Animals
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Attention

Pygmy sperm whale found dead on Delaware beach

Molly Murray
The News Journal
Tue, 27 May 2014 07:03 UTC
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© MERR Institute A dead pygmy sperm whale washed onto the beach at Delaware Seashore State Park on Sunday.
A dying 10-foot long, 800-pound pygmy sperm whale washed up at Delaware Seashore State Park on Sunday and no one is sure, just yet, why the animal died.

"He appeared to be a fairly robust animal with what looked like what might have been a previous entanglement around his tail," said Suzanne Thurman, executive director of the Marine Education Research and Rehabilitation Institute.

"He did have a fairly heavy parasite load in his GI tract, which is indicative of poor health."

But it's unknown whether additional testing on the animal to determine the cause will be done. Thurman said they collected samples and preserved them, but they have no money to send them off for testing.

They reported the stranding to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has been tracking a large scale dolphin die-off along the Atlantic Coast over the last year.
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Fish

Fish deaths a mystery at Lake Mendocino

Glenda Anderson
The Press Democrat
Tue, 27 May 2014 18:26 UTC
Dead Carp_1
© Glenda Anderson/The Press DemocratHundreds of dead carp are lining the shores of Lake Mendocino, but officials aren't sure why.
Hundreds of dead carp, mouths agape, are lining the shores of Lake Mendocino, but the cause of the die-off remained a mystery on Tuesday.

"Right now, we're just in limbo," said Ryan McClymont, a spokesman with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages Lake Mendocino.

The fish were first reported washing ashore on Sunday, McClymont said. State Fish and Wildlife biologists have been asked to investigate the deaths, he said.
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Fish

Thousands of dead fish found on shoreline near Kemah, Texas

Karla Barguiarena
abc13.com
Mon, 26 May 2014 12:07 UTC
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If you're passing though Kemah this Memorial Day weekend, you might notice a big stench due to hundreds of thousands of dead fish that have washed ashore.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says the dead fish began showing up last weekend. Now, the fish litter the shoreline, and the stench fills the air.

"It just stinks really bad," said Yesenia Compean. "You had to cover your nose when you walk by there."

Edward Hinojosa and his family spend almost every other weekend in the Kemah area.

"Never seen nothing like that in my life," said Hinojosa.

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Fish

Rare prehistoric-looking Sawfish caught in Bonyton Beach Inlet, Florida

Oulimata Ba
hngn.com
Mon, 26 May 2014 04:20 UTC
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© TwitterA Florida man and his friends caught a rare sawfish while fishing off Bonyton Beach Inlet in south Florida.
A Florida man was fishing with his buddies early Sunday morning when they caught a rare, 500-pound sawfish.

Dustin Richter and his friends had been fishing for nearly an hour off Bonyton Beach Inlet with no bites when one of the lines suddenly began to pull, WSVN-TV reported.

"All that adrenaline was pumping while we're pull him up," Richter told the station.

The group wrestled with the line for two hours while it was still dark out, finally reeling in a nearly 12-foot long sawfish.

"I kinda got to the light and we saw the fish, realized it was a sawfish," Richter told the station.

"We were amazed, because it was 11 feet long and the bill was 4 feet long and it was just a crazy find," Richter said.
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Eye 2

Clarion call? Lost snake species rediscovered on Clarion island, Mexico


BBC
Tue, 20 May 2014 04:03 UTC
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© Daniel MulcahyThe Clarion Nightsnake has a distinctive pattern of spots
A lost species of snake that eluded scientists for nearly 80 years has been rediscovered in Mexico, a US museum says.

The Clarion Nightsnake was found on the Pacific island of Clarion in Mexico by a researcher from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC.

The snake was first discovered in 1936 by naturalist William Beebe.

Although never declared extinct, it was struck from the record after scientists were unable to rediscover it.

The museum said that researcher Daniel Mulcahy, working with an expert from a Mexican institute, carried out an expedition to Clarion Island where their team identified 11 snakes matching Beebe's description.
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Question

Huge increase in rescued owl orphans baffles wildlife rescuers in Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom

Paul Donnelley
Daily Mail, UK
Sun, 25 May 2014 10:47 UTC
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Owl stretching time: These baby tawny owls will be spending the Whitsun bank holiday at Tiggywinkles wildlife hospital in Buckinghamshire after being rescued by the workers there
* Staff at wildlife hospital in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, have rescued 31 owls compared with just two last year

* Owner fears last year's storms causing trees to fall may be reason

* Orphans are aged between four days and two weeks

Britain's owl population is still suffering the consequences of last winter's wet and windy weather months later.

Staff at Tiggywinkles wildlife hospital in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire, have rescued 31 owls which had fallen from trees, compared with just two of the young birds of prey last year.

Les Stocker, Tiggywinkles founder, said: 'I am worried as last year we had just two owls in and this year we now have 31. Perhaps the storms taking out old trees might have something to do with it.
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Attention

Perth beach closed after rotting whale head washes up on Australian shore

Emily Crane
Daily Mail, UK
Mon, 26 May 2014 10:32 UTC
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Washed up: A decomposed whale head was found at Perth's Sorrento Beach on Monday morning
* Three metre whale head has washed up on Perth's Sorrento Beach

* Wildlife authorities believe the head belongs to a mature sperm whale

* Sorrento Beach remains closed amid fears sharks could be drawn in

A three metre decomposed whale head has washed up on a Perth beach, forcing authorities to close the area amid fears the carcass could attract sharks.

The head, believed to belong to a sperm whale, was found at Sorrento Beach on Monday morning.

The carcass is three metres long and 1.5m wide.


Comment: See also: Creatures from the deep signal major Earth Changes: Is anyone paying attention?

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Bizarro Earth

Unusual moose behaviour in Canada raises questions


VOCM.com
Fri, 23 May 2014 17:08 UTC
Moose
© Screen Capture/YouTube
An experienced woodsman on the west coast is raising concerns after witnessing some unusual and alarming behaviour in a moose. Jack Besaw was out on his ATV near Black Duck Siding last weekend when he noticed the animal walking around in circles and banging into trees. He says he's never seen anything like it before.

He says the animal, which appeared otherwise healthy, was walking in tight circles like a dog chasing its tail. It eventually left the railbed, and lay down in the woods. The Department of Environment says circling behaviour is generally associated with brain worm infection or other neurological trauma, but without a more detailed investigation, officials say it's difficult to say for certain.


Brain worm infections are typically associated with caribou, but confirmed cases have been seen in moose.

Comment: This has also been happening in Minnesota, USA.

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Binoculars

Rare Bermuda seabird spotted off Kerry coast, Ireland

Linda McGrory
Irish Examiner
Thu, 22 May 2014 16:11 UTC
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One of the world's rarest birds - once thought extinct for over 300 years - has been spotted off the Kerry coast.

The Bermuda petrel, better known as the Cahow, was observed by crew members of the Celtic Voyager - the Irish Marine Institute's research vessel.

The "astonishing" sighting of the endangered seabird took place off Kerry on Monday. Within hours, the Bermuda Audubon Society confirmed the report through data emitted by the bird's electronic geolocator.

The medium-sized Cahow is the national bird of Bermuda.

It is currently being "laboriously brought back from the brink" by conservationists with only about 180 of the species known to exist.

A slow-breeding ground-nester, the bird was wiped out during the 1600s when colonisation of the North Atlantic island introduced species such as boars, cats, dogs and rats.

It was rediscovered on the island in 1951.
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Question

Giant jellyfish invasion seen off the coast of Cornwall, UK

Sarah Ann Harris
Daily Express, UK
Thu, 22 May 2014 15:21 UTC
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© GETTY/SWNSBen Dunstan spotted thousands of barrel jellyfish making their way to the shore
Amazing video shows the moment a paraglider spotted an invasion of giant jellyfish heading straight for Britain's beaches.

Ben Dunstan was using a GoPro camera attached to his helmet to film a friend's boat as he glided overhead.

But as the 32-year-old travelled along above the clear waters off Gerrans Bay, Cornwall, he was distracted by a menacing sight.

Mr Dunstan spotted a horde of hundreds of tropical Barrel jellyfish drifting towards the shore.

Barrel jellyfish are usually found in warmer water, but several have been sighted in British seas recently.

Although their sting is minor, the bizarre-looking creatures look especially creepy because of their shocking 3ft length.

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