Animals
S


Question

18-foot oarfish caught by Catalina marine science instructor in California

Nadra Nittle
Press-Telegram
Mon, 14 Oct 2013 13:35 UTC
Image
In the late afternoon of Sunday October 13th, 2013, Catalina Island Marine Institute instructors returned home to find an 18-foot-long oarfish in the crystal waters of Toyon Bay
A marine science instructor has made what's being called the discovery of a lifetime: She found an 18-foot-long oarfish Sunday in Toyon Bay on Catalina Island.

Image
The head of the 18-foot-long oarfish found by Catalina Island Marine Institute instructors in Toyon Bay in the late afternoon of Sunday October 13th, 2013.
While snorkeling, Jasmine Santana of the Catalina Island Marine Institute discovered the obscure fish, which had evidently died of natural causes. When she reached the bottom of the bay, she spotted a silver creature with eyes the size of half-dollars.

Santana's colleagues saw her struggling to move the dead animal and came to her aid, ultimately discovering that it would take 15 people to move the animal to the beach.

Mark Johnson, a longtime CIMI staffer, said in a statement that he'd yet to witness such a sight during his tenure at the institute.

"In 32 years here, I have never seen anything like this," he said.

Because oarfish dive more than 3,000 feet deep, sightings of the creatures are rare, according to CIMI. Oarfish have the distinction of being the longest bony fish species, CIMI reports.

Officials from the institute sent tissue samples and footage of the oarfish to an expert at UC Santa Barbara, where the species of the creature will be determined.

Comment: See also.

Something amiss deep down? Bizarre-looking oarfish washes ashore on Cabo San Lucas beach

Appearance of "Earthquake fish" spook Japanese

Rare "King of Herrings" Found off Swedish Coast

England: Monster of deep washes up on beach

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Binoculars

Best of the Web: Signs of change in the last week of September 2013

HawkkeyDavis Channel
YouTube
Fri, 11 Oct 2013 15:00 UTC
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The events around the world have been unprecedented over the last few weeks. Some of the most dramatic and unbelievable footage I've ever seen from events that took place in the past week or so. Please use these videos for awareness to these ongoing extremes that seem to be getting worse each week. Prepare for disasters in your area! You're no different than others that are already dealing with them and most were not ready...

In just a couple of weeks we saw a devastating typhoon hit Japan and China, a 'one-in-one-thousand-years' flood hit Colorado, record rainfall in Mexico, the Pacific Northwest, Brazil, and India, fireballs turning night into day over Canada and the US, a powerful tornado in Sao Paulo, a 7.7 earthquake in Pakistan that formed a new island in the ocean, followed just 4 days later by 7.2 in the same region, a 7.0 earthquake in Peru, a daytime fireball in Alabama...these are just some of the highlights from the last week of another crazy month on planet Earth!

Thanks for watching here and stay safe!

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Einstein

Are humans inadvertently helping make animals more intelligent?

Rod Bastanmehr
AlterNet
Thu, 10 Oct 2013 02:06 UTC
intelligent animals
An increase in brain size was also detected in two species of shrews and bats
A new study shows that changes in the environment caused by people are helping animals to evolve bigger brains.

Well, chalk one up for homo-sapiens, sort of. While we've known for some time that humans have been affecting the enviroment on a global scale, one aspect of our evolutionary impact on other species might not be all bad.

In a recent study, University of Minnesota biologist Emilie C. Snell-Rood found evidence suggesting that our direct changes to the natural habitats of animals (through technologies advances, antibiotics and revised food pyramids) have caused some animals to evolve with bigger brains.

Dr. Snell-Rood studied dozens of individual animal skulls, some as old as a century, from ten different species including bats, gophers and mice. In two of the species, the white-footed mouse and the meadow role, the brains of the animals plucked from metropolitan areas or suburbs were about 6% bigger than those of the animals taken from farms or other rural areas. Dr. Snell-Rood's hypothesis after assessing the first wave of results was that brains become significantly bigger when they move to cities or bustling towns, where the animals must learn to find food in places that they're not biologically trained to encounter or expect.
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Arrow Down

Mysterious duck decapitations force Irish locals to remove wildfowl

Eoin MacConnell
The Irish Times
Thu, 10 Oct 2013 20:44 UTC
Decapitations
© Irish TimesThe ducks had be introduced to brighten up Edenderry Harbour.
Locals have been forced to remove ducks from a harbour in Co Offaly following a mysterious spate of duck decapitations in recent days.

Members of Edenderry's tidy towns committee were horrified to discover the heads of mallard and donated farmyard ducks at the harbour this week.

Independent Cllr Noel Cribbin said the ducks had be introduced to brighten up the area and provide a focal point for young and old to congregate.

According to Cllr Cribbin, who first introduced the ducks with the help of Frank Carroll, 22 of the 40 ducks are gone and a number of heads have been found around the harbour in recent days.

"Since the ducks were introduced to the harbour some years ago they have brought nothing only happiness and contentment from the dozens of kids, parents and grandparents who have come to feed them over the years," Cllr Cribbin remarked.

He is convinced the birds were decapitated with a sharp implement as there was no sign of any animal marks on the heads and the remainder of the ducks were missing. Cllr Cribbin said the animals are very tame, "the farmyard duck cant fly, so he is a sitting duck- literally," he remarked.
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Arrow Down

Madagascar bubonic plague warning


BBC News
Thu, 10 Oct 2013 13:14 UTC

Madagascar faces a bubonic plague epidemic unless it slows the spread of the disease, experts have warned.

The Red Cross and Pasteur Institute say inmates in the island's rat-infested jails are particularly at risk.

The number of cases rises each October as hot humid weather attracts fleas, which transmit the disease from rats and other animals to humans.

Madagascar had 256 plague cases and 60 deaths last year, the world's highest recorded number.

Bubonic plague, known as the Black Death when it killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages, is now rare.
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Eagle

Bald eagle attacks pets in Michigan neighborhood


upi.com
Wed, 09 Oct 2013 11:03 UTC
Image
© Walter Siegmund, Wikimedia Commons.Bald Eagle, first year juvenile

A Michigan woman said a young bald eagle took up residence in her neighborhood and has been terrorizing her dogs.

Tami Bieri of Sebewaing said the bird, which her young daughter dubbed Derrick, has become a "nuisance bird" that poses a threat to her small dogs, WNEM-TV, Saginaw, reported Wednesday.

"I left my two dogs outside and my smaller dog was attacked by an eagle. And then as the eagle was taking off with the dog, my Jack Russell attacked the eagle and both dogs got away," Bieri said.

Bieri said local and state officials told her there is nothing they can do about the bird because bald eagles are federally protected.

"I've called the [Department of Natural Resources], the Sebewaing police, and they pretty much say there's nothing they can do because the eagle's not injured," Bieri said.

Karen Cleveland, a bird expert with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, said residents can use non-violent methods to let the eagle know he is not welcome in the neighborhood.

"Clap your hands and yell at the bird when you see the bird around, bang on a pot when you see the bird around, go out there with an umbrella, flap the umbrella opened and closed to try and spook the bird off just so it doesn't feel settled around people," Cleveland said.
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Question

Mystery of why 22 long-finned whales washed up to their deaths on Spanish beach

Hayley O'keeffe
The Daily Mail, UK
Mon, 07 Oct 2013 07:47 UTC
  • Whales washed up and died at Manon Beach in Spain
  • Authorities and conservationists battled to save long-finned pilot whales
  • The whales are sociable creatures and often interact with dolphins
Image
22 long-finned pilot whales have died after coming ashore on the Manon beach, north of La Coruna, Galicia today. Conservationists and authorities battled to save the animals, and now a mystery surrounds why they beached in the first place
A natural mystery is unfolding in Spain after 22 long-finned pilot whales came ashore at Manon Beach.

The picture shows six of the 22 long-finned pilot whale that beached on the shore, north of La Coruna, Galicia, Spain today (Monday).

Sadly 11 of the whales died on arrival to the beach and the others died later despite the efforts of the Spanish Civil Protection, environmentalists and Galicia Coordination mammalian studies.

Long-finned pilot whales or globicephala melas are very sociable and family-orientated animals and are even known to socialise with bottle nosed-dolphins
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Bizarro Earth

Moo times two: Calf born with two heads


KCEN TV
Fri, 04 Oct 2013 12:36 UTC
Two Headed Calf
© Courtesy WPTZ Vermont
A newly born two-headed calf is calling a Whiting, Vermont dairy farm home.

"It just was something different for us today," said dairy owner Kirstin Quesnel. "Just like with humans we have some abnormalities with animals and animal births and this just happened to be one of them."

The condition, called polycephaly, is extremely rare. The calf was supposed to be a twin, but the egg inside the mother failed to split.

"We had a vet take a look at her earlier today to check all of her signs, and she seems to be doing very well," Quesnel said.

The calf spent much of Wednesday sleeping and getting her photo taken. She is also trying to walk, but her neck is not strong enough to carry the weight of two heads.

Otherwise, she's perfectly healthy, but without a name.

"Call it a miracle or call it unique, call it whatever you will, we were just blessed with this and we'll see where it goes from here."
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Bizarro Earth

The swallows are dying: 'This type of mortality event is unprecedented'


KATU.com
Wed, 02 Oct 2013 15:38 UTC
Swallow
© Wikimedia CommonsFile photo of a Violet-green Swallow.
Salem, Oregon - The stormy weather we had recently didn't just knock down some trees and power lines, it also took a toll on one of the state's bird populations.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has received a number of calls about dead and dying Barn and Violet-green Swallows, with reports coming in from the Port of Saint Helens to as far south as Junction City.

It's estimated that thousands of the birds have died this past week. Groups of 10 to 200 have been reported dead in barns and other structures and, according to ODFW, the deaths appear to be in greater numbers near rivers and standing water.

"This type of mortality event is unprecedented and considered a rare and unusual event," said Colin Gillin, ODFW State Wildlife Veterinarian. "The effect on bird populations is unknown."

What happened to the birds? Experts are blaming the recent heavy rains and high winds, which they believe prevented the swallows from getting food. When the birds were examined by a lab at Oregon State University, the swallows were thin and it was obvious they had not eaten recently.

Swallows feed on insects and when the weather gets bad, it has an effect on the young and weaker birds because they suddenly become unable to take in enough food to meet their energy requirements.

Sick or dead wildlife can be reported to the ODFW Health Lab at (866) 968-2600. Keep in mind that only licensed wildlife rehabilitators may treat sick or injured wildlife.
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Bug

Diesel fumes confuse honeybees when foraging

Nick Collins
The Telegraph,UK
Thu, 03 Oct 2013 14:19 UTC
Exhaust fumes from diesel could be changing the scent of flowers and making it harder for honeybees to collect pollen and nectar, according to a new study.

Image
© Tracey Newman, Guy Poppy and Robbie GirlingA bee lands on a oilseed rape flower
Pollutants found in diesel exhaust alter levels of chemicals released by flowers which honeybees use to locate and identify varieties with the largest amounts of pollen and nectar, researchers found.

Tests in a laboratory designed to mimic the effect of exhaust fumes on the smell of oilseed rape showed that the bees' ability to recognise the odour was reduced by about two thirds.

Although exhaust fumes are unlikely to be the main cause of the sharp decline in Britain's bee populations, they could be exacerbating the problem, researchers said.

Fumes which prevent honeybees recognising the smell of flowers could "have serious detrimental effects on the number of honeybee colonies" as well as reducing the pollination of vital crops and lowering honey yields, they claimed.
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