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US: Hundreds of fish die in Wichita park's pond

Fred Mann
The Wichita Eagle
Mon, 09 May 2011 18:51 UTC
dead fish
© Mike Hutmacher/The Wichita Eagle
Hundreds of fish have died at Buffalo Park pond in west Wichita because of lack of water, and the city expects the toll to climb to about 1,000.
Hundreds of fish have died at Buffalo Park pond in west Wichita because of lack of water, and the city expects the toll to climb to about 1,000.

A combination of three factors have contributed to the kill, said Doug Kupper, the city's parks and recreation director.

The pond, near Central and Maize Road, has been leaking from the bottom and suffering from an invasive plant that has been removing oxygen from the water for a couple of years. Recent hot weather has evaporated more of the water, he said.
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Attention

New Zealand: Fears Bee Colony Collapse Has Arrived

Kiran Chug
Stuff.co
Sat, 07 May 2011 11:00 UTC
honeybee
© 1999, MC Cassine
Beekeepers fear an alarming phenomenon that is wiping out bees and leading to reduced food crops around the world has reached New Zealand.

Colony collapse disorder has caused American beekeepers to report losses of up to 90 per cent in some cases, prompting fears of crop shortages.

Honeybees are the planet's most effective pollinators, and industry leaders in New Zealand are calling for an investigation into the problem.

National Beekeepers Association joint chief executive Daniel Paul said reports coming in to the group were causing concern.

In the past six months, it had received reports of significant bee losses - up to 30 per cent in some places.

"It's significant enough to make us sit up and take notice."
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Bizarro Earth

US: Two Stranded Pilot Whales Released Off Cudjoe Key

Janie Campbell
NBC Miami
Sun, 08 May 2011 10:04 UTC
Stranded Whales
© Associated Press
Two healthy pilot whales are loaded onto a boat in Cudjoe Key to be released at sea.

There was a moment of joy for the tireless marine mammal rescuers working to save a pod of stranded pilot wales Saturday evening in the Keys: two of the seven surviving whales were deemed healthy and released in deep waters nine miles offshore.

Cheers erupted on the barge carrying the whales when the two adult males met in open water, touched each other, and then swam away together.

The whales, each over 12 feet long and more than 1,000 pounds, were first fitted with trackers that should last between 2-3 months.

The pair were part of a pod of 20 pilot whales who inexplicably beached themselves Thursday near Cudjoe Key, about 20 miles east of Key West.

Thirteen of them have died, and the surviving seven have been cared for in a makeshift waist-deep pen, where volunteers continue to cover the whales' exposed bodies in zinc and sheets to protect their sensitive skin from the sun.
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Fish

Horrific prehistoric fish landed off the Norway coast


GoFishing.co.uk
Sat, 07 May 2011 14:56 UTC
This unusual specimen might look like something out of a horror movie, but it proved to be one of the highlights of Peter Bailey's most recent trip to the prolific waters off the north of Norway.
wolf fish

Peter Bailey with the ugly, prehistoric wolf fish

The prehistoric-looking wolf fish, which pulled the scales around to 16lb 15oz, is one of the biggest landed on rod and line so far this year.

It was caught on a baited pirk when Peter braved strong winds and snow in an area around Kokelv - which is perhaps better known for producing monster cod to well over 70lb in recent months.
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Fish

More Frequent Whale Strandings Has Experts on Edge

Jaymi Heimbuch
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Sat, 07 May 2011 07:34 UTC
Image
© NOAA via Flickr CC
In the last few years, there has been an unexplained spike in the number of whales washing ashore. While the National Marine Fisheries Service has declared an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, it's more than just oil spills that are causing increased strandings worldwide. And experts are worried.

The numbers of beached whales have been gradually rising, peaking in 2009 with 46 whales coming ashore, and The Department of Environment and Conservation is conducting an investigation into what could be causing the rise, reports ABC news.

It could be anything from nutrition issues to sonar that drives whales off course, disorients them, or can even cause internal damage. While there has been a rash of strandings in Florida, including at least 15 pilot whales that washed ashore this week in the Florida keys, experts are quick to point out that the BP gulf oil spill is a possible cause, but not the only factor. Earth Times points out that, "A number of recent strandings in other regions happened well before the Deepwater spill occurred. In March 2009, 194 whales and a small dolphin pod became stranded on the coast of Tasmania, and most did not survive. The previous November, 150 pilot whales died in another mass stranding in Tasmania... In February 2011, 107 whales died on the coast of New Zealand."

Comment: It's astonishing that this - ahem - "journalist" doesn't go the distance and draw the obvious conclusion that whales, other sea life, and humans on the shores, are sickening and dying from the BP oil spill.

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Bizarro Earth

US: 16 Whales Mysteriously Stranded in Florida Keys

Wynne Parry
LiveScience
Fri, 06 May 2011 12:13 UTC
Pilot Whale
© Adam Li / NOAA Photo Library
Pilot whale.

It's not yet clear why more than 16 pilot whales became stranded in the lower Florida Keys on Thursday, but the list of possible reasons is long -- and includes the whales' social nature.

Pilot whales live in groups called pods that consist of between 15 and 50 animals, and mass strandings like this one have happened before. Most recently, in 2003, about 25 pilot whales became stranded in the Keys, according to Anne Biddle, media relations director for the Marine Mammal Institute, which is responding to the stranding.

"They tend to strand in pods, they stick together, if one is sick, the whole pod is going to strand," Biddle told LiveScience. The whales are stranded in shallow water, and veterinarians are assessing them to determine if all or a couple are sick, she said.

Pilot whales are toothed whales that can grow to be between 14 and 17 feet (4.3 to 5.2 meters). They live in warm, tropical waters, according to Biddle.

There are many potential causes -- including diseases, parasites, loud noise, toxins or simple confusion -- so figuring out what is responsible for the mass stranding can be challenging, according to Chris Parsons, a professor at George Mason University who has tracked mass whale strandings around the world.
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Sherlock

Canada: The mystery of the disappearing salmon

MARK HUME
The Globe and Mail
Wed, 04 May 2011 07:54 UTC
Image
© Unknown
The disappearance of millions of sockeye salmon from the Fraser River has been compared to Murder on the Orient Express by two scientists helping a federal inquiry solve an environmental mystery.

Andrew Trites and Villy Christensen, both professors at the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre, made the comparison to the Agatha Christie whodunit as they testified Wednesday at the Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River.

Led by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen, the commission has been given more than two years and a $25-million budget to figure out why sockeye salmon stocks have been in decline for the past two decades, and why only about one million fish returned to spawn in 2009, when 10 million were expected.
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Fish

55 Feet Long Unknown Fish Species Found in China


ibtimes.com
Fri, 29 Apr 2011 21:58 UTC
A 55 feet (16,7 meters) long fish has been found in the seashore of Guangdong, China. According to a local newspaper, the big fish weighs at least 10,000 pounds.

55,fish

According to a local newspaper, the big fish weighs at least 10,000 pounds.
Hwang, a 66-years-old fisherman living in the near area, said he has never seen anything like this in his whole life and that the fish was tied with ropes when it was first found.
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Bizarro Earth

World's Biggest Gathering of Whale Sharks


Wired.com
Mon, 02 May 2011 16:38 UTC

To see a single whale shark - the world's largest fish, a solitary behemoth that can grow to school bus size - is a rare experience.

Seeing hundreds gathered in one place is unprecedented.

"It's one of the most incredible gatherings of animals that's ever been recorded. It's mind-blowing," said marine biologist Al Dove of the Georgia Aquarium. "As someone who studies whale sharks, which have a reputation of being something you see once in a blue moon, the idea of finding 400 in an area of the size of a couple football fields is unheard of."
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Bizarro Earth

New Zealand: Monster whale found on beach


Stuff.co
Mon, 02 May 2011 11:45 UTC
Image
© Department of Conservation
The giant dead stranded whale at Waiinui Beach.
Waiinu Beach in South Taranaki was the final destination for huge sea monsters as two giant whales washed ashore in the past three days.

Residents of Waitotara were surprised to discover what is believed to be a dead 22.3m-long pygmy blue whale washed up on the beach, about 1.5km south of the river mouth, sometime on late Friday night or early Saturday morning.

A Wanganui Department of Conservation spokesman said if this was a pygmy blue whale, it was a rare specimen and the only one of its kind to have washed up on this coastline for at least 30 years.

Then overnight Sunday a large sperm whale stranded itself on the beach.

Unable to re-float the large mammal, DOC staff had to put the sperm whale down.
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