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Bizarro Earth

Black Sea Ecologists Alarmed By Dolphin Deaths

Claire Bigg, Mariyat Shapsug
Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty
Thu, 24 May 2012 15:29 UTC
Dead Dolphin
© EPA
An increasingly common sight on Russia's and Ukraine's Black Sea coast.

Hardly a day goes by in Sochi, Russia's picturesque Black Sea resort, without a dead dolphin washing up on the beach.

With the tourist season just kicking off, the unexplained deaths have yet to draw much scrutiny.

But environmentalists are increasingly alarmed. The dolphin carcasses are also turning into a real holiday spoiler for vacationers drawn to the region's scenic beaches and pristine vistas.

Russian tourist Aida Kobzh was shocked to discover a group of dead dolphins last week at her local beach in Sochi.

"Everyone stood there and stared at the dead little dolphins lying belly up. Poor creatures!" Kobzh says. "There were some on the beach but also in the water, they were floating there, dead.
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

60,000 to 100,000 dead fish wash up eastern shores of U.S. near Chesapeake Bay

Timothy B. Wheeler
The Baltimore Sun
Wed, 23 May 2012 19:59 UTC
Mass-Die Off
© Gene Sweeney Jr., Baltimore Sun
The state Department of Environment investigated a fish kill by the boat ramp in Merritt Point Park.
Something's rotten on the Baltimore area waterfront. Fish are washing ashore by the thousands in a mass die-off that officials say appears to be caused by a weather-driven worsening of the pollution that chronically plagues the Chesapeake Bay.

State investigators expanded their probe Wednesday into what they believe are algae-related fish kills in Marley, Furnace and Curtis creeks in Glen Burnie, raising the estimated death toll there tenfold, while finding a new batch of finny carcasses in a Dundalk creek.

Jay Apperson, spokesman for the Maryland Department of the Environment, said the agency's fish-kill investigators estimated anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 fish of several species dead in the three creeks in northern Anne Arundel County. Only a day before, Apperson had said investigators figured there were about 6,000 dead.

"You could smell it through the neighborhood," said Rob Rogers, 45, who took a break from work at the Point Pleasant Beach Tavern to describe what he called "unbelievable" conditions on the creeks. Rogers said boaters reported dead fish floating in the water so thick they couldn't avoid hitting them.

The state investigators also found about 300 dead fish in Bullneck Creek in eastern Baltimore County, Apperson said, where residents on Tuesday had reported seeing fish and crabs thrashing on the water's surface in apparent distress. The investigators measured little oxygen in the creek's deepest water for fish to breathe.
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Dolphin Deaths in Peru: The Mystery Deepens

Caroline Stauffer
Reuters
Wed, 23 May 2012 07:17 UTC
The mystery surrounding the deaths of at least 877 dolphins in Peru deepened on Wednesday as the government said human activity was not to blame but failed to pinpoint a natural cause for the massive die-off.

A final report from the Peruvian government's Ocean Institute, which manages one of the world's richest marine ecosystems, said the dolphins did not die from a lack of food, hunting by fishermen, poison from pesticides, heavy metal contamination, an infection or a virus.

It also said there was no conclusive evidence that linked seismic offshore exploration by oil companies to the deaths of the long-beaked common dolphins along the Andean country's northern coast.

But it did leave open the possibility that abnormally warm surface water temperatures and high levels of algae may have played a role, saying further analysis would be needed to determine if any red and brown plankton species in the sea were toxic.

"The dolphins were killed by natural causes and not due to any human activity - that is what you might say is the major conclusion," said Minister of Production Gladys Triveno, who oversees the government's Ocean Institute.

However, ORCA, a local NGO, says the deaths occurred after seismic events - which locals attribute to exploration by oil companies - damaged the ears of the sound-sensitive mammals and caused them to surface too rapidly.
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Dead Fish Pile up on Mula-Mutha Banks

Devidas Deshpande
Pune Mirror
Mon, 21 May 2012 09:06 UTC
The problem of fish dying in large numbers has come to the fore of the banks of the Mula-Mutha (Bheema) rivers again. Fish have been found dead along the banks of the Mula-Mutha because of rising pollution and the latest in the series was recorded at Hatvalan near the Pune-Daund border last week.
Dead Fishes
© Pune Mirror
Dead fish at Hatvalan near Pune-Daund border.

Since last week, thousands of Mozambique Tilapia fishes were found dead on the river banks at Hatvalan in Daund division, about 76 km from Pune.

The fish apparently died because of thick blackish water flowing in the river bed. Ironically, Mozambique Tilapia is considered as one of the most resilient species of fish, known to withstand unfriendly environmental conditions.

To make matters worse, the same dead fish were taken to market to be sold by local fishermen. Pune and Mumbai are the primary markets for these fish. According to experts, in May freshwater springs that open into the river dry up, and hence the dissolving factor of oxygen in the water changes accordingly.

This increases the pollution level, causing the fish to die. A study conducted by Jal Biradari and Maharashtra Vikas Kendra last year had shown that the nitrate level in the Bheema river was 10-50 mg per litre, whereas the permissible limit specified by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is 45 mg/litre. The natural nitrate level should be less than 1 mg/litre, but due to pollutants, the level has shot up.
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Red Flag

Bee Kills and Genetic Engineering in the Corn Belt

Heather Pilatic
Huffington Post
Wed, 16 May 2012 09:47 UTC
dead bee
© n/a
In the last few weeks beekeepers have reported staggering losses in Minnesota, Nebraska and Ohio after their hives foraged on pesticide-treated corn fields. Indiana too, two years ago. What's going on in the Corn Belt?

No farmer in their right mind wants to poison pollinators. When I spoke with one Iowa corn farmer in January and told him about the upcoming release of a Purdue study confirming corn as a major pesticide exposure route for bees, his face dropped with worn exasperation. He looked down for a moment, sighed and said, "You know, I held out for years on buying them GE seeds, but now I can't get conventional seeds anymore. They just don't carry 'em."

This leaves us with two questions: 1) What do GE seeds have to do with neonicotinoids and bees? and 2) How can an Iowa corn farmer find himself feeling unable to farm without poisoning pollinators? In other words, where did U.S. corn cultivation go wrong?

The short answer to both questions starts with a slow motion train wreck that began in the mid-1990s: Corn integrated pest management (IPM) fell apart at the seams. Rather, it was intentionally unraveled by Bayer and Monsanto.
      Read More...
Attention

Pacific Mystery: What's Killing the Dolphins and the Pelicans?


ABCNews.com
Mon, 14 May 2012 13:28 UTC
Image
© Wilfredo Sandoval/AFP/Getty Images
Two men measure the carcass of a dead dolphin on a beach near Chiclayo, Peru.
Just what is killing all the dolphins? And the pelicans? And what has chased all the fish away?

It's been a mystery for months on the Pacific coast of Peru, where the local government says it has found 900 dolphin carcasses and something like 4,500 pelicans. It's been bad enough that the country's health ministry ordered 1,500 miles of beaches closed.

And while it may all seem very far away from the United States, scientists from around the world have been watching. People in the area say the government has been slow to take up the bodies, and slower to solve the puzzle.
      Read More...
Stop

Mass Bird Deaths: Mystery Linked To El Nino


Sky News
Sun, 13 May 2012 09:19 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Pelicans were among the dead birds found on the Peruvian coast
The deaths of thousands of birds found off the coasts of Chile and its northern neighbour Peru recently could be connected to El Nino, the warming of the Pacific Ocean's surface temperature.

More than 2,000 dead fowl were discovered washed up this week on beaches between Cartagena and Playa de Santo Domingo in Chile after apparently being caught up in fishermen's nets.

This time of year, as Chilean weather usually gets colder, migrating birds would normally travel north for warmth.

But instead they are said to have stayed to feast on an influx of anchovies and sardines that fled the coast of Peru in search of cooler waters further south.

There are usually 15-20 bird deaths from fishing nets each year and the rise in bird numbers may explain the marked increase in fatalities.
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

2,300 Birds Found Dead Along Chilean Beaches

Marilia Brocchetto
CNN
Sat, 12 May 2012 15:29 UTC
Dead Chilean Birds
© CNN
Wildlife engineer Guillermo Boigorria, left, and regional prosecutor Lev Castro inspect sea bird in Peru, which along with Chile has seen a rash of water bird deaths.
Chilean officials are asking fishermen to help save birds caught in nets after thousands of dead fowl appeared along coastal Chile this week.

At least 2,300 dead birds were found along beaches between Cartagena and Playa de Santo Domingo, Chile, said Jose Luis Britos, and environment professor and director of the Museum of Natural History of San Antonio, Chile.

Many of the birds, which come from several species, had broken wings and bruising on the outside of their bodies -- injuries consistent with getting trapped in fishing nets, Britos said.

He said bird deaths from fishing nets occur every year, but never at this level. In a typical year, about 15 to 20 dead birds are found, Britos said.

One hypothesis for the increase this year involves climate.

As Chilean weather gets colder this time of year, migrating birds that would normally travel north for warmth are instead lingering to feast on an influx of anchovies and sardines that had fled the coast of Peru in search of cooler waters.

Earlier this week, Peruvian authorities say warm waters off that country's coast are to blame for the deaths of more than 5,000 marine birds.
      Read More...
Attention

Peru Says 5,000 Birds, Nearly 900 Dolphins Dead


Agence France-Presse
Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse/Silvia Oshiro
A dying pelican crawls away from the surf to die on the beach of Paita, in Tumbes province, 1,100 kilometres north of Lima and close to the border with Ecuador on May 2.
The Peruvian government said Wednesday that 5,000 birds, mostly pelicans, and nearly 900 dolphins have died off the country's northern coast, possibly due to rising temperatures in Pacific waters.

The country's northern beaches were earlier this week declared off-limits as scientists scrambled to pin down what was causing such a massive toll, with non-government organizations blaming oil exploration work.

But Peru's deputy environment minister Gabriel Quijandria, disputed this and said warming waters, which disturbs species' food supplies, was a possible cause.

He said that although tests conducted on 877 dolphins found dead on the coast had not been completed, contamination from heavy metals or the presence of bacterial infections was not responsible.
      Read More...
Question

Mystery Surrounds Dead Pelicans Found Along Indian River

Greg Pallone
13News
Wed, 09 May 2012 18:16 UTC
Dead Pelicans
© 13News
A mystery is unfolding as several dead pelicans have been found along the Indian River over the past few weeks.
Brevard County -- A mystery is unfolding in Brevard County as several dead pelicans have been found along the Indian River over the past few weeks.

Florida Fish and Wildlife biologists collected two of the dead pelicans after at least eleven of the birds have been found along the bank in Palm Shores near Melbourne, and people are puzzled as to why they died.

Wildlife officials said there have been no reports of fish kills, algae blooms or other factors that could have contributed to the deaths.

Meantime, the mystery remains.

"I might see one once in a blue moon," said Tim Carlisle of Palm Shores Public Works. "But for this many popping up on the shore, it's unexplained."

Palm Shores Public Works says they've gotten many calls lately from resident complaining about the problem. Another resident who contacted News 13 said they found more than a dozen just a couple miles along the river north. Florida Fish and Wildlife officials say tests are being done on the animals to try and determine the cause of death.

"We were thinking maybe it's the fish, or somebody doing something to them. But it's in a lot of different place," said Carlisle.

Meanwhile overseas, Peru's health ministry is asking people to avoid beaches in Lima and north of the capital until officials can determine what is killing hundreds of pelicans.

Last month, the country's production ministry said the authorities were investigating the deaths of more than 538 pelicans, and other birds, on the northern coast.
      Read More...
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