Animals
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Attention

14 whales and 16 turtles wash up dead on Baja California Sur coast

Astrid Rivera
El Universal
Thu, 15 Jan 2015 16:59 UTC
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© Profepa The finding of the specimens was detected during a surveillance round carried out by Profepa inspectors .
Specialists say the death of the specimens might be due to natural causes.

14 gray whales and 16 sea turtles were found dead in the Baja California Sur coast, according to the Federal Attorney's Office for Environmental Protection (Profepa).

The finding of the specimens was detected during a surveillance round carried out by Profepa inspectors on the Ojo de Liebre lagoon, in the municipality of Mulegé, Baja California Sur.

According to specialists, the death of cetaceans could be due to natural causes, as this is a breeding area for the mammals, so it is common the whale calves get lost or are abandoned by the mother, so they do not receive adequate nutrition and die.

Cetaceans found were in an advanced state of decomposition, however no rips or injury caused by ships or entanglements were found.

According to Profepa inspectors, another cause of death could be hypothermia, derived from the low temperatures due to cold fronts in recent days.

Comment: See also: 554 dead seabirds and 4 sea lions found on beaches in Baja California, Mexico

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Wolf

Pack of Dhol wild dogs kill 7-yr-old girl in India

Mrigank Tiwari
The Times of India
Fri, 16 Jan 2015 22:08 UTC
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© Tarique SaniDhol - Indian wild dog
A seven-year-old girl was mauled and killed by a pack of feral dogs in Bhidiya Rasoolpulpur village on Thursday afternoon.

According to reports, the minor, daughter of a brick kiln worker, was attacked by the pack while she was on her way home after giving lunch to her father.

Hearing her cries, villagers and passersby rushed to the spot and tried shooing the pack away but to no avail. The girl, after some time, started bleeding profusely and fell unconscious on the spot.

The dogs did not leave the spot despite many attempts by the locals. It was only when some villagers armed with sticks rushed to the place, that the dogs left.

By then, the girl had already died due to extensive bleeding and deep injuries, said inspector Bachchu Singh of Sheshgarh police station.

"This is the first time that such an incident has been reported. Though the pack inhabits the forest area, it rarely ventures into the village to attack the locals," said Singh. The girl's body was taken away by her parents who refused to allow the police to conduct a postmortem and instead cremated her body quietly.
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Cow

100 cows die after falling through lake ice in South Dakota

Ashley Collman
Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 14 Jan 2015 20:34 UTC
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Fell through: Mike Carlow (left) and Bob Pille (right) use a shovel and a prying tool to free a dead cow from the ice on White Clay Reservoir south of Pine Ridge, South Dakota on Tuesday. Last week an estimated 100 of Carlow and his brother Pat's cows wandered onto the ice, broke through and died
These images of drowned cattle are enough to make meat eaters and vegetarians alike shed a tear over the mistake that caused their mass death.

Last week, about 100 cattle wandered onto a South Dakota reservoir covered in six-inch-thick ice while seeking shelter in a severe windstorm.

Their hunt for rest turned tragic when the ice collapsed under their enormous weight of more than 1,000 pounds.
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Info

Sea turtles utilise Earth's magnetic field to find home

Laura Geggel
livescience.com
Thu, 15 Jan 2015 19:28 UTC
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© J. Roger BrothersA loggerhead sea turtle nests at the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge in Melbourne Beach, Florida.
Female sea turtles, known to swim thousands of miles before returning to their birthplace to lay eggs, find their way home by relying on unique magnetic signatures along the coast, a new study finds.

For more than 50 years, scientists have been mystified by how sea turtles do this, said the study's lead researcher, J. Roger Brothers, a graduate student of biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"Our results provide evidence that turtles imprint on the unique magnetic field of their natal beach as hatchlings, and then use this information to return as adults," Brothers said in a statement.

Comment: See also: Seals may use 'natural GPS'

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Eye 2

Woman finds python in her bathroom in Sharon, Pennsylvania

Joe Wiercinski
The Sharon Herald
Wed, 14 Jan 2015 11:09 UTC
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Patrolman Troy Widmyer holds the ball python that Sharon police removed from the bathroom of a city resident early Tuesday morning.
Movie fans might think a snake in an apartment wouldn't have the shock value of the thriller "Snakes on a Plane." Just don't expect Debbie LaMotte to agree.

The Sharon woman said she had just answered the call of nature at about 4 a.m. Tuesday when "something on the floor" she hadn't noticed on the way into the bathroom caught her attention.

"At first I thought it was a scarf because it had such a beautiful pattern," the resident of Riverview Manor said. "I use a cane, so I reached out to touch it and that's when I saw its head move."

At that point, the 62-year old said, she found she could still move pretty fast and close the door in a hurry if she had to.
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Stormtrooper

Australian walker saved from deadly snake bite by Stormtrooper armour


itv.com
Thu, 15 Jan 2015 20:11 UTC
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© Facebook/StormingAustraliaFormer soldier Scott Loxley in his Stormtrooper costume and a king brown snake

An Australian man who is trekking across the country for charity has been saved from a potentially deadly snake bite - by his Imperial Stormtrooper costume.

Australian media report that Scott Loxley, who has so far raised $40,000 (£24,000) for the Monash children's hospital in Victoria, encountered a King Brown snake on day 277 of his epic 'Storming Australia' walk as he was leaving the small town of Yalboroo in Queensland.

Mr Loxley initially thought the viper was dead and went to walk past it when it began to move and lunged to bite him on the shin.

In video on his Facebook page, he said that he had been saved from the snake's toxic venom by his plastic Stormtrooper armour:
Turns out it wasn't dead; It was a big old King Brown.

And he's lunged at me and bit me in the shin.

- Scot Loxley
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Attention

554 dead seabirds and 4 sea lions found on beaches in Baja California, Mexico


thebigwobble.org
Thu, 15 Jan 2015 19:46 UTC
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Disturbing reports animal deaths continue on a daily basis

Scientists in San Filipe are investigating after finding more than 550 dead seabirds and four dead seals in San Felipe, Baja California.

After surveillance operations at the Port of San Felipe, Baja California, the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) found 554 birds and 4 sea lions dead, they believe that the death's occurred due to recent climate problems.

"Changes in water temperature will cause the shoals of fish entering the bay deeper and consequently the birds can not get their main food source," he said.

The Profepa indicated that this hypothesis was considered after taking in experience of other countries in the same research on the mass killing of specimens of wildlife.

The above findings would not cause the deaths of the sea lions however.

Comment: See also: Large-scale die-off of Cassin's auklets reported along U.S. West Coast

Dozens of bird corpses wash up on Monterey beach, California

More dead seabirds found on Oregon beaches

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Info

Otters across the world are threatened with extinction says new report


wildlifeextra.com
Thu, 15 Jan 2015 19:02 UTC
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© Emil Barbelette
The International Otter Survival Fund (IOSF) has become increasingly concerned about the decline of many species of otter in different countries with many little or no government conservation support.

As recently as 2012, the Japanese Otter was officially declared extinct, and of the 13 species across the world, nine are declining in numbers.

In the IUCN Red List, five species are classed as Endangered and two as Vulnerable, meaning that they are facing a high or very high risk of extinction in the wild.

The Eurasian otter, the only species which we have in the UK, is overall classed as Near Threatened, despite recent rises in UK populations, but in Asia it is believed to be critically endangered.

Asia forms about 80 per cent of the geographical range of the Eurasian otter. In parts of China it is almost extinct and in the Changbaishan Mountain Reserve numbers went down from 1.2 million in 1975 to just 4 in 2012 - a decline of over 99 per cent.

There have been no sightings of the species since the early 1990s in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Vietnam and most of India. Even in Europe it is declining in some areas.
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Wolf

Coyote conflicts with pets, police and people increase in Westchester, NY

Jon Craig
The New Rochelle Daily Voice
Tue, 13 Jan 2015 15:44 UTC
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Officials in New Castle and Greenburgh have issued warnings about coyotes, and are starting to develop plans and policies to curtail them.
Police and wildlife experts in Westchester and Putnam counties say sightings of coyotes -- and increasingly aggressive conflicts -- are on the rise.

Dean Renzi, a bow hunter from Yonkers, said, "The population has definitely grown. I've seen them in just about every location I've hunted. Both Westchester and Putnam counties have large populations."

Renzi, who hunts deer for food in the area, said, "I've heard (coyote) packs howling while on (deer) stand, which is a strong indicator that numbers are flourishing. I think the population has grown, because not many people hunt, or trap for them."

A 6-year-old Rye girl was attacked in her front yard by a pair of coyotes in June 2010. She got bites on her shoulder, thigh and ear as well as scratches on her back. Her mother scared the coyotes off. The girl was treated and released from a local hospital. Two months earlier, a 10-year-old toy poodle was attacked and killed by coyotes in Rye.

Comment: Other 'rare' coyote attacks across north America (past year): Coyote attacks two residents in Groveland, MA

3 residents attacked by possibly sick coyote in Fremont, California

Brampton woman attacked by coyote, Canada

Dog killed and owner injured in coyote attack in Mississauga, Canada

Dozens of pets killed by coyotes in College Park, Florida

Coyote attacks second young girl in Rye, New York

More 'rare' urban coyote attacks on Indiana dogs

Spike in coyote attacks on animal pets in Claremont, California

Coyotes killing pets in Seal Beach, California

Woman and dogs attacked by coyote in front of her Kilworthy home, Ontario

Attacks in 2013: Colorado man fights off 3 coyotes using flashlight as weapon

Man attacked by coyotes in Washington State

Coyote shot dead after 3 attack a British Columbia woman, Canada

3-year-old Chicago boy attacked by a coyote

Girl, 2, attacked by coyote in Cypress Cemetery, California

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Fish

Spate of rare deep sea tropical fish found on Norfolk beaches, UK

Sophie Wyllie
Eastern Daily Press
Wed, 14 Jan 2015 11:17 UTC
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© Ajay TegalaThe ocean sunfish on Blakeney Point, spotted by Ajay Tegala, coastal ranger for the National Trust on the north Norfolk coast.
Nature lovers are surprised at a spate of tropical fish sightings on the north Norfolk coast over the New Year period.

Washed up dead ocean sunfish, known as mola mola, have been spotted on Blakeney Point, Cley and Holkham and Sheringham beaches.

Identified by its distinctive fins, Mola Mola prefer water over 13C - the water around Blakeney Point is around 7C.

The last time this particular fish was spotted on Cley beach and Blakeney Point was two and three years ago, respectively.

Comment: Other recent reports of sunfish turning up where they are not usually found: Rare deep sea Ocean Sunfish found for the first time in Pakistan's waters

Deep ocean sunfish found on beach in North Queensferry, Scotland

"Rare" 300-pound warm-water Mola sunfish washes up on Washington coast

What is that thing? Giant 'fish' pulled up from Seattle's Elliott Bay

Additionally in December 2012 this same area of Norfolk was subjected to a similar event: Sunfish invasion continues as third massive marine beast washed up in Norfolk

It's difficult to decipher exactly what's going on here. Is it simply a case of cold water incursions into warmer waters killing or stunning the fish and subsequently carrying them away? Or are they casualties of something more drastic occurring in the depths of the sea? Releases of methane gas and/or toxic chemicals from the sea floor due to seismic activity for instance: Creatures from the deep signal major Earth Changes: Is anyone paying attention?

Perhaps some combination of these factors is at play?

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