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Hundreds of dead fish appear on Mallorca shoreline

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Hundreds of dead fish have appeared in Mallorca on the shores of Son Baulo.

Investigations have been started by the local council and environmental employees to find out where the fish may have come from and why.

Passers-by were surprised to see dozens of metres of shoreline covered in dead fish, most of which were only three or four centimetres long, although there were a few larger sea bass, weighing in at around two or three kilos.

There have been at least three similar incidents in the area in the past; one investigation found that they had died through lack of oxygen, another tracked the problem down to a nearby hotel with toxic waste on the premises.

In the recent case, no other animals appeared to suffer; so toxic waste is less likely to be the cause.

There is a patch of still water just before the river mouth where, at certain times of the year the levels drop and the water becomes stagnant. Neighbours have suggested that there may be less danger to the fish if the water could run year round into the sea to allow more oxygen to circulate in the water.

Bizarro Earth

Increase in giant squid discoveries off Japan's coast is 'some kind of omen,' says fisherman

Giant Squid
© The Independent, UKThe two longest tentacles of one of the creatures caught in the town of Iwami were missing, meaning it could have spanned eight metres.
An increase in the number of giant squid being caught along the Sea of Japan coast is leading fisherman to fear it may be some kind of omen.

A giant squid was taken to the Himi fishing port in Toyama Prefecture on 4 January, and another was discovered in a net off Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture on 8 January, according to The Japan Times.

Three squid were taken to Sado and Himi that measured between three and four metres long, the newspaper has reported.

The two longest tentacles of one of the creatures caught in the town of Iwami in Tottori Prefechure were missing, meaning it could have spanned eight metres prior to its capture.

Several of the creatures have been ensnared in fishing nets. Earlier this month a local fisherman caught a four-metre giant squid off the coast of Sadogashima Island.

Cloud Lightning

Record numbers of puffins have perished because of the recent storms in the Bay of Biscay

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Puffins come back to Britain in the spring in order to breed
Puffins have suffered in the recent storms in the Bay of Biscay. The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has received a record number of reports of the birds, wearing uniquely numbered metal rings that identify them as puffins that would have been heading for breeding colonies in the UK, being found dead on the coasts of France and Spain.

In a normal winter, the BTO would expect two or three ringed puffins to be found in France and Spain, but during the past few weeks more than 35 have been reported.It is well known that British puffins fly out into the Atlantic for the winter months, riding out the worst of the weather there. As the winter progresses, our puffins make their way into the Bay of Biscay before heading back to their breeding colonies and the burrows that they used the previous summer. Birds found in this current wreck have come from colonies in west Wales, northern Scotland, Orkney and Shetland.Mark Grantham, Ringing Officer at the BTO, commented, "Up until the last couple of weeks it seemed that our puffins might have survived the worst of the winter. However, from the reports of ringed birds that are being washed-up on the Biscay beaches it would seem that the recent storms were just too much for many of the birds."He added, "It is still early days and the number of ringed birds found is likely to rise further, and we must remember that if more than 35 ringed birds have been found, many un-ringed birds must have been affected, too."Bird ringing in the UK is organised by the British Trust for Ornithology and is carried out by licensed volunteers, who ring over a million birds of a wide variety of different species every year. It is the information received from these rings, when found and reported to the BTO, that enables scientists at the Trust to chart events such as this.

For more information and to report a ring number to the BTO, please visit www.bto.org

Binoculars

Rare Arctic songbird turns up at Panama City Beach, Florida

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© Ron Houser Our members of the Bay County Audubon Society saw a Snow Bunting at St. Andrews State Park on Saturday, Feb. 15. This is a very rare bird in Florida. Its winter range usually extends no further south than Ohio but it breeds in the Arctic, much further north. The last one reported locally was in 1986.
Clear eyes, full hearts and lots of sunshine can't lose.

This week is why you moved to Florida. It's the middle of February and the temperatures will be in the 70s all week. Also, that troublesome rain that you normally associate with great weather like this is nowhere to be seen. At least until Friday when there is a 40 percent chance of scattered showers.

How nice is it? A snow bunting, a rare artic bird is hanging out in Saint Andrews State Park, according to local resident Ron Houser of the Bay County Audubon Society.

Houser captured a shot of the bird Saturday. He said they breed in the arctic and usually don't travel any further south than Ohio.

Also, Spring Break has not started yet which means you have the beach to yourself. That's right, you heard me, you have the beach to yourself locals.

Get to it.

Comment: See also : Thousands of Arctic songbirds invade Ohio farmstead

Rare Arctic bird turns up in Darwin, Australia

UK storms bring in rare Arctic gulls to Pembrokeshire

Storm blows Canadian bird 3,000 miles on to Tyrone lough, Northern Ireland

Bird watchers flock to Portland, UK after a rare Arctic Brunnich's Guillemot spotted

Ice Age Cometh: Snowy Owl invasion coming in North America?

Maine experiencing a Canadian owl invasion

Incredible Hawk Owl invasion in Estonia!

Huge Snowy Owl invasion becomes official in Canada and U.S.

Thousands of Hawk Owls descend on Finland as food in northern Russia runs out

Ice Age Cometh: Unprecedented influx of Arctic Ivory Gulls into UK


Horse

Amish buggy horse killed in drive-by shooting, man charged

amish horse shooting 1
Timothy Antonio Diggs, 22
Horse killed by bullet fired on Pennsylvania roadway

Timothy Antonio Diggs, 22, is facing seven misdemeanor counts, including reckless endangerment, cruelty to animals, and firing into an occupied vehicle, according to the East Lampeter Township Police Department.

The horse was pulling a buggy with five family members around 9 PM on November 24 when "an unknown type car traveling north passed the buggy."

The buggy's occupants, a married couple and their three young children, told investigators that they heard "a loud noise, described as sounding like a firecracker" as the vehicle passed.

Upon returning to their farm, the family discovered that the horse had been shot in the chest. The animal died before a veterinarian reached the family's residence.

Diggs, seen in the above mug shot, has been jailed since cops executed a search warrant at his home in early-December. During that raid, officers located handguns and a motorcycle that had been stolen in two separate burglaries.

Cloud Lightning

Hundreds of seabirds washed ashore in South West UK

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Animal charities are caring from some of the hundreds of guillemots, razorbills and puffins that have washed up in Hampshire, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall in the past week
Hundreds of seabirds - some dead and others covered in oil - have been washed ashore in south-west England.

The RSPB believes most of the deaths were a "sad but natural occurrence" after the recent stormy weather.

In Devon, about 40 puffins, guillemots and razorbills were found at Thurlstone, while others have been reported from Hampshire to Cornwall.

Some of the "pitiful" oiled birds are being cared for at the South Devon Seabird Trust in Teignmouth.

The trust's founder, Jean Bradford, told BBC News: "It's a catastrophe and I think with everything else that's going on with people, the birds and other animals have been overlooked a little bit."

Mrs Bradford said the oiled and storm-blown birds that had been rescued were in a "pitiful state".

"Even if these birds get to shore, very often it's the case that they're washed back out to sea by the enormous waves that are coming in.

"By the time they reach another beach, perhaps at low tide, many of them are too ill to be saved."

A number of birds were rescued from Chesil Beach in Dorset earlier in the week and taken to the RSPCA West Hatch animal centre in Taunton.

Roses

Beautiful baby girl mauled to death by her mother's own dog: UK couple arrested

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Beautiful: Friends and relatives described Ava-Jayne as an 'angel' as they expressed their grief.
A baby girl was mauled to death by a dog that neighbours had allegedly warned was dangerous.

Ava-Jayne Corless, who was just 11 months old, suffered horrific injuries when the American pitbull terrier attacked her while she slept.

Her mother, Chloe King, 20, and boyfriend Lee Wright, 26, heard the commotion and rushed upstairs to rescue her from the jaws of the beast.

Paramedics were called and took Ava-Jayne to hospital where doctors were unable to save her life.

Miss King and Mr Wright were questioned on suspicion of manslaughter and child neglect, and were today released on bail.

Lancashire Police said: 'The two people arrested in connection with the death of Ava-Jayne Corless at Blackburn have both been released on bail pending further inquiries.'

A police spokesman said last night that the animal was banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991.

Arrow Down

Pigs strung up and SHOT to train British Army medics in treating gunshot wounds

Military surgeons are being sent to Denmark for the controversial training on live animals - even though the practice is illegal in the UK.
Live Pig_1
© Mirror, UKDeadly Exercise: Marksman blasts a live pig with an AK-47 before medics operate.
Pigs are being shot so British Army medics can learn to treat battle wounds.

Military surgeons are sent to Denmark for the controversial training on live animals - even though the practice is illegal in the UK.

Animal rights group PETA has slammed the "cruel" practice.

A live pig dangles from a wooden frame as a soldier shoots it to inflict horrific injuries.

Military medics then operate on the animal's traumatic gunshot wounds while it is still breathing.

The shocking photos taken in Denmark have put the country at the centre of another animal cruelty row after the controversial killing of a giraffe at Copenhagen Zoo.

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The population of forest elephants has declined by 65 per cent in 12 years

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A shocking 65 per cent of forest elephants have been illegally killed for their ivory in between 2002 and 2013 new data from the field in Central Africa shows. Many organisations collaborated in the study, which was coordinated by WCS, and covered 80 sites, in five countries, over the twelve years of data collection.

"These new numbers showing the continuing decline of the African forest elephant are the exact reason why there is a sense of urgency at the United for Wildlife trafficking symposium in London this week," said Dr. John Robinson, WCS Chief Conservation Officer and Executive Vice President of Conservation and Science. "The solutions we are discussing in London this week and the commitments we are making cannot fail or the African forest elephant will blink out in our lifetime. United for Wildlife, which is headed by The Duke of Cambridge, is determined to work together to turn back these numbers."

Conservationists gathered at the United for Wildlife symposium - "International Wildlife Trafficking: Solutions to a Global Crisis" are discussing ways to protect wildlife and combat trade.

Said WCS's Dr. Fiona Maisels, one of the researchers releasing the new numbers and a co-author of the landmark paper: "At least a couple of hundred thousand forest elephants were lost between 2002-2013 to the tune of at least sixty a day, or one every twenty minutes, day and night. By the time you eat breakfast, another elephant has been slaughtered to produce trinkets for the ivory market."

The results show that the relatively small nation of Gabon has the majority (almost 60 percent) of the remaining forest elephants, while historically, the enormous Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) would have held the largest number of forest elephants. "The current number and distribution of elephants is mind-boggling when compared to what it should be," said WCS's Dr. Samantha Strindberg, one of the co-authors. "About 95 percent of the forests of DRC are almost empty of elephants."

Cloud Lightning

Seabird wreck in the Channel Islands, UK

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The last two weeks have been marked by a run of storms in the Atlantic that have brought very high winds and seemingly endless rainfall. At first we worried about the weather's impacts on the land with widescale flooding in southern England. How would landbirds find enough food if the ground became saturated and the rain prevented them from foraging. Even our garden birds were suffering.

At the same time our coasts were being battered with high winds and huge waves. As defences were being breached, seawater was coming inland and would impact on plant communities and eventually their associated birds. Then, last week we started to see exactly what the storms were also doing to our seabird populations. North-west Europe has many millions of seabirds and the majority of these winter out in the Atlantic. We could only guess what it must be like out there for small birds that need to be able to dive for fish in roaring seas and winds up to 100 mph.