Animals
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Attention

Even more strange animal behavior: Deer crashes into restaurant in Iowa

Kristen McConnaughey and Johnathan Mack
ABC 9 News
Wed, 27 Aug 2014 21:19 UTC
Deer breaks window
A deer crashed into the windows of Rebos on Wednesday afternoon, shattering one of the two panes.

There is no significant damage to the restaurant and nobody was injured.

The deer was still breathing when ABC9 crews arrived at the scene.

Customers and staff say they were pretty shaken up about the whole ordeal.

"It was about the noon hour and it sounded like, I don't know what it was. All we heard was a big giant crash, a very loud band and everything in the restaurant stopped," said Ryan Brun, Rebos bartender.

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Question

Aggressive dolphin tried to push swimmer underwater off the coast of Ireland

Sarah Griffiths
Daily Mail, UK
Mon, 11 Aug 2014 11:16 UTC
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Smiling assassin? A bottlenose dolphin is said to have deliberately pushed a man under water who was swimming in the sea in County Cork, Ireland. A local group said: 'Do not confuse the shape of their jawline with a smile. They can cause serious injury to humans and have killed in the past.' A stock image is pictured
With their friendly faces and playful natures, it may seem that wild dolphins are always friendly.

But a bottlenose dolphin has been reported to have deliberately pushed a man underwater while he was swimming in the sea off County Cork, in the Republic of Ireland.

The animal is said to have 'lashed out' at the swimmer twice with its tail, prompting experts to warn swimmers to keep out of the water near the large predators.

The incident occurred on July 26 off Sherkin Ireland, according to a report made to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) which stated that the animal acted 'aggressively'.

Known as Clet, the adult bottlenose dolphin is thought to have come to the area from France, after spending time off the coasts of South Devon, Cornwall and Wales.

The IWDG said that Clet is a non-social solitary dolphin who does not seek out and engage with swimmers.

The group's log book reads: 'We are aware of a report of an adult swimmer nearby in wetsuit and mask, from a yacht at anchor, being aggressively pushed underwater by the dolphin. They got a bit of a shock as a result.'

Comment: See also: Rise of the killer dolphins: 'Alarming' rise in fatal attacks on porpoises leaves experts puzzled in Wales

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Fish

Dead fish continue to wash up on shores of south-west England


The West Briton
Fri, 29 Aug 2014 06:54 UTC
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Stranded whitebait have been turning up off the south coast of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset. Hundreds of dead fish were found in Mullion harbour.
Hundreds of tiny dead fish have been found washed up in Mullion harbour.

The beach was left littered with the small whitebait at low tide after they became stranded.

The same phenomenon has been reported all along the south coast as far as Dorset over the past two weeks.

The fish get driven into shore after they are chased by predators - in this case mackerel.

Bob Felce, who has written a book on the history of the cove, said it was an extremely rare sight.

"It is a rare occurrence. One fisherman who has lived here for over 60 years says he can only remember this happening on two or three previous occasions," he said.

"Mullion is an enclosed, small harbour so the trap was laid when they chased them in. The coast around the Lizard has been full of mackerel for a couple of weeks; I had a few hours in a boat off Coverack last week and you could almost walk on them.

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

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Eye 2

More unusual animal behaviour: Crocodile attack earns Florida swimmers dubious distinction

Richard Luscombe
The Guardian
Tue, 26 Aug 2014 06:13 UTC
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© The Image Bank/Getty ImagesSouthern Florida is the only place in the world where crocodiles, pictured, co-exist with American alligators
Miami pair Alejandro Jimenez and Lisset Rendon become first people to be bitten by American crocodile, wildlife officials say

Two swimmers taking an early morning dip in a Florida canal have earned the dubious distinction of becoming the first humans in the United States to be bitten by an American crocodile, wildlife officials say.

Alejandro Jimenez, 26, and Lisset Rendon, 23, came face to face with the 9ft reptile at 2.30am on Sunday, after taking to the water during a house party in Gables by the Sea, an upscale neighbourhood of South Miami where saltwater crocodiles are prevalent.

As Jimenez recovered in hospital Tuesday from bite wounds to his torso and hands, and his girlfriend, who was bitten on her shoulder, rested at home, trappers continued to scour the canal for the giant critter.

Residents say there are at least three large crocodiles living in the water behind their homes and have given them the nicknames Pancho, Snaggletooth and Streetwalker, the last apparently noted for taking late-night strolls across roads in the neighbourhood.
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Cloud Precipitation

'Unprecedented' 40,000 seabirds dead following Atlantic winter storms this year off the coast of Europe

Alice Philipson
The Telegraph, UK
Sun, 17 Aug 2014 15:12 UTC
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© Richard Crossen Guillemot colony.
Britain's sea birds are under threat, experts have warned, after an "unprecedented" 40,000 were found to have died in this year's storms.

Three times the average number of guillemots were killed on Skomer Island, Wales, one of the country's most important havens for seabirds, as they struggled to find enough to eat in turbulent seas.

Professor Tim Birkhead, of the University of Sheffield's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, said that a "run of storms" and "high mortality" would mean seabird populations will start to decrease.

The warning comes after a spell of extreme weather from mid-December to early January that caused a succession of major winter storms, bringing widespread chaos to the UK.

The unpredictable weather continued earlier this month as Hurricane Bertha brought further rain and storms, with nearly the entire average rainfall for August falling in just the first half of the month.
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X

More mysterious and rare sea creatures washing up along US west coast this summer

Joel Landau
NY Daily News
Thu, 21 Aug 2014 13:22 UTC
Thousands of Velella velella, also known as 'by-the-wind sailors' have been appearing on the beach from Washington to Southern California. The organisms are usually only found in the middle of the ocean, and the phenomenon has drawn a lot of excitement as people have been discovering them for the first time.
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© CNNThousands of Velella velella sea creatures are washing ashore on beaches along the West Coast this summer.
Thousands of members of a mysterious and rarely seen sea creature have begun popping up on the California shore, creating new attention to the jelly-like species.

Velella velella, a blue sea creature that bears some resemblance of a jellyfish, is about the size of a hand and usually remains in the water. They can be seen washed ashore in this CNN video.

But a shift in the currents and winds have brought thousands of them onto the West Coast this summer, creating an excitement over an animal of the ocean that is usually kept hidden from the public.

Comment: Something strange and worrying is definitely going on, since Velella velella is only one out of many mysterious and rare creatures that were either caught or spotted in the recent times: Creatures from the deep signal major Earth Changes: Is anyone paying attention?

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Bandaid

Minneapolis girl attacked and chased by otter in Wisconsin lake

Andy Rathbun
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Wed, 13 Aug 2014 10:50 UTC
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It was a fun time at the lake -- until the otter arrived.

After spending about an hour swimming with friends in Bone Lake near Luck, Wis., on Saturday, Rory Kliewer began to climb a ladder onto a dock when she suddenly felt something bite her backside and thigh.

"I thought it was a northern pike," the 12-year-old Minneapolis girl said Wednesday. "I thought a fish was after me."

As she threw the creature off of her, she realized that the animal was an otter -- later estimated at 3 1/2 feet long and about 40 pounds.

"It was a big, nasty one," said Rory, who had been staying at a friend's family cabin over the weekend.

The otter then bit Rory's head and pulled itself onto her, scratching her face.

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© Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi12-year-old Rory Kliewer shows the scratches on her face and ear Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014, at her home in Minneapolis after being attacked by an otter while swimming Saturday, Aug. 9, at Bone Lake in Polk County, Wis. Kliewer sustained bites, scratches and bruises during the attack.

Comment: There appears to have been a spate of unusually aggressive animal attacks on humans of late including some by species normally thought of as being wary and retiring when encountering people, see also: Giant anteaters kill Brazilian hunters!

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

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

Paddling family of three attacked by a beaver in Austria

400 pound alligator attacks 9-year-old boy, Florida

Crocodile kills fisherman in front of his wife in Northern Territory, Australia

Man mauled by bear in Italian wood

The interested reader might wish to look at the chart below for animal events over the period 2007 to the present, which include reports of not only mass die-offs and strange behaviour but also includes abnormal migrations and gatherings. Note that the number of records this year have already surpassed the 2013 total.



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Fish

Rare creatures left stranded by stormy seas in Queensland, Australia

Jon Coghill and Rob Blackmore
abc.net.au
Wed, 27 Aug 2014 10:16 UTC
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© Jo JoyceJo Joyce photographed this sea snake near Pincushion Island on the Sunshine Coast. It was about 50cm long..
The Sunshine Coast played host to a handful of odd and rare animals after last weekend's deluge. Marine biologist Julian Pepperell was called on to investigate.

Sunshine Coast locals have noticed a plethora of strange creatures washed up on beaches and lost from home.

Red stinky blob

Debbie Higgs of Mt Coolum found a "weird red blob-like creature" on Mudjimba Beach.

"It's 25cms long roughly. It's oval-shaped, frilly and it's got a peculiar pattern down its back. [It was] cold, squishy and had that really gluggy type feeling like a jellyfish. It had vibrant dark red around it in a frill," she said.

"When I found it, it was still pulsing. I didn't want to touch it in case it was poisonous. I've never seen anything like it.

Debbie says she put a photo on twitter and linked it to Instagram and "suddenly all these people started contacting me."

Since, the story has been published worldwide.

"We contacted a museum and we've been told it's a Spanish dancer usually found in Indian waters or off Bali," Debbie said.
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© Debbie HiggsDebbie Higgs found this suspected Spanish Dancer on Mudjimba Beach.

Comment: See also: Australian students discover rare fish dead on beach

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Question

Rare blue lobster caught on the coast of Portland, Maine

Chris Gee
Daily Mirror, UK
Tue, 26 Aug 2014 11:56 UTC
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© James LaPlanteA blue lobster caught in Portland
Meghan LaPlante, 14 was lobster fishing with her father Jay when they discovered "Skyler', who is an extremely unlikely colour for a crustacean

An almost unique sea creature made landfall earlier this week - a blue lobster.

Jay LaPlante and his 14-year-old daughter Meghan, were out at sea hauling traps off the coast, near Portland, Maine, when they unloaded a pot containing the spectacular two-pound azure lobster.

Meghan quickly christened the crustacean Skyler, presumably as she is the same shade as the sky.

Comment: See also this report from last month: Rare blue-colored red king crab caught in Nome, Alaska

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Question

Unusual whale behaviour during migration in Cook Strait, New Zealand


radionz.co.nz
Sat, 23 Aug 2014 16:00 UTC
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A humpback whale breaches while crossing the Cook Strait, New Zealand.
A researcher says warmer than expected sea temperatures could be the explanation behind the unusual behaviour of whales migrating through the Cook Strait this year.

A team of Department of Conservation researchers and former whalers took part in the Cook Strait Whale Survey from 14 June to 12 July, to spot humpback whales migrating from Antarctic waters to breeding grounds in the South Pacific.

Project leader, Nadine Bott, said 92 humpback whales were spotted this year, slightly down from the record number of 106 in 2012.

Ms Bott said the whales behaviour was unusual compared with previous years.

"We had a lot of milling behaviour, a lot of surface activity behaviour, where the whales are jumping out of the water. Basically general mucking around kind of behaviour, which you don't typically see in a migrating population."

"They've normally always been on a very straight route from South to North through the strait, and if they do deviate from it they return quickly to the same bearing. This year they were all over the place" she said.

Comment: See also: Whales turn up in unusually high numbers in the seas around Ireland

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