Animals
S


Stop

Two Shark Attacks in Russia in One Day


International Business Times
Thu, 18 Aug 2011 10:44 UTC
Image
© Manos MatsakisA hammerhead shark is thought to be the culprit.
The Russian word for shark is "akoohlah," which will be useful for tourists swimming on the country's Pacific coast, in the Sea of Japan. Two people were attacked by sharks in the Far Eastern Primorye Territory in a 24-hour period.

In the first case, a 16-year-old swimming around the Zheltukhina island on Wednesday was bitten in the leg. He is recovering in a Vladivostok hospital.

"The young man's flippers and wetsuit saved him from death. Some 20 meters off the coast, the shark grabbed the man's legs, but the wetsuit served as a protective covering," doctors told Russian daily RIA Novosti.

Another man near Vityaz village had both his arms bit off by a rogue shark. The 25-year-old was about 30 miles from the location of the first incident, and according to reports, he fought off the animal to protect his wife.
Read More...
Eye 1

US: Pig-Size South American Rodent Spotted in Central California

Lauren F. Friedman
Scientific American
Tue, 16 Aug 2011 05:18 UTC
Image
© Nick Kamp/KSBY/KION
Nick Kamp, who works at a water treatment plant in Paso Robles, Calif., was near a solid-waste pond when he spotted something emerging from the murky water. He quickly snapped a few photos of what turned out to be a capybara, the world's largest rodent, before it slipped back into the water and swam away.

Capybaras resemble huge guinea pigs and can grow to be as large as sheep, sometimes reaching more than 1.3 meters in length. They eat grass, freshwater plants and - to aide digestion - their own feces. The semiaquatic mammals are native to South American marshlands and swamps, but this sighting in central California was not the first.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Sacred Irrawaddy Dolphin on Brink of Extinction

Jennifer Viegas
Discovery News
Thu, 18 Aug 2011 11:06 UTC
Irrawaddy Dolphin
© World Wildlife FundIrrawaddy dolphin.

The Irrawaddy dolphin, considered sacred to many people in Cambodia and Laos, has declined to just 85 individuals in Southeast Asia's Mekong River, according to a World Wildlife Fund assessment. Leading researchers now conclude that the population is at high risk of dying out altogether.

"This low number, combined with very low calf survival rates, means that these dolphins are frighteningly close to extinction," WWF spokesperson Caroline Behringer told Discovery News.

Li Lifeng, director of WWF's Freshwater Program, echoed the concern about calves in a press release statement.

He said, "Evidence is strong that very few young animals survive to adulthood, as older dolphins die off and are not replaced."

Li and his colleagues used a technique called "photographic mark-recapture" to count the dolphins. This involves identifying specific individual dolphins through unique markings on their dorsal fins. The method, adjusted to focus on other unique identifying features, has previously been used to estimate whale, tiger, horse, leopard and other animal populations.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

US - Louisiana: Pearl River Fish Kill Spreads to Lake Pontchartrain


WAFB
Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:33 UTC
Image
Metairie, Louisiana - Scientists with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation have confirmed that there is strong evidence that the polluted discharge from the Pearl River is within Lake Pontchartrain. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation was alerted to the observance of a fish kill and black water on the West Pearl River on Saturday, August 13th. News reports indicated that the fish kill could be the result of low oxygen levels caused by a release from the Temple-Inland paper mill in Bogalusa, LA.

On Monday, LPBF staff monitored the Pearl River and discovered that low oxygen water and dead fish extended at least a mile down river of Interstate 10 in the West Pearl River. This implied the water would soon reach Rigolets Pass. On Tuesday August 16, a ten mile long foam line was mapped stretching from Rigolets Pass to nearly Bayou Bonfouca (see maps and photographs). The white, frothy foam line had scattered dead catfish, and appeared to emanate from Rigolets Pass on an incoming tide. Oxygen levels in Lake Pontchartrain appeared normal. It is likely the foam and dead fish were carried by tides in normal lake water and may not indicate that significant polluted water has entered Lake Pontchartrain.
Read More...
Better Earth

US: Whale dies after weeks in river, and after calf left


MSNBC /Associated Press
Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:33 UTC
'We don't think she starved to death. There's something else going on,' official says

A wayward gray whale that had been on Northern California's Klamath River for more than a month, staying even after her calf went back to the ocean, died Tuesday morning after beaching on a sandbar.

Image
© Matt Mais / yuroktribe.orgThe adult gray whale blows a heart-shaped spout near the U.S. Highway 101 bridge over the Klamath River on July 24.
A cause of death will be determined after researchers test samples of the body, said Sarah Wilkin of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. She was part of the team studying the whale and trying different tactics to send it back to the Pacific, three miles away.

"Based on the photos and everything, her fat layer looks good, so we don't think she starved to death," Wilkin said. "There's something else going on."

The mother and her 15-foot calf entered the river in late June during their northward journey from breeding grounds in Baja California up to Alaska.
Read More...
Bug

US: Flood "Bugnadoes" Sweep Across Missouri

Mark Dunphy
Irish Weather Online
Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:56 UTC
Parts of Missouri affected by serious flooding in recent months are having to contend with a bizarre new natural hazard, swarms of bugs that appear in the shape of tornado funnels.

The large bug vortexes of flying bugs, which have been referred to by local people as "bugnadoes", have been spotted throughout low-lying parts of the State in the vicinity of the Missouri River.

It is unclear as of yet what species of flying insects is involved. To make matters worse, however, swarms of dragonflies have been seen flying around and feeding on the swirling bug funnels.

Read More...
Better Earth

Happy ending for 'Happy Feet'? Penguin to head home


MSNBC / Reuters
Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:24 UTC
Image
© Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images, file"Happy Feet" the emperor penguin that washed up on the Kapiti Coast recovers after undergoing a medical examination at Wellington Zoo on June 29 in Wellington, New Zealand.
A young Emperor penguin that captured global attention when it washed up on a New Zealand beach after straying thousands of miles from home will be head back to the subantarctic in a specially designed cage aboard a research vessel.

The Wellington Zoo, where the bird - nicknamed "Happy Feet" by locals - has been living since June, said on Wednesday the penguin would be on the research vessel Tangaroa when it leaves on Aug. 29 for a fisheries survey.

The penguin will be released from the ship about four days out at sea, en route to its final destination.

"The NIWA team are looking forward to having this extra special guest onboard the vessel with us for the journey," Rob Murdoch of NIWA, the research organization that operates the vessel, said in a statement issued by the zoo.
Read More...
Eye 1

US: Pearl River fish kill puts fear in residents-"Every species of fish here is dead"

Terrance Friday
WLOX
Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:41 UTC
dead fish, pearl river
© snip WOLX news

Pearl River County, Mississippi-For the past few days a surge of dead fish has been the scene for folks living along the Pearl River. Residents in Picayune have also been effected by the scare.

For families like the Mitchells, living along the Pearl River isn't just beautiful scenery, it's a complete way of life.

"We feed our families three times a week from these rivers. Whether it be frogs, fish, the wildlife that we hunt during the Winter it's a big portion of our meat for the year," said Mitchell
Read More...
Cow

Increasingly Curious Animal Behavior: Yvonne, A Cow Wrapped In A Mystery Inside A Forest in Germany

Bill Chappell
NPR
Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:44 UTC
Image
© Josef Enzinger/dapdA cow named Yvonne has eluded capture since escaping a German farm in May. She's been spotted roaming a forest, but searchers haven't been able to get close to her. Now an animal psychic has been called in.
In Germany, a dairy cow named Yvonne's death-defying escape - and continued success in eluding capture - has become an incandescent symbol of freedom and animal dignity. Okay, that may be hyperbolic. But how else to explain scores of visitors to Zangberg, the Bavarian commune Yvonne calls home, or the 10,000-euro reward offered for her safe return?

Curious visitors and search parties have been romping through the woods around Zangberg, looking for signs of the cow. Yvonne has been at large since she breached an electric fence on her farm nearly three months ago, on May 24. Since then, she's adopted a lifestyle that might be called Sherwoodian: sticking to forests, eluding police, and bringing acclaim and tourist dollars to her quaint village.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

UK: Mysterious Unknown Purple Sea Sponge Discovered Off The East Coast

Steve Myall
Daily Mirror, UK
Sun, 14 Aug 2011 22:40 UTC
Seaweed
© BBCSeaweed

A purple sponge never seen in UK waters has been found off England's east coast.

It was discovered by the Wildlife Trust, who were conducting a seaweed survey of the North Sea.

The survey uncovered 131 types of seaweed, including the "reflexed grape weed", or red seaweed, and three other non-native types, while endangered starlet sea anemones were seen along Suffolk and Norfolk's coasts.

An unidentified sea slug new to Norfolk was spotted, while the unknown purple sponge was discovered during dives off East Runton in the north of the county.

A spokesman said: "This survey has thrown up some important finds. They will form a crucial part of our knowledge base of what's living off the east coast."
Read More...