Animals
S


Fish

Dead Fish Piling Up In State's Ponds, Lakes


WFSB.com
Fri, 08 Apr 2011 22:57 UTC
dead fish

Wethersfield Connecticut -- A rough winter is causing a smelly spring. Dead fish are popping up in ponds and reservoirs across Connecticut, and while it's a natural occurrence, it's more widespread thanks to this year's winter weather.

Wethersfield's 1860 reservoir is a picturesque place and serene spot. For Nate Wierzbicki, it's his back yard.

"If I'm home, I'm out there," Wierzbicki said. "If I'm free I'll be out there catching some sun and some bass."
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Sea Turtle Deaths Mount in the Gulf

Rocky Kistner
Huffington Post
Sun, 03 Apr 2011 22:51 UTC
Sea turtles continue to wash ashore along the Gulf, forcing the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to scramble and figure out what is causing the spike. Last week, the Natural Resources Defense Council and The Huffington Post were first to publish blogs about the sea turtle deaths in Mississippi.

Since then, the national media picked up the story. Last Friday, NMFS released a statement with some details about its investigation:
In the past few weeks, we've seen an increase in turtle strandings in the northern Gulf, primarily in Mississippi. The spring time is the typical time when turtle strandings in this region begin to increase, but the sharp increases in recent days are of concern to us....NOAA Fisheries is in contact with the states of MS and LA regarding current trawl and other fishery activity that can result in turtle by catch and mortality. In addition, tests will be done for biotoxins, such as those from harmful algae blooms, which are common in the Gulf. ...All causes of death, including petroleum, will be investigated when possible based on decomposition. During a necropsy, the full GI tract is examined for product or evidence of oil ingestion. Additionally, samples are taken for PAH analysis. In addition, all turtles are being carefully examined for signs of external oiling.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Dead Dolphins Spotted With Oil Washing up on Louisiana Shores


al.com
Thu, 07 Apr 2011 22:01 UTC
dolphin
Dead dolphins spotted with oil have been washing up in eastern Louisiana.(Courtesy of Gulf Coast Exploreum )

New Orleans - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that eight months after the Deepwater Horizon oil well was capped, dolphins are washing ashore in east Louisiana with some oil from that spilled on their bodies.

Spokeswoman Kim Amendola says the dolphins had spots of weathered oil.

Blair Mase - NOAA's Gulf Coast stranding coordinator - emphasizes there's no way yet to know why the dolphins died. She says the most recent dolphin bearing BP oil was found two weeks ago.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Australian Rats Scurry to Desert En Masse After Rains


BBC
Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:56 UTC
Rats
© BBCThe rats are unlikely to stay in the desert for long.

A mass migration of rats is under way into the inland deserts of Australia after a run of high rainfall seasons, scientists say.

The native long-haired rat, or Rattus villosissimus, normally lives in the Barkly Tableland of the Northern Territory and in western Queensland.

But now it has been spotted in Alice Springs for the first time in 25 years.

"Some of them get up to about 30cm [12in] long - fair lump of a rat," livestock manager Chris Giles said.

"They will run around and hide under a little bit of shrub there, and you can get pretty close to them," Mr Giles, a stockman on the Northern Territory's Lake Nash Station, told Australia's ABC News.

"I nearly caught one the other day."
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

US: Fish Kills Another Legacy of Long, Snowy Winter


Kare11
Wed, 06 Apr 2011 14:10 UTC

Plymouth, Minnesota -- Like a lot of Minnesotans, Bruce Wahlstrom was happy to see the ice disappearing from his lake he lives on.

Then, he noticed what was underneath.

"I actually saw it last night as the ice started to melt back," said Wahlstrom. "This morning, it's just tons of dead fish."

Hundreds of dead fish are washed up on Wahlstrom's property on Schmidt Lake in Plymouth, or floating in the shallow water. He knows the recipe for a fish kill: Early, heavy snow piles up on the ice, making it impossible for sunlight to reach the bottom of a lake. The lack of natural light then keeps plant life from creating oxygen. If the winter is long enough, and the heavy snow lasts, fish eventually run out of oxygen to breathe and die.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

US: Bristleworms Swarm In Vilano Beach


News4Jax.com
Mon, 04 Apr 2011 12:37 UTC
Bristleworms
© News4Jax.com

St. Augustine, Florida. -- A little after midnight, St. Augustine police discovered thousands of bristleworms swimming in Vilano Beach.

Cpl. Brandon Embrey, of St. Augustine Police was one of the first to find these creepy crawlers, and he said he couldn't believe his eyes.

"There had to be millions of them, I couldn't see the bottom. All I could see was red," said Embrey.

Embrey also said they started to disappear because mullet were attacking them.

Dr. Quinton White, a professor of marine biologist at Jacksonville University, saw the video from Vilano Beach and said it was a classic bristleworm mating frenzy. He said it happens every year when salt water warms up.
Read More...
Fish

Florida: Hundreds Of Fish Die In Northside Pond


News4Jax.com
Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:58 UTC
dead fish
It's unclear what has killed hundreds of fish in a Northside pond.

Jacksonville, Florida -- People living near a Northside pond said toxic chemicals from a construction site may be what has killed hundreds of fish.

Residents who live near the pond off Oak Lawn Road said they've enjoyed the pond for years, calling it a place of relaxation where they can appreciate nature and do a little bit of fishing from time to time.

But they said that, over the weekend, the pond developed a strong odor and had dead fish floating all over it.
Read More...
Radar

Trees Cocooned in Spider Webs After Flood


National Geographic
Sat, 02 Apr 2011 08:01 UTC
Image
© Russell Watkins, U.K. Department for International DevelopmentWebbed Trees
The giant spider webs in Sindh, Pakistan, sometimes stretched from tree to tree, as seen above in December 2010.

"Any kind of vegetation that was above ground was affected, literally every kind of tree and bush," Watkins said of the widespread spider webs.

While unusual, trees cocooned in spider webs are not unprecedented. Scientists have reported similar webs in other parts of the world, the tropics in particular. In 2007, for instance, a superintendent at Lake Tawokoni State Park in Texas discovered a giant spider web among the trees.

Watkins said he didn't know which type of spider was responsible for the tree cocoons in Sindh. But in the case of Lake Tawokoni, scientists determined that dozens of spider species were spinning the communal webs.
Read More...
Question

Mysterious equine illness spreads in Australia: Increasing numbers of horses displaying unusual neurological symptoms

Emma Pritchard
The Daily Examiner
Sat, 02 Apr 2011 06:06 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Hold your horses. It hasn't arrived in the Clarence Valley - yet but increasing numbers of horses displaying unusual neurological symptoms across three states have prompted the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) to caution all owners.

In NSW alone there have been 87 confirmed cases of the unidentified illness.

While tests conducted by the NSW Department of Industry and Investment have ruled out Hendra virus, AVA president Dr Barry Smyth believes the illness may be the result of a mosquito-borne disease.

"Diseases associated with mosquitoes are very uncommon in normal years," he said.
Read More...
Fish

Black Coral: 2,000 Year-Old Black Coral Found By USGS Near BP Oil Well


Batangas Today
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:23 UTC
A 2,000 year-old black coral was found by scientists in the Gulf of Mexico, near the broken BP oil well, according to a report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on Wednesday, March 30, 2011.

According to the USGS, this is the first time that they were able to determine the age of the black coral in the Mexican Gulf.

The USGS has been trying to determine the age of the ancient slow-growing corals even before the BP oil spill in April 20, 2010.

Image
© Ringlet.orgBlack Coral
The black corals, that looks like deep-sea bushes or trees and reportedly feeds on organic matter, are located about 1,000 feet below sea-level and 21 miles northeast of the BP well in the Gulf.
Read More...