Animals
S


Fish

Third mass die-off of anchovies in three weeks, Santa Cruz, California

Calvin Men
San Jose Mercury News
Fri, 01 Aug 2014 07:17 UTC
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© Patrick Tehan/Bay Area News GroupVolunteer Ben Rodman of Santa Cruz cleans up some of the thousands of lifeless anchovies that have inundated the water at the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor in Santa Cruz, Calif., Friday, August 1, 2014 where a fish die-off occurred Wednesday night. A massive clean-up is taking place and volunteers are requested to help with the effort. Boaters say the decomposing fish will ruin the protective paint on the hulls of boats in the harbor.
Trudie Ransom caught more fish Thursday afternoon than she'd caught in her life, just not the kind she wanted.

Ransom was using a net to scoop some of the hundreds of thousands of lifeless anchovies from the water of the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor where a massive fish die-off Wednesday night prompted the closure of part of the harbor.

For Ransom, the owner of the SUP Shack Santa Cruz, the fish kill was bad for business.

"The sooner I can get this cleaned up, the sooner we can get into operation," she said.

The fish kill prompted harbor officials to close the boat launch ramp while crews and volunteers work to skim the fish from the water.

"It's kind of a natural occurrence that happens from time to time," said John Haynes, acting harbormaster. "With the sheer number of anchovies we had in the bay this year, we had an idea it might happen, but we did everything we could."

The die-off is the third in three weeks. On July 18, thousands of white croakers washed up on Manresa State Beach likely caused by a squid boat accidentally catching them in a net. On July 25, scores of dead anchovies washed onto the beach at Capitola near Esplanade Park.


Comment: See also: Unknown substance found in water off Capitola Beach, CA - thousands of fish dead

Huge school of anchovies swarms off La Jolla, California - attracting hundreds of thousands of seabirds

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Attention

Unknown substance found in water off Capitola Beach, CA - thousands of fish dead

Calvin Men
Santacruzsentinel.com
Thu, 24 Jul 2014 17:20 UTC
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© Santa Cruz Sentinel/Terri Morgan - ContributedThousands of dead anchovies littered the beach in Capitola on Friday morning.
A bizarre scene unfolded at the beach in Capitola on Friday afternoon with thousands of dead fish on the beach and a paste-like substance in the water. Though it's unclear if the substance led to the death of the fish, police cleared the water as a precautionary measure.

About 3 p.m., there was a report of a tan, paste-like substance floating on the surface of the ocean near Esplanade Park, Sgt. Cliff Sloma said. "There's an unknown type substance in the water and as a precautionary measure, we've had people exit the water," Sloma said.

Central Fire and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife were on scene to assist as was Santa Cruz County's environmental health team.

While people were permitted on the beach, lifeguards were keeping people from entering the water for precautionary measures, Sloma said.

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Attention

Baleen whale found dead on Guam reef


pacificnewscenter.com
Mon, 04 Aug 2014 12:40 UTC
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© Abby Crain
The Guam Environmental Protection Agency (Guam EPA) is asking the public to avoid the dead whale that washed ashore this weekend in Agat.

Whales, including deceased whales, have the potential to pass diseases to humans including Brucella, Morbillivirus and Herpes.

Guam EPA is working closely with the Guam Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service to deal with the situation. Officials are currently working on a plan to remove the 20-ton animal.

"We are asking residents to stay away from the dead whale for their own protection. A rotting whale carcass could possibly have diseases very dangerous to humans as well as be in an area where the surf can be hazardous," Guam EPA administrator Eric M. Palacios said. "Please use common sense and avoid the area."

Federal law protects whales, alive or desceased. This means it is a federal offense to remove or possess any part of a whale.

The 38-foot baleen whale washed onto the reef during heavy surf. It was reported by local fishermen on Saturday, Aug. 2.
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Attention

Dead humpback whale washes up on Lamaline shore, Newfoundland


cbc.ca
Sun, 03 Aug 2014 12:25 UTC
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© Submitted by Margaret Mary MartinA bloated whale carcass was found beached in a shallow spot in Lamaline, on Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula.
A dead whale has washed up near the shore in Lamaline, a small town on Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula.

The whale, which appears to be a humpback, could be seen Saturday washed up in a shallow rocky area.

Lamaline Mayor Maureen Fleming said the town is exploring options about what exactly to do with the whale.

There is no word on whether the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), or any other agency, has plans to remove it.

"For the time being we are just going to wait and see," she said.

"We will not be towing the creature out because wherever it may be situated there is still going to be smell or it's going to come back into shore to somebody else, and that's not exactly what we were looking for in getting this creature looked after."

Fleming contacted MHA Darin King about the issue, and is hoping to have a plan in place to dispose of the dead whale by Monday.

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Question

At least four hundred birds found dead across Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

wgaltv
youtube.com
Thu, 31 Jul 2014 08:45 UTC
People in several Lancaster County communities are finding dead birds. News Katelyn Smith looked into what may have killed them.


Source: wgal.com


Comment: Radar Doppler images confirm overhead 'turbulence' cause of 2011 mass bird death case in Beebe, Arkansas Meteoric Deja-vu: Exactly one year later, dead blackbirds fall again in Beebe, Arkansas

A Sign for the New Year: 1,000 Birds Fall From the Sky in Beebe, Arkansas

Reign of Fire: Meteorites, Wildfires, Planetary Chaos and the Sixth Extinction

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Bandaid

Boy and grandmother attacked and injured by river otter on Pilchuck River, Washington

Kari Bray
The Herald, (Everett, Washington)
Sun, 03 Aug 2014 13:27 UTC
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A boy and his grandmother were taken to a hospital with serious injuries Thursday morning after a river otter attacked them near Lake Connor Park in Lake Stevens.

The boy was swimming in the Pilchuck River with his grandmother around 11 a.m. when the otter attacked, said Capt. Alan Myers with the state Department of Fish & Wildlife. When the grandmother attempted to fend off the otter, the animal attacked her, as well.

Based on initial reports, the boy likely needs stitches and his grandmother has a severe eye injury, Myers said. Names, ages and current conditions of the boy and grandmother were not immediately available.The otter had not been caught as of Thursday evening. A trapper was unable to locate a den in the area where the attack happened.
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Attention

Bufflehead duck of boreal forests turns up in New Hampshire in July

Paula Tracy
wmur.com
Fri, 01 Aug 2014 10:50 UTC
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Report from NH Audobon rare bird alert for birders in NH

A bufflehead was reported on Pleasant Lake in New London on July 25.

It's a small duck, rarely seen in the state, whose normal range is in the Arctic and Canada.

The males are mostly white with a black puffy head, while the female is dark with a white spot behind the eye.

Rest of report here.

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Attention

Deep water melon-headed whale found dead off Windward Oahu, Hawaii

Kristine Uyeno
khon2.com
Thu, 31 Jul 2014 10:32 UTC
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Kailua Beach
A necropsy is being performed on a whale that died off Kailua Beach.

The melon-headed whale was brought to shore Friday morning after it was spotted Thursday.

Initially, state officials reported two whales, swimming in circles in waters off Kailua beach.

Experts thought there were two whales because several fins were sticking out of the water, but on Friday morning, they discovered it was only one melon-headed whale in distress.

"So if you were looking from far away, it was the fin and the fluke and it looked like two dorsal fins, but it was just the whale on its side," said David Schofield with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The 9-foot-long adult female whale died about 30 minutes before it was taken to shore. It weight about 500 pounds.

"Even though they're common to these waters, how uncommon is it to have it so close to shore?" KHON2 asked.

"These are deeper water animals, so the point you're making is a good one, is that when they come in shore, that tells us there's something wrong," Schofield said.

Officials believe the whale had been swimming on its side for at least 16 hours and was located about 300 yards offshore.

By the time experts got to it Friday morning, the whale had died.

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Bizarro Earth

Mysterious jellyfish-like creature washing up on California coast

Richard Farrell
Discovery News
Fri, 01 Aug 2014 12:35 UTC
Velella
© WikiMedia Commons/DanCreatures like these have been washing up along the California coast.
It's not just hordes of anchovies attacking the California coastline this summer, as a small, jellyfish-like creature with a cool blue hue has been washing up by the millions along shores up and down the state's coast since the middle of July.

The beach-crashing creature's full name is Velella velella (not a typo; it's the only species in its genus), sometimes referred to as "by-the-wind sailors," because they live on the surface of the water and are at the mercy of the winds for all of their travel plans.

As befits their nickname, velella have a kind of sail affixed to their tops, which is what allows them their out-of-control seafaring. They have few predators, although some sea slugs and water-bound snails will eat them.
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Info

Bear attacks kill at least three people with many others injured in Siberia and far-east Russia

Alec Luhn
The Guardian
Fri, 01 Aug 2014 12:44 UTC
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© Michel Roggo/NPL/Rex FeaturesA brown bear fishes for sockeye salmon in the Ozernaya river, Kamtchatka, Russia, in June last year.
Experts suggest extreme weather could be disrupting biorhythms and food supply, and fishing nets cutting off access to salmon

A rash of bear attacks in Russia have left at least three people dead and many more injured in recent weeks as record high temperatures, freak snow, hailstorms and flooding hit Siberia and the country's far east.

Human activity may be behind some of the attacks. Experts cited by the news agency Interfax said nets and obstacles have prevented salmon from swimming up rivers to spawn, leaving bears without a regular food supply.

Extreme weather can also disrupt the predators' biorhythms and food supply, said Vladimir Krever, director of the biodiversity programme at WWF Russia.

Recent attacks include one at 2am on Wednesday at a meteorological station in the forests of Sakha Republic. A bear broke down the door of a residential trailer and bit the arm of the woman inside, only to be scared away by her loud screaming.

Three days earlier another bear ambushed a boy on Iturup island as he was walking home from his grandmother's house. The bear had dragged the 14-year-old to the shore by the time police arrived and shot it dead. The boy had 170 stitches and remains in critical condition.
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