Animals
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Question

Over 1 thousand dead seagulls discovered in Kazakhstan sector of Caspian Sea

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Mass mortality of seagulls has been registered at Shalyga island in the northern part of the Caspian Sea, Interfax-Kazakhstan reports.

1,200 dead birds were discovered at the island in the end of last week, a special ecological prosecutor of Atyrau oblast Kairat Uteuliyev told Interfax-Kazakhstan on June 26.

According to him, several dead birds were transferred for tests to the oblast branch of the state veterinary laboratory of the Veterinary Control Commission of Kazakhstan Agriculture Ministry. "We will get the test results very soon and only then we will be able to talk about causes of the mass mortality of these birds. After that the respective authority will react to the incident and evaluation activities of the state environmental protection authorities that are responsible for controlling the fauna," Uteuliyev said.

Attention

Millions of krill wash up on Oregon and California beaches

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© AP Photo/NOAA, Jaime Gomez GutierrezThis undated photo from NOAA Fisheries Service shows a species of Pacific krill. Millions of the inch-long shrimp-like animals have been washing up on beaches between Eureka, Calif., and Newport, Ore., and scientists don't exactly know why. Strong winds may have pushed them ashore while they were mating near the surface, or they may have run into an area of low oxygen
Grants Pass, Ore. - Millions of krill - a tiny shrimp-like animal that is a cornerstone of the ocean food web - have been washing up on beaches in Southern Oregon and Northern California for the past few weeks.

Scientists are not sure why

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oceanographer Bill Peterson says they may have been blown into the surf by strong winds while mating near the surface, and then been dashed on the beach.

The species is Thysanoessa spinifera. They are about an inch long and live in shallower water along the Continental Shelf. They have been seen in swaths 5 feet wide, stretching for miles on beaches from Eureka, Calif., to Newport, Ore. Some were still alive.

"There has definitely been something going on," Peterson said from Newport. "People have sent us specimens. In both cases, the females had just been fertilized. That suggests they were involved, maybe, in a mating swarm. But we've had a lot of onshore wind the last two weeks. If they were on the surface for some reason and the wind blows them toward the beach and they are trapped in the surf, that is the end of them."

Or, they may have fallen victim to low levels of oxygen in the water, said Joe Tyburczy, a scientist with California Sea Grant Extension in Eureka. A recent ocean survey showed lower than normal oxygen levels in some locations. If the krill went to the surface to get oxygen, they could have been blown on shore, he said.

Fish

Dead fish being investigated in Canandaigua Lake, New York

An investigation is underway to learn why a greater-than-normal number of fish for this time of year are washing up on shore around Canandaigua Lake. During spawning season it is typical to find dead fish washing up due to various stresses fish experience, such as in defending their turf and dealing with a rapid increase in temperature, said Canandaigua Lake Watershed Manager Kevin Olvany.
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"The usual suspects" in Olvany's words are smaller fish like perch and sunfish. This season, he said, there appears to be a greater quantity of fish washing up of all varieties, which include larger fish - such as large bass. The situation warranted an investigation, Olvany said.

Olvany was at Kershaw Park in Canandaigua on Monday looking over the situation, and he said other sections of the lake also appear to have more fish washing up. A fish sample has been sent to the state Department of Environmental Conservation for testing and results should be back soon, he said.

Cow Skull

Hundreds of cattle die from botulism? - Northern Territory, Australia

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© Beth LuckCattle are buried on Warrigundu Station in the Northern Territory.
Around 300 cattle, which died on an Indigenous-owned station in the Northern Territory this month, are believed to have contracted botulism.

The stock on Warrigundu Station, 300 kilometres south-east of Katherine, were reportedly vaccinated for the disease four days before the first cows started dying.

Garry Cook, from the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC), says the source of the botulism is still unknown, but it's most likely to have occurred in decaying animal carcasses.

"We're are really perplexed about what's happened because these cattle have been vaccinated every year.

"They were freshly vaccinated and turned out of the yards into this particular paddock," he said.

"So why these particular animals succumbed to something despite vaccination is something the Department of Primary Industry is still working with us on."

ABC Rural has obtained photos of some of the dead cattle, which have been buried in ditches.

Fish

Hundreds of bait fish washed ashore at South Durras, NSW, Australia

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As harsh weather continues, hundreds of bait fish were seen washed ashore at South Durras. With many of them still alive, a question that arose was what caused the incident. The reasons behind the same still remained mysterious.

The event was something that was never seen before at the place. Hundreds of fishes were seen lying on shore. John Perkins, a Friends of Durras spokesman who snapped the pictures of the fishes, said that the waves came and washed them back.

It emerged that Durras Lake's entrance to the sea has been closed recently. Mr. Perkins said that it may be the reason behind unusual event. Stan Gorton, the Editor at Narooma News, said that he had never seen yellowtail scad and slimy mackerel piled up like that earlier.

The pictures of the fishes have been sent to NSW Fisheries to find out the reason behind the same. The residents of the Batemans Bay have been asked to stay away from the waterfront as the tides are still hitting the town.

"The tide wasn't as big as the same time last year. Climate scientists say this will be 'normal' high tide in couple of decades. It's a bit of a benchmark", said Narooma local Greg Watts.

Fish

Thousands of dead fish wash ashore in Sarasota County Lake, Florida


Sarasota County - County workers are blaming a combination of factors for the deaths of thousands of fish in a pond off Clark Road this week. Heat, heavy rain, stormwater runoff and bird droppings depleted the oxygen level in Mirror Lake, near the southeast corner of Clark and Beneva roads, according to the county. Workers at nearby offices began to notice the dead fish Monday, but the majority turned up dead Tuesday, according to SNN Local News, Herald Tribune and World Chaos

Bizarro Earth

High lead levels found in Southeast Missouri songbirds

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About half of the ground-feeding songbirds collected from lead-mining regions of southeast Missouri had extremely high levels of lead in their blood, kidneys and liver, according to a survey released Tuesday by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Lead mining and smelting have been going on in portions of southeast Missouri since the early 1700s. The region contains the world's largest deposit of the lead mineral galena.

USGS performed the study at the request of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of an assessment of potential damage to wildlife from exposure to lead-contaminated soil. USGS scientists in 2009 and 2010 captured 34 songbirds in the region known as the Old Lead Belt, portions of the Big River flood plain and in an area within the Mark Twain National Forest.

"We knew mining had gone on there for many years," said Nelson Beyer, author of the study. "We knew the area itself was very contaminated but there hasn't been a lot of work done on songbirds."

Tested birds - mostly cardinals, robins, blue jays and eastern towhees - had eight times the normal amount of lead in their blood, 13 times the normal amount in their liver and 23 times the normal amount in their kidneys, according to the survey that compared the Missouri birds with birds captured elsewhere.

Fish

Hundreds of dead fish in Hirsch Lake in Runnemede, New Jersey


The Department of Environmental Protection says a biologist was sent out to Hirsch Lake in Runnemede, Camden County this morning after hundreds of fish were found dead.

The lake, which is called both Hirsch Lake and Runnemede Lake, is located along Singley Avenue.

Between 300 and 500 carp were found dead in the lake Thursday morning.

It appears that only the carp are being killed - no other plant or wildlife in or around the lake seem to be affected. Officials suspect a pathogen specifically affecting the carp may be responsible for the sudden fish kill.

Biologists are hoping to test the tissue of a living but sickly carp to determine if their speculation of a pathogen being the cause is correct.

Fish

US: 'Catastrophic' fish kill along Arkansas River investigated

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State wildlife and environmental officials are investigating a die-off of thousands of fish in the Salt Fork of the Arkansas River in north-central Oklahoma.

Kills were reported on June 4 and again on Monday. The die-off has spread downstream roughly 50 river miles from the initial report near Lamont to its confluence with the main channel of the Arkansas River, which is about seven miles south of Ponca City, according to Kay County Game Warden Spencer Grace, who is investigating the kill.

There is no official estimate of the number of fish killed.

"We're looking at stretches of the river, about a mile at a time, 100 or 200 in this stretch, 50 in the next stretch. You take 100 fish times 50 miles of river, that's a lot of fish," he said.

Both Department of Wildlife Conservation and state Department of Environmental Quality officials have been to the river and taken water samples and fish samples, he said.

Grace would not speculate on the cause of the kill but said it is widespread and "catastrophic."

"I've been working on this the last three days with DEQ and it's been frustrating because so many miles of the river are dead now. There are no fish in the water, no gar, nothing. You only see the occasional turtle. You're not seeing any indicators of new fish dying so we just have to rely on the water tests now."

DEQ spokeswoman Erin Hatfield said water tests would look for a wide range of substances looked for in any fish kill, including heavy metals.

Results will be known in 10 days to two weeks, she said.

There is no official warning to prevent people from going into the water or eating fish from the river, but Grace said he would not recommend it.

Grace said the kill has hit largest fish the hardest.

"I think the smallest one I saw was about three pounds," he said.

"It's killing all aquatic life with the exception of turtles, freshwater mussels and clams. It seems to target species that live on the bottom and the big fish that hang out in those deep holes, so the catfish, buffalo, carp, some paddlefish. It is killing out fish in that system that won't be replaced in our lifetime."

The Salt Fork, which forms the Great Salt Plains Lake where it is dammed in Alfalfa County, has natural salinity but levels measured this week are "astronomical," Grace said.

Arrow Down

Bees dying by the millions in Elmwood, ON, Canada

Elmwood - Local beekeepers are finding millions of their bees dead just after corn was planted here in the last few weeks. Dave Schuit, who has a honey operation in Elmwood, lost 600 hives, a total of 37 million bees.

"Once the corn started to get planted our bees died by the millions," Schuit said. He and many others, including the European Union, are pointing the finger at a class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids, manufactured by Bayer CropScience Inc. used in planting corn and some other crops. The European Union just recently voted to ban these insecticides for two years, beginning December 1, 2013, to be able to study how it relates to the large bee kill they are experiencing there also.

Local grower Nathan Carey from the Neustadt, and National Farmers Union Local 344 member, says he noticed this spring the lack of bees and bumblebees on his farm. He believes that there is a strong connection between the insecticide use and the death of pollinators.

"I feel like we all have something at stake with this issue," he said. He is organizing a public workshop and panel discussion about this problem at his farm June 22 at 10 a.m. He hopes that all interested parties can get together and talk about the reason bees, the prime pollinators of so any different plant species, are dying.

At the farm of Gary Kenny, south west of Hanover, eight of the 10 hives he kept for a beekeeper out of Kincardine, died this spring just after corn was planted in neighbouring fields.

What seems to be deadly to bees is that the neonicotinoid pesticides are coating corn seed and with the use of new air seeders, are blowing the pesticide dust into the air when planted. The death of millions of pollinators was looked at by American Purdue University. They found that, "Bees exhibited neurotoxic symptoms, analysis of dead bees revealed traces of thiamethoxam/clothianidin in each case. Seed treatments of field crops (primarily corn) are the only major source of these compounds.

Local investigations near Guelph, led to the same conclusion. A Pest Management Regulatory Agency investigation confirmed that corn seeds treated with clothianidin or thiamethoxam "contributed to the majority of the bee mortalities" last spring.

"The air seeders are the problem," said Ontario Federation of Agriculture director Paul Wettlaufer, who farms near Neustadt. This was after this reporter called John Gillespie, OFA Bruce County president, who told me to call Wettlaufer. Unfortunately, Wettlaufer said it was, "not a local OFA issue," and that it was an issue for the Grain Farmers of Ontario and representative, Hennry Vanakum should be notified. Vanakum could not be rached for comment.

Yet Guelph University entomologist Peter Kevan, disagreed with the EU ban.

"There's very little evidence to say that neonicotinoids, in a very general sense, in a broad scale sense, have been a major component in the demise of honeybees or any other pollinators, anywhere in the world," said Kevan.

But research is showing that honeybee disorders and high colony losses have become a global phenomena. An international team of scientists led by Holland's Utrecht University concluded that, "Large scale prophylaxic use in agriculture, their high persistence in soil and water, and their uptake by plants and translocation to flowers, neonicotinoids put pollinator services at risk." This research and others resulted in the Eurpean Union ban.

The United Church is also concerned about the death of so many pollinators and has prepared a "Take Action" paper it's sending out to all its members. The church is basing its action on local research. The Take Action paper states among other things, "Scientific information gathered suggests that the planting of corn seeds treated with neonicotinoids contributed to the majority of the bee mortalities that occurred in corn growing regions of Ontario and Quebec in Spring 2012."

Meanwhile Schuit is replacing his queen bees every few months now instead of years, as they are dying so frequently. "OMAFRA tells me to have faith. Well, I think it's criminal what is happening, and it's hard to have faith if it doesn't look like they are going to do anything anyway," Schuit says.