Animals
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Black Cat 2

Cats belonging to Putin's neighbor implicated in Panama Papers

Putin with Cats
© Sandrianoff RuAccording to the West he's the most evil man on earth
Nine thousand British and six thousand American companies are listed in the Panama Papers. Readers of reputable western news magazines can be forgiven for thinking things are going wrong in the world.

No need to worry: the whistleblowers promise to keep that part of the information private — fortunately, however, western ears will receive regular updates about the Russian super-villain Vladimir Putin!

It turns out, that even his neighbour's cat has a postbox in Arizona, used to smuggle Whiskas to Russia, bypassing the freely free western sanctions of freedom against Russia.

There's no way Putin had no clue about such hanky panky.

But that is not all, the sleuths have more. Investigating journalists from the Süddeutsche Zeitung (South German Newspaper) dug up further proof of this feline's relationships with the Russian tyrant.

It turns out that the cat was born at a potato-farm in Smolensk. The owner of the farm supplies a supermarket chain with his spicy potatoes. And this is exactly the supermarket chain, where the brother-in-law of the brother-in-law of Putin's haircutter's sister goes shopping!

The latter has a daughter, whose dog (a male) mounted another dog. Damningly, the latter dog-owner's initials are V.P! And his wife plays the cello! And even had friends when in kindergarten!

Phew! Good thing we uncovered all this. Now things can get back to normal!

Source: Allgemeine Morgenpost Rundschau

Attention

Dead whale found grounded in Gardiner's Bay, New York

A drone photograph captured the sight of the dead whale grounded in Gardiner's Bay on Monday afternoon.
© Dell CullumA drone photograph captured the sight of the dead whale grounded in Gardiner's Bay on Monday afternoon.
A dead whale has run aground in Gardiner's Bay, leaving East Hampton Town officials trying to figure out what to do about it.

A bayman reported what appeared to be the carcass of a small humpback whale in the water on Sunday morning, according to Ed Michels, the chief harbormaster. Coast Guard Station Montauk searched for it but did not locate the 20-foot whale until Sunday evening, Mr. Michels said. As of Monday afternoon, the carcass had become stuck on the bay bottom and was belly up in shallow water about 500 feet from the shore between the Devon Yacht Club in Amagansett and Promised Land, he said.

Mr. Michels said he did not know any specifics about the type of whale or how long it had been dead. Right now, his main concern is what to do about it, he said, adding that he has given Supervisor Larry Cantwell two options: Leave it alone and let Mother Nature run its course, or try to tow it to shore and dispose of it, a process that comes with a hefty price tag. "If we go touch it, it's going to cost thousands."

Attention

Dead humpback whale washes up on beach in Newport, Rhode Island

Dead whale
Nestled against the rocks at the end of Hazard's Beach in Newport is what appears to be a dead humpback whale.

Andi Flax is one of dozens who came out to see it. "A friend posted some pictures on Facebook and it's not something you see everyday so we thought we'd come pay our respects."

In fact, it's been drawing Rhode Islanders from all over the state, like Jillian Borgia.

"We saw it on Facebook...we drove from Bristol to come down and see the whale!"

Some locals say the whale's been here since Sunday, but the question now is what's going to happen to it next?

"My question is how did it get there and what do you do with it? Study it, burn it, leave it there?"


Fish

Officials probing fishkill on beach in Barbados

big eyed jacks
Hundreds of big eyed jacks have washed up on a stretch of East Coast beach and environment officials aren't quite sure why.

Right now, their best guess is low oxygen levels in the water.

Yesterday morning the dead silver scale fish were the first thing that greeted Kim Somerville, who walks the Cattlewash, St Joseph beach every weekend.

She journeyed to the area for her weekly ritual, when she came across the sight.

Some of the hundreds of jacks on the beach at Cattlewash, St Joseph.
© Heather-Lynn EvansonSome of the hundreds of jacks on the beach at Cattlewash, St Joseph.

Comment: Maybe this event was connected to the seismic activity that was recorded a few days earlier? See this:Barbados rocked by magnitude 6.9 earthquake


Arrow Down

Whales found stranded around North Sea had stomachs full of plastic debris

stranded whales
The whales' deaths are symbolic of humanity's shocking disregard for marine life.

In January, 29 sperm whales were found stranded on shores around the North Sea, an area that is too shallow for the marine wildlife. Only recently were details of the animals' necropsy released. However, scientists were deeply disturbed by what they found in the animals' stomachs.

According to a press release from Wadden Sea National Park in Schleswig-Holstein, many of the whales had stomachs FULL of plastic debris, including a 13-meter-long fishing net, a 70 cm piece of plastic from a car and other pieces of plastic litter.

Some suggest that the animals thought the items were food, such as squid, which is their main staple. Others, however, believe that the travesty is largely a result of humanity's shocking disregard for marine life, which has resulted in an overabundance of plastic in the oceans.

Comment:


Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes kill woman, 18 cows and 4 pigs in Thailand

Huge thunderstorm leaves trail of death & destruction across two provinces, destroying homes, crop fields, trees, killing many animals & one human.
Huge thunderstorm leaves trail of death & destruction across two provinces, destroying homes, crop fields, trees, killing many animals & one human.
Huge thunderstorm in Nan & Phrae leaves trail of death & destruction, homes, crop fields, trees, destroyed, leaving many animals & one human dead.

In the northern Thai provinces of Nan and Phrae, summer thunderstorms struck with lightning strikes that killed one person and several animals on Monday night.

An elderly woman, Singha Prachuap, 60, was found dead in her orchard in Den Chai or Phrae.

She had taken refuge in a small shelter that collapsed on top of her during the storm.

Twenty-two cows and pigs died from lightning strikes and hundreds of homes were damaged.

Attention

Dead whale washes up near San Clemente, California

Dead whale
© Kelly Slater
A dead whale washed up Sunday on the cobblestone beach at Lower Trestles, a popular surf spot just south of San Clemente.

Todd Mansur, a boat captain for Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching, said he has seen two dead whales off Orange County's shoreline in recent days.

He said he saw the one that washed up at Trestles as it neared the water line, and the other one is expected to wash up at San Clemente State Beach in the next few days.

Both whales were estimated to be larger than 40 feet.

Mansur said that from what he saw, it was Mother Nature taking its course.

"It looked like nature. There were no marks from ships, no propeller marks, no abrasions, no entanglements," he said.


Health

Boy in hospital after being bitten by a shark in Byron Bay, Australia

It's understood the punctured wounds inflicted on the boy were caused by a wobbegong shark (stock picture)
It's understood the punctured wounds inflicted on the boy were caused by a wobbegong shark (stock picture)
A 12-year-old boy has been rushed to hospital after being bitten on the foot by a shark at a popular surfing spot.

The young boy was swimming at First Sun Beach, just north of Byron Bay in New South Wales when he suffered minor injuries in the attack shortly after midday on Wednesday.

The punctured wounds were caused by a wobbegong shark and the boy is expected to make a speedy recovery, Gold Coast Bulletin reported.

Wobbegong sharks - known for its distinctive white rings in their patterning - can become aggressive if disturbed, and are able to reach back and bite a hand holding their tail.

Emergency services were not required at the scene but the boy's parents have taken their son to a local hospital as a precaution.

Attention

Stranded whale put down after re-floating attempts fail in South Wairarapa, New Zealand

A five-metre Cuvier's beaked whale was euthanised at Whangaimoana beach, South Wairarapa after attempts to refloat it failed
© Luke TipokiA five-metre Cuvier's beaked whale was euthanised at Whangaimoana beach, South Wairarapa after attempts to refloat it failed
A whale stranded on a Wairarapa beach for two days has been euthanized and buried according to local iwi's wishes.

The 5-metre Cuvier's beaked whale has been stranded for two days since being spotted on a beach at Whangaimoana on Wairarapa's southern coast. Despite efforts to re-float the two-tonne whale on Wednesday night and Thursday, the animal was unable to swim back to sea once in the water.

Department of Conservation Wairarapa operations manager Kathy Houkamau said they made the call on Friday morning in consultation with local iwi to euthanize the whale.

"We found the whale in weaker condition when we got there and made the decision to euthanize. Obviously, our primary concern was the welfare of the whale and we knew that in that weakened state it wasn't going to re-float," she says.

The whale was shot with a firearm while a karakia was being recited and then the carcass was buried in a hole further up the beach accompanied by a ceremony presided over by Kahungunu ki Wairarapa chief executive PJ Devonshire.

Attention

Dead whale washes ashore in central Vietnam; 5th in 6 weeks

Men pull a whale body to shore in Thua Thien-Hue Province April 24.
© Dien Quang/ZingMen pull a whale body to shore in Thua Thien-Hue Province April 24.
A body of a whale was washed to shore in Thua Thien-Hue Province Saturday night and locals believe it is just another victim of the industrial pollution that has been killing fish in mass in recent days.

Locals said the whale of more than 100 kilograms was first washed to shore when it was still alive but seemed tired.

They thought it was stranded and pushed it out to the sea.

But the body showed up a short time after that.

Locals said they found whale bodies once in a while, but the animals were all big and old.

"This one is only 100 kilograms, so it's very strange," Nguyen Vinh, a local fisher, told news website Zing.