Animals
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Fish

US: Odd Animal Deaths, Deformities Linked to Gulf Oil Spill?

Ker Than
National Geographic News
Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© AnonymousA red snapper recently caught in the Gulf of Mexico displaying abnormal black markings.
Scientists befuddled by dolphin deaths, diseased fish.

On the first anniversary of the Gulf oil spill, scientists are observing strange deaths and deformities in animals that could be related to the disaster, experts say.

In the past six months, the numbers of dolphin and sea turtle deaths in the Gulf of Mexico (map) have risen, and some fish that inhabit the Gulf's coral reefs have developed abnormalities.

Yet projects to document and measure the oil's effects on Gulf marine life are still in the very early stages, scientists caution. Preliminary results may not be available for months, and it may be several years before any kind of scientific consensus is reached.

Such uncertainty is not unusual for oil-spill studies, noted William Patterson, a marine biologist at the University of West Florida (UWF) in Pensacola.

"If you look at the literature surrounding the Exxon Valdez oil spill [in 1989], there are still some unknowns associated with that," Patterson said.
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Bizarro Earth

Hundreds of Endangered Whales Swarming New England Coast


OurAmazingPlanet
Thu, 21 Apr 2011 10:51 UTC
Right Whales
© NOAANorth Atlantic right whales.

A record number of critically endangered right whales are crowding the chilly waters off Cape Cod, Mass.

Researchers counted more than 100, and possibly as many as 200, animals during aerial surveys on Tuesday, the Boston Globe reported, a number that could represent nearly half the entire known right whale population that remains on Earth. Right whales, one of the rarest kinds of baleen whales, are teetering on the brink of extinction. Only about 450 to 500 North Atlantic right whales are thought to remain on the planet.

Charles "Stormy" Mayo, senior scientist at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown told the Globe the whales are as close as a few yards offshore to about a quarter-mile out, and said he expects the marine crowd to remain in the area for at least another week.

The right whales are gathered for a feeding frenzy on zooplankton, tiny, rice-sized crustaceans the baleen whales strain into their massive mouths.

Mayo said it's likely the record number of whales showed up this year because the waters are particularly rich with plankton this year, in much the same way that, on land, some years are better for crops than others.
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Bizarro Earth

Australia: Dead Fish Found on Dam Bank


The Ridge News, Australia
Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:05 UTC
Dead Fish
© The Ridge News

A phone call to the Ridge News on Tuesday morning alerted us to the amount of European Carp fish in a dam at Big Warrambool.

There are thousands and thousands of dead fish on the water and line the banks metres deep.

It is a mystery why they have all died, but a Lightning Ridge local fisherman suggests there is not enough oxygen in the water for the amount of fish.

There is still an amazing amount of fish with their mouths out of the water, they will probably also die.

These fish must have been washed down in flood water and have been left behind in the dam as the waters have dried up.
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Bizarro Earth

UK: Outbreak of Toxic Caterpillars in Pangbourne


BBC
Mon, 18 Apr 2011 11:38 UTC
Moth Caterpillar
© BBCThe oak processionary moth caterpillar feeds on oak tree leaves.
Residents in Pangbourne and parts of west London have been warned to steer clear of a toxic caterpillar.

The Forestry Commission has issued a caution not to touch the caterpillars of the oak processionary moth.

Their hairs contain a toxin that can cause itchy skin rashes as well as eye and throat irritations.

The Forestry Commission's Stewart Snape said residents can report sightings but that the caterpillars should only be removed by pest control operators.

Officials are now dealing with outbreaks of the moth in Pangbourne in West Berkshire and the London boroughs of Ealing, Brent, Hounslow, Richmond upon Thames and Hammersmith & Fulham.

Health Protection Agency director Dr Brian McCloskey said: "We strongly advise people not to touch or approach the caterpillars or their nests because of the health risks caused by the toxin-containing hairs.
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Fish

California: Hundreds of dead fish found in Ventura Harbor

John Hartung
KABC
Mon, 18 Apr 2011 09:24 UTC
Ventura Harbor -- Hundreds of fish have been found dead in Ventura Harbor. This is the second large fish kill in Southern California this year. This time, hundreds of dead fish are floating in Ventura Harbor.

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The phone calls started coming into the Ventura Harbor Patrol around 6 a.m. Monday. Boaters were already noticing a large number of dead fish floating in the water. One officer said that in the past year, there have been three or four times that this has happened, and in recent days, he was worried that this was going to happen again.

Once again, something's fishy along our Southern California coastline: Another fish die-off, this one in the Ventura Harbor.
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Bizarro Earth

California: Dead dolphins and sea lions along coast

Laylan Connelly
Orange County Register
Mon, 18 Apr 2011 19:06 UTC
dead sea lion
© Jebb Harris

Two dead dolphins that washed up on the shores of Newport Beach on Sunday appear to have died from domoic acid, a poison that can be deadly to large sea mammals and birds.

Mike Teague, animal control officer for Newport Beach, said experts at the Natural History Museum are also reporting that dead dolphins have also washed up in Los Angeles County.

On Sunday, an adult dolphin washed up at 15th Street in Newport Beach, and another at 61st Street later that afternoon. He said the domoic acid seems to affect male species. The symptoms include floppiness, dizziness and tremors; the acid can cause brain damage.
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Fish

Gulf Still Suffering Consequences of Dispersant Use

Dan Bacher
IndyBay.org
Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:30 UTC
Image
© AustrianShroom

For Immediate Release: April 18, 2011

One Year Later, Gulf Still Suffering from Environmental, Health Consequences of Unprecedented Dispersant Use

Food & Water Watch Critical of President's Proposed Budget for NOAA's Gulf of Mexico Spill Recovery Efforts

Washington, DC - Approximately one year after the biggest oil spill in U.S. history, national consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch released a report detailing the public health and environmental fallout from the unprecedented use of chemical dispersants in the Gulf of Mexico, and called attention to skewed budget priorities for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the President's 2012 budget proposal.

According to the report, the administration's 2012 budget for NOAA - the agency tasked with conserving and managing living marine resources - would include $2.9 million on oil spill recovery efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, while allocating almost $60 million to promote policies that would further harm many fishermen and the Gulf environment.

"NOAA seeks to give tens of millions to push controversial fisheries management plans and promote ecologically damaging industrialization of our seafood. Gulf recovery efforts, on the other hand, don't seem to be the agency's priority," said Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch. "These policies NOAA is promoting - catch and trade and factory fish farming - would further devastate the Gulf economy and the marine environment," Hauter said.
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Question

Caterpillars Swarm Indonesia's Bali


Agence France-Presse
Sun, 17 Apr 2011 23:26 UTC
Caterpillars
© Sonny Tumbelaka / AFPA farmer shows caterpillars crawling over his hand in Denpasar, in Bali.
Swarms of caterpillars which can cause skin rashes have invaded the Indonesian holiday island of Bali, an official said Wednesday, but tourist areas have not been affected so far.

The dark, wriggly insects were first sighted in a village on Friday and the swarms have since spread to six districts, including the provincial capital of Denpasar, Bali agricultural chief Made Putra Suryawan told AFP.

"The situation is under control. Since Friday, workers have been spraying insecticide and burning garbage in affected areas to stop the spread," he said.

"Tourists need not be alarmed. The caterpillars have not spread to tourist areas yet. The threat to tourists is minimal," he added.

Thousands of caterpillars have reportedly descended on parts of neighbouring Java island in the last two weeks, attacking fruit farms and invading residential areas.
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Alarm Clock

Pacific salmon may be dying from leukemia-type virus

Rob Hotakainen
McClatchy Newspapers
Sun, 17 Apr 2011 22:23 UTC
Washington -- In Canada's Fraser River, a mysterious illness has killed millions of Pacific salmon, and scientists have a new hypothesis about why: The wild salmon are suffering from viral infections similar to those linked to some forms of leukemia and lymphoma.

For 60 years before the early 1990s, an average of nearly 8 million wild salmon returned from the Pacific Ocean to the Fraser River each year to spawn.

Now the salmon industry is in a state of collapse, with mortality rates ranging from 40 percent to 95 percent.

The salmon run has been highly variable: The worst year came in 2009, with 1.5 million salmon, followed by the best year in 2010, with 30 million salmon. But the overall trend is downward.
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Fish

Vermont, US: Massive fish kill in Lake Champlain


WCAX
Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:08 UTC
Image
© wcax

Quite a sight along the shores of Lake Champlain-- there's been a massive fish kill.

Alewives have washed ashore at the sandbar in Milton.

Vermont Fish and Wildlife biologists estimate that tens of thousands of the nonnative species have died due to stress caused by frigid temperatures.

Ice fishermen have been noticing Alewives popping through the ice in recent months. Now that the ice is melting, they're washing ashore. They've also been spotted in Georgia, Vt.
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