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Florida police break into wrong backyard, shoot owner's dog


Police State USA
Mon, 13 Jan 2014 11:43 UTC
Lady
© Justice for LadyLady.
Holly Hill - A police officer opened fire and seriously wounded a man's dog after forcing his way into the wrong residence while searching for a woman convicted of a consensual sex act.

Officers were searching for Josie Bobbitt - a woman who had violated probation for soliciting sex - when one of them disregarded "no trespassing" signs and warrantlessly wrenched open the gate leading to Richard Stotler's backyard where his four-year-old Rottweiler named Lady resided.

Records show that it was 11:04 p.m. when the officers entered the property.

Lady was shot multiple times as she investigated the unwelcome intruders. Police claimed that she "lunged" at them, prompting at least one officer to open fire.

"They shot her for no reason," Stotler wrote on his Facebook page Justice for Lady, which has amassed over 14,000 "likes" since the incident occurred December 27. "They were searching for a person that has not lived there nor been there for as long as we know."

Stotler says after talking with officers for "about 10 minutes," he went to watch television in his living room before the sound of gunfire suddenly erupted from his backyard. "I ran through the front door with my hands raised asking them what they had done. They started yelling at me to get on the ground, handcuffed me and put me in the back of a car."
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Attention

Sperm whale found dead on Boca Raton beach, Florida


wsvn.com
Fri, 10 Jan 2014 10:46 UTC
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© Tania Rogers/WPTVA large dead whale was spotted Jan. 10, 2014 near the Boca Raton shore just south of Spanish River Boulevard.
Officials are investigating the death of a young sperm whale after discovering the dead animal on a South Florida Beach, Friday morning.

According to officials, the 30-foot female whale was found ashore, just south of Lifeguard Post 18, at Spanish River Park in Boca Raton at around 9 a.m.

The whale was found following reports of a shark feeding frenzy about a mile off shore. However, officials said, the whale was beached within an hour-and-a-half, due to strong wind currents. They also said the animal was partially decomposed, leading officials to believe it may have been dead for a while. "Sharks were already kind of around it, but because of the strong winds coming from the southeast here that hour-and-a-half it came from about a mile and washed up here in the shore," said Boca Raton Police spokesperson Mark Economou.

Once the whale was ashore, experts noticed it had been decomposing and might have been dead for up to five days. "We're all going to work together to find out why this animal died and use that information to help them as much as we can in the future," said NOAA standing coordinator Elizabeth Stratton.

The part of the beach where this occurred had been closed prior to the discovery of the whale due to dangerous rip currents. However, that did not keep people from coming to observe the beached whale. "It's terrible, it really is," said resident Dennis Forgione. "It's a shame to see this happen, but I still had to see it. I had to come down and see what was going on. I live nearby here, and I heard about it."

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Attention

Sperm whale body stuns, draws crowd in Uruguay


newsdaily.com
Sun, 12 Jan 2014 09:54 UTC
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© AFP A municipal worker talks on a mobile phone next to a whale on Jan 12, 2014 as its body is being removed from the water a day after appearing at the shore of Carrasco beach in Montevideo, Uruguay. Authorities in Uruguay on Sunday recovered the body of a 16-meter sperm whale, normally at home in deep waters, after it beached near the capital.
Authorities in Uruguay on Sunday recovered the body of a 16-meter sperm whale, normally at home in deep waters, after it beached near the capital.

Using a crane, the authorities moved the animal from the shallow waters onto the beach off Carrasco, an upscale town just next to Montevideo.

"The body will remain on the beach until Monday," said navy spokesman Gaston Jaunsolo.

Traffic tied up in the area as curious locals stopped to watch and catch a glimpse of the unusual sight.

"I don't ever recall another sighting of a sperm whale here; they are from very deep waters," Rodrigo Garcia, from the whale protection organization, said of the adult male that apparently beached on Saturday.

Authorities were expected to investigate the cause of death.

Garcia said that the animal did not appear to have any apparent external injuries, and that like dolphins they are highly sensitive to sound.

Source: Agence France Presse
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Attention

Dead sperm whale washes up on Edinburgh beach, Scotland


metro.co.uk
Sat, 11 Jan 2014 09:46 UTC
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© AP Photo/PA, Andrew MilliganA marine rescue worker photographs a sperm whale that washed up on Portobello beach in Edinburgh, Scotland
The dead body of a huge sperm whale has washed up on a beach near Edinburgh - capturing the attention of the local public.

Pictures showed the young whale in shallow waters off Portobello beach on the outskirts of the Scottish capital.

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© Andrew Milligan/PA WireMembers of the public look at the dead sperm whale that washed ashore near Portobello beach, Edinburgh
Scottish Animal Welfare (SAW) had been called in the early hours of this morning to the beach near the Rockville hotel in Joppa.

'On arrival it was clear life was extinct, so there was no need to mount a rescue operation,' explained SAW Chief Superintendent David Drummond.
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Question

Mass oyster deaths frighten growers in Port Stephens, Australia

Matthew Kelly
Newcastle Herald
Thu, 09 Jan 2014 12:01 UTC
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© Jonathan CarrollDEATH TOLL: Robert Diemar has lost 600,000 oysters in just weeks
Biosecurity experts are scrambling to identify a mystery disease that has decimated Port Stephens' multimillion-dollar Pacific oyster crops and sent several growers to the wall.

There are fears the port may have to be quarantined to prevent the disease spreading.

Hundreds of thousands of Pacific oysters have died since late last year.

''We lost 600,000 oysters over a couple of weeks. We were struggling to find any live ones to be honest,'' veteran Salamander Bay oyster grower Robert Diemar said.

''We haven't seen anything like it before.''

Pacific oysters, which are worth about $3million to the Port Stephens oyster industry, had been recovering from a disease that swept through the region last year.

To date, it appears the latest disease has affected only hatchery-sourced Pacific oysters.

However, it is feared it may also attack prime Sydney rock oyster crops in the port.
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Fish

Hundreds of striped bass found dead in Connecticut River tributary due to cold

Mark Zaretsky
New Haven Register
Fri, 10 Jan 2014 11:54 UTC
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It appears as if humans weren't the only ones badly stressed by the recent cold snap.

Hundreds of striped bass were found dead this week in the Blackhall River, a tributary of the Connecticut River in Old Lyme, in what state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection officials believe was a natural die-off related to the extreme cold.

Five blue crabs also were found dead.

"We had the same thing happen last year," said David Simpson, director of marine fisheries in the agency's Bureau of Natural Resources. "It was pretty coincidental with the new moon, real low water, very cold weather."

He attributed the deaths, as best as DEEP staffers could determine, to "cold shock," possibly as a result of fish getting trapped in icy cold water by ice and shallow depth.

The DEEP also received reports in Old Lyme of fish drifting out of the Connecticut River and washing up on Long Island Sound beach, but Simpson said he believes those fish were part of the same die-off, which was first reported Sunday by an Old Lyme police officer.

"There's quite a few fish in there and the water really gets shallow during those extreme low tides," he said. "It was a pretty quick change of temperature. There was a salinity change ... I think they just got caught in it."
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Black Cat

31 large carnivores declining across the world

Subodh Varma
Times of India
Fri, 10 Jan 2014 11:06 UTC
Image
Southeast Asia, southern and East Africa and the Amazon are among areas in which multiple large carnivore species are declining.
Large predators such as lions, bears, wolves, dingoes and otters are declining across the world driven by habitat loss, persecution by humans and loss of prey, an analysis of 31 large carnivore species published today in the journal Science shows.

More than 75 percent of the 31 species are declining, and 17 species now occupy less than half of their former ranges, the study reported. Decline in predators means a simultaneous increase in their prey, which causes devastation of the ecosystem.

Southeast Asia, southern and East Africa and the Amazon are among areas in which multiple large carnivore species are declining. With some exceptions, large carnivores have already been exterminated from much of the developed world, including Western Europe and the eastern United States.

"Globally, we are losing our large carnivores," said William Ripple, lead author of the paper and a professor in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society at Oregon State University. "Many of them are endangered," he said. "Their ranges are collapsing. Many of these animals are at risk of extinction, either locally or globally. And, ironically, they are vanishing just as we are learning about their important ecological effects."

The researchers reviewed published scientific reports and singled out seven species that have been studied for their widespread ecological effects. This includes African lions, leopards, Eurasian lynx, cougars, gray wolves, sea otters and dingoes.
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Dolphins with hormone abnormalities linked to BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill

James A. Foley
NatureWorldnews
Sat, 11 Jan 2014 12:30 UTC
Dolphin
© via Flickr user Visit St. Pete/ClearwaterNew research has linked the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill to the deterioration of dolphin health in the region of the Gulf of Mexico that received heavy and prolonged oil exposure. A dolphin is pictured in the Gulf of Mexico.
New research has linked the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill to the deterioration of dolphin health in the region of the Gulf of Mexico that received heavy and prolonged oil exposure as a result of the spill.

A study conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Cornell University tested approximately 30 bottlenose dolphins in Louisiana's Barataria Bay, revealing the cetaceans to be in less than ideal states of health when compared to dolphins tested at a control site in Florida's Sarasota Bay.

The researchers found half of the dolphins in Louisiana to be in a "guarded or worse" condition, and several of them were not expected to survive. Compared to the control group, the Barataria Bay dolphins were five times more likely to have moderate to severe lung diseases and suffered uncommon hormonal abnormalities.

Cornell University researchers conducted the hormonal tests in 2011, but they were not made aware of the origin of the dolphins included in the study.

"We observed uncommon disease conditions in Barataria Bay dolphins consistent with petroleum hydrocarbon exposure," said Ned Place, an associate professor at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine.
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Bizarro Earth

Giant squid found in fishing net off Japan


The Yomiuri Shimbun
Thu, 09 Jan 2014 11:16 UTC
Giant Squid
© Pete Thomas Outdoors
Sado, Niigata - A four-meter-long daio ika giant squid has been found inside a fixed net off Sadogashima island, Niigata Prefecture.

Fisherman Shigenori Goto found the squid Wednesday morning. According to Goto, it was swimming in a net for catching buri yellowtails set about 70 meters deep and about 1 kilometer off the nearest port when he hauled it up at about 7 a.m. The squid died after being brought to the surface.

It was taken to the Niigata prefectural government's fishery and marine research institute in Niigata, where it was discovered to be male. The squid weighed about 150 kilograms.

According to the institute, the lives of giant squid are shrouded in mystery and it is very rare for a live one to be brought to the surface.
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Question

150 Ducks found dead in Redwood pond, California

Joan S. Dentler
Belmont Patch
Thu, 09 Jan 2014 09:46 UTC
The pond will be drained following the death of 150 ducks, presumably from an outbreak of avian cholera. The public is asked to report any dead birds to U.S. Fish & Wildlife.
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Citing a serious threat to wildlife, the South Bayside System Authority (SBSA) wastewater facility in Redwood City will drain its popular bird-watching pond beginning Friday because an apparent outbreak of avian cholera has killed nearly 150 ducks since Friday, January 3.

A U.S. Fish & Wildlife official is reporting news of avian cholera in Hayward and now, possibly in Redwood City. At this time the cause of the ducks death at the Radio Road site has not been confirmed but is suspected to be the spread of avian cholera from the East Bay.

"Please note that this does not pose a threat to humans, but can cause death to waterfowl, gulls, and other species," said Melisa Amato, Wildlife Refuge Specialist & Hunt Program Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
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