Animals
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Question

25 dead walrus found on Alaska beach

Dan Joling
cbc.ca
Fri, 18 Sep 2015 20:13 UTC
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© Joel Garlich-Miller/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/APThis April 13, 2004 photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a large Pacific bull walrus on ice in the Bering Sea off the west coast of Alaska. On Friday the agency said it's investigating the deaths of 25 Pacific walrus found on an isolated northwest Alaska beach.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Friday it is investigating the deaths of 25 Pacific walrus found on an isolated northwest Alaska beach.

A person connected to an Air Force radar station in the remote area spotted the animals and notified the agency this week. The walrus included 12 pups, and some were missing their heads and tusks.

The cause of death has not been determined, said Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Andrea Medeiros, and investigators do not want to speculate.

"We can't come to any conclusions based on a report," she said Friday. "You have to go out and investigate."

Only Alaska Natives who live in the state may hunt walrus for subsistence or for the creation of handicrafts or clothing.
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Attention

Dead humpback whale washes ashore near Cannery Row, California

Ana Ceballos
Monterey County Weekly
Fri, 18 Sep 2015 19:32 UTC
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© Nic Coury
Biologists arrived at San Carlos Beach near Cannery Row early on Friday morning to examine the carcass of a 20-foot humpback whale that washed ashore the night before.

Although the whale's corpse was no longer resting on the shore Friday morning, it was still floating near the beach, says Justin Viezbicke, the stranding coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NOAA biologists have taken small skin samples of the dead whale and hope to conduct a necropsy, but so far, it has proven to be a challenge to find a place to conduct the procedure.

"We don't know what happened. It came up last night and we are now trying to figure out why it died," Viezbicke says. The whale's carcass was reported about 9pm on Thursday.
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Wolf

Wolves kill large guard dogs in Butternut, Wisconsin

Courtney Terlecki
waow.com
Sat, 19 Sep 2015 13:24 UTC
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Spanish Mastiffs
For the past eight years, farmer Paul Canik has been protecting his exotic sheep worth thousands of dollars from wolves with a special breed of guard dog called a Spanish Mastiff.

After eight years, the wolves have killed two of Canik's dogs. The first one was over Mother's Day weekend, and a week ago, the second dog has been killed.

"Those dogs meant the world to us," said Canik.

The dogs were like family to him, and now, Canik has only four dogs left, three of which are puppies that he fears for.

"We had to tie our other three guard dogs up now every night," said Canik. "We tied them up so we don't lose them."

With his guard dogs tied up, the sheep are being left unprotected while Canik searches for anywhere to purchase more Spanish Mastiff dogs.
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Question

Dead crows litter streets in Spokane, Washington

Kaitlin Loukides
krem.com
Thu, 17 Sep 2015 17:36 UTC
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© KREMDead crows litter streets in West Valley and Millwood
A viewer e-mailed KREM 2 News on Thursday expressing concern over a large amount of dead birds - crows, to be exact - right near Bessie Street in the neighborhood of West Valley in Spokane.

What is worrying residents like Debbie Lehinger is the fact that they are crows.

"We were always told that if you were to see a dead crow to be concerned and to report it," Lehinger said.

Thursday, the Department of Fish and Wildlife told KREM 2 they are looking into what caused this.

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Smiley

Seal goes surfing on a whale

Freya Noble
Daily Mail, UK
Thu, 17 Sep 2015 18:24 UTC
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Surf's up! Photographer Robyn Malcolm captured this incredible shot of a seal surfing on a humpback whale
A photographer has captured the incredible moment a seal was seen surfing on the back of a humpback whale off the NSW south coast.

A pod of whales were in the midst of a feeding frenzy when Robyn Malcolm captured the extremely rare occurrence.

'On a recent whale watching trip out of Eden, NSW, we experienced dolphins, seals, birds and whales feeding on bait fish.

'At times there was so much going on, you didn't know which way to point the camera,' Ms Malcolm said.

'The seals and dolphins were going crazy on top of the water, then the whales would lunge straight through the middle.

'I managed to get some great shots of whales feeding, but was surprised to find these photos in amongst them, as I didn't see it at the time.

'I don't think he stayed there for long!'
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Attention

Half of ocean life has died out within the past 45 years says study


RT
Wed, 16 Sep 2015 02:38 UTC
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© Antonio Bronic / Reuters
Overfishing and other similar threats have caused the number of fish and animals in the ocean to have halved since 1970 with conservation group WWF calling the situation 'critical'.

Not only fish are dying out: The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) study tracked the populations of some 1,234 species, such as seals, turtles, dolphins and sharks.

"There is a massive, massive decrease in species which are critical," said Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International.

When it comes to dinner staples such as tuna or mackerel, populations have fallen by a shocking 75 percent since the seventies, according to a study by the WWF and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

Unfortunately all the threats are man-made. The study claims that the global fishing fleet is too big, and between $14bn and $35bn go into supporting it every year.

Comment: There may be more going on here than than just over-fishing and pollution. The Sixth Extinction and grander cosmic phenomenon need consideration as well.

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Fish

Kayakers nearly crushed to death by huge whale


RT
Wed, 16 Sep 2015 13:34 UTC
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© Sanctuary Cruises / YouTube
Two kayakers miraculously escape death after a massive humpback whale launched itself out of the water and nearly crushed them outside Moss Landing harbor in California, a viral YouTube video shows.

"We stopped to see a large aggregation of humpbacks feeding and carrying on with random acts of hijinks. There were also a lot of kayakers right in the middle of it all," wrote Sanctuary Cruises, a whale-watching group which shot the footage.
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Fish

Japanese fishermen catch giant wolffish in Pacific Ocean

Clement Ejiofor
NAJI.com
Wed, 16 Sep 2015 15:30 UTC
Wolfish_1
© NAJI.comAn enormous wolffish was caught by baffled Japanese fishermen.
An enourmous sea monster was caught by baffled Japanese fishermen off the island of Hokkaido.

A ferocious looking fish with a gigantic head and sharp, protruding teeth has been found swimming in the waters of Pacific Ocean.

After the creature was caught and boarded, the fishermen identified it as quite harmless Bering wolffish.

They also believe that the fish is one of the largest wolffish ever recorded.

Comment:

Note that this is not a mutant species of fish. More info on wolfish.

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Attention

Dead Bottlenose dolphin washes on the Gold Coast, Australia; 3rd stranding in September

Naomi Tsvirko
Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 16 Sep 2015 19:28 UTC
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The dead female bottlenose dolphin that was found washed up on the Gold Coast is just one of many strandings in the area
Marine experts are hoping the results of an autopsy carried out on a dead dolphin found washed on a Gold Coast beach will offer clues into the mammal's mysterious death.

It is not known how long the female bottlenose dolphin had been dead when it washed ashore at Broadbeach on Sunday without any scarring or visible injuries.

'Sea World will conduct a post-mortem on a dolphin which washed up at Broadbeach over the weekend. We have also sent away samples in an attempt to identify a cause of death,' a Sea World spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
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Wolf

Coyote attacks kill 2 dogs, neighbors 'panicking' in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin

Rachel Minske
Wauwatosa Now
Wed, 16 Sep 2015 17:20 UTC
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Coyotes have killed two dogs in Wauwatosa, and possibly a third in Elm Grove.
Following the second coyote attack on small pets in a matter of days, neighbors are past the point of concern — many are downright panicking, said Brenda Buchanan.

Buchanan, who lives on 119th Street in Wauwatosa near the area where two dogs were attacked by coyotes — one on Sept. 10 and a second Sept. 12 — said neighbors are refusing to walk the streets alone and resort to walking in large groups and carry sticks to fend off the wild animals.

"People are even afraid to let their kids play outside," said Buchanan, a dog owner.

"I'm such a wildlife person, but I want them gone," she said of the coyotes.

But animal protection organizations said hazing — rather than killing the animals — should be the measures of choice when it comes to preventing attacks on more pets.

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