Animals
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Dead whale found near Downham Market, UK


klfm967.co.uk
Wed, 13 Sep 2017 13:23 UTC
dead whale
A man had a shock last night as he drove home from Downham Market: a whale on a nearby riverbank.

Ricky Pettit told us the dead animal had been washed up yesterday evening.

But he said it had disappeared this morning:
"It was probably about eight to ten feet long.

"Fairly big, but I wouldn't say it was a fully-grown one, because having looked online it looked like it could have been a Mink whale."

"We stopped, turned round and had a look.

"Couldn't make out from the bridge what it was, so went and had a closer look and turned out it was this little whale dead on the side of the river."
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Attention

Squirrels attack residents of Lake Vista, New Orleans in at least 4 incidents

Paul Murphy
wwltv.com
Wed, 13 Sep 2017 12:54 UTC
angry sqirrel
In the Lake Vista neighborhood of New Orleans, neighbors live along lush, tree-lined lanes in harmony with nature.

But, this week nature attacked.

"All of a sudden I felt something on my back and it was a squirrel," Gary Prechter said. "I grabbed it and I flung it down on the lane and it turned around and came back at me. It attached itself to my ankle and started biting me and scratching me and I tried to get it off as best I could."

Prechter is one of at least four people who've had violent encounters with Lake Vista neighborhood squirrels in recent days.

The pastor at St. Pius Catholic Church confirms two women were attacked in his parking lot after Sunday mass.
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Attention

Record number of deadly Portuguese man o'war jellyfish turn up on Britain's beaches

Keiran Southern
Daily Mail
Tue, 12 Sep 2017 18:39 UTC
Deadly Portuguese man o' war (pictured) armed with poisonous tentacles that can kill a human have invaded Britain's beaches with record numbers washing up on the Cornish coast
Deadly Portuguese man o' war (pictured) armed with poisonous tentacles that can kill a human have invaded Britain's beaches with record numbers washing up on the Cornish coast
Deadly Portuguese man o' wars armed with poisonous tentacles that can kill a human have invaded Britain's beaches with record numbers washing up on the Cornish coast.

The Cornwall Wildlife Trust said there had been 144 sightings in the last three days, beating the previous record of 40 recorded in 2000 and 2009.

They said that the creatures were washing up because of the strong westerly winds pounding the British coastline.

The Marine Conservation Society said there had also been sightings reported on beaches in Pembrokeshire, Isles of Scilly and Ireland.

Perranporth beach in north Cornwall was temporary closed as a precaution due to the numbers found.

The Portuguese man o' war, which is not a jellyfish but a floating colony, has long tentacles that can cause a painful sting and be fatal in extremely rare cases.
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Bizarro Earth

Australians advised to hunt and eat kangaroos as population outnumbers humans by two to one

Harriet Pavey
Evening Standard
Mon, 11 Sep 2017 00:00 UTC
australian kangaroo population overrun
© AFP / GettyOut of control: the kangaroo population in Australia is double that of humans
Australians have been told to hunt and eat kangaroos after the population of the marsupial reached double that of humans.

New data shows the kangaroo population in Australia is close to hitting 50 million, while the human population stands at 24 million.

Experts are now warning Australians to hunt, eat and cull the native animal or face being overrun by it.

The kangaroo population has boomed in recent years, rising to 45 million last year from 27 million in 2010, news.com.au reported. The huge rise in kangaroo numbers is thought to be due to an abundance of food after high rainfall.

David Paton, Associate Professor from the University of Adelaide, said communities needed to support kangaroo culling programmes and eat their meat to avoid wasting carcasses.
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Attention

Dead whale found adrift near d'Urville Island, New Zealand

Hannah Bartlett
Stuff
Tue, 12 Sep 2017 14:22 UTC
A large dead whale, thought to be a blue whale, has been spotted adrift south-west of D'Urville Island.
© Peter ConnollyA large dead whale, thought to be a blue whale, has been spotted adrift south-west of D'Urville Island.
What was initially thought to be the upturned hull of a boat has proved to be a 15-metre long dead whale, floating near d'Urville Island.

Sealord skipper Peter Connolly said he was out fishing when he spotted it off the western side of d'Urville Island north of Nelson.

"It was so bloated it just looked like the hull of a boat upside down... when we got close I realised what it was," Connolly said.

He said at first he thought sharks were feeding on it.

"But it wasn't. It was those big black petrels ... they're like an albatross size bird. They were just feeding on it absolutely profusely."

Connolly said he couldn't see any obvious injuries to suggest the whale had been hit by anything.
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Attention

Man bitten by shark in Western Australia


9news.com.au
Mon, 11 Sep 2017 18:48 UTC
Shark attacks
An unknown species of shark has bitten a man while he was swimming in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

A shark warning has been issued for Sams Creek following the incident at 3pm on Sunday.

The man was treated at Roebourne District Hospital for minor injuries but the incident was not reported until Monday.

Meanwhile, a shark warning remains in place near Admiralty Crescent at Halls Head in Mandurah, south of Perth, after a whale carcass washed ashore.

Beaches are closed between Falcon Bay and Doddies Beach.

"It is possible the carcass will act as an attractant that could lead to sharks coming close into shore along this stretch of coast," the Primary Industries and Regional Development Department warns.

Source: AAP
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Bug

Huge swarm of locusts devastate swathes of farmland in southern Russia

Stewart Paterson
Daily Mail
Sat, 09 Sep 2017 13:39 UTC
The video, which was shot last month, shows a group of fishermen as they battle past the swarm of locusts
The video, which was shot last month, shows a group of fishermen as they battle past the swarm of locusts
Horrifying footage shows an enormous swarm of locusts devouring everything in their path in a Russian town.

Innumerable insects filled the skies of Ninovka, in the south of the country, to the horror of locals.

The video, which was shot last month, shows a group of fishermen as they battle past the swarm of locusts.

It comes as huge migrations of the flying insects have devastate farms in southern Russian and surrounding regions.

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Attention

Dead whale discovered at Cape Wolfe, Canada

Desiree Anstey
Prince Edward Island Guardian
Sun, 10 Sep 2017 12:50 UTC
Rick Cameron discovered a marine mammal washed up on the shoreline of Cape Wolfe.
© Rick CameronRick Cameron discovered a marine mammal washed up on the shoreline of Cape Wolfe.
A local man discovered a marine mammal on Cape Wolfe beach Sunday afternoon.

Rick Cameron was with his wife, Bethe, taking a leisurely stroll along the shore when they noticed something reflect the sunlight in the distance.

"We first spotted it a kilometer away and thought it was a power boat caught in the rocks because the sun was glimmering over the top, but as we got closer my wife and I began to realize it was something else."

A mysterious 10-foot long black whale carcass rested between the sea and sand, with no signs of trauma or decay.
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Attention

Surfer bitten by great white shark at Iluka beach, New South Wales, Australia

Alina Rylko and Ashleigh Gleeson
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
Sun, 10 Sep 2017 11:58 UTC
A surfer was bitten by a shark at Iluka on the NSW North Coast.
© Amber HopkinsA surfer was bitten by a shark at Iluka on the NSW North Coast.
A surfer has been described as "the luckiest man on earth" after a shark snapped his board in half before biting his hip on the NSW north coast this morning

Byron Bay local Abe McGrath, 35, was lying on his board off Main Beach, about 300m north of the Illuka Wall, just after 6am when a shark "latched" its jaws onto his surfboard.

Fellow surfer Bryce Cameron, 34, said the shark, believed to be a 3.5m juvenile white pointer — also known as a great white shark — came up from underneath Mr McGrath, snapping his board in half then piercing his hip.

"He was laying on his board and he got attacked from below really aggressively, the force of the attack snapped his board," Mr Cameron, who was on the beach and about to head into the water when the attack occurred, said.
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Attention

Flesh-eating fungus threatens to wipe out fire salamanders across Germany


Deutsche Welle
Sat, 09 Sep 2017 10:55 UTC
fire salamander
Fire salamander
A deadly flesh-eating fungus responsible for decimating fire salamander populations in Europe is spreading in Germany, according to researchers.

The Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans fungus first arrived in Europe from Southeast Asia in 2010, wiping out fire salamander populations in Belgium and resulting in severe declines in the Netherlands.

It was first detected in western Germany's Eifel region in 2015, but has recently been found in Essen, nearly 100 kilometers away (60 miles).

"This is a rapid spread and it can occur throughout the country," Sebastian Steinfartz, a researcher at TU Braunschweig's Zoological Institute, told news agency DPA.

The black-and-yellow spotted fire salamander is one of the best-known species in Europe.
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