Animals
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Attention

Rare bright orange lobster caught in the Gulf of Maine

Gabe Souza
Portland Press Herald
Wed, 22 Jul 2015 14:13 UTC
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© Gabe Souza/Staff PhotographerBill Coppersmith of Windham holds a normal looking lobster next to a bright orange lobster that he caught while fishing in deepwater canyons in the Gulf of Maine with his steersman Brian Skillings.
Bill Coppersmith caught a bright orange lobster Wednesday, and in 1997 his catch included an albino.

When it comes to catching "one in several million" lobsters, Bill Coppersmith's score is 2.

While fishing in deep-water canyons in the Gulf of Maine with his sternman Brian Skillings on Wednesday, Coppersmith caught a rare bright orange lobster. He named the colorful lobster "Captain Eli" after his 4-year-old grandson.

Robert Bayer, executive director of The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine, says it's difficult to arrive at an exact number on the odds of an orange lobster.
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Arrow Down

South African pastor commands congregation to eat live snake that allegedly turns into chocolate; gets arrested for animal cruelty

Leonardo Blair
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, 23 Jul 2015 14:04 UTC
Eating Snakes
© Facebook/End Times Disciples MinistriesSelf-styled South African prophet Penuel Mnguni, 24 (l) feeds a snake to one of his congregants.
A 24-year-old self-styled South African prophet who allegedly commanded a snake to turn into chocolate, then had his parishioners feast on the reptile as a show of their faith in God's power, was arrested for animal cruelty over the weekend.

Photos posted to the Facebook page of End Times Disciples Ministries in Soshanguve, South Africa, led by the controversial young prophet Penuel Mnguni, show several of his congregants being fed what appear to be snakes as others look on with squeamish expressions.

Accompanying the photos was a message quoting Scripture and testifying of the alleged conversion of the snake into chocolate.

"‪#‎Demonstration‬ of God's Power, Romans 14. Those with small faith eats (sic) only vegetables but the ones with a great faith eats (sic) everything. During service Man of God commanded a snake to change into a chocolate and it obeyed. People ate it and enjoyed it. To God Be The Glory!" noted the message.

Mnguni was reportedly an understudy of another controversial South African pastor, Lesego Daniel, who convinced his followers to eat grass and drink petrol last year.

South Africa's Eyewitness News reported that Mnguni was arrested over the weekend after the country's animal rights group, the SPCA, charged him with animal cruelty. He was later released on bail as local courts try to find a date for his next appearance.
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Attention

35-yr-old man killed by bear in India


The New Indian Express
Sun, 26 Jul 2015 18:18 UTC
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A 35-year-old man was mauled to death by a bear in Kalvarayan Hills on Friday when he was on his way to buy grocery in a village near Chinna Salem.

This is reportedly the first incident in Kalvarayan Hills where a bear had attacked a human.

According to a source, Annamalai (35), a wage labourer of Kodamathi Village in Kalvarayan hills, took a short cut into the forest to buy grocery items in Chinna Salem. As he was walking through the forest area between Melpachori and Kallanatham village, he ran into the bear and its cub. There was not much Annamalai could do. Before he could run away, the bear came charging at him.

The bear pounced on him and started attacking his face and back. After sometime, the animal ran into the forest. Annamalai sustained severe injuries and was unable to walk. But, he managed to make a phone call to his friends, informing them about the encounter.
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Attention

Rare Beaked whale found dead on beach in Plymouth, Massachusetts

Rhodi Lee
techtimes.com
Sun, 26 Jul 2015 18:02 UTC
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© Mary Kate McHugh DiLoreto The elusive Sowerby's beaked whale is rarely seen and studied but a carcass of the marine mammal was found washed up on a Massachusetts beach giving scientists a chance to study this mysterious animal.
A dead body of a rarely seen deep water whale was washed up on a Massachusetts beach on Friday providing marine biologists with a rare opportunity to study the elusive marine animal.

The carcass was of a 17-foot female Sowerby's beaked whale weighing almost a ton and was found on Jones Beach in Plymouth. The whale, believed to be between 7 and 8 years old, was spotted by Mary Kate McHugh DiLoreto while doing a morning walk on the beach.

"While taking our morning walk on Plymouth Beach this morning, we were amazed to learn that one of the rarest species washed ashore. It is a beaked whale not commonly found in this area," she captioned on the photo she shared on Facebook. "We were told members of the Aquarium were heading down to bring it back to study it. Very cool!"
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Binoculars

Pacific loon from the Arctic seen in the summer on Lake Nockamixon, Pennsylvania

Arlene Koch
lehighvalleylive.com
Sun, 26 Jul 2015 13:02 UTC
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© Charlie TrapaniA Pacific loon is pictured in the water at Lake Nockamixon in upper Bucks County. Spotting such a bird in these parts is rare in summertime.
I hadn't chased a rare bird in awhile, but that changed when friend Devich Farbotnik called and excitedly said he had found a Pacific loon at the Tohickon boat access area on Lake Nockamixon in upper Bucks County.

If you're not an obsessed "birder" or someone interested in nature in general, you probably wouldn't know how unusual this is. But a lot of people dropped what they were doing to go see it.

Loons have very distinctive voices. Everyone who's watched TV has almost certainly heard their melancholy background yodeling used symbolically to signify lakes or other remote bodies of water. The voice of the common loon is the one that's usually used, even though in many cases you'd never find a loon of any kind at the location or time of year depicted.

Loons are rarely seen around here except from mid-March through mid-May, during spring migration, or in October and November during fall migration. In the spring when they're heading north to breed, they often call from the sky, which is something I've heard many times through the years.
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Attention

Another deep-sea dwelling oarfish surfaces, this time in Antique, Philippines

Flord Nicson Calawag
newsinfo.inquirer.net
Sat, 25 Jul 2015 20:20 UTC
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The oarfish caught by a fisherman in Antique. Oarfish are deep-sea dwellers and scientists are still trying to find out why some oarfish swim to the surface.
Julie Miranda was fishing in Barangay Indalog here on Thursday when he saw a shark chasing a big fish.

Shortly after, the shark swam off and the big fish started to float.

Miranda loaded the fish onto his boat and brought it to shore.

But the fish was no ordinary find. It was a 3-meter long oarfish weighing 14 kg.

"It was our first time to see a very big and very long fish in this town. Even the old villagers do not know the local name of this fish," said Lourdes Sarad, municipal agricultural officer of Tobias Fornier.

Oarfish, or king of herrings, was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest bony fish to be recorded in 2015.

The longest oarfish, which was hit by a steamship, was 13.7 meters, longer than a bus.

Comment: This is the third report of oarfish emerging from the deep sea since April, here are the others -

Rare 17-foot-long oarfish found dead off Catalina Island, California

Rare deep sea oarfish washes up on marsh in Aramoana, New Zealand

See in addition: Rare oarfish: New Zealand sea serpent maybe a harbinger for natural disaster, says scientist

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Wolf

Woman killed by pack of dogs in Wagoner County, Oklahoma

Melissa Hawkes
newson6.com
Fri, 24 Jul 2015 17:21 UTC
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A woman was attacked and killed by a pack of dogs in the town of Red Bird.
Neighbors in the small town of Red Bird were stunned to hear a woman was violently attacked by a pack of dogs, just feet away from their homes.

Friday afternoon, deputies said 68-year-old Carolyn Sue Lamp of Coweta was killed when three dogs attacked her in the Wagoner County town, just southeast of Coweta.

A neighbor saw the attack and tried to save her by running off the dogs and getting her water, but sadly it wasn't enough to save her.

Wagoner County Sheriff Bob Colbert said Lamp parked her car and was walking down Main Street in Red Bird, collecting cans from a ditch when the three dogs came running up to her.

"It's a tragedy this had to happen on a terrible hot day, this lady is out walking trying to make some extra money and gets mauled by a pack of dogs," he said.

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Attention

Tens of thousands of black sea hares found on Treasure Coast, Florida

Michael Allen
tcpalm.com
Thu, 23 Jul 2015 16:50 UTC
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© Laurie Blandford/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERSHundreds of sea hares were found on Waveland Beach in St. Lucie County.
Beach goers noticed hundreds of black sea creatures washed ashore Thursday at Waveland Beach.

Those creatures spotted along beaches in Martin and St. Lucie counties the past several days are, according to experts, black sea hares — and they pose no threat at all to beach goers.

"Think of them as a snail without any shell," said Zack Jud, Ph.D., director of education at the Florida Oceanographic Society. "They are absolutely harmless."

Jud said the sea hares are a part of the mollusk family and grow up to 15 inches long. Cold water upwelling is likely pushing them closer to shore.

"The water is getting so cold that they're not swimming very well," Jud said.

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Attention

Decomposed body of whale found on Ullala beach, India


seeandsaynews.in
Fri, 24 Jul 2015 14:26 UTC
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Dead whale
A giant dead whale was found at Mogaveerapatna sea shore on Friday morning July 24.

The 15 feet body of the fish was in completely decomposes state. As the stray dogs started barking, Praveen Kotian a local resident and member of life guards association reached the place and found the dead whale.

He then informed the matter to the police and Ullala purasabha members. Police and purasabha officers rushed to the spot and a huge crowd of enthusiast people gathered at the spot.
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Info

Diver killed in shark attack in Tasmania


ITAR-TASS
Sat, 25 Jul 2015 13:26 UTC
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© wikimedia.org
A diver has died in the shark attack Saturday near Maria Island 8 kilometers to the east of Tasmania's coast.

This is the first case of a deadly shark attack in Tasmania over last 17 years.
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