Extremely rare catch in front of Australian coast.
Fishermen pulling prehistoric shark from the South Pacific. The prehistoric animals are usually at home far below the water surface. Their unusual anatomy at the top makes it distinctive.
Mainly they are to be found in Japanese waters - and even then only rarely. Researchers suggest, therefore, that the 1.2-meter-long juvenile gone astray in the ocean.

http://www.bild.de/news/ausland/australien/fischern-geht-seltener-k...

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&a...

http://article.wn.com/view/2015/02/22/Dead_fish_found_floating_in_G...

Posted, 2015-02-22

KANPUR: Thousands of dead fish were found floating in Gangaat Dhabka Nullah and Dasheshwar Ghat in Jajmau on Friday. Experts attributed the death of fish to oxygen crisis in river water. 

Thousands of small crabs wash up on O.C. coast in Balboa

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/crabs-651975-ones-balboa.html

NEWPORT BEACH, CA – Daniel Stringer had an idea after eying the little lobster-like crustaceans that washed ashore on Balboa Island.

“I’ll get the barbeque,” said Stringer, who has lived on Balboa Island for 47 years and has never seen the small crabs like the ones that showed up Saturday. “I like mine with butter.”

Thousands of mini crabs - which actually look like tiny lobsters or craw fish - created a rim of red along the shoreline, scattered on the sand along the sleepy seaside of Balboa Island in Newport Beach. Most washed up dead at high tide, but some were still alive and swimming near the shoreline.

Passerby stopped to marvel at the unusual sight, some people coming to the aid of the ones that still looked like they had some life to them.

The Pleuroncodes planipes, also known as pelagic red crabs or tuna crabs, showed up during the last king tide event - when tides are especially high - at the end of January.

But then, as quick as they showed up, they disappeared - until Saturday morning, when they came in by the thousands. Another king tide event, which only happens a few times each year, showed up again this week, though its unclear whether the two incidents are related.

Experts say the crabs - which are about 1-to 3-inches long - haven’t been seen in the area for decades, and said it’s the warm water that has been lingering near 60-degrees that brought them here. They normally life in Baja California, according to Register archives.

Balboa Island resident Brian Cummings and son Chandler, 9, spent the morning picking them up, one by one, and tossing them back to the sea.

“We try to throw back as many lives ones as we can ... We try and look for the bright red ones to throw them back in the water,” Brian Cummings said, picking one up and tossing it into the water, where it simply floated upside down.

When asked if he wanted to eat them up, Chandler looked skeptical.

“They probably don’t have any meat on them,” he said.

Visitor James Gutierrez, of Pomona, was fascinated by the sight.

“You don’t realize how much sea life is out there until you see something like this,” he said.

Aaron Roth, 3, had just one word to describe the sight: “Cooool.”

Resident Michael Brennan knew all about the crabs, doing as much research as possible after the last ones washed ashore about a month ago.

“They swim backwards,” he said to a group gathering near the shore.

The pelagic crabs are the latest in a year of odd sightings along the coast caused by unusual warm water experts say are signs of El Nino. A variety of whales like orcas, sperm and humpback have shown up in high numbers, along with odd sightings like hammerhead sharks and whale sharks in the area.

Other sightings like a glow-in-the-dark organisms called pyrosomes washed ashore in September, and before that a blue, jellyfish-like creatures known as “By-the-wind sailors,” invaded the coastline.

A wahoo - normally found in Mexico - was reeled in by fisherman in August, and anglers are still catching yellowtail of the coast, which are usually scarce during this time of year.

https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/photos/thousands-of-dead-fish-found-...

Thousands of dead fish near Rio Olympics sailing venue on the edge of the Guanabara Bay 

They say cleanup won't be met by the time the 2016 Olympics are held.

Dead fish and trash float in the polluted Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015. Rio de Janeiro’s state environmental agency is trying to determine why thousands of dead fish have been found floating where next year’s Olympic sailing events are to be held. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

http://wate.com/2015/03/02/twra-investigates-dead-birds-found-on-ro...

TWRA investigates dead birds found on road in Spring Hill

Published: March 2, 2015, 11:25 am

SPRING HILL, Tenn. (WKRN) – The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is running tests after dead birds were found lying on a road in Spring Hill Saturday.

A viewer sent News 2 an image showing the birds on Northfield Lane in front of the General Motors plant that runs parallel with Highway 31.

Spring Hill Police spokesman Lt. Justin Whitwell confirmed around 50 to 100 birds were found dead, but wasn’t sure what caused their deaths.

The TWRA was called to the area to conduct tests, but further information wasn’t immediately available. It could take several weeks for the results to come back, officials said.

URUGUAY – Hundreds of dead fish from the Montevideo coast to Atlantis

Were also found in the Arroyo Pando. The Dinara states that were discarded into the river by boat. The Faculty continues to investigate
03.05.2015, 17:01 hs - UPDATED 18:28 

The Municipality of Montevideo (IMM) up 20 tons of dead fish on Thursday and will continue with the cleanup on the shores of Montevideo, he told The Observer director of the Division of Cleanliness IM, Andrés Martirena. On Thursday morning appeared in the Montevideo coast hundreds of dead fish floating in the water. The situation drew the attention of the authorities of the National Directorate of Aquatic Resources (Dinara), who sent a group of technicians who ran the promenade from the center to the Arroyo Carrasco and a significant amount of spice known as Lacha was observed.
"Since yesterday being cleaned beaches with machinery, we collect some 20 tons of rotting fish from Pajas Blancas to Paso Carrasco," said Martirena. In turn, explained that they were "hostages tide" which hampered a little more work and that the equipment normally used in season had to add a blade longer to perform the task. "The more time passes the worse. Luckily there were fish with certain hardness and could lift well, "he said.

Furthermore, since the division was requested will monitor the situation from the air to see if in the coming days could expect a new wave of these dead birds. "Being dead animals float and told us that no other can be seen offshore, so do not come closer to the coast," he said.
The work culminated in the coast of Pocitos and Buceo and the director explained that the places where there are still plenty of fish is on the rocks where machinery can not access. "You have to take with officials with the clothes and the right tools. That takes more time, "he said.
As for the causes that explain the appearance of dead fish from the Dinara is "ruled it an issue of pollution" and favors the theory that they were thrown into the sea as a ship discard.

Google Translation Link 1

Google Translation Link 2

More on Starr's report of Mar 1.

Mass Deaths of Marine Life off Singapore (Mar 1)

Last Sunday morning, Bryan Ang woke up onboard his floating fish farm on the Johor Strait between Malaysia and Singapore to find nearly all his stock had died.

"We woke up and saw all the fish floating belly-up," he said. "It's devastating."

He was not alone. Hundreds of tonnes of fish - both farmed and wild - died over the weekend in the eastern part of the strait. Fish farmers lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock overnight.

Floating out at sea and washing up on the beaches and mangroves, dead sea creatures began to appear, from sea snakes and seahorses to squid and moray eel.

Nature guide and environmental biology student Sean Yap - who supplied some of these pictures to the BBC - said he was jogging along the eastern Pasir Ris beach on Saturday evening when he smelt a foul stench.

It came from what he described as a "mass grave" - thousands of dead fish washed up on shore.

"There were cleaners present on the shore on Sunday morning to deal with the carcasses, but when we returned at night the high tide had brought in a new batch of bodies."

Even species such as catfish and burrowing gobies, which are considered to be more resilient, were found dead. The deaths of "invertebrates like worms is also alarming, as it may mean that the base of the food chain is affected.

Source

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31724554

Another Massive Fish Kill Near Singapore (Mar 7)

Thousands of fish were found washed up on shore at Lim Chu Kang jetty on Saturday in the latest in a series of mass deaths.

Breeds big and small, including catfish and mullets, were discovered on the beach near where several fish farms are situated in the Strait of Johor.

Both sea and farm fish were affected.

Farmer Ong Kim Pit, 65, said he first saw fish jumping out of the water on Friday night, adding that his baby mullets were worst hit.

"It happened within minutes," he said.

"My fish were jumping and jumping in the water. I don't know why."

Source

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/environment/story/new-ma...

http://instantproductsgoldmines.com/FitnessandHealthyFood/mass-anim...

Mass Animal Deaths March 2015: Birds, Fish, Reindeer, Turtles, Swans & more DEAD!

March 13, 2015 at 11:42 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWg3rpWYVmc&t=126

9th March 2015 – Hundreds of dead turtles, plus hundreds of dead fish found in Bocas del Toro, Panama.
9th March 2015 – 250,000 birds killed due to avian flu in Monywa, Myanmar.
9th March 2015 – Hundreds of dead fish found on a beach in Tolu, Colombia.
9th March 2015 – 19 dead turtles found on Pulau Tiga Island in Malaysia.
9th March 2015 – 100+ cattle have died ‘due to suspected grass poisoning’ in Gujarat, India.
8th March 2015 – 550 dead animals (mainly deer) found, ‘due to snow and cold’ in Leon, Spain.
7th March 2015 – 1,450 Sea lion pups have washed ashore this year ill and dying – ‘possibly 10,000 have died’ in California, America.
7th March 2015 – Thousands of dead fish wash up in new die off in Lim Chu Kang, Singapore.
6th March 2015 – 600 TONS of dead fish due to algae in fish farms in the east of Singapore.
6th March 2015 – Massive die off of prawns, ’cause unknown’ in Aroor, India.
6th March 2015 – 15,000 turkeys dead due to avian flu in Minnesota, America.
6th March 2015 – Hundreds of cattle are dead due to drought in southern Ecuador.
6th March 2015 – 10,000+ cattle dead due to flooding of the river Ebro in Spain.
5th March 2015 – Thousands of dead fish wash up on beaches in Buenos Aires, Argentina.Fish dead in Argentina
5th March 2015 – 12 turtles stranded, 3 dead, on a beach in Abruzzo, Italy.
5th March 2015 – 9,000+ birds are dead due to another avian flu outbreak in Bauchi State, Nigeria.
5th March 2015 – Thousands of dead fish wash up along Derwent river in Tasmania, Australia.
5th March 2015 – Thousands of dead fish found in Cabo Frio, Brazil.
5th March 2015 – Millions of birds killed due to avian flu during past 6 months in South Korea.
5th March 2015 – 1,100 Birds killed due to avian flu outbreak in Mekong Delta, Vietnam.
4th March 2015 – 4.17 MILLION birds have been killed since January due to avian flu in Taiwan, China.
4th March 2015 – 300 Snow Geese have died this winter due to disease in Illinois, America.
4th March 2015 – Thousands of dead fish found on coast of East Java, Indonesia.
4th March 2015 – 23,500 Birds to be killed due to avian flu in Schwanewede, Germany.
4th March 2015 – INFO: 30 dolphins/whales and 54 turtles wash up dead during 2014 in Abruzzo, Italy.
3rd March 2015 – ‘Lots’ of dead turtles found on a beach in Piacabucu, Brazil.
3rd March 2015 – Thousands of dead fish, plus dead ducks found in a lagoon in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
3rd March 2015 – Large die off of fish ‘due to cold weather’ at 3 sites in Nova Scotia, Canada.
3rd March 2015 – Hundreds of dead fish found floating in a river in Hainan, China.
2nd March 2015 – 100,000 ducks killed due to avian flu in Fuzesgyarmat, Hungary.
2nd March 2015 – Thousands of TONS of shellfish have died off during past few years in Whangarei Harbour, New Zealand.
2nd March 2015 – 3 dead whales found washed ashore in Chennai, India.
2nd March 2015 – Hundreds of dead fish found in a pond in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
2nd March 2015 – Thousands of dead fish found washed up along Columbia River in Portland, America.
1st March 2015 – Dozens of birds drop dead out of the sky in Tennessee, America. Link
1st March 2015 – Masses of various marine creatures washing ashore dead on Pasir Ris beach in Dead creatures Singapore
1st March 2015 – Mass die off of fish and reptiles due to burst fuel pipe in Tabasco, Mexico.
28th February 2015 – 100 dead or dying turtles found in the Bellinger River in NSW, Australia.
28th February 2015 – 97 dead sea birds found along beaches of the North East coast of France.
28th February 2015 – Hundreds of dead fish found on the banks of a river in Uttar Pradesh, India.
27th February 2015 – 10,000 birds dead, 23,000 killed due to avian flu in Monywa, Myanmar.
26th February 2015 – Fish kill in 2 farm ponds in La Union, Philippines.
25th February 2015 – 5,000 Birds killed due to avian flu in Jigawa State, Nigeria.
25th February 2015 – Thousands of dead fish found, ‘no explanation’ in the port of Wolfersdorf, France.
AND MORE!
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mass-animal-deaths-on-the-rise-worldwide/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mass-fish-die-off-in-southern-california/
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/up-to-600-tonnes-of-f...
http://www.end-times-prophecy.org/animal-deaths-birds-fish-end-time...

http://wtkr.com/2015/03/15/hundreds-of-dead-fish-wash-up-along-ches...

Hundreds of dead fish wash up along Chesapeake canal

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/17/us-usa-idaho-dead-geese-i...

Thousands of snow geese fall dead from sky in Idaho

Rare catch: Fishermen catch one of smallest whale species

http://tribune.com.pk/story/849068/rare-catch-fishermen-catch-one-o...

KARACHI: One of the smallest whales species, pygmy sperm, was found around 120 nautical miles southwest of Karachi. The fishermen caught the whale on Wednesday while they were fishing in the deep sea but the whale was already dead.

This is one of the smallest whales found in the outer continental shelf and considered to be very rare. Known to exist in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans, this species is usually found dead on the shores.

The captain of the boat alFahim, Saeed Zaman, caught the pygmy sperm in gillnet used for catching tuna while they were fishing off the shelf area. The whale was enmeshed in the net and died when it was hauled onto the boat.

According to officials of the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan), the whale was 8.2 feet long and weighed about 400kg. “It is the first authentic record of its presence in our waters,” said Muhammad Moazzam Khan, WWF-Pakistan’s technical adviser.

Previously, there were two unconfirmed records of this whale’s presence in Pakistan after they were found stranded on Sonmiani beach in December, 1985, and dubious observations of a small school off Churna Island, added Khan.

According to him, whales and dolphins are sensitive animals and, in most cases, they die as soon as they become enmeshed in the fishing nets as they are unable to come to surface to breathe. He further pointed out that the pygmy sperm whale feeds on deep water squids and crabs.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2015.

Starving Sea Lions Washing Ashore by the Hundreds in California

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/13/us/starving-sea-lions-washing-ash...

CAPISTRANO BEACH, Calif. — By the time Wendy Leeds reached him, the sea lion pup had little hope of surviving.

Like more than 1,450 other sea lions that have washed up on California beaches this year, in what animal experts call a growing crisis for the animal, this 8-month-old pup was starving, stranded and hundreds of miles from a mother who still needed to nurse him and teach him to hunt and feed. Ribs jutted from his velveteen coat.

The pup had lain on the beach for hours, becoming the target of an aggressive dog before managing to wriggle onto the deck of a million-dollar oceanfront home, where the owner shielded him with an umbrella and called animal control. In came Ms. Leeds, an animal-care expert at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, which like other California rescue centers is being inundated with calls about lost, emaciated sea lions.

Many of the pups are leaving the Channel Islands, an eight-island chain off the Southern California coast, in a desperate search for food. But they are too young to travel far, dive deep or truly hunt on their own, scientists said.

This year, animal rescuers are reporting five times more sea lion rescues than normal — 1,100 last month alone. The pups are turning up under fishing piers and in backyards, along inlets and on rocky cliffs. One was found curled up in a flower pot.

Last week, SeaWorld San Diego said it would shut its live sea lion and otter show for two weeks so it could spare six of its animal specialists for the rescue-and-recovery effort.

“There are so many calls, we just can’t respond to them all,” Justin Viezbicke, who oversees stranding issues in California for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said on a conference call with reporters. “The reality is, we just can’t get to these animals.”

As the injured animals proliferate, their encounters with humans are growing. Some people offer misguided help such as dousing the pups with water or trying to drag them back into the ocean. Others take selfies with the stranded animals, pet them or let their children pretend to ride them, rescuers said.

As Ms. Leeds approached the quaking sea lion on Capistrano Beach, she frowned at a pile of tuna near his muzzle. “Has someone been trying to feed him?” she asked.

Many are sick with pneumonia, their throaty barks muted to rasping coughs. Parasites have swarmed their digestive systems. Some are so tired that they cannot scamper away when rescuers approach them with nets and towels and heft them into large pet carriers.

“They come ashore because if they didn’t, they would drown,” said Shawn Johnson, the director of veterinary science at Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito. “They’re just bones and skin. They’re really on the brink of death.”

This year is the third in five years that scientists have seen such large numbers of strandings. Researchers say they worry about the long-term consequences of climate change and rising ocean temperatures on a sea lion population that has evolved over thousands of years to breed almost exclusively on the Channel Islands, relying on circulating flows of Pacific upwellings to bring anchovies, sardines and other prey.

“The environment is changing too rapidly,” said Sharon Melin, a wildlife biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service who found that pups on the Channel Islands were 44 percent underweight. “Their life history is so much slower that it’s not keeping up.”

Scientists said it was too soon to predict how these strandings and deaths could affect California’s sea lion populations, which stand at what scientists say is a healthy 300,000. As their mothers leave them to take longer, less productive foraging trips, the pups are simply not growing normally.

“We do expect the population to take a drop,” Dr. Melin said. “Probably not something catastrophic, but probably a really good hit. It is going to impact the overall population eventually if we continue to have these events back to back.”

For now, rescue and rehabilitation groups like Pacific Marine Mammal Center, in Laguna Beach, have the feel of big-city emergency rooms. Volunteers and staff members pull up with crates of freshly beached sea lions to be weighed and examined. They shave numbers into the animals’ brown coats, warm the coldest ones in saltwater baths, and try to coax them back to health with smoothies of herring, Karo syrup, Trader Joe’s brand salmon oil and other nutrients.

Many have rebounded, gaining weight and graduating from indoor holding pens and tube feedings to eating small fish and romping in outdoor pools. The gaunt new arrivals lie forlornly inside, lethargic and scrawny. The recovering ones loll outside like sunbathers on a crowded roof deck, rolling around in hose spray and occasionally flapping around the small pools in their pens. After four or five weeks, many should be ready to be released back into the ocean.

But the death rates are sobering, and staff members say they have to make quick and sometimes painful decisions to euthanize animals unlikely to survive. Of the 1,450 sea lions scooped up from the shores, about 720 are now being treated, Dr. Viezbicke of NOAA said.

Michele Hunter, the center’s director of animal care, said, “It’s very difficult to see so much death.”

On Capistrano Beach, Ms. Leeds hauled the quaking sea lion into a kennel, accepted a $20 donation from the homeowner who had called in the report and headed down the highway to a fishing pier where a lifeguard had spotted another pup in the sand.

This one was small and cool to her touch with ragged, unsteady breathing, so she piled both animals into the same kennel so they could keep each other warm. They seemed to bond quickly: When Ms. Leeds reached toward one, the other snapped at her hand. Within the hour, veterinary workers would decide that both pups were too starved and sick and had to be put down. For the moment, the two curled up together like a pair of brown socks for the ride back to the rescue center.

“It’s getting crazy,” she said.

Experts suspect that unusually warm waters are driving fish and other food away from the coastal islands where sea lions breed and wean their young. As the mothers spend time away from the islands hunting for food, hundreds of starving pups are swimming away from home and flopping ashore from San Diego to San Francisco.

The entire West Coast of the US is the issue,  not just CA!  As usual,  disinfo is crossed out (ditto for links) but the actual data is just too huge to ignore.

Gov’t: It’s getting “even worse” on West Coast this year — Experts say over 35,000 baby sea lions could be dead; “This phenomenon is unprecedented in scale” — Hundreds of times more pups than usual at rescue center — Doctor: “Definitely indicates ocean not normal… Really, we should be worried”

http://enenews.com/govt-getting-worse-west-coast-experts-35000-baby...

NOAA, Feb 18, 2015 (pdf): We are seeing an unusually large increase of California sea lion pups stranding [that's] intensified over the last few weeks… it is very difficult to pinpoint what is causing the increase… [There are] warmer waters than usual, but an official El Nino has not yet been declared… [We are] preparing for the worst… health trends of marine mammals [inform] us about the health of the entire ecosystem… if the stranding numbers exceed the 2013 UME [facilities will be unable to] accept more animals… animals may be left on the beach [or] humanely euthanized.

Malibu Surfside News, Mar 3, 2015: The number of animals that can be rescued and rehabilitated is very small compared to the total number of pups in distress… in 2013, Federal officials estimated that 70 percent of the total number [~35,000 out of 50,000 newborns] may have died and experts say that the numbers may be even higher this year.

Quartz, Feb 27, 2015: This phenomenon is unprecedented in scale: in January… more than twice the highest number previously recorded… February has been even worse… Jim Milbury [of NOAA said] a total of 1,200 sea lions have reached California since the beginning of the year… [It was a] much less significant event in 2013.

Malibu Times, Feb 25, 2015: The California Wildlife Center [at this] time last year… had facilitated seven rescues. As of the beginning of this week, 129 rescues have been performed… CWC is also encountering many sea lions that have washed ashore dead.

The Oregonian, Feb 26, 2015: Oceana says thousands of sea lion pups… have died on the West Coast this year…

Press Democrat, Feb 25, 2015: A crisis [of] stranded pups and older animals arriving starved and sick on coastal shores has reached the Sonoma Coast, where six animals have been recovered in recent weeks, according to the Marine Mammal Center near Sausalito. All of them — four pups and two adults — later perished because of their weakened physical state.

Shawn Johnson, director of veterinary science at The Marine Mammal ..., Feb 16, 2015 (at 3:30 in): [It's] the third year we’ve seen an increased number of sea lion strandings… It’s definitely an indication that the sea is not its normal self… The sea lions are sentinels of the sea… it really indicates there’s a bigger issue happening in the ocean. – (at 13:00 in) At the MMC we have over 200 right now… which is incredibly abnormal. Normally this time of year we would have no sea lions pups. — (at 17:00 in) The sea lions are telling us that there’s a lack of fish. The cause of that is still being investigated… Really, we should be worried about what’s happening out there right now [it] could be directly related to… us in the future.

More at this article as well...staggering in just one CA island.

10,000 baby sea lions dead on one California island — Experts: “It’s getting crazy… This is a crisis… Never seen anything like it… Very difficult to see so much death” — TV: “Numbers skyrocketing at alarming rates” — “Woman is burying the rotting mammals” after digging graves at beach (VIDEOS)

http://enenews.com/experts-10000-baby-sea-lions-dead-one-california...

‘Baikal seriously ill’: World’s deepest lake suffers alien algae, record water-level drop

http://rt.com/news/240453-lake-baikal-pollution-draining/

The shores of Lake Baikal in Siberia, the world's largest body of fresh water and popular tourist destination, are covered with rotting algae dangerous to its unique ecosystem.

Baikal is getting increasingly contaminated by spirogyra, which could pose a threat to the purity of its waters.

Spirogyra is not native to Baikal's ecosystem. It thrives on biological waste which, according to ecologists, is provided in abundance by the sewage facilities of the local holiday centers, as well as private boats.

Now, most of Baikal's shores are covered in rotting spirogyra. Only the western shore remains clean.

"It has never been detected previously in such a mass abundance. Spirogyra is completely occupying more than 50 percent of the coastal area of Lake Baikal," says Oleg Timoshkin from the Limnological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The institute researches the flora and fauna of Siberian lakes.

"Last year, there was more than 1,500 tonnes of rotting algae. Unfortunately, I can definitely say that Baikal is ill. Seriously ill."

But the alien algae aren't the only threat Baikalis facing at the moment. Its water level is at a record low – 5cm below the critical level of 456 meters, according to a source in the local emergency services who spoke to RIA Novosti. The level hit critical just three weeks ago.

This has led to the Republic of Buryatia, whose territory includes Baikal's eastern shore, declaring a state of ecologic emergency. The officials have also asked the local population to start saving water.

http://enenews.com/dead-sea-creatures-covering-sand-sea-red-califor...

http://www.miamiok.com/news/article_515e000f-f42f-5f48-83a4-891485f...

Large bird kill reported near Picher

Posted: Monday, March 30, 2015 3:49 pm

COMMERCE — Several people in the area reported seeing a large amount of dead blackbirds, most estimates around 100, on the highway between Commerce and Quapaw near Picher over the weekend.

According to Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation Information and Education Supervisor Micah Holmes, the most likely cause of the birds' demise was natural causes or weather-related issues during their migration. Holmes said his department did not receive any reports of this specific bird kill incident, which occurred on Highway 69 and 69A south of Picher on Friday evening.

https://yamkin.wordpress.com/2015/04/04/thousands-of-dead-fish-foun...

Thousands of dead fish found in the Uraguay River in Argentina

April 4, 2015

“It was after 3000, all between 750 grams and a kilo and a half,” he assured some “were still gasping and others had already died,” said one of the fishermen. 

 

“It’s the first time we found many dead shad, there are days that is one or two, but we never had this happen to find thousands of dead fish on the beach,” he added. 

 

Felipe Galli said the death was between “former railroad laundry cages and about five hundred feet below the street May 25″ attributing it to “any chemical which certainly threw rail” and encouraged the thesis Brazilians who had previously responsible rail “polluting products used to wash cars.” 

 

“The worst he added Galli- there is now a quarter of the fish had yesterday, I estimate that about 2000 were removed by families living near here and took them to eat, but were told that if they died for something would be and that were possibly contaminated, but nobody wanted to ignore until a truck loaded with fish and were happy but this said, “can have health consequences for those who ingest”. 

 

The slaughter was very great, do not know who produced it and nobody investigates the fact. 

A similar situation was experienced yesterday downstream area Benito Legerén. 

 

Hundreds of dead fish were found on the coast and began to decompose on heating and flies that invaded the place. Most corresponds to the kind of shad of different sizes that were affected. 

 

Locals called it a “environmental disaster” and expect that bodies such as the CARU provide explanations of what is happening with the shad that make up the fish fauna and longer food for the families of fishermen. 

 

However a theory, it arose from strong odors that occurred yesterday near the waterfront, a few weeks ago means the city of Salto complained that the refrigerator The Caballada, currently owned by foreign capital shed effluent into the river, from its plant in the southern coastal sister city without proper treatment. 

 

The theory says Legerén neighbors such as tarpon feeding on sediment and mud, perhaps dead birds were fed the plant residues left in the bottom of the river and constant streams of the usual and surprising water evacuations Salto Grande, southern reach Concordia, more precisely Benito Legerén. 

 

Are all theories; but the truth and reality is that residents are very concerned about this situation and the health of our river and those who through him are fed.

https://yamkin.wordpress.com/2015/04/03/hundreds-of-dead-fish-found...

Hundreds of dead fish found in a dam in Castelo Branco, Portugal

April 3, 2015

www.jn.pt/storage/JN/2015/big/ng3957408.jpg" alt=""/>

Photo By JOSÉ ANTONIO / LUSA

The same source said the GNR is to ascertain the cause of fish death in that reservoir which is near the industrial area of ​​Castelo Branco. 

 

“A patrol Protection Agency of Nature and Environment (SEPNA) Castelo Branco went to the site and confirmed the situation [fish kills]. Water samples were collected and some fish, which followed for analysis,” said the captain Miguel Silva .

 

The White Castle GNR also produced an official report that went to the prosecutor.

 

“We have a survey of the dam and tributaries that converge there and it’s all being evaluated,” said Miguel Silva.

 

According to this official, this time “is premature and unwise to proceed with any causes” for the death of fish in that reservoir.

 

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1755723/thousands-dead-f...

Thousands of dead fish found off Lantau

Saturday, 04 April, 2015, 12:09am

Changing temperature of sea or illegal waste dumping could be to blame, says scientist

• 

Dead fish floating near Discovery Bay. Photo: Gary Stokes

Thousands of dead fish have been found floating in rubbish between Peng Chau and Discovery Bay.

One scientist said they could have been killed by an algal bloom that starves fish of oxygen, or waste dumped in the water.

Pictures seen by the South China Morning Post showed some had washed up on a beach in Peng Chau, off the northeast coast of Lantau Island.

Islands District Councillor Josephine Tsang Sau-ho said: "The fish are around half the size of a palm. There were thousands of them when they washed up and they really smell."

She said fishermen had told her trawling was not to blame.

The fish were found on Thursday and workers later cleaned up the beach. The Marine Department said around 80 catties of dead fish were cleaned up from water in the area yesterday.

Gary Stokes of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society had also taken pictures when he witnessed dead fish "numbering in thousands" floating in the area, according to his Facebook page.

Professor Chan King-ming, director of the Environmental Science Programme at Chinese University, believed the fish had been dead for two or three days.

While he said he had not visited the scene, Chan suspected the changing season from spring to summer might have proved devastating for the fish.

"When the sun shines, it warms the water. It favours the growth of algal species and eventually leads to a drop in oxygen level," Chan said, adding that the drop in oxygen would kill the fish.

Another possibility, he said, was the illegal dumping of waste from construction of the bridge connecting Hong Kong with Zhuhai and Macau.

A spokesman for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said it had contacted fish farmers in the area but there were no reports of deaths from their mariculture rafts.

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/more-130-dolp...

More than 130 dolphins beach in Japan

HOKOTA, Japan (AFP) - More than 130 melon-headed whales, a member of the dolphin family usually found in the deep ocean, beached in Japan on Friday, sparking frantic efforts by locals and coastguards to save them.

Rescuers were battling to stop the creatures' skin from drying out as they lay on a beach about 100 kilometres northeast of Tokyo, while some were being carried in slings back towards the ocean.

Television footage showed several animals from the large pod had been badly cut, with many having deep gashes on their skin.

An AFP journalist at the scene said that despite efforts to get the dolphins into the water, some were being pushed back onto the beach by the tide soon after they had been released.

A number of the creatures had died, he said, and were being buried.

"We see one or two whales washing ashore a year, but this may be the first time to find over 100 of them on a beach," a coastguard official told AFP.

The pod was stretched out along a roughly 10-kilometre-long stretch of beach in Hokota, Ibaraki, where they had been found by locals early Friday morning.

"They are alive. I feel sorry for them," a man told public broadcaster NHK, as others were seen ferrying buckets of seawater to the stranded animals and pouring it over them.

Several animals could be seen writhing in a futile effort to move themselves on the sand, although as the morning progressed they were clearly becoming weaker.

Melon-headed whales, also known as electra dolphins, are relatively common in Japanese waters and can grow to be two- to three- meters long.

In 2011, about 50 melon-headed whales beached themselves in a similar area.

Despite international opprobrium, Japan hunts minke and pilot whales off its own coast, and has for many years also pursued the mammals in the Antarctic Ocean using a scientific exemption to the international moratorium on whaling.

It has never made any secret of the fact that meat from the animals is also consumed.

However, a UN court ruled last year that its hunt was a commercial activity masquerading as research, and ordered it be halted.

Tokyo, which insists whaling is a tradition and labels environmental campaigners as "cultural imperialists", has vowed to restart a redesigned southern ocean whaling programme, possibly later this year.

Japan also defies international opinion with the slaughter of hundreds of dolphins in a bay near the southern whaling town of Taiji.

The killing was brought to worldwide attention with the Oscar-winning documentary "The Cove".

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/peoplesdaily/article-3037028/Someth...

Something fishy’s going on! Chinese village awakes to mystery of 100 tonnes of dead fish floating on their local pond

• Thousands of dead fish were found at a lake in Huizhou City in southern China's Guangdong Province on Friday
• Owner of a fish farm which operates from the lake says he found evidence the water was polluted with ammonia
• He claims the loss of 100 tonnes of fish overnight will cost him over 1 million RMB (£110,000) in potential sales
• Employees are working to save any live animals by adding salt to the water to restore the chemical imbalance

Thousands of animals have died overnight at a commercial fish farm in southern China's Guangdong Province after the lake became polluted.

More than 100 tonnes of dead fish were found floating in the water near Huizhou City on Friday morning by devastated farmer Mr Zhang.

Workers had rushed to clear the lake, using plastic baskets and nets to scoop them out, creating a huge mountain of rotting fish on the shore.

Thousands of fish, weighing 100 tonnes, have been found dead at a lake in Huizhou City in southern China's Guangdong Province

http://www.kgw.com/story/news/2015/04/12/velella-velella-die-off-or...

Jellyfish-like creatures pile up on Ore. coast in massive die-off

(Photo: Don Best)

ROCKAWAY BEACH, Ore. – Thousands of jellyfish-like creatures were seen piled up on Rockaway Beach Sunday morning in what appeared to be a massive die-off.

The animals are called Velella velella. They're like a cousin to the jellyfish.

They are commonly called "purple sailors," "little sail," and "by the wind sailors."

The die-offs occur each spring along beaches from Oregon to California.

Velella velella typically live in the open ocean, but when warm water and storms draw them near shore, the wind blows them onto beaches, where they die in piles.

Jellyfish-like creatures appear on Ore. beaches

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife says Velella velella do sting their prey while in the water, but they are harmless to humans.

The creatures are like a cousin to the jellyfish. (Photo: Don Best)

Millions of tiny prawns wash ashore Playa Brava, Chile

Whale that was feared to be extinct washes up on an Australian beach for only the second time in 200 years

• The Omura's whale was discovered on a remote Exmouth beach in WA 
• It was washed up on the beach by Tropical Cyclone Olwyn 
• Authorities found it hard at first to identify the 5.68m juvenile female
• However DNA profiling confirmed it was an Omura's whale
• It is the first sighting of the species in WA and only the second in Australia

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3037922/Whale-feared-extinc...

A species of whale that was feared to be extinct has been found washed up on a West Australian beach, giving scientists an opportunity to learn more about the mammal.

The Omura's whale was discovered on a remote Exmouth beach, at the tip of the state's North West Cape, after Tropical Cyclone Olwyn tore through the area last month.

It is the first sighting of the species in WA and only the second in Australia.

Identifying the 5.68m juvenile female was at first difficult for Department of Parks and Wildlife staff, who eventually confirmed it was an Omura's whale with DNA profiling.

Environment Minister Albert Jacob said the find was 'highly significant' for whale scientists because very little was known about the species.

'Omura's whale was only described in scientific journals for the first time in 2003 and is apparently restricted to tropical and subtropical waters,' he said.

'The knowledge we gain from this whale will help to improve field identification guides to better understand the whale's regional distribution.'

The species is usually found in Indonesian waters, the Philippines and the Sea of Japan.

Omura's whales have a sleek body shape and several unique skeletal features, including 53 vertebrae and four digits on each pectoral fin.

The carcass has been buried and the skeleton will be recovered in a few years for further scientific investigation and possibly for public display in museums.

http://www.spyghana.com/later-day-manner-falls-in-thailand-as-fish-...

Later Day Manner Falls In Thailand, As Fish Rain Over Streets

Later Day manner has fallen on Thailand.  In Thailand Fishes Gets Litters All Over the Streets After Rainfall with many people expressing surprise.

Indeed, passersby have been held in awe as hundreds of fishes had flown to the banks of seashore and on the road.

Reports have it that most of fishes were found dead.

Whilst some people tried to save the fishes, others stood watching in amazement.

It is on record that rainy season in Thailand varies from region to region.

Its rainy season can be classified as May/June to October and the river fishing season in Khao Sok National Park is influenced by the monsoon winds from both the Indian and Pacific Ocean.

Dead 50-Foot Endangered Sperm Whale Washes Ashore At Pacifica Beach

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/04/15/beached-whale-sperm-pac...

Scientists from the Marine Mammal Center and the Academy of Sciences will perform a necropsy on a sperm whale that washed ashore a Pacifica beach on April 14 2015. (Edgar Teran)

PACIFICA (CBS SF) — Biologists are heading to the San Mateo County coast Wednesday morning to try and determine what killed an endangered sperm whale.

The 50-feet sperm whale was found bleeding from its head and into the water along at Mori Point on the south end of Sharp Park State Beach in Pacifica Tuesday.

On Wednesday, scientists from the Marine Mammal Center and the Academy of Sciences will perform a necropsy. They’ll have their work cut out for them since adult sperm whales can get up to 50 tons in size.

It’s unknown at this point if they will then leave the decomposing whale ashore or tow it out to sea.

Whale strandings are fairly rare. The center said it does not see many stranded animals of this species, dead or alive, on shore.

A stranded sperm whale turns up on a Pacifica beach on April 14 2015. (Laura Sherr/Marine Mammal Center)

A rare pygmy sperm whale washed ashore at Point Reyes National Seashore in January, later found dead once biologists arrived. Scientists at the Marine Mammal Center identified over 450 pounds of trash found in his stomach causing his death. The trash was used to create the Ghost Net Monster, an art exhibit on display at the Center’s headquarters in Sausalito, to teach visitors about the importance of preventing trash from reaching the oceans.

http://patch.com/new-york/southampton/dead-whale-found-washed-south...

A dead whale that was seen floating in the water on Monday, has washed up on a Southampton beach on Tuesday, according to the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation.

The foundation is working with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to assess the situation and will provide more details as they become available.

Note that the same appears to be happening on Oregon Coast (see story below on ROCKAWAY BEACH, Ore.)

Millions of jellyfish-like creatures wash up in Ocean Shores, WA

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Millions-of-jellyfish-like-creat...

OCEAN SHORES, Wash. -- Millions of jellyfish-like creatures have become stranded along the Washington coastline.

For more than a month now, the Velella Velella have been washing up by the millions on West Coast Beaches, including Ocean Shores.

"It looks pretty messy," said Tim O'Cain who was visiting with his grandkids from Bothell. "Really gooey. And actually for a distance, I thought they looked like a muscle, until you got up close to them."

After the winter, as sea surface temperatures rise, the creatures migrate closer to the shore in droves.

"They have a sail fin that has a slight bend to it and that helps them curve again from the beach and stay off the beaches," said Steve Green with the Coastal Interpretive Center.

But it's when the wind starts to blow that sets the creatures off course.

"These guys have no chance once they start spinning around in circles," Green said.

That's when they're pushed on the shore, and become strange sight for all to see.

"They were blue, they were really goopy and mushy and they were weird to step on," said Brooke Brandweide from Seattle.

Velella Velella aren't poisonous, and they won't sting. You can pick them up with no worries.

"These are no threat to humans," Green said. "Unless you're a microscopic plantain, you have nothing to worry about."

The last time this happened was about six years ago and Green says they could keep floating ashore through the summer months.

Food Chain Catastrophe: Emergency Shut Down Of U.S. West Coast Fisheries: “Populations Have Crashed 91% Percent”

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/food-chain-catastrophe-emerge...

April 16th, 2015 Earlier this week Michael Snyder warned that the bottom of our food chain is going through a catastrophic collapse with sea creatures dying in absolutely massive numbers. The cause of the problem is a mystery to scientists who claim that they can’t pinpoint how or why it’s happening.

What’s worse, the collapse of sea life in the Pacific Ocean isn’t something that will affect us several decades into the future. The implications are being seen right now, as evidenced by an emergency closure of fisheries along the West coast this week.

On Wednesday federal regulators announced the early closure of sardine fisheries in California, Oregon and Washington. According to the most recent data, the sardine populations has been wiped out with populations seeing a decline of 91% in just the last eight years.

Meeting outside Santa Rosa, California, the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to direct NOAA Fisheries Service to halt the current season as early as possible, affecting about 100 fishing boats with sardine permits…

…

The action was taken based on revised estimates of sardine populations, which found the fish were declining in numbers faster than earlier believed…

The council did not take Wednesday’s decision lightly and understood the pain the closure would impose on the fishing industry, said council member Michele Culver, representing the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. She added that it was necessary because a new assessment of sardine stocks showed they were much lower than estimated last year, when harvest quotas were set.

Source: New York Times via Steve Quayle / ENEnews

Sardines, like honey bees, don’t seem important to the casual observer. But just like honey bees, which are experiencing their own colony collapse, they are critical to the propagation of the global food chain. The immediate effects can be seen on the creatures next in line:

… 90 percent of this year’s class of sea lion pups were starving for lack of sardines to eat.

“The sardine populations have crashed 91 percent since 2007,” he said after the vote. “We would have liked to see this happen much sooner, but now we can start to rebuild this sardine population that is so important to the health of the ocean.”

(Courtesy: The Seattle Times)

But even closing of commercial fisheries may not be the solution. As Snyder points out in the aforementioned report, there are some unexplained phenomena occurring in the Pacific ocean and either scientists don’t have a clue what is happening, or someone is keeping a gag order on researchers.

According to two University of Washington scientific research papers that were recently released, a 1,000 mile stretch of the Pacific Ocean has warmed up by several degrees, and nobody seems to know why this is happening.  This giant “blob” of warm water was first observed in late 2013, and it is playing havoc with our climate.  And since this giant “blob” first showed up, fish and other sea creatures have been dying in absolutely massive numbers.

The issue could potentially be one of climate change – but not the kind of climate change we hear from politicians who just want to put carbon tax credits in their pocket. Rather, we could be talking about cyclical climate shifts that have occurred regularly throughout the course of earth’s history. And with those shifts come massive migrations and species die-offs.

Or, as one contributor at ENEnews.com suggested, the answer to why this is happening should be obvious:

We have three cores melted out of their reactor buildings, lost in the mudrock and sandstone, which we have failed to locate and mitigate.

We have an underground river running under the ruins, which we have failed to divert around the reactors.

We have three empty reactors, containing nothing but corium splatter left when they blew up and melted out.

We have the Pacific Ocean Ecosystem, which we have stressed beyond endurance, through ocean dumping, over fishing, agricultural runoff, and now unrestricted radiation.

We have the sudden collapse of the Pacific Ocean Ecosystem, with a threatened collapse of the biosphere.

We continue to allow corporate and governmental inaction.

What in hell did you think was going to happen?

Something is wrong with world’s food chain and one Harvard Professor suggested last year that recent signs, namely with the die-off of honey bee populations, are a prelude of things to come:

But he now warns that a pollinator drop could be the least our worries at this point.

That it may be a sign of things to come – bees acting as the canary in the coalmine. That not only are we connected to bees through our food supply, but that the plight that so afflicts them may very well soon be our own.

Could it be that the collapse of honey bee colonies, mass sea life die-offs, and changing climates in once lush growing regions are all the result of the same underlying phenomena?

If so, then we can soon expect not just higher food prices, but a breakdown in the food chain itself.

And though none of us can truly prepare for a decades’ long (or longer) food disaster and the complexities that would come along with it (like mass migrations and resource wars), we can take steps to make ourselves as self sustainable as possible, while also preparing emergency plans to respond to the initial brunt of the force should it hit.

Rare Oarfish, Stuff Of Sea Monster Legends, Washes Up In New Zealand, Then Vanishes

A bizarre-looking ocean fish that marine experts say could be the origin of some “sea monster” legends washed ashore in New Zealand last week -- then mysteriously disappeared.

The nearly 10-foot-long oarfish was found at a salt marsh near Otago Harbor in Aramoana on Thursday, the Otago Daily Times reports. The local who found the scaly animal called Department of Conservation service manager David Agnew, who said it’s the first time he's spotted such a creature in his 20 years on the job.

Agnew told the Daily Mail he had never even heard of an oarfish before. “It’s incredibly rare to see them in New Zealand,” he said.

Researchers from the Otago Museum took some samples of the fish for study, but did not have the resources to remove and preserve the entire carcass, natural science curator Emma Burns told the Otago Daily Times. She noted they had not determined the sex and age of the fish, but did know that the critter consumed a “big feed of krill” before its demise.

By Friday, the fish had disappeared, and it’s unclear if the body was washed away by the tide or removed by humans. Agnew warned anyone who may come in contact with the fish not to eat it, since no one knows the cause of death.

Plus, the meat doesn’t even taste good, according to Burns. She told the Daily Times the flesh is “quite gelatinous.”

“Oarfish” describes a group of fish that includes four species. One of these, the giant oarfish -- also known as the “king of herrings” -- can grow up to 36 feet long. Oarfish can be found worldwide, though sightings of live oarfish are relatively uncommon.

The fish are known for the ability to “self-amputate.” Though some media sources say the fish accomplishes self-amputation by biting off their tails, FishBase.org and the Encyclopedia of Life both indicate that oarfish -- which are toothless -- simply detach the back part of their bodies. Though it’s unknown why oarfish self-amputate, they do so several times over the course of their lives, according to the Encyclopedia of Life.

Since the huge fish have a history of washing up on beaches and floating near the surface of water, they “may be the origin of some ‘sea monster’ myths,” according to a Facebook post by the New Zealand Marine Studies Centre and Aquarium.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/21/oarfish-new-zealand_n_7107...

https://yamkin.wordpress.com/2015/04/22/60000-dead-fish-a-mystery-i...

60,000 dead fish ‘a mystery’ in Ormelle, Italy

April 22, 2015

Moria trout (archive)

Massacre of trout in Ormelle: sixty thousand dead fish in breeding

„

Nearly three tons. In numbers, sixty thousand dead fish. A real slaughter one that Wednesday morning hit a breeding Ormelle. The police and technicians Arpav were put to work to understand what may have originated from the memory.

 

Were some guards to notice of the massacre, to notice all those trout death and raise the alarm. It was about 60 thousand, the l for breeding represents a significant economic damage. Technicians Arpav along with soldiers of intervened on the spot and have performed pads. It remains a mystery what could be the origin of the massacre.“

Courtesy of trevisotoday.it

http://tinyurl.com/lgqc53r

Brazil Removes 50 Tons of Dead Fish from Olympic Waters (Apr 21)

Tons of dead fish have been removed from a Rio de Janeiro lagoon where Olympic events are to be held in 2016, sparking debate among officials and scientists over what caused the mass die-off.

Eco-boats commissioned to clean the lagoon have already collected more than 50 tons of dead twait shad, a small silvery fish, NPR reported from Brazil on Tuesday, and were still collecting more.

The die-off took place in Rio’s Guanabara Bay, where Olympic sailing and rowing events are slated to be held in August of next year. Some athletes who plan to compete in the water events have voiced health and safety concerns over the waters.

Source

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/21/brazil-removes-50-t...

https://yamkin.wordpress.com/2015/04/25/hundreds-of-thousands-of-de...

Hundreds of thousands of dead fish wash up in Santa Marta, Colombia

April 25, 2015

www.elcolombiano.com/documents/10157/0/580x385/0c10/580d365/none/11..." alt="Una de las hipótesis que manejan las autoridades es que la pesca con explosivos sería una de las causas de la tragedia. FOTO COLPRENSA"/>

One hypothesis that handle the authorities is that dynamite fishing would be one of the causes of the tragedy. PHOTO COLPRENSA

Thousands of dead fish in Puerto Luz, one of the beaches of El Rodader sector or has generated an environmental emergency in the area.

 

Units of the Navy toured over a wide area of ​​the beach of El Rodadero and found dead species. “This death begins in Puerto Luz and extends to Aquarium Rodadero not know that happened but this is extremely serious,” said an officer of the Coast Guard unit.

 

The appearance of the “huge” dead fish stain alerted the residents, who were reported, and served well as their concerns to environmental authorities without finding in the latter a response to the problem

For residents of the sector is state of the dead fish has been presented for three days and denied that they have heard versions of explosives.

 

Of most concern to residents of the spa area and in particular, for tour operators is that species began to decompose.

No environmental authority

But what amazes residents, business owners and tour operators is the absence of environmental authorities in these cases Corpamag and DADMA.

 

“None of the aforementioned entities has responded, but the Coast Guard Unit of the Navy paid attention to what reported by Today’s Daily Magdalena, and came to realize this situation and there they came to investigate the institutions,” said one of citizens who reported the incident.

Arrival of the Guard

On Saturday at 6:00 am, four men of the Navy, sailed in search of fishermen assumptions used dynamite for fishing, but the picture was another, tons of fish floating dead and thousands of species were found.

 

Against the background of dead fish proceeded to call for this made Corpamag presence in the scene, but until noon was not known if they eventually did.

Causes

Some fishermen in the industry say the fish kill due to illegal dynamite fishing used to catch nice and cachorretas, among others, being the species most affected by blast waves.

 

According to the residents of Puerto Luz sector is the first time that an event like this occurs, because by this time the fish pass through the Caribbean coast “but never before had he seen such carnage like these days, the quantity to think it is due to a natural phenomenon. “

Courtesy of elcolombiano.com

http://tinyurl.com/mf6tf7g

Massive Sunfish Found Beached in Indonesia (Apr 27)

An extremely rare ocean sunfish weighing 1.5 tons and measuring more than six feet long was found alive on the beach in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Locals tried to drag it back out to sea in the hope it might recover, but the fish eventually died.

Source

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3058943/Rare-Ocean-Sunfish-...

http://telugu.indiareckoner.net/2015/05/thousands-of-dead-fish-foun...

Thousands of dead fish found in Krishna River | Studio N

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/100000-dead-fish-f...

100,000 dead fish found in Nagoya canal

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3074367/Sei-whales-dead-Chi...

At least 20 endangered sei whales found washed up dead along coast of Chile

• Foreign scientists discovered whales on Gulf of Penas and reported them
• Government said there were 20 whales but scientists said more than 30
• Adult sei whales can be longer than 50 feet and weigh 20 tons or more
• Unclear how and why so many whales died and washed up along the beach
• Whales are no longer commercially hunted and there are about 12,000 alive

A group of foreign scientists discovered at least 20 dead sei whales beached along Chile's southern coast on the Gulf of Penas and reported them to the National Fisheries Service.

A statement from Chilean officials on Friday said there were around 20 whales, while the scientists said they counted more than 30.

The International Union for Conservation of Natures lists the sei as an endangered species and the whales are no longer supposed to be hunted commercially. 

A group of scientists discovered at least 20 dead sei whales on Chile's southern coast on the Gulf of Penas

The sei whale is an endangered species and the mammals are no longer supposed to be hunted commercially

The sei became endangered when it was heavily hunted after the stocks of blue and fin whales became depleted and it now has a population of about 12,000, according to the WWF. 

It's not unusual to find beached whales along Chile's 2,400-mile coast, however it's the first time sei whales have been found beached in the country, the Fisheries Service said.

There is a military base several miles from the fjord where the whales were found.

Adults can be longer than 50 feet and weigh 20 tons or more.

The whales, which were rotting when they were discovered, measured about 33 feet in length.

Officials are trying to determine how the whales died and what caused the mammals to wind up on the beach

German biologist Vreni Haussermann, who was leading the group that found the whales, said: 

'They were everywhere, none were injured, so we thought they suffered from a red tide [algal bloom] or a virus.

'I think they were swept away by the currents. 

'In my 15 years in the area I never saw something like that.' 

Officials said they were trying to determine how the whales died and what caused them to wind up on the shore.

Bad weather is hindering the investigation.  

Deep Sea Oarfish Swims Ashore in Nantucket MA (May 6)

A strange-looking fish believed to be a denizen of the deep-water ocean washed up on a Madaket Beach Monday evening and was photographed before being coaxed back into the water.

The fish, estimated to be about seven feet long, is believed to be a giant oarfish, the world's longest bony fish. The fish is found worldwide, but is most common in tropical to temperate oceans. It normally ranges as deep in the ocean as 3,300 feet.

The Maria Mitchell Association is asking if the fish washes up again and is not alive, that it be brought in to the science and education organization on Vestal Street.

Source

http://www.ack.net/Oarfishwashesashore050615.html

'Monster' giant squid with massive tentacles and huge beak washes up on beach

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/monster-giant-squid-massive...

This is the monster from the deep that washed up on a beach leaving marine enthusiasts delighted.

The giant squid measured a whopping 7 metres long from top to tentacle and was found on a beach in Kaikoura, New Zealand.

With giant suckers and a massive beak, the sea-creature could have been the stuff of nightmares but in actual fact turned out to be something of a dream for experts.

It's raining Spiders!  Spooky images show entire paddocks covered in a blanket of cobwebs.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3082760/It-s-raining-spider...

Everybody knows the phrase 'it's raining cats and dogs,' but how many times have you heard that it's raining spiders?
A resident of the Southern Tablelands in New South Wales took to Facebook to report that millions of baby spiders appeared to be falling onto his property from the sky.
The phenomenon, dubbed 'angel hair', sees spiders climb to the top of vegetation and release a streamer of silk that catches on the breeze and carries them into the air.
Eerie images of the aftermath show entire paddocks and fields wreathed in a thin blanket of the white silk, or spider rain.
Goulburn man Ian Watson feared for the worst when the army of arachnids appeared on his rural property.
'Anyone else experiencing this 'angel hair' or maybe aka millions of spiders falling from the sky right now?' Watson posted on the Goulburn Community Forum Facebook page.

It could be a monster from the deep sea:
British coast: A giant eel goes fishermen into the net - some meters long, estimated 75 kg.

http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/gesellschaft/fischer-fangen-riesigen...

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&a...

Giant Oarfish Swims Ashore in Vietnam (May 15)

Locals in the central province of Quang Binh discovered a live giant oarfish onshore on Tuesday.

The fish was 4.1 meters long and weighed 40 kilograms died soon later.

Some locals then gave the fish a ritual burial, saying that they believed the fish was a holy creature.

Last June, an angler in central Vietnam caught a 4.2-meter-long fish, believed to be an oarfish, near the coast of Thua Thien-Hue Province.

Oarfish is recorded as the world’s longest bony fish but it is rarely seen.

Its physical characteristics and its undulating mode of swimming have led to speculation that it might be the source of many "sea serpent" sightings.

Sources

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/environment/130574/4m-giant-oarfis...

http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/giant-oarfish-washes-ashore-in...

Massive Fish Kill in Siberian Lake (May 14) 

Thousands of dead carp and grouper suddenly appeared in Lake Khatyng, Sakha Republic, the coldest region in Russia.

Shocked locals have posted pictures of the dead fish amid suspicions they were killed by explosions as officials melted winter ice to prevent flooding.

Locals in Tulagino village blamed the dynamiting of local rivers to prevent ice causing dams on rivers, so leading to flooding of villages. But representatives of the Ministry of Emergencies in the republic, also known as Yakutia, denied being responsible for the dead fish.

A spokesperson said: 'On 13 May we did blow up the ice, but the work was near the village of Namtsy, almost 100 km from Tulagino. Even if we assume that fish died because of the explosion, it is unlikely that they were carried such a distance.'

The Emergencies Ministry even expressed doubts about the authenticity of the pictures.

Village official Anna Neustroyeva said: 'The photos are real. Yesterday, on the surface of the lake, there were a large number of dead fish.'

None of the dead fish showed signs physical damage which can occur among those close to river explosions.

Source

http://siberiantimes.com/ecology/others/news/n0218-puzzle-over-mass...

Mystery Over 1300 Dead Birds on Chilean Beach (May 17)

Chilean authorities have said they are investigating what killed some 1,300 seabirds that mysteriously turned up dead on a beach in southern Chile.

They were found Sunday afternoon by visitors to a small black-sand beach in the southern town of Lenga, a cove with several hundred inhabitants who live mainly on fishing and tourism.

Chile's Agriculture and Livestock Service said it was analysing samples taken from the birds to try to determine the cause of death.

Hundreds of birds were found dead in the same area in 2010.

Source

http://www.9news.com.au/world/2015/05/19/09/09/mystery-over-1300-bi...

Fourth whale found dead along California coast

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/05/20/whale-dead-beach-stra...

A 40-foot dead whale has been found along the Northern California coast, bringing to four the number that have been discovered in the past month.

The gray whale carcass was discovered on Monday near Half Moon Bay, about thirty miles south of San Francisco, KNTV reported.

On May 4, a 42-foot female humpback whale was found. A 48-foot sperm whale was found on April 14, both in the same general vicinity.

An orca, or killer, whale carcass was also found near Fort Bragg, 200 miles north in Mendocino, on April 18.

Scientists haven't been able to determine a cause of death for any of the animals.

Because all four are different species and because this is the time of year when whales are migrating along the California shore, they are probably not linked, said Jim Covel, director of guest experience at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, Calif.

Gray whales have been migrating up from their birthing grounds in Mexico since late February.

"They haven't been eating much for the last several months, and a certain number of them just run out of gas," he said.

The sperm and humpback whales typically travel about 70 miles off shore, so they wouldn't have been in the same region along the coast when they died, making a problem in the area unlikely, he said.

All the whales are headed to summer feeding grounds in Alaska.

Because some whale populations are rebounding after enduring decades of depredation by hunters, there are now higher numbers passing along California each year. That could account for more frequent encounters with living, and dead, whales.

"Certainly the number of humpback whales is increasing at a pretty healthy rate, so we may be seeing more mortalities," said Covel.

Boat strikes are also a problem for whales up and down the coast, but usually they're relatively easy to spot, leaving tell-tale signs on the animal.

The danger has been lessening in the past few years as the national marine sanctuaries work with commercial shipping to move shipping lanes and slow traffic down, he said.

"When these large commercial vessels are moving at a pretty good clip, by the time the whales detect there's a ship there it's too late, they can't get out of the way," he said.

Slowing the ships down gives the whales time to react.

All of the carcasses were inspected by the network of whale-stranding experts that exists up and down the coast. Scientists come out to inspect and take tissue and sometime bone samples to try to determine the cause of death and for research purposes.

Once that's done, the carcasses are buried as quickly as possible because of the smell.

"Usually by the time they take it to be the beach they've been dead a few days," said Covel. "By then, they've ripened quite a bit.

6th dead whale washes ashore on Bay Area beach

Endangered Saiga Antelope Suddenly Dying in Vast Numbers (May 22)

As many as 85,000 saiga antelope, one-third of the current population in Kazakhstan, have mysteriously died off in the last few days, and no one knows why.

The animals are recognizable for their distinctive humped snout.

International veterinarian experts have been flown to Kazakhstan to study possible causes for the catastrophic die-off.

The number of saiga plummeted in the 1990s as a result of poaching. At the latest Kazakh government count in 2014, the saiga population stood at 257,000.

“It’s an extraordinary species,” says Milner-Gulland, a UK-based academic who heads the Saiga Conservation Alliance, a network of conservationists working to protect the antelope.

“Because it lives in a really harsh environment, where you have really cold winters and drought condition, it has a natural ability to rebound.”

Sources

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/endangered-saiga-ant...

http://www.onislam.net/english/health-and-science/news/486463-mass-...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Saiga_Antelope

Whale washes ashore in 12th recent death in California

http://news.yahoo.com/whale-washes-ashore-12th-recent-death-califor...

POINT REYES STATION, Calif. (AP) — Another dead whale washed ashore in Northern California, the 12th carcass that has appeared in the past few months and marks a higher-than-normal number of deaths but not a record.

The dozen whales have been found along nearly 300 miles of coastline and are of different species and various ages. In a typical year, one or two gray whales wash ashore, said Frances Gulland, the senior scientist for the Marine Mammal Center.

The most recent animal appeared Tuesday on a beach along the Point Reyes National Seashore, officials said. It's badly decomposed and headless, making identifying the species and its age difficult, said Mary Jane Schramm, spokeswoman for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.

"(The condition) suggests it could be a killer whale attack," she said.

Scientists are trying to determine if there is a connection between the beached whales, The San Francisco Chronicle reported (http://bit.ly/1Bp1F2A ). They are considering factors such as environmental changes, food distribution, shipping and predator behavior.

"We are seeing them coming from so many different species and various causes of death," Schramm said. "One of the reasons we are seeing such a cluster at one time is we have very strong winds that have been blowing consistently that are washing things onto shore."

At least one of the whales showed evidence of being hit by a ship. Two others were missing limbs, which indicates they got tangled in fishing gear or attacked by killer whales.

The latest beached whale appeared a few days after a 28-foot juvenile gray whale washed up on the Sonoma County coast. Last week, a gray whale carcass appeared in Half Moon Bay as officials buried a sperm whale and a humpback whale.

In April, two gray whales got beached in Santa Cruz County, a killer whale was found near Fort Bragg and a gray whale washed up in Monterey County.

Many of the dead were gray whales, but they were so badly decomposed that researchers have not been able to determine how they died, Gulland said.

The last large increase in whale deaths was in 1999 and 2000, when 40 dead gray whales were found on beaches in the Bay Area, she said.

Before that die-off, there were 26,600 gray whales nationwide, according to estimates by the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle.

Original post May 11, 2015

https://yamkin.wordpress.com/2015/05/29/3-tons-of-dead-fish-found-i...

3 TONS of dead fish found in the waters in Lonate Pozzolo, Italy

May 29, 2015

www.varesenews.it/photogallery_new/images/2015/05/varie-animali-451..." alt="various animals"/>

A fish kill within two settling tanks placed between two reservoirs that serve to purify the waters of the stream before they are fed into the Arno River Ticino. It happened last Saturday, May 9 in the early afternoon of Lonate Pozzolo. On site they operated agents Team wildlife provincial police that has contacted dell’AIPO operational staff in order to ascertain any problems of hydraulic and colleagues of the security service of the Parco del Ticino warned of ARPA and ASL to the extent of their competence.

 

Declared a failure to quickly recover the fish in trouble, it was decided to add water in the settling tank at risk, using the means that suit the Parco del Ticino made ​​promptly, provided by volunteers.

 

On the morning of Sunday, May 9, then, the Company Graia, alerted the day before, with the help of the Fire Department, the team personnel wildlife Provincial Police and the Parco del Ticino, has sought repayment of approximately 300 kg. of cyprinids (mainly carp) and their storage at the slaughterhouse of Luino for disposal.

 

Not yet, unfortunately, identified the causes that led to the influx of fish representing more untenable in relation to the space occupied and the resulting lack of oxygen, it is expected that this phenomenon will continue over time.

 

The team Faunistica provincial police is therefore in constant contact with the Ente Parco del Ticino, AIPO, the Lombardy Region and all institutions involved in order not only to remedy the incident but also to put in place strategies to prevent events analogues.

 

“This incident is yet another demonstration of professionalism and effectiveness by the Wildlife Section of the provincial police – said the provincial councilor in charge Fabrizio Mirabelli – are under investigation to determine the causes of this phenomenon. The attention of the Province is maximum to help protect an area important and sensitive environmentally as the one in question. “

Courtesy of varesenews.it

https://goo.gl/gWo06X