Animals

Mystery over sheep standing in concentric circles

Alex Winter
The Sun, UK
Sat, 10 Apr 2021 22:27 UTC

Mysterious photos that show a flock of sheep standing in a bizarre circle pattern have baffled social media users.

And the man who spotted the strange phenomenon says he initially believed it was a spaceship like "something out of the X Files".

Christopher Hogg, of village Rottingdean in East Sussex, was out on his bike when he saw the sheep gathered together.

The 47-year-old said: "I was on my daily cycle when I came over the hill and saw this magnificent circle.

"At that point I was about half a mile away, which made me think that whatever it was, it was huge.

"It was saucer-shaped, like an alien ship.

"And it was beautiful - but also a bit too weird for comfort.

"I cycled a bit closer and then realised the circle was made of sheep."

Comment: Also in the news recently: 'Wormnado': Herd of hundreds of worms captured moving in spiral baffles scientists

Researchers want to talk to spiders

Isaac Schultz
Gizmodo
Tue, 13 Apr 2021 19:20 UTC

© UWE ZUCCHI/DPA/AFP via Getty Images (Getty Images)
Spiders read their environment by sensing vibrations with their hairy legs.

If you think working from home is hard, consider the spider, who lives at work in a house it built. Arachnids use their intricate webs to trap meals, navigating across the structure using the vibrations it senses through the hairs on its legs.

Today, a team of researchers at MIT report that they've translated those vibrations into musical tones. What's more, they raise the prospect of someday communicating with spiders, using their vibrational world as a medium for language.

The team presented their research today during the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society. To figure out the sounds of a spider web, they hosted a spider in their lab and laser-scanned the web it constructed in two-dimensional cross-sections.

"Spiders live in this vibrational universe... they live in this world of vibrations and frequencies, which we can now access," said paper co-author Markus Buehler, a materials scientist at MIT, in a phone call. "One of the things we can do with this instrument with this approach is we can, for the first time, begin to feel a little bit like a spider or experience the world like the spider does."

Three dead whales found on one of Ireland's most scenic beaches

STEPHEN MAGUIRE
Irish Examiner
Mon, 12 Apr 2021 11:33 UTC

One of the beached whales in Tra Mór in Dunfanaghy, Co Donegal.

Locals have been left shocked after three whales were washed up on one of the country's most scenic beaches.

Tra Mór in Dunfanaghy, Co Donegal was named in the top ten Irish beaches by the Lonely Planet guide this week.

However, walkers were left stunned at the weekend when they came across the whales washed up on the beach.

The three large carcasses are believed to be that of two adult and one juvenile Cuvier's beaked whales The three whales measure around 6ft, 10ft and 10ft, and two of them have scarring around their bodies.

Billions of Cicadas to invade District of Columbia after 17 years underground

Michelle Stoddart
ABC News
Mon, 12 Apr 2021 14:44 UTC

Entomologist Eric Day says the insects could create a "substantial noise issue" in some communities.

In April 2004, "Mean Girls" was playing in theaters and "Yeah!" by Usher was topping the Billboard music charts.

At the same time, around the mid-Atlantic region, small holes in the ground were opening up from which billions of bulky, red-eyed, winged insects would emerge, readying for a bacchanal of singing and mating -- and reminding humans of a horror movie.

Comment: See also:

Dead whale shark washed ashore in New South Wales, Australia

Jacob McMaster
Magnet
Tue, 06 Apr 2021 12:49 UTC

The carcass of a whale shark found washed up on Terrace Beach by regular holiday visitors.

The remains of what appears to be a juvenile whale shark have washed up on Terrace Beach near Eden on Tuesday April 6.

Whale sharks are the largest fish species in the world and can grow to 10-15 metres, but Matt Azzopardi and his family who reported it to Fisheries and National Parks measured it to around four metres.

"It was an incredible experience - we thought it was still alive coz it was rolling in the surf," Matt said.

"It was quite surreal to see it, I paced it out myself to a conservative three and a half metres to over four metres."

Fisheries have since measured it to almost exactly five metres.

Matt made the find with his partner Allison Falzon and their two sons Mason and Jakim, sharing video to their Facebook page Shotgun Odyssey - Travel Oz.

2 dead whales wash up on Bangladesh shore in two days

Daily Sabah
Sat, 10 Apr 2021 11:23 UTC

Two dead whales, one of which is 16-meters long, washed up on Bangladesh's shore over two days, officials said Saturday, raising suggestions that they were killed by sea pollution.

Officials said the second, much longer whale washed up on Himchhari Beach, outside the resort city of Cox's Bazar, at around 8:30 a.m. (2:30 a.m. GMT) Saturday, just a day after the carcass of another Bryde's whale was found 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) from the spot.

"The carcass of the whale found today is at least 50 feet (16 meters) long and 10 feet wide. It weighs 3 to 4 tonnes," Jahirul Islam, executive director of the Cox's Bazar-based Marine Life Alliance, told AFP.

Islam said the whales could have been killed in a collision with a ship plying the Bay of Bengal, or have died after eating plastics that litter the sea.

4th dead gray whale found in the San Francisco Bay Area in just over a week

nbcbayarea.com
Thu, 08 Apr 2021 10:33 UTC

At least four gray whales have been found dead in the Bay Area in just over a week, The Marine Mammal Center said Thursday.

The first one washed up last Wednesday at Crissy Field in San Francisco, the center said. The second one washed up Saturday at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve in San Mateo County. A third one was found this week floating in the San Francisco Bay.

The fourth whale washed ashore at Muir Beach in Marin County, the center said Thursday.

Scientists from the mammal center were unable to determine a cause of death for the whale found at Crissy Field. They are still investigating the deaths of the other three whales.

Three dead gray whales found in San Francisco Bay area in a week

Azenith Smith
KTVU FOX 2
Thu, 08 Apr 2021 09:26 UTC

Three gray whales have been found dead in and around the San Francisco Bay in the past week. It's raising concern among marine scientists who said that number is alarming.

It's the start of the whales' northern migration. The center expects one or two whales to wash ashore in a couple weeks but three within a week is a lot. It's reminiscent of 2019 when there was a high number of whale deaths in the Bay.

In scenic San Francisco Bay lies a sad discovery Wednesday, the carcass of a 33-foot male gray whale.

"These creatures, they are such magnificent creatures and to see them dead like this is really heartbreaking," said Sea Valor CEO/Founder Eric Jones.

Comment: Report from January this year: Nearly 400 Gray Whales have died off the west coast since 2019

Over 80 melon-headed whales wash ashore in Ghana

Modern Ghana
Mon, 05 Apr 2021 14:23 UTC

Over 80 large mammals believed to be melon-headed whales were on Sunday, April 4 washed ashore at the Axim-Bewire beach in the Nzema East Municipality.

Speaking to Citi News, the Western Regional Acting Director of the Fisheries Commission, Alhassan Arafat Salifu said, he is unable to tell the cause of the incident, although most of the mammals washed ashore were dead while some were also found alive.

"We are now counting to know the actual numbers that were washed ashore since they are in different parts of the beach. Some are still struggling to breathe and some are dead," he said.

An Ontario teenager has died after reportedly being attacked by 3 dogs

Lisa Belmonte
Narcity
Sat, 03 Apr 2021 10:58 UTC

An Ontario dog attack has reportedly resulted in the death of a teenager and the OPP is investigating.

According to a press release posted by the St. George Lance and the Paris Chronicle, officers responded to a report of a death at a residence in Middlesex County on April 1.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene and has been identified as 17-year-old Megan Fisher from Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.

An examination after her death revealed that she died because of injuries she got from three dogs on the property.

It was said that the dogs are now in a shelter under a quarantine order.

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Animals

Mystery over sheep standing in concentric circles

Researchers want to talk to spiders

Three dead whales found on one of Ireland's most scenic beaches

Billions of Cicadas to invade District of Columbia after 17 years underground

Dead whale shark washed ashore in New South Wales, Australia

2 dead whales wash up on Bangladesh shore in two days

4th dead gray whale found in the San Francisco Bay Area in just over a week

Three dead gray whales found in San Francisco Bay area in a week

Over 80 melon-headed whales wash ashore in Ghana

An Ontario teenager has died after reportedly being attacked by 3 dogs

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