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Thousands of dead fish wash ashore in Turkey's southern Mersin province


Hurriyet Daily News
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 14:54 UTC
dead fish

Hundreds of thousands of dead fish washed ashore in the Tarsus district of the southern Mersin province on Sept. 19, reportedly due to contamination from a malfunctioning wastewater treatment plant in neighboring Adana.

Officials have warned residents not to consume or touch the fish.

"The scene that you see here is heartbreaking. It breaks the hearts of Mersin and Tarsus residents. Millions of dead mullets have filled the beach and when we ask about the issue to the villagers nearby, they say that it's been going on for four months now," Mersin lawmaker Aytuğ Atıcı said as he visited the area, according to Doğan News Agency.

"We won't stop pursuing these incidents and will prevent fish deaths. We know that the people of Mersin and Tarsus are with us in this struggle. We are calling on them to support us," he said.
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Eye 2

Alligator attacks homeless man near Melbourne, Florida

J.D. Gallop
Florida Today
Tue, 20 Sep 2016 13:42 UTC
Alligator
© Eric Gaillard/Reuters
State wildlife officials believe that they captured the alligator that attacked and seriously wounded a homeless man swimming in the waters along Crane Creek in Melbourne on Monday. The alligator, captured by an independent trapper, was measured at 10 feet, 11 inches long, officials reported.

"They believe it is the target gator, possibly because of it's characteristics," said Greg Workman, spokesman for the Florida Wildlife Commission, the state agency tasked with finding the alligator in the hours after the attack. "That is a big gator. But it is not that uncommon for them to get that big in remote areas," Workman said.

A second, 11 foot long alligator was also captured. Both alligators have already been harvested, Workman added.

The attack happened about 9 a.m. Monday when the man, known in the homeless community by his street name "Ron Jon," suffered a number of deep punctures along his shoulder as a result of a struggle with the alligator, Melbourne police said. The man remained in stable condition late Monday, police reported. The attack happened under a U.S. 1 overpass, in a fishing spot popular with the area homeless community.

"He was in the river and an alligator came up and grabbed him. It grabbed him by the shoulder," said Cmdr. Dan Lynch of the Melbourne Police Department.

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Wolf

Dallas has a stray dog problem — about 9,000 of them, woman fatally attacked

Marisa Gerber
Los Angeles Times
Tue, 20 Sep 2016 18:38 UTC
killer dogs
© Guy Reynolds / Dallas Morning NewsStray dogs wander past apartments in south Dallas, where many residents fear the thousands of strays living in the area.
A deep growl came from the other side of Shaniqua Roland's front door.

She was pregnant at the time and headed to a doctor's appointment, but she knew she couldn't leave the house. Not with the dogs back.

For half an hour, as she tried to shoo them away, a pack of pit bulls snarled and snapped at her metal door. She thought of her sister, who'd recently lost a chunk of her calf in a dog attack. She'd see her doctor another day.

"It's crazy," Roland said, sighing. "I don't walk outside anymore. No way."

Across the low-income, predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods of southern Dallas, so many stray, sometimes vicious dogs roam the streets that many residents have given up on going outside without a bat or pipe for protection. Some carry pepper spray, others ride in golf carts to outpace the canine cliques.
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Attention

Dead humpback whale found near Sitka, Alaska

Ed Schoenfeld
kcaw.org
Tue, 20 Sep 2016 10:59 UTC
Stock image
Stock image
A dead whale found floating near Sitka last week was probably killed by a ship. That's the conclusion of a pathologist who inspected the carcass.

The humpback whale was spotted floating in Sitka Sound Sept. 13.

A team from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and the University of Alaska Southeast arrived last weekend to check out the carcass, which was beached.

Researchers collect samples from a beached humpback whale carcass Saturday on a Sitka Sound beach
© Joe SerioResearchers collect samples from a beached humpback whale carcass Saturday on a Sitka Sound beach
Kathy Burek of Alaska Veterinary Pathology Services says the whale was a sub-adult, about 42 feet long. It had been dead for about a week.

"It had indications of hemorrhage where it had been struck and possibly carried by a ship. So there are areas of trauma that look convincing that it had had a major blunt impact," she said.

She says it was likely a large vessel, such as a tanker, cruise ship or ferry. But she's not positive.
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Fish

Rare fish from warm waters washes up on beach near Tenby, Wales


Tenby Observer
Wed, 21 Sep 2016 10:44 UTC
Pictured is the four-metre blue marlin with Oliver Crimmen (right) and James Maclaine from the Natural History Museum.
Pictured is the four-metre blue marlin with Oliver Crimmen (right) and James Maclaine from the Natural History Museum.
An enormous blue marlin washed up at Freshwater East now has a new home in one of the world's leading marine collections - at the Natural History Museum in London.

The four-metre fish caused excitement locally when it was discovered at the South Pembrokeshire beach last week, with many people believing it to be a swordfish.

Since then, it has been identified as only the third blue marlin ever to be washed up in the UK, and the first full one to be recovered.

The fish was inspected in situ by representatives from Milford Haven Coastguard and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, before being collected from the beach by Pembrokeshire County Council.

Council staff stored it at the Templeton depot and reported it to Rod Penrose of the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme.

And within 24 hours of him contacting the Natural History Museum, two experts from the Department of Life Sciences were on their way to collect it.
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Attention

Signs and Portents: Two-faced calf born in Campbellsville, Kentucky

Josh Breslow
wdrb.com
Sun, 18 Sep 2016 10:12 UTC
Two-headed calf
Two-headed calf
As Stan McCubbin walked his property Friday on Spurlington Road near Campbellsville, he noticed something out of the ordinary.

"From a distance, I thought I had twins lying together," said Stan McCubbin. "I saw two noses. I thought it was twins and then when I saw her, I was just completely blown away."

"He was just like, 'I've got a two-headed calf, so I was in shock," said McCubbin's wife, Brandy.

Lucky -- as she's known -- really earned her name.

"She has two heads, but I'm okay with that," said the couple's five-year-old daughter Kenley.

"I said she was lucky to live, and our little five-year-old, Kenley, said 'That's her name -- Lucky'," said Brandy McCubbin. "She is lucky and we're blessed to have this happen on our farm."

While the family says the heifer calf is lucky to be alive, Lucky does have her share of problems.

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Attention

Elephant kills owner in Cambodia

Khouth Sophak Chakrya
The Phnom Penh Post
Tue, 20 Sep 2016 09:15 UTC
Charging elephant
© GettyCharging elephant
A 45-year-old man in Mondulkiri province was attacked and killed by his 37-year-old male elephant yesterday as he attempted to force the animal to return home after it had gone missing for several days. To Meng, Sre Ampoum commune deputy police chief, said that villager Mob Sreng was attacked when he and his nephew tried to catch the elephant, named Mai, to take him home.

A few days earlier, the elephant had become agitated and ran away. "The elephant herder victim was stabbed with the tusks in the ribs and groin," Meng said, adding that the elephant then used its trunk to pick up the man and toss him to the ground, causing instant death. After the fatal incident, the elephant charged at some vans along the road near Bousraa Waterfall, frightening tourists, he said.

Svay Sam Eang, Mondulkiri provincial governor, ordered armed forces to help maintain security and safety. He said Sreng's relatives told him to order his forces to shoot the elephant, but the request was denied.

Elephant keeper Mim Sreng did not survive the attack.
Elephant keeper Mim Sreng did not survive the attack.
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Attention

Dead juvenile humpback whale found in the Quatsino Narrows, British Columbia

Kathy O'Reilly-Taylor
North Island Gazette
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 17:42 UTC
Stock image
Stock image
According to resident Gwen Hansen, a mother and calf had been spending a lot of time feeding just off Coal Harbour lately.

According to Hansen, her husband Andrew saw the calf Saturday morning at the east end of the Quatsino Narrows.

"He thought the calf could have been around over 20 feet long and was floating on its back," Hansen said. There were no visible signs of injury.

"DFO working with Quatsino First Nations secured the animal Monday," said DFO Marine Mammal Coordinator Paul Cottrell.
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Attention

3 surfers recovering after shark attacks all within 3 hours at New Smyrna Beach, Florida


wftv.com
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 09:31 UTC
Shark
Looking for Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw?
Three surfers were attacked by sharks on New Smyrna Beach during a two-hour period, Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue said.

Of the three bitten Sunday, one person had to undergo surgery, officials said.

The first attack happened at about 10:45 a.m. when a 43-year-old Longwood man was bitten on his lower leg near the ankle, Senior Capt. Tamra Marris said.

He was surfing just south of a jetty, she said.

The next attack was reported at about 11 a.m., when a 36-year-old Miami man was bitten on both hands while surfing in the same area, Marris said.


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Attention

Dead minke whale discovered on marsh in Wachapreague, Virginia

Hillary T Chesson
Delmarva Daily Times
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 18:50 UTC
The body of a minke whale was discovered beached in the marsh near channel marker WR6 off the coast of Wachapreague, Va. on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. The Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center's Stranding Response team performed a necropsy to determi
© Jay C. FordThe body of a minke whale was discovered beached in the marsh near channel marker WR6 off the coast of Wachapreague, Va. on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. The Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center's Stranding Response team performed a necropsy to determine the whale's cause of death on Sunday.

A mature minke whale washed up onto a mud flat near channel marker WR6 outside Wachapreague on September 17.

According to Jay C. Ford, the Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper, there was nothing obvious about its injuries or cause of death following a necropsy on September 18, but the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center's stranding team will send tissue and blood samples to a pathologist in Washington, D.C. The pathology reports will take several weeks to be processed.

"The body was pretty beaten up," said Ford. "The lead scientist cautioned that more than likely the cause of death won't be determined."

According to Ford, the whale was 24 feet long. It's heart weighed approximately 15 to 20 pounds and uterine scarring indicated that it had been pregnant at some point.
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