Animals
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Fish

Dozens of dead marine mammals, turtles in Gulf this year, NOAA says

Mark Schleifstein
The Times-Picayune
Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:07 UTC
female dolphin
© Ted Jackson / The Times-PicayuneScientists run tests on a pregnant female dolphin during a research study trip in Barataria Bay, Monday August 15, 2011.
Reports of dozens of stranded dolphins, whales, and sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico continue to pile up in the first two months of 2012, with federal officials tallying 48 marine mammals, mostly dolphins, and 87 sea turtles. Only a handful of marine mammal strandings were of live animals that may have been saved. None of the turtles were alive.

There continues to be concern that the high numbers of dead animals, especially the dolphins and whales, may be linked in some way to health problems either caused or exacerbated by toxic chemicals left behind by the BP Gulf oil spill.

The new tally comes as BP prepares to defend itself in federal court against charges it violated the Oil Pollution Act and the Clean Water Act.

In October, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists announced that tests on five of 21 bottlenose dolphins found dead in Louisiana waters or stranded on beaches since February 2010 showed they were infected with brucellosis, a bacterial infection more often linked to death of cattle, bison and elk in the United States.
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Crow deaths mystery continues


The Times of India
Sun, 26 Feb 2012 04:21 UTC
Image
© Unknown
(Chandrapur, India): Mystery continues to shroud the series of deaths of crows in Maulana Azad garden. So far no report has been received against the samples of crows forwarded to High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL), Bhopal. Perplexed Chandrapur Municipal Corporation (CMC) has extended the closure of the garden by 10 more days following suggestion of animal husbandry department.

Continuous deaths of crows in Azad garden had alarmed the CMC authorities earlier this month. Flock of crows infected by the mysterious diseases were regularly being found dead in the garden. After the authorities of district veterinary polyclinic were summoned for inspection, they had suggested for closure of Azad garden for two weeks. Accordingly the garden was closed for the public till February 25. Intense fogging was carried out in the garden and entire premise was dusted with lime powder as a preventive measure to curb spread of any virus outside.

While speculation was rife about the spread of some deadly avian disease among crows, vets from polyclinic had collected samples of crows and forwarded it to HSADL, Bhopal. Even as period of closure came to an end on Saturday, no report was received from the Bhopal-based lab. Meanwhile, the deaths of crows in garden premises have continued and over 85 deaths have been reported so far. But intensity of deaths of crow has reportedly diminished since last few days.
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Info

Hogs Going Wild in Islamabad, Pakistan


Associated Press
Sat, 25 Feb 2012 01:37 UTC
Wild Boars
© Associated PressWild boars are found all over Pakistan, and are one of its major agricultural pests, which can weigh up to 180 to 220 pounds (80 kilograms to 100 kilograms) and have razor sharp teeth. Adult males come armed with upward curving tusks.

With a police officer wounded and the presidential palace breached, the Pakistani capital has launched a fresh offensive against a uniquely feared enemy in the Muslim country, the city's ever expanding population of wild boar.

Each night, packs of the hairy beasts emerge from Islamabad's river beds, parks and scrubland to rifle through the overflowing rubbish bins of its mostly wealthy residents and growing number of restaurants.

City authorities are laying poison and have announced free hunting permits to cull the wild pigs' numbers. But to make sure residents don't get caught in the crossfire, they only allow shotguns. There have been few takers. Hunters are wary of getting arrested by the police, or even worse, getting mistaken for a terrorist.

The animals can weigh up to 180 to 220 pounds (80 kilograms to 100 kilograms) and have razor sharp teeth. Adult males come armed with upward curving tusks. While they scurry off at the site of humans, they charge when cornered, alarmed or wounded and are a major cause of traffic accidents in the city.

The latest chapter of man versus hog played out in a city center police station last week.

"Someone shouted 'watch your back' but before I could look round the animal had hit me," said Sajjad Hussain, who was on duty when the animal slipped in past the high, razor wire-topped blast walls after guards opened the gates to let in a car.

Hussain had a gash in his stomach that required eight stitches and is on medical leave.
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Fish

Oceans' Sad Future: A Sea of Small Fish

Katharine Gammon
OurAmazingPlanet
Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:46 UTC
Ocean Fishes
© Nereus Project

Vancouver, British Columbia - Villy Christensen summed it up in a sentence: "Say goodbye to the big fish in the ocean, and say hello to the small fish."

Christensen, a professor at the University of British Columbia and director of the new Nereus program that aims to predict the future of the world's oceans, had good reason to give a warning so dire.

First, the good news. He says that there are still a lot of fish in the sea: There is about 2 billion tons of fish biomass in the ocean, which works out to about 661 pounds (300 kilograms) per person on the planet. Even better, the total biomass in the ocean is staying relatively consistent.

The bad news? The balance in the type of fish has shifted. Big fish in the ocean, like grouper and cod, have experienced a 55 percent decline in last 40 years. In their place are small, oily fish such as myctophids.

The fish that remain are fish humans aren't so interested in catching or eating, Christensen explained here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. "Half the world's fish are small, in the open oceans and not exploitable."
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Abnormal Behavior: Bathers attacked by carnivorous fish in Brazil


IANS
Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:47 UTC
At least 20 people suffered slight injuries on their toes and fingers when they were attacked by carnivorous fish as they were bathing in a river in southern Brazil, authorities reported Monday.

The attack occurred Sunday afternoon at two different spots on the Toropi river, which runs through the central part of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

The bathers were attacked by a school of "palometas", a species of carnivorous fish native to South America's Southern Cone.
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Igloo

Russia: Freeze Kills Rare Pelicans in Dagestan


Ria Novosti
Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:07 UTC
Pelicans
© Gurizada Kamalova

Rare Dalmatian pelicans, a threatened species, are dying of cold and hunger amid freezing weather in Russia's usually warm Dagestan, where the birds are currently wintering.

Temperatures of minus 20-30 degrees Celsius have swept Russia's southern latitudes, coating the Caspian Sea in a thick layer of sea ice. Some 500 Dalmatian pelicans out of the total population in Russia of about 1,400 were forced to take refuge at a shipyard on the Caspian Sea near Dagestan's capital Makhachkala.

According to information from the Dagestansky Nature Preserve, about 16 pelicans have died from hunger and cold on the Caspian shores of Dagestan.

An adult Dalmatian pelican requires at least 2.5 kg of fish daily, but the giant birds are unable to feed themselves from the ice-covered sea.
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Fish

Iconic marine mammals are 'swimming in sick seas' of terrestrial pathogens: researchers


PhysOrg
Mon, 20 Feb 2012 07:34 UTC
Image
© A W TritesNorthern fur seal pup
Parasites and pathogens infecting humans, pets and farm animals are increasingly being detected in marine mammals such as sea otters, porpoises, harbour seals and killer whales along the Pacific coast of the U.S. and Canada, and better surveillance is required to monitor public health implications, according to a panel of scientific experts from Canada and the United States.

UBC scientists Stephen Raverty, Michael Grigg and Andrew Trites and Melissa Miller from the California Department of Fish and Game, presented their research today at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Vancouver, Canada.

They called for stronger collaboration among public health, coastal water policy and marine mammal health research sectors to reduce land-sea transfer of pathogens and toxins. These terrestrial sourced pollutants are killing coastal marine mammals and likely pose risks to human health.

Between 1998 and 2010, nearly 5,000 marine mammal carcasses were recovered and necropsied along the British Columbia and Pacific Northwest region of the U.S., including whales, dolphins and porpoises, sea lions and otters.

Comment: The article fails to mention the hidden costs brought about by the environmental consequences of fossil fuel use and exploration

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Attention

UK: Incurable Virus Killing Thousands Of Lambs


Sky News, UK
Sat, 18 Feb 2012 15:16 UTC
Baby Lambs
© MySparrowNest Blogspot
A new virus is causing lambs to be born with deformities so severe that they die within seconds.

It is thought midges brought the Schmallenberg virus to Britain from continental Europe last autumn.

The foetuses of newly-pregnant ewes bitten by the insects often fail to develop properly.

At Mayfield Farm near Mildenhall in Suffolk, 75 of the 1,700 lambs born so far this year were affected.

"In a ewe that was carrying twins, she would have a job lambing it. You would have to pull it out," said farmer Clive Sleightholme.

"The legs were fused together and tucked underneath, its head was angular, not formed properly.

"They had undershot jaws and they weren't fleshed out properly but nearly every one was alive when it was pulled out but only lived seconds up to a minute."

The Schmallenberg virus, which is not thought to cause risk to humans, was first identified in Germany in November. There have also been cases in Belgium, France and the Netherlands.
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Maryland, US: Hundreds of dead birds on I-95 in Laurel

Brad Bell, Jason Cherkis, Stephen Tschida
WJLA
Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:27 UTC
Hundreds of birds just dropped from the sky and landed onto I-95 Wednesday, bringing afternoon rush hour traffic to a crawl.


They were common Starlings, and while there were a few in the grass and on the shoulders of the highway, the vast majority landed right on the northbound travel lanes in Laurel.

"We were just kind of curious about running them over and getting them stuck in your tires and all that nastiness," says Tammy Johnson.

"I travel this all the time and have never seen anything like that before," says Ray Wheltle.

Traffic backed up as drivers slowed down out of concern for the birds and their cars.
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US: At least 11 more dolphins stranded on Cape; unexplained phenomenon total rises to 177

Colin A. Young
The Boston Globe
Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:46 UTC
At least 11 more dolphins have stranded themselves on the shores of Cape Cod this morning as the mass strandings enter the second month. The International Fund for Animal Welfare said at least one of the 11 had died.


The animal welfare group said the dolphins were found in an area commonly known as "the gut," a muddy area near the Herring River in Wellfleet.

"The team is out there now with 10 live dolphins," the group's spokesman Michael Booth said. "It could take quite awhile; it's a treacherous location with lots of mud. The team is trying to pull them out of the mud and bring them to our rescue trailers."
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