Animals
S


Water

These seabirds are choking on a plastic ocean

Nick Paton Walsh
My Wabash Valley
Mon, 02 Jan 2017 18:49 UTC
Plastic
Shock, combined with a little wonder at the unnatural. That's how I feel as I watch the knife slice through the sternum of a dead Laysan albatross.

Inside its ribcage: a sickening array of plastic.

A red bottle top from a well-known soft drink brand. A cigarette lighter. Or two. Long thin items I couldn't begin to identify.

It looked like the bird had swallowed the contents of an entire trash can whole.

Yet this wasn't because it dined on a refuse site. I was on Midway Island, in the remote Pacific Ocean, at least 1,500 miles from the nearest one of those. This disgusting and otherworldly sight exists because we're throwing the equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic into the oceans every minute. By 2050, a number of researchers expect the world's oceans to contain more plastic than fish, by weight.

Matt Brown, from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, used to live on the island and is now our guide.
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Attention

Dozens of birds fall from sky along Route 22 near Whitehall, Pennsylvania

Emily Opilo
The Morning Call
Tue, 03 Jan 2017 16:41 UTC
Dozens of blackbirds similar to this one apparently fell from the sky on the Route 22 median Friday afternoon, according to state police and multiple witnesses who drove through the area.
Dozens of blackbirds similar to this one apparently fell from the sky on the Route 22 median Friday afternoon, according to state police and multiple witnesses who drove through the area.
You don't have to look far for a sign of the coming apocalypse. Just check the median of Route 22.

That's where dozens of black birds apparently fell from the sky Friday afternoon, according to state police and multiple witnesses who drove through the area.

Terrence Haynes and his wife were driving east on Route 22 Friday when suddenly traffic slowed near the Route 512 exit. At first, it looked like shredded tires scattered all over the road, Haynes said. As they drove closer, it became clear that the black objects were birds. Haynes estimated that there were at least 20.

"I'm not kidding when I say it was one of the most terrible things I've ever seen," Haynes said Monday.

David Godiska of Whitehall came upon a similar scene around 1:45 p.m. while driving east near what he thought was the Fullerton Avenue exit. Traffic slowed suddenly, he said.
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Gift

The dangers of unwanted Christmas presents: Dog attacks 3 family members after owner tries to put festive sweater on it in Tampa, Florida

Cheyenne Roundtree
Daily Mail
Sun, 01 Jan 2017 16:02 UTC
Hillsborough County Animal Control currently has the dog. Eddy Durkin with Tampa Police said: 'When they Tasered the dog, it was still pulling away and was able to release the prongs from the Taser'
Hillsborough County Animal Control currently has the dog. Eddy Durkin with Tampa Police said: 'When they Tasered the dog, it was still pulling away and was able to release the prongs from the Taser'
A dog viciously attacked three members of a family after its owner tried to put a Christmas sweater on him.

Brenda Guerrero, 52, from Tampa, Florida, was in the backyard trying to put the pit bull mix, named Scarface, into a festive outfit when he attacked her, biting her on the arm.

Her husband Ismael Guerrero, 46, tried to pull the dog off his wife but then the animal started to attack him, reported WTSP.

After the couple's son Antoine Harris, 22, stabbed the dog in the neck and head, all three were able to escape back into the house.

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Attention

Dead dolphin found discovered off Sandy Hook, New Jersey

Mary Ann Spoto
nj.com
Sat, 31 Dec 2016 13:26 UTC
Dolphin
A bottlenose dolphin believed to be one stuck in the Shrewsbury River over the summer was found dead off Sandy Hook, marine wildlife rescuers said.

The dolphin, believed to be a pregnant female, was first spotted Friday at noon floating in Sandy Hook Bay about a mile from the entrance to Sandy Hook, said Bob Schoelkopf, executive director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine.

There was no outward sign of what may have caused the dolphin's death, but a necropsy is scheduled for Tuesday after the state laboratory handling those procedures reopens from the holiday break, Schoelkopf said.

A dead bottlenose dolphin was found off Sandy Hook on Friday.
© Marine Mammal Stranding CenterA dead bottlenose dolphin was found off Sandy Hook on Friday.
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Wolf

More than 1,500 dog attacks since 2014 in the West Midlands, UK


Express and Star
Thu, 29 Dec 2016 13:16 UTC
Dog attack
More than 1,500 dog attacks have taken place in the West Midlands since 2014, police have revealed.

The rate of attacks rose from 2014 to 2015, and could rise for this year after 515 incidents took place up to the end of November.

In 2014 there were 448 dog attacks but this rose to 547 the following year.

But the number of dogs seized and destroyed by West Midlands Police has dropped.

The figures were published as part of a Freedom Of Information request to the force, which showed dogs were most likely seized for being out of control - rather than being a dangerous breed.
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Attention

15 dead turtles found on beaches of South Padre Island, Texas

Pamela Cody
Valley Morning Star
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 21:15 UTC
Green turtle
Green turtle
More than 12 dead green sea turtles have washed up on Boca Chica Beach and Isla Blanca Beach in the past three to four days, according to Jeff George, curator of the nonprofit organization Sea Turtle Inc. on South Padre Island.

As of Friday, 15 green sea turtles have been found dead.

"To see that many, with nine in a half-mile stretch of beach alone, is confusing, we don't know what the heck is going on" George said.

At first appearance, George thought they looked to be dead from drowning, perished from cold, but these were fresh dead, and the weather has not been cold enough these past few days to warrant this number of dead turtles.
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Attention

Humpback whale carcass found on shore of Maui, Hawaii; fifth such incident locally since November


Hawaii News Now
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 19:53 UTC
Whale carcass, file image courtesy DLNR of the carcass off Kauaʻi earlier this week.
Whale carcass, file image courtesy DLNR of the carcass off Kauaʻi earlier this week.
The state has closed shoreline access at Ahihi Kinau Natural Area Reserve on Maui following the discovery of a humpback whale carcass on shore.

It's the fifth whale carcass reported off the islands since November. At least of the carcasses have been confirmed as dead humpback whales.

The carcasses can attract sharks, and oceangoers are urged to use caution.

The state said since November, whale carcasses have been reported in Kailua Bay, West Oahu, West Molokai and off Kauai.

The public is reminded that humpback whales, dead or alive, are protected by both federal and state marine mammal laws.

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Cow

Woman rides jumping cow after being denied horse as a girl in New Zealand

Daniel Uria
UPI
Thu, 29 Dec 2016 15:28 UTC
Cowgirl
Cowgirl
An 18-year-old in New Zealand has trained her cow to jump after being denied her own riding horse as a girl.

Hannah Simpson shared video of her 7-year-old Brown Swiss cow Lilac leaping over a large tree root on her family's farm.

"Here's a video, not the best but it'll do," she wrote.

Simpson's bond with Lilac began when she was 11 years old and her brother suggested she ride the six-month-old calf after her parents would not give her a horse, she told the New Zealand Herald.

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Attention

Sperm whale washes up on Rabbit Island, New Zealand; third such incident for the country in under a week

Tracy Neal
radionz.co.nz
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 18:38 UTC
The dead sperm whale that washed up on Rabbit Island today.
© RNZ / Tracy NealThe dead sperm whale that washed up on Rabbit Island today.
Residents in north Nelson reported seeing large whales in the bay yesterday, which were initially thought to be either humpback or right whales.

Otago University zoologist and researcher Liz Slooten said it looked very much like a sperm whale, judging by footage posted on social media.

The carcass of a sperm whale washed up on the beach this morning.

People on the beach said early this morning it appeared that several whales were offshore trying to reach it.

The dead sperm whale that washed up on Rabbit Island
© RNZ / Tracy NealThe dead sperm whale

Comment: This the third dead whale on the coast of New Zealand in less than a week, see also: Beached Gray's beaked whale dies despite rescue attempts in Timaru, New Zealand

Weeks old dead whale found on beach in South Taranak, New Zealand

Creatures from the deep signal major Earth Changes: Is anyone paying attention?

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Attention

Nature fights back: Bear hunter narrowly survives confrontation in Mitchell County, North Carolina

Anneta Konstantinides
Daily Mail
Thu, 29 Dec 2016 16:43 UTC
Another hunter fired the fatal shot that finally killed the bear, and the group skinned it
Another hunter fired the fatal shot that finally killed the bear, and the group skinned it
A North Carolina hunter narrowly survived a bear attack - and he's got the scars to prove it.

Mike Wilson was bear hunting with friends and tracking dogs when he turned around and came face to face with a 390lb bear.

Wilson said the bear was coming up a hill as he was going down it. When he saw the animal, his first instinct was to shoot it.

But trouble arose when he tried to get another shell into his gun.

'It just overrun me and knocked me down the hill,' he told WLOS.

The bear scratched at Wilson's face and neck, only just barely missing his jugular vein.

It then injured two of the group's tracking dogs and killed another before it ran into a hole to hide.

Another hunter in Wilson's group then fired the fatal shot to finally put the bear down.

North Carolina hunter Mike Wilson came face to face with a 390lb bear and just narrowly survived the attack
North Carolina hunter Mike Wilson came face to face with a 390lb bear and just narrowly survived the attack
The bear scratched at Wilson's face and neck, only just barely missing his jugular vein
The bear scratched at Wilson's face and neck, only just barely missing his jugular vein
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