Animals
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Attention

3 dead whales wash up on coast in Namibia during August

Nadia Meding
informante.web.na
Thu, 04 Sep 2014 10:47 UTC
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In an extra-ordinary coincidence of nature's way, in the most hostile environment of Namibia, three whale carcasses washed out along the Skeleton coast in less than a month.

Photographer and environment enthusiast, Johan van Rooyen recorded carcasses of two humpback whales and a pilot whale on the remote beach of the north-western coastline in August. The sighting of whales is normally rare on Namibian beaches and in this case, the discovery of three dead whales of two different species in the same vicinity raises the possibility that whales that were once abundant in Namibian waters, from which Walvis Bay derived its name, are returning to their old feeding grounds, or that the water serves as their migratory route. The cause of their death still remains a mystery.
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Fish

Tens of thousands of dead fish found on beach, Craven County, North Carolina


wnct.com
Wed, 03 Sep 2014 05:05 UTC
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These are some of the thousands of dead fish in the Neuse River.
Tens of thousands of dead fish have washed ashore along the Neuse River in Craven County.

Travis Graves, the Lower Neuse Riverkeeper, tells 9 On Your Side the fish have been piling up on shore at Flanners Beach. He estimates the fish are dying near channel marker 11 and winds are pushing the fish over to the beach.

Graves has been in touch with the UNC Chapel Hill Marine Labs in Morehead City where they're monitoring oxygen levels in the water. He says just east of Flanners Beach is a salt wedge which has been shrinking because of the rain we've had in recent weeks. This has led to lower oxygen levels.

Graves said at this time there is no indication that infection is killing the fish. He's 90% confident the fish kill is due to lower dissolved oxygen in the water.

People should refrain from swimming at the beaches near the dead fish.

Comment: Hundreds of methane plumes erupting along U.S. Atlantic coast

Casualties of seafloor methane gas release? Hundreds of thousands more fish found dead in Plymouth tidal pool, UK

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Health

9 year old boy recovering from otter attack near Kalispell, Montana

Michelle Lovato
Lake County Leader
Thu, 07 Aug 2014 14:35 UTC
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Zack Whipple, 9 of Polson was visiting grandma's house when he jumped into the cool water of Lake in the Woods northeast of Kalispell Aug. 4 and felt splashing underneath his feet that felt like fish swimming nearby.

Thinking little of the flipping fins below him, he climbed out of the lake and did a cannon ball off the dock above.

This time when he surfaced Zack spotted two adult otters who swam out from under the dock and began circling.

Zack was amused by the creatures as he watched them form their circle. He'd never seen otters. But amusement transformed into panic quickly when the otters dove under water and bit his legs.
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Question

More strange animal behaviour: Cyclist reports attack by badger in Swindon, UK


Western Daily Press
Sun, 27 Jul 2014 13:31 UTC
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A cyclist in Swindon called police after he said he was attacked by a badger.

The cyclist told officers that he was cycling along Thamesdown Drive late at night when the incident occurred.

Wiltshire Police's North Swindon team recounted the tale, in a light-hearted fashion, on its Facebook page.

It said: "One of our more unusual reports in the last week has been from someone who had a close shave with a bristly character in North Swindon.
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Attention

Dead finback whale washes ashore in Rockport, Maine


Daily Gloucester Press
Tue, 02 Sep 2014 12:59 UTC
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© Desi Smith, Daily Times CNHI News Service
A dead whale, estimated to be about 54 feet long, lied sprawled across the beachfront after washing ashore over the weekend.

It will stay there until nature takes its course, officials are saying.

Rockport's Department of Public Works, in conjunction with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was tasked with disposing of the carcass, after the whale - estimated to have been dead for two to three weeks - rolled onto the rocky, jagged beachfront.

In the past, Rockport officials have buried smaller whales, but this time large equipment would be unable to reach this beach.

DPW Director Joe Parisi said officials have little choice but to let the carcass deteriorate and wash out to sea bit by bit.
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Fish

Chinese fisherman catches rare, giant fish


youtube.com
Sat, 30 Aug 2014 08:36 UTC

A routine day by the waters soon turned into a memorable afternoon for a fisherman from Hegan City, Heilongjiang Province, recently. The man netted a rare kaluga sturgeon on Monday. The fish weighed nearly 270kg. A day later, he sold the prized catch for a price of 60,000 yuan (approx. $10,000).

Source: CCTV News
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Wolf

Pack of coyotes chases man and dog through Burbank neighborhood, California

Paul Kemper
Field and Stream
Mon, 04 Aug 2014 15:45 UTC
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© Source: KTLA/CNNA security camera caught a pack of coyotes running through a California neighborhood.
Nick Mendoza of Burbank, Calif., was chased by a pack of coyotes as he returned home from walking his dog. Mendoza knew that coyotes regularly prowl his neighborhood, but they had never actively stalked him before.

After getting his dog inside safely, Mendoza grabbed a shovel and tried to scare off the pack. He also tried throwing lemons at the coyotes. He was finally able to scare off the pack by driving down the street in his car with the high beams on. The incident was captured on a security camera outside of his home.

Watch the news coverage of the incident and surveillance footage from Mendoza's security camera:

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Wolf

Spike in coyote attacks on animal pets in Claremont, California

Angela Bailey
Claremont Courier
Fri, 15 Aug 2014 15:23 UTC
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It seems you can't step outside your front door these days without spotting a coyote running down the street. Lack of food and extreme drought conditions in the Angeles National Forest are forcing wildlife further down the mountain and into town, alarming residents who are unsure of how to protect themselves and their pets.

"The problem is everywhere," says Don Nelson, Warden with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), of the recent coyote sightings. "Anywhere there is open space, even a small amount of open space where they can find food and somewhere they can get up and under for coolness in the daytime and seclusion from predators."

Two weeks ago, COURIER publisher and owner Peter Weinberger and his wife lost their beloved chihuahua Rudy to a suspected coyote attack. The animals have been seen frequenting their Claremont neighborhood in recent weeks, particularly on trash days, in search of food.
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Wolf

Coyote attacks second young girl in Rye, New York

Satta Sarmah
patch.com
Sun, 17 Aug 2014 14:44 UTC
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Coyote.
Another young girl was attacked by a coyote in Rye Tuesday evening while playing in her fenced backyard, just days after a 6-year-old girl was attacked by a pair of the wild animals about a mile away.

The news came Tuesday night as Rye Police Commissioner Williams Connors was giving a speech at the Jay Heritage Center about police efforts to ensure public safety after Friday's coyote attack on 6-year-old Emily Hodulik on LaSalle Avenue.

Interrupting the talk, Connors received a call from an officer in the field stating that police were responding to an incident involving a coyote biting another child, this time on North Street in Rye.
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Fish

Mexico baffled as 50 tons of fish turn up dead


gulfnews.com
Tue, 02 Sep 2014 07:44 UTC
Nearly 50 tonnes of popoche chub fish are latest incident of dead fish removed from lagoon in disastrous year for species.

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© EFE
Mexicans are baffled at the sudden death of thousands of fish in a lake in the centre of the country, a dramatic intensification of a problem that no one has yet been able to explain.

Nearly 50 tonnes of dead popoche chub fish were removed at the weekend from Lake Cajititln, a lagoon in the central state of Jalisco.

Fishermen, firefighters, town hall workers and staff from the state agricultural ministry pulled hundreds of thousands of dead popoche chub fish from the lake and buried them in a pit.

The incident comes after of a series of smaller waves of dead popoche chub in the lake in recent months, including one last week, ensuring that 2014 is already by far the worst year for the species, which has been under attack for the past few years.

The authorities in the lakeside town of Tlajomulco de Ziga, about 25 minutes' drive south of the city of Guadalajara, had previously blamed the deaths on "a cyclical phenomenon caused by temperature variations and the reduction of oxygen".


Comment: See also: Casualties of seafloor methane gas release? Hundreds of thousands more fish found dead in Plymouth tidal pool, UK

Millions of dead herring wash up on Isle of Man coast, UK

Hundreds of methane plumes erupting along U.S. Atlantic coast

Permian Mass Extinction: Methane gas oceanic explosion wiped out 95% of life and it can happen again!

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