minke whale - washed ashore about a mile south of Old Orchard Beach pier, just as Lyndi Cote, wrapped in a blanket, was sipping coffee on her balcony at the Gold Sands Condominiums.

Cote said at first she thought it was a capsized boat, but when the 23-foot-long object landed on the sand, it was clear it was some sort of marine animal.

It was the second large ocean creature to wash up on southern Maine shores in the past week. On Thursday, a badly decomposed 500- to 600-pound, 15-foot basking shark washed up on Higgins Beach in Scarborough. That odoriferous carcass was removed by the Scarborough Public Works Department using heavy equipment and buried in a landfill.
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Attention

Whale shark carcass found on Sanibel Island, Florida

Brittany Bernstein and Michael Braun
Fort Myers News-Press
Mon, 23 Jul 2018 12:43 UTC
A dead whale shark washed up on a Sanibel beach on Sunday morning. It was discovered off of West Gulf Drive at about 7:30 a.m.
© Andrew West/The News-PressA dead whale shark washed up on a Sanibel beach on Sunday morning. It was discovered off of West Gulf Drive at about 7:30 a.m.
The carcass of a 21-foot-long adult whale shark washed up off West Gulf Drive on Sanibel Island on Sunday morning.

Biologists from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission were on their way to where the carcass was rolling in the surf to collect samples.

"I'm sure they were going to try to determine a cause of death," said Brian Norris, an FWC spokesman.

Marine biologists from the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum were on the beach near the Island Inn on Gulf Shore Road where the shark came ashore.

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Question

Hundreds of galah birds mysteriously found dead in Burra, South Australia

Eugene Boisvert and Patrick Martin
ABC (Australia)
Mon, 23 Jul 2018 13:30 UTC
Some of the galahs found dead in Burra.
© Ruth NorrisSome of the galahs found dead in Burra.
About 200 galahs have been found dead in the South Australian town of Burra, prompting investigations by the state's Department for Environment and Water and the local council.

Dead birds started turning up in the historic Mid North town last Wednesday, with numbers increasing to about 200 by today, according to Animal Rescue and Care co-ordinator Ruth Norris.

A Facebook post featuring some of the deceased creatures by Ms Norris has been shared more than 1,600 times.

She said the birds otherwise looked healthy and it was not obvious how they had died.
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Wolf

Woman viciously attacked by pack of three dingoes in Pilbara, Western Australia

James Carmody and Jon Daly
ABC (Australia)
Mon, 23 Jul 2018 12:58 UTC
A pack of dingoes set upon the woman
© Channel 7A pack of dingoes set upon the woman
Mine safety authorities have launched an investigation after a woman was attacked by a pack of three dingoes at a Pilbara mine site.

A spokesman for Newcrest Mining, which operates the site at Telfer in the East Pilbara, confirmed a contract employee was attacked last Wednesday.

A Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety spokeswoman said the attack occurred in a food consumption area of the mine site and an investigation had commenced.

The 54-year-old woman, understood to be a security worker at the site, is now in a stable condition at Royal Perth Hospital after having surgery for deep wounds to her legs.

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Ice Cube

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Starving shorebirds and unknown stone spheres in the Arctic


Adapt 2030
Fri, 20 Jul 2018 16:22 UTC
A turnstone on a patch on snow in Zackenberg, Greenland.
© Erik ThomsenA turnstone on a patch on snow in Zackenberg, Greenland.
The saga of starving migratory Arctic shorebirds nesting in Greenland continues as 100% snow cover remains on what should be barren ground. Newest reports tell of one meter / three feet of snow at Zackenberg Station where these birds nest.

Also explainable stone spheres similar to those in Costa Rica are in one of the remotest areas of our world that range from twelve to three feet in height / diameter. Perhaps a lost civilization?


Sources

Comment: Global cooling: Excessive spring snowfall results in non-breeding year for shorebirds in north-east Greenland - 1 meter deep snow

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Cow Skull

'Is that Falkor?' Body of rotting shark found on Maine shore


RT
Fri, 20 Jul 2018 08:47 UTC
shark maine beach
A strange and disgusting looking sea creature has washed up on a Maine coastline, leading some people to speculate that beach dwelling aliens or even some sort of fantasy flying dog had landed for a spot of sunbathing.

The bizarre animal was photographed by Amy Cesar during a Thursday morning stroll along Higgins Beach. The image soon sparked great media interest, with people taking to social media to ponder what abnormal sea creature it could be.

"Isn't that the flying creature from the 'Neverending Story'?" one person asked.

Meanwhile, another Twitter user labelled the creature a "sort of ocean alien unicorn sea beach thing."

But experts from Marine Mammals of Maine have stepped in to help identify the 600-pound carcass. According to the agency, the rotting remains were actually once a species of shark.

Comment: The death of this basking shark could be natural, but it could also be more ominous:

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Fish

Invasive, predatory 'frankenfish' spotted in Pennsylvania could wreck havoc on environment if allowed to spread


RT
Thu, 19 Jul 2018 10:10 UTC
Snakehead frankenfish ecology disruptor
© Gary Cameron / ReutersThe northern snakehead is an aggressive species that typically eats other fish. Nicknamed the "frankenfish," the invasive species could wreak havoc on the environment if it's allowed to spread.
News of a particularly unfriendly species of fish - known colloquially as "frankenfish" - being spotted in a Pennsylvania county has sparked concern among officials that the voracious predators could disrupt the local ecology.

The northern snakehead is an aggressive species that typically eats other fish. Nicknamed the "frankenfish," the invasive species could wreak havoc on the environment if it's allowed to spread, according to a fact sheet on the species authored by the US Geological Survey.

"Should snakeheads become established in North American ecosystems, their predatory behavior could drastically disrupt food webs and ecological conditions, thus forever changing native aquatic systems by modifying the array of native species," the agency wrote of the bloodthirsty fish.

The cannibalistic ecology-wrecker has no lack of scary features. For one, it is said to be able to "walk" on land - although it's actually more like wriggling or snake-like slithering and it mostly does so to get back to water, not to crawl into your house and murder you while you sleep.
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Attention

What's killing the wild birds in southern Manitoba?

Shannon Dueck
Steinbachonline.com
Fri, 20 Jul 2018 16:43 UTC
A sick Merlin brought to the Centre this week.
© Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation CentreA sick Merlin brought to the Centre this week.
Concerns are being raised over the number of dead birds showing up this summer in Manitoba. This has prompted Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre near Ile des Chenes to make a request to Manitobans.

Lisa Tretiak is President of the Centre. She says it is very typical for there to be animal deaths in summer. Often it is a bird that falls to its death while learning to fly or a young animal that can not survive the harsh world it lives in. But Tretiak says this year, there seems to be a trend towards the death of birds, and very specific breeds. According to Tretiak, a lot of Crows and Merlins are dying this summer. In fact, she says they have seen between 30 and 50 dead of each type.

Tretiak says many of the sick birds being brought to the centre are shaking and showing neurological signs; some of them are in good weight, while others are not.

"We're just wanting to sort of figure out if there is something new that has come into the province," she says. "Or if it is something that has already come into the province, we will be able to help treat them better."
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Attention

2 children bitten by sharks off Fire Island, New York in rare attacks for the region

Greg Cergol
nbcboston.com
Wed, 18 Jul 2018 16:11 UTC
shark attack
The town of Islip has banned swimming at all of its ocean-facing beaches

A boy and a girl were bitten by sharks in separate attacks off Fire Island Wednesday, according to local officials and the father of one of the children.

A spokeswoman from the town of Islip said the 13-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl were bitten off the shores off Atlantique Beach and Sailors Haven -- two beaches about 4 1/2 miles apart -- around 11:15 a.m.

In the Atlantique Beach attack, the boy was boogie boarding when he was bitten, the spokeswoman said. He stumbled out of the ocean; a lifeguard ran to him and discovered the bite.

The wound was dressed and cleaned, according to the spokeswoman, and responders found a tooth lodged in the child's leg. The tooth was removed and is being analyzed to determine the shark species.


Comment: A few days earlier: Rare, double shark attack off Fernandina Beach, Florida

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Attention

Man attacked by seal in Kingswear, UK

Charley Adams
Totnes Times
Thu, 19 Jul 2018 20:28 UTC
seal
A swimmer was attacked by a seal last Friday.

The Froward Point National Coastwatch reported the attack which happened while a man was swimming in Mill Bay Cove, south of Kingswear Castle on the River Dart.

Visibility in the water was poor on Friday, July 13, and the man from Exeter was swimming on his own when the seal attacked.

Malcolm Dando from Froward Point NCI explained the man swimming felt something brush his feet and then felt a blow to his back. The seal surfaced and looked at the man again before biting him on the thigh.

This caused the man's skin to break and some bleeding and bruising which was later described as a minor injury.
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