Animals
S


Attention

Dozens of octopuses swarm harbor in Monterey, California

Paloma Chavez
MSN
Fri, 01 Nov 2024 10:44 UTC
mmmm
Onlookers glimpsed an "incredible sighting" in a California harbor, a business said.

About 25 octopuses surfaced over the course of an hour near shops by the wharf in Monterey on Oct. 28, according to a Facebook post by Monterey Bay Whale Watch.

Employees said even after 20 years of working at the shop, they've never seen a "sight like it," the company said.

The whale watching company's guess as to why the cephalopods all came swarming to the harbor is simple - oxygen.

Millions of anchovies in the water recently have been "depleting the oxygen supply," forcing these octopuses to seek oxygen at the surface, the agency said.

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Attention

Florida surfer bit by a shark at the same beach he was bitten at 11 years ago


CTV News
Fri, 01 Nov 2024 20:18 UTC
Cole Taschman at Martin North Hospital after being bitten by a shark at Bathtub Beach in Stuart, Florida on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024.
Cole Taschman at Martin North Hospital after being bitten by a shark at Bathtub Beach in Stuart, Florida on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024.
A Florida man is recovering from a shark bite just over a decade after being bitten at the same beach.

Cole Taschman, 28, was surfing with two friends at Bathtub Beach in Stuart on the state's east coast last Friday afternoon when the attack occurred, Treasure Coast Newspapers reported.

"As I was paddling against the current, my feet are behind me, they were laying flat on the board, and an about 8- or 9-foot (2.4- or 2.7-metre) either bull shark or tiger shark came up behind me and snatched my feet," Taschman said.

Three tendons were completely torn and one was partially torn in the attack. Two surgeries have left the fishing charter captain with 93 stitches and about a dozen staples. He spent four days at the hospital before heading home to recover, and he might need another surgery.
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Cow

Man killed in stray bull attack in Uttar Pradesh, India


Deccan Herald
Fri, 01 Nov 2024 20:07 UTC
Representative image showing a bull.
Representative image showing a bull.
A 65-year-old man died after being attacked by a stray bull in the Gauriganj area of this Uttar Pradesh district, police said on Friday.

Poore Babu Mau resident Ram Manohar was returning home from his field late on Thursday when the bull attacked him, they said.

Manohar suffered serious injuries and was rushed to the district hospital where doctors declared him dead, they added.

Gauriganj police station inspector-in-charge Shyam Narayan Pandey said the body was sent for post-mortem and legal proceedings were underway.

Meanwhile, Rita, a local resident, claimed the bull had attacked several people recently. She claimed her son was seriously injured after being attacked by the bull earlier on Thursday.

Despite repeated incidents of the animal attacking people, no action has been taken to capture the bull, she alleged.

PTI
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Attention

Hunter killed in brown bear attack in southeast Alaska


BNO News
Fri, 01 Nov 2024 20:00 UTC
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A 50-year-old man who went deer hunting in southeast Alaska was mauled to death by a group of brown bears, officials confirmed Thursday. He had earlier been reported missing.

Tad Fujioka, 50, was reported missing on Tuesday night after leaving on a solo deer hunting trip on Baranof Island, which is part of the ABC islands along the Canadian border.

The next morning, Alaska Wildlife Troopers, the U.S. Coast Guard, and Sitka SAR launched land-based searches in remote wooded areas on the island, which is known for its wilderness and dense brown bear population.

"At approximately 11:30am, search teams located Fujioka's remains," Alaska State Troopers said in a statement. "Investigation revealed he was the likely victim of a fatal bear mauling.

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter spotted three brown bears in the area. Police spokesman Tim DeSpain said the bears apparently mauled Fujioka and consumed a deer he had killed.

Fujioka's body was recovered and his family has been notified.
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Binoculars

American robin makes rare appearance in Harbin, China


CGTN
Fri, 01 Nov 2024 19:44 UTC
North American migratory bird Turdus mig
© CFPNorth American migratory bird Turdus migratorius appears on a tree in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province on October 31, 2024.
Bird experts have confirmed that a North American migratory bird has made a rare appearance in northeast China.

The Turdus migratorius, commonly known as the American Robin, was spotted foraging on a tree recently in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province. Images of the migratory bird were taken by photography enthusiasts in the area.

Professor Xu Qing from the School of Wildlife and Nature Reserves at Northeast Forestry University and other bird experts confirmed through image comparison that this bird is the American Robin. Experts say that it is a common bird species in North America, but it is very rare in China, and there are few observation records of it in the country.

They often appear in grasslands and coniferous forest areas. They mainly feed on various wild fruits and berries, plant seeds, as well as insects and invertebrates.
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Fish

Shocking rise in whale, dolphin and porpoise strandings as wind farms proliferate around British coast

Chris Morrison
The Daily Sceptic
Mon, 28 Oct 2024 07:00 UTC
dolphins
© unknownDolphins
Over the last decade as offshore wind farms proliferated around the U.K., there has been a disturbing rise in coastline strandings of whales, dolphins and porpoises. Since the turn of the century, strandings have more than doubled and are now running at over 1,000 animals a year. The slaughter has been largely ignored by the mainstream media that runs with the agreed narrative that offshore wind is environmentally friendly and is the key to achieving Net Zero by 2050. In fact, wind turbines, whether on or off the shore, are a clear danger to many endangered species and concerns are mounting about their widespread and harmful effects on the natural world. Years ago, the great cause in environmentalism was to save the whales, but these concerns seem to have abated of late, while the slaughter of millions of onshore bats, along with the destruction of many types of large raptors, is simply ignored.

Comment: See also:

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Binoculars

Barau's Petrel seabird from the Indian Ocean appears off coast of France on Oct.10th - 1st record for the Western Palearctic

Guillaume Rey
Birdguides.com
Wed, 30 Oct 2024 12:32 UTC
Barau's Petrel reeds only on Réunion in the Indian Ocean
© Guillaume ReyBarau's Petrel reeds only on Réunion in the Indian Ocean
On 10 October 2024, following ex-Hurricane Kirk, I decided undertake a seawatch at Lège-Cap Ferret, Gironde, in the hope of observing some storm-driven seabirds. I took up position at dawn on top of a sand dune that overlooked the beach and permitted good views out to sea. I had a strong sense of anticipation, but I did not think that shortly I would observe a new species for the Western Palearctic ...

At 8.20 am I picked up a very interesting-looking, long-winged seabird among a group of Sandwich Terns, heading north at about 300 m offshore. I could see that it was a Pterodroma petrel but was uncertain about its identification. The most likely species is Desertas Petrel, but it has a largely dark underwing and the bird in front of me had extensive white in the underwings. The other likely candidate was Zino's Petrel and some of them have quite a lot of white in the underwings, though nothing like this bird.

Despite the distance, I decided to take some record photographs and, as it turned out, this proved to be critical to clinching identification of a wholly unexpected species. The petrel continued northwards and was lost to view.
Barau's Petrel, Lège-Cap-Ferret, Gironde, 10 October 2024
© Guillaume ReyBarau's Petrel, Lège-Cap-Ferret, Gironde, 10 October 2024
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Attention

Boy, 12, says brutal kangaroo attack left him 'traumatised and scared'


9news.com.au
Sat, 26 Oct 2024 10:46 UTC
mmmmmmm
A 12-year-old boy who was hospitalised after a terrifying kangaroo attack says the backyard was terrifying.

Phoenix Bond said the animal pinned him down for minutes before a neighbour heard his cries for help just in time.

"I just feel like pretty traumatised, really scared," he told 9News.

Bond was left with blood streaming from his head, and suffered a massive gash to his right thigh.

The 12-year-old was looking at a mob of roos in his backyard when a large male bounded towards him.

Bond tried to run away but slipped.

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Fish

The mystery of a thousand dead whales and dolphins

Jo Nova
joannenova.com.au
Wed, 23 Oct 2024 20:47 UTC
For some reason more than a thousand whales, dolphins and porpoises died around the UK's coastline every year for the last eight years. This is roughly twice as many as in the 25 years before that. What could it be?

Whatever it is, it isn't windfarms. Greenpeace says so:
"There is no evidence whatsoever linking offshore wind to whale deaths. The manufactured hysteria is the result of fake news promoted by politicians, big oil, and their cronies to save the oil and gas industry"
Greenpeace Australia says wind-plants save whales.:
..."building offshore wind is way, way better for ocean wildlife than fossil fuels".
And yet there are a thousand dead cetaceans.

Andrew Montford of NetZeroWatch graphed beached dolphins, whales and porpoises against the rise of a new industrial marine machine:
Cetacean Strandings in the UK
© DissentientCetacean Strandings in the UK graphed against offshore wind capacity. - Dissentient
There's no evidence, say Greenpeace, sounding just like Philip Morris.
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Black Cat 2

Lioness mauled a five-year-old boy to death in Gujarat, India


Times of India
Tue, 22 Oct 2024 10:54 UTC
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A lioness mauled a five-year-old boy to death in Navi Jikadri village of Jafrabad taluka in Amreli district on Monday night. The child, who was the son of farm labourers, was playing outside his hut in a plantation area when the attack occurred.

According to the forest officials, the lioness attacked the boy and dragged him away. After an extensive search by residents and forest department personnel, the child's half-eaten body was found in the bushes.

The forest officials have set up traps to capture the wild animal.

The victim was identified as Ayush Joliya. His parents were harvesting cotton on a farm while he was playing with his brother when a lioness appeared, grabbed the child, and dragged him into the bushes in the forest area. The victim's brother started screaming, which alerted his parents and other villagers.

Amreli district has the highest number of lions moving in areas outside the protected forest. According to an estimate, there are about 150 lions in the district, and encounters with wild animals have become frequent for the villagers.
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