Animals
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Camera

Tourist trampled to death by elephant after provoking it by moving too near to takes pictures in Kenya

Jenny Awford
Daily Mail
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 14:52 UTC
He suffered serious injuries to his left leg and died after the elephant (stock) charged at him
He suffered serious injuries to his left leg and died after the elephant (stock) charged at him
A 66-year-old Italian tourist was trampled to death by an elephant after 'provoking' the animal when he moved too close to get a better photo, police said.

Ferdinando Mocciola had been having breakfast with his wife in their tent when he left to photograph the elephant at a waterhole in Kenya's coastal region on Sunday.

The businessman suffered serious injuries to his left leg and died after the elephant charged at him outside luxury Swara Camp in Kulalu Ranch, according to officials.

Malindi Police chief Muchangi Mutava said the elephant attacked the tourist when he provoked it by moving closer to take photographs.

'He excused him while taking breakfast with the wife and proceeded to water point and started taking pictures, provoking the elephant that charged towards him and attacked him seriously wounding him,' Mr Mutava said.
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Info

Dolphins appear to be capable of constructing sentences

Tim Sandle
Digital Journal
Sat, 17 Sep 2016 18:30 UTC
Bottlenose dolphins
© Wikimedia CommonsTursiops truncatus. Bottlenose dolphins are facing several significant threats in the Gulf region.
Dolphins are super-smart and they have a language. New research has probed the complexity of this language and concludes that dolphins not only communicate words with each other, but they are also capable of constructing sentences.

The research comes via the Russian Academy of Scientists from a study of Black Sea bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus.) Here a pair of dolphins were observed communicating with each other in a manner that was sophisticated, had a form of structure and is seen as akin to a sentence. Exactly what the dolphins were communicating to each other is uncertain.

Bottlenose dolphins are a common type of dolphin, living groups (or 'pods') typically of 10 - 30 members. These dolphins have a has a grey color, with the shade of grey varying among populations. Dolphins are remarkable in that they search for prey primarily using echolocation (a type of sonar).
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Attention

Dead whale found on beach in Maharashtra, India; 3rd this month and 10th in 15 months for the state


New Indian Express
Sun, 18 Sep 2016 15:15 UTC
Representative image
© Hindustan TimesRepresentative image
The decomposed carcass of a blue whale, estimated to be around 32-feet-long was discovered on Murud beach in Raigad district of Maharashtra.

This is the third dead whale to have been discovered on the coastline between Mumbai and south Maharashtra in September.

Researchers are working to identify the species of this one.

In all, 10 Baleen Whales - a minor order of animals that includes blue whales, Bryde's Whales and Humpback Whales - have beached in Maharashtra alone since June 2015.

Gujarat saw at least two stranding in May and July this year, one of which was a blue whale. At least one Bryde's whale has stranded in Kerala.
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Attention

Dead whale found on Oregon coast near Oswald West State Park

Jim Ryan
The Oregonian
Sat, 17 Sep 2016 14:59 UTC
A dead whale at Falcon Cove in Arch Cape on the Oregon Coast on Sept. 17, 2016.
© Stephanie GoochA dead whale at Falcon Cove in Arch Cape on the Oregon Coast on Sept. 17, 2016.
A dead whale has washed up on the Oregon coast near Oswald West State Park.

Stephanie Gooch, who lives near the state park, said her family spotted the whale on some rocks or a sandbar no more than 300 yards offshore Friday night. Gooch, 37, said she figured it was dead because it wasn't moving much, though the waves made it difficult to tell.

She woke up early Saturday morning and found the whale about 100 yards from one of her neighborhood's two beach entrances. Neighbors believe it's a humpback, and she said it's probably too small to be an adult.

Its stomach was bloated at the time and has since exploded, she said. Its flukes — as the two lobes of the tail are known — were gone. Gooch said it looked as though they had been eaten or picked at.

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Attention

Dead humpback whale found in Sea Isle City, New Jersey

Monica Antonio
Nature World News
Sat, 17 Sep 2016 18:53 UTC
A whale washed up in Sea Isle City on Friday.
© Jacqueline L. UrgoA whale washed up in Sea Isle City on Friday.
The carcass of a young humpback whale washed up in Sea Isle City on Friday afternoon, 3.p.m.

According to Press of Atlantic City, the whale was previously spotted off the coast of Strathmere earlier in the day. The humpback whale's cause of death is still unknown, but Bob Schoelkopf said that the animal could not have been attacked by a shark or any predator because there were no visible bite marks.

Schoelkopf believes that the young animal may have been ill or its mother died. Officials say that the young male humpback whale could have been dead for four or five days before it washed up on the beach, Ocean City Patch reports.


Closer view of whale pic.twitter.com/AaShWxz7zW

— Brian Ianieri (@BIanieri) September 16, 2016
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Cow

Farmer found dead, likely gored by bull in Verona, Kentucky

Alex Suckow
wlwt.com
Thu, 15 Sep 2016 18:34 UTC
bull attack
A man found dead in Northern Kentucky appears to have been gored by a bull, authorities said.

The Boone County Sheriff's Office said fire officials were called just before 1 p.m. on Wednesday to the 13000 block of U.S. 42 in Verona for reports of a dead man in a field.

Major Tom Scheben said Ricky Miller, 53, had been working on the family farm during the morning when he was probably attacked by the bull on a hillside.

Officials said it is up to the family to determine what to do with the bull.

The Boone County coroner was called to the scene and will determine the official cause of death.

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Attention

Second dead dolphin found in Penang, Malaysia


The Star
Thu, 15 Sep 2016 18:19 UTC
Sad fate: The carcass of the dolphin that washed up on the Teluk Bayu beach.
Sad fate: The carcass of the dolphin that washed up on the Teluk Bayu beach.
A dead dolphin washed ashore at the Teluk Bayu beach in Teluk Kumbar, the second such incident in the area within a month.

Beach-goers spotted the carcass, took pictures of it and uploaded them on social media. The images have since gone viral.

The first case occurred last month in which a dead dolphin, believed to have choked on plastic, was found along the beach off Pulau Jerejak.

It was not clear how the dolphin in the latest incident had died.

According to Universiti Sains Malaysia marine biologist Dr Aileen Tan, it was common for turtles to choke on plastic refuse, thinking that these were jellyfish.
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Powertool

From crows to elephants, species utilise DIY tools in every day life

John Ingham
The Express (UK)
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 19:31 UTC
New Caledonian crows can fashion hooks out of wire to grab titbits
© GettyNew Caledonian crows can fashion hooks out of wire to grab titbits
Man always likes to think he's a cut above the rest of the natural world.

And one of the ways he likes to set himself apart is by his use of tools. Now, on that yardstick I'm barely human.

I am to DIY what the New York Yankees are to football. But the rest of humankind is far from alone in being a dab hand with tools.

This week an endangered crow from sun-soaked Hawaii became the latest species to be proclaimed a tool-user. Nature magazine said the Alala was observed by St Andrews University researchers winkling tasty grubs out of dead wood with a twig held in its beak.

It is following in the footsteps of New Caledonian crows, which can fashion hooks out of wire to grab titbits.

A fascinating new book by ecologist Carl Safina says tool use is widespread. Birds do it, elephants do it, even educated gorillas do it.
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Attention

Hundreds of horseshoe crabs found dead on tidal flat in Japan

Takuya Miyano
The Asahi Shimbun
Wed, 14 Sep 2016 14:59 UTC
Shungo Takahashi measures dead horseshoe crabs at a tidal flat in Kita-Kyushu.
© Takuya MiyanoShungo Takahashi measures dead horseshoe crabs at a tidal flat in Kita-Kyushu.
Nearly 500 dead horseshoe crabs have washed ashore at a tidal flat here, and researchers have no idea what is killing the endangered species that dates back 200 million years.

According to a local horseshoe crab protection group, 50 to 60 dead horseshoe crabs are found annually at the Sonehigata tidal flat, one of the largest habitats of horseshoe crabs in Japan. But 490--the largest number over the last 20 years--have already been discovered this year.

Hiroko Koike, a researcher at the Kyushu University Museum who studies horseshoe crabs at Sonehigata, said the overall health of the crabs appears good.

"Rises in the sea level caused by global warming, shortages of places to lay eggs and a lack of nutrition could have resulted in their deaths," Koike said. "We have to be careful to identify the cause."
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Attention

Diver attacked by great white shark off Santa Barbara, California

Mayde Gomez
6abc.com
Thu, 15 Sep 2016 14:21 UTC
Shark attacks
The college student who came within inches of a great white shark off the coast of Santa Barbara said he definitely thought his life was "finished."

It was like a scene from a terrifying movie. Tyler McQuillen was spearfishing when he was attacked by a great white shark. A GoPro camera captured the frightening encounter.

"I thought it was my friend Brent playing a joke on me, just tugging on my fin. So I thought nothing of it and I didn't turn around," he said.

But that quickly changed once McQuillen felt one of his flippers being ripped right off.

"And I turned around and he was thrashing my fin, and I realized it was a great white," he said. That's when he knew - it was on.

The 22-year-old quickly retrieved the spear gun he had dropped- just in time.

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