http://www.ocregister.com/articles/oarfish-663925-fish-island.html

Rare 17-foot-long oarfish found off Catalina Island

A rarely-seen sea serpent was discovered Monday on a beach on the western end of Santa Catalina Island. The island harbor patrol found a 17-foot dead oarfish floating in the waters off Sandy Beach. Courtesy of Catalina ConservancyCOURTESY OF CATALINA CONSERVANCY

 

A rarely-seen sea serpent was discovered Monday on a beach on the western end of Santa Catalina Island.
The island harbor patrol found a 17-foot dead oarfish floating in the waters off Sandy Beach.
Seagulls apparently had been eating parts of the body, said Annie MacAulay, a marine scientist who was at nearby Emerald Bay with 50 science camp students.
It was not known how the fish died and how it ended up near the beach. Their sightings are rare, so not much is known about the behavior of oarfish. Scientist do know they live in depths of 700 to 3,000 feet, and are capable of growing up to 50 feet long.
MacAulay, the founder of Mountain & Sea Adventures, an environmental education non-profit based on the island, said it was her second time seeing the snake-like fish in her 20 years working on the island.
“It was such a coincidence that I was here today,” said MacAulay, who is usually handling other responsibilities for the group. “I’m doing a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff, so I’m not always at camp.”
It took 16 people to pick up the fish, Mountain & Sea Adventures employee, Miranda Prado said. The fish was donated to several organizations for scientific research, she said.
The last sighting of an oarfish in the region occurred in 2013 when a dead 18-footer was found at Toyon Bay on Catalina Island. A 14-foot oarfish washed up in Oceanside five days later.
A study of the Oceanside fish revealed 6-foot-long ovaries where hundreds of thousands of eggs were found.
Cal State Fullerton marine biologist Misty Paig-Tran, who studied the Oceanside fish, told the Register last year that it appeared the 2013 Catalina Island and Oceanside oarfish had been mating and died when they somehow ended up in dangerous shallow water. Because of their unique skeletal structures, it’s difficult for them to swim down to safe depth, she said.
Researches found three types of parasites during a study of the Catalina fish’s intestines to determine what oarfish eat.
Other recent video recorded by remotely operated vehicles spotted several observations of healthy oarfish between 2008 and 2011 off Mexico. In 1996, Navy SEALs found a 23-foot oarfish dead off the shore of San Diego.

Walking fish trying to invade Australia

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Small perch that walk on land and climb trees currently migrate north of Australia. An attempt to disturbing invasion may be related to climate.

http://nautisme.meteoconsult.fr/actualites-nautisme/a-decouvrir-2/2...[actus]

https://translate.google.com.ar/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&...[actus]&edit-text=&act=url

Perch climber walking in the sand. Credit: safaritalk

Australian scientists are concerned about the gradual arrival of "climbing perch" Anabas testudineus, "climbing fish" in English, or "walking fish" (in reference to the series The Walking Dead zombies). This small freshwater fish of 25 cm, gouramis family, is native to Asia (India and China), but down from a decade south. He is currently very present in eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and is moving more and more towards the south: in the north of Australia.

Some specimens have already been sighted on two Queensland islands, 10 km from the mainland. How a freshwater fish can he do such a trip? This perch through the seas as the land! She spends freshwater pools with salt water, walk on land, and even climb trees ... With the help of its pectoral fins full of thorns, fish creeps on the ground so disorganized, but very effective. Not just a few seconds or even minutes, but several days: climbing perch can indeed take up to 6 days out of the water with his lungs, enough to cover many kilometers. During the cold season, the perch sinking into mud and hibernate for 6 months.

A ferocious predator perhaps in search of a better climate

Climbing perch is a formidable predator whose arrival worried scientists studying Australian wildlife: it is an invasive species that swallows everything it its path, fish, frogs and even birds. In addition, it also wreaks havoc in the belly of those who try to make a dinner. The boom swells in the throat or the stomach of one who tries to devour and thus chokes his opponent.

The reason for this massive migration, which began to be observed from 2005 and has increased since, is still poorly understood.

Apparently climbing perch appreciate large thermal contrasts, particularly for its hibernation, and it finds less and less these weather conditions in Asia and Indonesia. This might explain his journey to the north of Australia and islands, areas where the temperature differences between winter and summer, day and night, are still very marked.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3112976/Mystery-eart...

Mystery of the Texas 'earthworm herds' that form a perfect line on roads: Scientists baffled by strange behaviour since storms

• Rangers in Einsenhower State Park thought mounds were old spaghetti
• They turned out to be clumps of worms, sitting in middle of road stripe
• Worms stayed in the artful formation for two days, and the disappeared
• One theory is that heavy rain may have forced them onto dryer land 

Since the recent storms in Texas, worms in the area have been behaving strangely.

In Einsenhower State Park, for instance, rangers have spotted clumps of what they thought was discarded spaghetti sitting in the middle of the road.

On closer inspection, the strings of pasta turned out to be mounds of worms, sitting in a perfect line at the centre of the road stripe.

Scroll down for video 

In Einsenhower State Park, rangers have spotted clumps of what they thought was discarded spaghetti sitting in the middle of the road. The 'pasta' turned out to be worms behaving oddly

In total, the rangers discovered 30 clumps of earthworms following heavy rain and flooding in the southern US park which borders Lake Texoma.

'Even our biologist doesn't know why they're spaced so well and in the line,' Park Superintendent Ben Herman toldABC News.

Worms have been known to arrange themselves in clumps such as this, and are often called 'earthworm herds.'

The creatures often do this when they are in distress or faced with danger.

Scientists believe the clumps allow them to use touch to communicate and influence each other's behaviour.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3112207/Thousands-toads-des...

Biblical scenes filmed in China as tens of thousands of TOADS descend on town following heavy rainfall

• The plague of toads swarmed a pathway in Liaoning Province
• They arrived in the area after heavy rain fall in the morning
• Pilled high by a lake, they made the earth look like it was moving

A scene of biblical proportions descended upon China’s Liaoning Province following heavy rainfall.

A plague of toads was filmed in the area of Ganjingzi Qu, Liaoning Sheng, swarming a pathway and making the ground look like it was moving.

Hopping in their tens of thousands, the toads, which were all relatively small in size, escaped from a nearby lake.

Road toads! Thousands of tiny toads swarm road in China

The plague of toads arrived in Ganjingzi Qu, Liaoning Sheng after heavy rain fall in the morning

http://abcnews.go.com/US/tuna-crabs-invade-san-diego-beaches-thousa...

Masses of Tuna Crabs Invade California Beaches

Thousands of tuna crabs have invaded the beaches of San Diego Bay.

The thumb-sized crustaceans started washing ashore further up the California coast earlier this year, but turned up this week in San Diego in unusually larger numbers, officials said.

KGTV

PHOTO: Thousands of tuna crabs washed up on a California beach.

They’ve washed ashore periodically over the years because of any number of natural effects, but research scientist Michael Shane of the Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute in San Diego cited El Nino as the phenomenon that might have pushed the crabs up from their normal habitat far offshore.

The result is certain death and nothing can be done to save the crabs.

KGTV

PHOTO: Thousands of tuna crabs washed up on a California beach.

“The crabs start to die because the local waters are much cooler,” Shane told ABC News today. “Local animals have begun to eat the crabs and they have been found in the gut contents of sea lions, fish, and birds.”

The remaining carcasses will remain on the shore until they decompose or are swept back into the water.

KGTV

PHOTO: Thousands of tuna crabs washed up on a California beach.

Return Of The Blob! Big Purple Sea Slugs Wash Ashore In East Bay

ALAMEDA (CBS SF) — Giant sea slugs have been washing up on some Bay Area beaches in unusual numbers this summer, and some folks who aren’t sure what the creatures are actually calling police thinking they’ve made a grisly discovery.

The big purple blobs, called “sea hares,” are invading East Bay beaches and waterways to the wonder and curiosity of beach combers and naturalists. Because they’re so strange looking, some beachgoers have even called 911 thinking they’re body parts that have washed ashore.

“They’re about the size of a human organ, and that’s almost what they look like,” said Morgan Dill, a Naturalist with the East Bay Regional Park District.

By the time they wash up, they’re typically dead. Dill was fascinated when she found one that was still alive, and picked it up to take a closer look. Most people, however, though excited by the discovery find they’re not the most pleasant-looking sea creatures, especially with the mess of purple ink they leave behind.

“They’re usually pretty grossed out because they are kind of disgusting looking at first,” said Dill.

Sea hares can weigh as much as 15 pounds and grow to be more than 30 inches long.

“There was a [sea hare] population boom about a year ago and what we’re seeing is, after a year, they lay their eggs and they die and we’re seeing them wash up on shore,” Morgan Dill, a naturalist with the East Bay Regional Park District told KPIX.

Sea hares look like giant snails in the water. They lay eggs which look like noodles in the bay then they die.

Sea hare eggs on the beach look like a ball of wet egg noodles. (East Bay Regional Park District photo)

East Bay Regional Park District naturalists say the large number of dead sea hares washing up on shore is unusual, though they believe this is the second such mass die-off here in the past 15 years.

Scientists aren’t certain what’s behind the current population boom but one theory is that sea hares tend to reproduce more in warmer water. And bay temperatures are on the rise.

“The life cycle of a sea hare is about one year so, after that year of population boom, there’s a massive death,” Dill said.

Naturalists say the slugs are OK to look at and touch, but they advise not to take them home, rather leave them behind on the beach.

Pictured: The odd looking 1000kg sunfish that washed up on remote beach off Tasmania

• Unexpected 1000 kg ocean sunfish washed up on remote beach
• The giant 3 meter long fish was found off Tasmanian coast on Maria Island
• Local guide found the fish, and believe it emerged due to global warming 
• Usually found in tropical waters and can grow up to 2,5 tonne
• Also known as Mola Mola and is the heaviest bony fish in the world 

By Tina Brodal For Daily Mail Australia

A rare 1000 kg ocean sunfish measuring nearly three meters has washed up on a remote beach on Maria island off the east coast of Tasmania.

When the rare fish, also known as a Mola Mola, is found, it's always in tropical waters, so when local Ian Johnstone spotted the fish on nature reserve Maria Island over the weekend, he'd never seen anything like it.

Mr Johnstone is the owner of Maria Island Walk, which is an upmarket four day guided walk.

The giant unexpected 1000 kg ocean sunfish washed up on Maria island off the East coast of Tasmania

‘I suspect potential global warming issues and warmer water is to blame,’ Mr Johnstone told Daily Mail Australia about how he believed the dead sunfish ended up there. 

The sunfish is the heaviest bony fish species in the world, and its name stems from the fact that they more than often can be seen basking in the sun near the surface.

Sunfishes are often mistaken for sharks when their huge dorsal fins emerge above the water, but they are of no threat to humans and their diets consists mainly of eating jellyfish.

'It’s quite a freaky looking fish, the skin is almost like a shark, its really rough like sandpaper,' Mr Johnstone said.

He said the sunfish grows at an incredible rate, and it has been reported growing up to four meters.

Mr Johnstone said he couldn’t see any injuries on the giant fish which, judging from it's 'freshness', looked like it had just been washed up.

The sunfish species reportedly only live to be 10 years old, and Mr Johnstone suspected its death to be the 'cycle of life'.

The sunfish is the heaviest bony fish in the world, and can grow up to 2,5 tonne

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3125754/Pictured-odd-lookin...

 

https://yamkin.wordpress.com/2015/06/13/10000-dead-fish-found-on-a-...

10,000 dead fish found on a beach in Saint-Froult, France

June 13, 2015

© Sabdra Chevret. LPO Beach St. Froult is littered with dead fish on nearly five kilometers

About 10 000 dead fish were found last Friday stranded on a beach in the natural reserve of Moëze-Oléron in St. Froult. For now, the reasons for this mysterious massacre remains unknown.

 

Nature reserve managers had never seen it. It is they who discovered Friday, thousands of dead fish, and even today they are struggling to estimate the extent of the carnage: 10,000 certainly more fish, all washed up on the beach.

“The beach where they are stranded is nearly 5 kilometers long and there was a dead fish every ten meters in places but it was 20 or 30 fish were found every ten meters,” explains Pierre Rousseau, Babysitting technician wetland nature reserve Moëze-Oléron.

The fish almost all belong to the same species, these mules, an insectivorous species and herbivore.

 

The cause of death is not known. The specimen were collected and will be sent to the departmental direction of the territories and the sea (DDTM) to perform analysis. “Have the mules were victims of lack of oxygen due to the extreme heat of the last week or contaminated by a bacterium, it is unknown and remains for now at the stage of hypotheses. ” adds Pierre Rousseau.

Courtesy of francetvinfo.fr

https://goo.gl/dt0Wce

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/06/16/peconic-river-fish-kill/

Thousands More Dead Fish Found Floating In Peconic River

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — Thousands and thousands of dead, smelly bunker fish are floating in the Peconic River and washing up on the banks of a marina in Riverhead.

As WCBS 880 Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Xirinachs reported, it’s the second massive fish kill in the area in as many weeks.

Experts blame low oxygen levels for the kill, but what exactly is causing the problem remains a mystery.

Thousands Of Fish Founding Floating In Peconic River

Mike Xirinachs reports

play

Boat owners can only guess.

“Obviously, the brown tide, whether it is natural or not, there’s the concept and thought that the pesticides from the golf course over here (is to blame),” said boat owner Wayne.

Others point the finger at a nearby sewage plant.

Meanwhile, town officials are now dealing with the cleanup.

“It’s disgusting,” Wayne said. ” … It’s not a good thing. The bottom line is how they’re going to get cleaned out of here. That has yet to be seen. It’s a hazard.”

The town supervisor is working on the cleanup effort with the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Water Authority and Coast Guard.

“There’s a confluence of events that have caused this problem,” said Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter. “The biggest issue is that we have too many bunker and too many bluefish.”

CBS2’s Jennifer McLogan boated down the Peconic River where the predator bluefish could still be seen chasing bait fish bunker into shallow waters, where they can’t breathe.

Winds, tides, and water temperature also contribute to the fish getting trapped. Plenty of blue-green algae respires at night, adding to the depletion of what little oxygen remains, McLogan reported.

another link

http://7online.com/pets/more-dead-fish-wash-up-on-shore-in-riverhea...

MORE DEAD FISH WASH UP ON SHORE IN RIVERHEAD

Second mass fish die-off in two weeks.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015 06:14PM

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (WABC) --

There's a dead fish mystery on Long Island.

For the second time in weeks, a large number of dead fish have washed up to the shoreline in Riverhead.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/toxic-algae-bloom-m...

Toxic algae bloom might be largest ever

A close up of the diatom that produces the marine toxin domoic acid. (NOAA)

Scientists onboard a NOAA research vessel are beginning a survey of what could be the largest toxic algae bloom ever recorded off the West Coast.

A team of federal biologists set out from Oregon Monday to survey what could be the largest toxic algae bloom ever recorded off the West Coast.

The effects stretch from Central California to British Columbia, and possibly as far north as Alaska. Dangerous levels of the natural toxin domoic acid have shut down recreational and commercial shellfish harvests in Washington,Oregon and California this spring, including the lucrative Dungeness crab fishery off Washington’s southern coast and the state’s popular razor-clam season.

At the same time, two other types of toxins rarely seen in combination are turning up in shellfish in Puget Sound and along the Washington coast, said Vera Trainer, manager of the Marine Microbes and Toxins Programs at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle.

“The fact that we’re seeing multiple toxins at the same time, we’re seeing high levels of domoic acid, and we’re seeing a coastwide bloom — those are indications that this is unprecedented,” Trainer said.

Scientists suspect this year’s unseasonably high temperatures are playing a role, along with “the blob” — a vast pool of unusually warm water that blossomed in the northeastern Pacific late last year. The blob has morphed since then, but offshore waters are still about two degrees warmer than normal, said University of Washington climate scientist Nick Bond, who coined the blob nickname.

“This is perfect plankton-growing weather,” said Dan Ayres, coastal shellfish manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Domoic-acid outbreaks aren’t unusual in the fall, particularly in razor clams, Ayres said. But the toxin has never hit so hard in the spring, or required such widespread closures for crabs.

“This is new territory for us,” Ayres said. “We’ve never had to close essentially half our coast.”

Heat is not the only factor spurring the proliferation of the marine algae that produce the toxins, Trainer said. They also need a rich supply of nutrients, along with the right currents to carry them close to shore.

Scientists onboard the NOAA research vessel Bell M. Shimada will collect water and algae samples, measure water temperatures and also test fish like sardines and anchovies that feed on plankton. The algae studies are being integrated with the ship’s prime mission, which is to assess West Coast sardine and hake populations.

The ship will sample from the Mexican border to Vancouver Island in four separate legs.

“By collecting data over the full West Coast with one ship, we will have a much better idea of where the bloom is, what is causing it, and why this year,” University of California, Santa Cruz ocean scientist Raphael Kudelasaid in an email.

He and his colleagues found domoic-acid concentrations in California anchovies this year as high as any ever measured. “We haven’t seen a bloom that is this toxic in 15 years,” he wrote. “This is possibly the largest event spatially that we’ve ever recorded.”

Mysterious Whale Deaths In Alaska Baffle Scientists

The Huffington Post  |  By James CaveEmail

Something is killing endangered fin whales in Alaskan waters and scientists have no idea what it is.

Since Memorial Day weekend, boaters, fishermen and pilots have reported seeing dead fin whales floating in waters between Kodiak and Unimak Pass in the Kodiak Islands.

Using photos submitted with the reports, scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Juneau believe at least nine whales have died at the same time and place, south of Afognak Island in the Kodiak Archipelago.

"It's an unusual and mysterious event," Kate Wynne, an Alaska Sea Grant marine mammal specialist and professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), said in a statement. Wynne, who is working with NOAA to investigate the deaths, says scientists rarely see more than one dead fin whale every two years.

Fin whales are the second-largest species of whales, often feeding in large groups that include other species, such as humpback and minke whales, as well as dolphins. Their only non-human predator are killer whales, according to NOAA.

The fact that the whale carcasses were intact rules out predation by killer whales, according to Wynne. Scientists now suspect the cause is related to something the whales ate. "It suggests that... a feeding group of fin whales ran into a toxin, or bio-toxin, [a] human caused, induced, toxin, something that they were exposed to together in a short period of time,” she told Alaska Public Media.

"There is no smoking gun in this environmental mystery," she said in a statement.

Fin whales feed in the summer on small schooling fish, such as herring and sand lance, by opening their wide mouths and filtering the food in through baleen plates.

Bree Witteveen, a marine mammal specialist with UAF who works with Wynne, told Alaska Dispatch News that the "go-to answer" is likely a harmful algae bloom. But even if evidence of one is found, "[w]e probably won’t ever get a definitive answer," she said.

Adding to the mystery is why just one species was affected and not their prey or other marine life.

In an email to The Huffington Post, Wynne said that a current water sampling from the area showed no biotoxins, but it might not reflect the conditions present a month ago when the event occurred. "It is hard to trace a source when dealing only with evidence in the aftermath," she said.

"Most whales that have washed ashore were already too badly decomposed to get the samples needed for many important analyses," she said, adding that an analysis of a biotoxin sample collected from the "freshest" carcass should be available next week.

With the exception of two that washed ashore, the dead whales are now drifting along both sides of Kodiak Island.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/20/dead-fin-whales-alaska_n_7...;

http://rt.com/news/269167-locust-swarms-russia-video/

Plague of Astrakhan: Locust swarm blots out the sun in Russian region (VIDEO)

Near-Biblical scenes are emerging from the Astrakhan region in southern Russia, which has been invaded by giant swarms of locusts. Local authorities have scrambled vehicles and aircraft to combat the infestation.

The voracious insects are migrating dozens of kilometers every day, consuming crops as they go. Parts of the region have been put on high emergency alert.

Locust swarms appear in the area nearly every year, finding fertile breeding grounds on abandoned farmlands. This year, dry weather has created a superabundance of the creatures. The swarms include locusts of different ages, some only able to crawl and hop, others already on the wing.

Local authorities are using airborne crop-sprayers to spread insecticide over the affected areas. Flying sometimes as low as five or seven meters, the Antonov An-2 plane has managed to treat some 5,000 hectares with chemicals - out of a total of 29,000 hectares affected.

Local residents are doing what they can to combat the locusts as well. With hand-held or tractor-mounted spray gear, they stand in defense of their own fields and kitchen gardens. For many village-dwellers here, agriculture is the main livelihood, and the risk of being left without provisions for the winter is very real.

However, local authorities say they have enough manpower, equipment and chemicals to keep the infestation under control, local media report. One remaining threat, however, is that locusts, from neighboring Kazakhstan, Kalmykia and the Volgograd region, might want to drop by for a snack.

Another Oarfish Washes Ashore in New Zealand (Jun 24)

A deep sea fish rarely seen by humans has increasingly been appearing on beaches across the globe.

Maree Dobson encountered an oarfish Wednesday, 

on the same New Zealand beach where one was found on April 16.

A really big one washed up in California earlier in the month,

and a 14-foot specimen swam ashore in Vietnam on May 15.

On May 6, a 7-ft long one swam ashore in Massachusetts.

On May 30, 2014, an oarfish was captured in central Vietnam.

In April 2014, a pair of oarfish were filmed while swimming in the shallows along a Mexican coastline.

In October 2013, a pair of giant oarfish washed ashore on California beaches within the same week.

In early 2010,dozens of oarfish were found either washed ashore or in fishing nets off the northern coast of Japan.

Oarfish are deepsea fish and are found in all temperate to tropical oceans; however, they are rarely seen.

They generally stick to the deep open ocean usually hanging in the vertical position up to 300m deep.

Source

http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/69684771/Oarfish-find-at-...

Thousands of jellyfish "clog" the Rutenberg power station [PHOTOS]- Israel

June 26, 2015

Rhopilema nomadic jellyfish, typically live in the warm tropical waters of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, and are considered "invasive species" in the Mediterranean Sea

http://www.meteoweb.eu/2015/06/migliaia-di-meduse-intasano-la-centr...

https://translate.google.com.ar/translate?sl=it&tl=en&js=y&...

Thousands of jellyfish have invaded the Rutenberg power plant, in Ashkelon, in the western Negev, in the Southern District of Israel. Although the system is prepared for such eventualities, thanks to special filters that keep away the creatures from the cooling, the situation has created many hardships.

In 2013, the giant Swedish Oskarshamn nuclear power plant was shut down due to tons of jellyfish infiltrating the pipes.

In the photos accompanying the article, you can recognize Rhopilema nomadic jellyfish, which typically live in the warm tropical waters of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, and are considered "invasive species" in the Mediterranean Sea.

North Carolina

http://wspa.com/2015/07/02/large-fish-kill-in-mcdowell-county/

Large Fish Kill In McDowell County

Published: July 2, 2015, 11:05 am

McDowell County officials are investigating and testing the water following a large fish kill in the North Fork River.

McDowell County officials are investigating and testing the water following a large fish kill in the North Fork River.

Dead fish, frogs, lizards and other water animals were found along an approximate two-mile long span of the river in the area of Good Road off American Thread Road in Woodlawn.

The fish kill was reported after 8:00 p.m. Wednesday according to the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office.

The N.C. Regional Hazmat Team was called to the scene and conducted testing of water samples. The tests were inconclusive and samples have been sent to a laboratory.

Local, state and federal authorities are all involved in the investigation.

Idaho

http://newsradio1310.com/large-number-of-song-birds-found-dead-sout...

Large Number of Song Birds Found Dead South of Boise

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Wildlife officials are investigating after residents reported a large number of dead songbirds in Kuna, a city about 18 miles southwest of Boise.

The Idaho Statesman reports that the dead birds show no signs of physical injury and were not sickened by plague. Idaho Department of Fish and Game regional conservation educator Evin Oneale says the cause of death appears to be a specific type of pathogen that has yet to be determined.

Oneale says no similar dead bird sightings have been reported in other parts of the Treasure Valley. He advises residents who see numerous dead birds to report them to Fish and Game immediately.

Hikers Find Two Dead Whales on Lost Coast Trail, Humboldt County CA

http://lostcoastoutpost.com/2015/jun/27/whales/

A dead whale washed ashore on the Lost Coast Trail. Photos provided by Mark Scatchard, Shoogoo and Juggles.

A group of hikers happened upon two dead whales this week during their 10th annual whiskey drinking trip down The Lost Coast Trail.

Hiker Mark Scatchard said the whales’ locations were spread about 10 miles apart.

“On our annual pilgrimage down the Lost Coast Trail this week, we saw not one, but two dead whales,” Scatchard said. “One in Cooskie Creek, not sure how it got up there, and one just south of Shipman’s Creek. The one on the beach was freshly dead and there were no signs of net marks, crab pots, ropes or buoys.”

2 Dead Whales Wash Up on Long Island, NY

http://www.longislandpress.com/2015/06/30/25-foot-dead-whale-washes...

A 28-foot dead whale carcass washed up on the oceanfront beach of eastern Fire Island on Monday night and a second dead whale was recovered in the Hamptons on Tuesday, officials said.

Suffolk County police Marine Bureau officers and Fire Island National Seashore rangers responded to the scene of a dead humpback whale on the beach in Ocean Ridge, the easternmost section of Davis Park, at 8:30 p.m., police and experts said.

Officers notified New York State Department of Environmental Conservation officers and the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, who determined that the whale was a juvenile but found no signs of external trauma.

The foundation’s marine biologists will perform a necropsy to determine the whale’s cause of death, which was not immediately clear. The foundation will also bury the whale, police said.

A True’s beaked whale was also recovered Tuesday from a beach in Westhampton and brought back to the Riverhead Foundation’s facility, where it will undergo a necropsy, the group said.

The incidents came eight weeks after a humpback whale carcass washed up near the Wilderness Visitors Center west of Smith Point County Park on FI.

Sperm whale carcass found off Campbell's Beach, Australia

http://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au/news/sharks-gouge-on-dead-whal...

http://www.keysnet.com/2015/07/03/503395/key-largo-canals-suffering...

Key Largo canals suffering a fish kill

July 3, 2015

Something is killing large numbers of fish in the canals of Key Largo.

Mark and Cindy Hall, who live on the ocean side of U.S. 1 of mile marker 95, noticed a milky sheen flowing into their Heron Road canal last weekend. By Sunday morning, the normally crystal-clear canal was full of dead fish, including a moray eel.

Dead crabs clung to the seawall of the Halls' boat slip and dead lobsters littered the bottom.

"There's not a fish to be found alive in this canal," Mark Hall said.

Hall said that last Friday, there were about 15 lobsters in his boat slip.

"By Saturday morning, every single one of them was dead. So were all the big snapper," Hall said.

Marine biologists with the Marine Resources Development Fund went to the canal to take samples from the water and from the dead fish.

Sarah Kazaranowicz, a biologist with the group, said any number of factors could have caused the fish to die, but she and her colleagues were leaning toward the theory that a type of toxic algae may be to blame.

Sargasso weed can also be a problem this time of year. Also, temperatures have risen this month and sometimes that causes plants on the ocean floor to suck all the oxygen out of a given area, making it difficult for fish to breathe, Kazaranowicz said.

Nevertheless, the problem doesn't appear to be isolated to Heron Road.

Ed Holly lives on a canal-front lot on Bonito Lane, about five streets south of where the Halls live. He too witnessed a fish kill behind his house.

"It's been happening over the past three days," Holly said Tuesday. "There were a bunch of dead grunt and snapper. I don't know why. It's the first time I've ever seen something like this. Big spider crabs were just floating over the weekend."

Holly's family has owned the lot since his grandfather bought it in 1958. Ever since he was a little boy, the water has always been clear, so he's concerned not only with the milky substance that is coming through but also the murky tone the water has taken on.

"This canal is always crystal clear. I mean Jenny Springs crystal clear," he said.

Eric Sargent, who lives one street south of Heron Road, became very concerned when he looked at the water quality of the canal this week.

"It looks like whatever it is killed this canal, and it could be a long time before it comes back," Sargent said. "The canal was getting very, very clear after they put the sewer in."

That's what concerns Hall the most. He said the white substance has the look water takes on when it is contaminated with sewage.

"I hope to God it's not a broken sewage line," Hall said.

https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y...

Charente-Maritime: the dead fish found allegedly asphyxiated

Published on 24/06/2015 at 11:48 Modified on 24/06/2015 at 1:22 p.m.

Charente-Maritime prefecture communicates these cases of stranded fish in Oleron Island and the island of Ré, in early

Dead fish from the island of Oleron

es 4 and 5 June, many fish were found stranded at the reserve Moëze-Oléron. Specifically, the guards of this natural reserve found between the harbor of Brouage and the southern dike Montportail, thousands of dead fish, mostlymullet, but also Congress and eels. Specimens have subsequently been found in Rivedoux, on the island 

The Departmental Directorate of territories and the sea has investigated the origin of mortality. Autopsies and analyzes were carried out by a laboratory in La Rochelle.

Examinations of the animals support the hypothesis of a problem of asphyxia due to high temperatures

The bacteriological analysis showed no pathogenic (causing qualifies disease) common. Physical examinations of animals support the hypothesis of a problem of asphyxia due to high temperatures that have occurred.

The animals were trapped in leashes of water whose oxygen levels fell with the sharp rise in temperatures. The concentrations of dead fish on two sites only thus explained by the currents during rising tides.

Hapless Oarfish Snagged by Fishing Boat off Catalina Island (Jun 29)

A fishing boat passenger unknowingly snagged an oarfish and brought it to the surface off Catalina Island yesterday.

Even though it was snagged, this is the first ever report of an oarfish caught on rod and reel.

This marks the sixth time this year the extremely rare oarfish has been encountered by humans.

The oarfish is thought to inhabit deep ocean at 1,000 meters (3,300 ft) and is rarely seen on the surface.

At the depths they live, there are little or no currents and so they build no muscle mass and they cannot survive in shallow water.

The crew tried to gaff and raise the 20-foot fish to the boat. The soft flesh only tore, and they had to give up the effort.

For whatever reason, the catch was not publicized. But meteorologist Chris Dunn, who writes a column called The Fishing Weatherman, reported the news on his blog.

Sources

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2015/jun/30/fishing-report/#

http://www.petethomasoutdoors.com/2015/07/in-what-might-be-a-first-...

http://sfist.com/2015/07/06/multiple_marine_mammals_beached_mon.php

At least two dead sea lions, including one large adult, and one large dolphin, washed ashore today along Ocean Beach and there may be more to come.

A tipster sent in these photos showing a removal effort by National Parks Service lifeguards in the case of the large dolphin, which was big enough that it was hanging out the back of the crew's truck.

The large sea lion washed up further down the beach, and was being mostly ignored by a group of fishermen there. There was also a smaller animal that appeared to be a sea lion pup.

It's unclear just yet if this could part of a larger beaching, or part of a recent pattern, but a report arrived just this morning via Bay City News that ocean temperatures both along the San Francisco coast, down the Peninsula, and in Monterey Bay are about five degrees above normal for this time of year. In Monterey Bay, a buoy that typically would read 58 degrees in early July just hit 64.

Warmer temperatures lead to die-offs and relocations of schools of small plankton and other fish that are a food source for the mammals, and more beachings due to starvation are expected.

The higher ocean temperatures are attributed to a huge mass of warm water in the Pacific, referred to by experts just as a "blob" because it lacks precedent, and some say this could be a precursor of a significant El Nino season and could also be exacerbating our drought.

Last year, a record temperature off our coast was set on July 23, and that was 68 degrees, and this has meteorologists and ocean experts wondering if we might not see another record this month of 70 degrees or higher.

Today's beachings follow multiple cases of dead whales appearing on our coast over the last couple of months.

Photos by Joey DeRuy

Previously: Yet Another Dead Whale Washes Up In Northern California

http://www.inquisitr.com/2233391/thousands-of-birds-mysteriously-ab...

Thousands Of Birds Mysteriously Abandon Eggs Off Florida’s Coast

image: http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Birds-Abandon-E...

The largest bird colony in the Gulf Coast of Florida was abandoned in May, with nests empty and eggs broken on the ground. Why the birds left is still a mystery.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Vic Doig called the island a “dead zone.”

“This is where the largest bird colony on the Gulf Coast of Florida used to be.”

According to the AP, Seahorse Key is a 150-acre mangrove-covered dune off Florida’s Gulf Coast. Typically, this time of year, it’s a noisy, rowdy spot for thousands of birds including little blue herons, roseate spoonbills, snowy egrets, pelicans, and others. The birds would come to the island to lay their eggs and nest.

Now, it’s silent.

The Daily Mail reports that avian biologists are rushing to find answers, but so far, they’ve come up short.

Biologist Peter Frederick from the University of Florida explained.

“It’s not uncommon for birds to abandon nests. But, in this case, what’s puzzling is that all of the species did it all at once.”

Frederick has studied birds for almost 30 years, but still doesn’t have a clear answer to this phenomenon.

Biologists have reportedly investigated three theories.

The first was that the birds were forced to abandon the area after some new predators appeared. Raccoons could have swum over; owls were also potential culprits.

Nevertheless, the biologists didn’t find enough raccoons to explain the mass disappearance of birds. Likewise, there were no signs of owls.

Next, they tested the bird carcasses for disease, but the tests turned up negative.

The final idea is that night flights over the island prompted the sudden migration, but the biologists agree that is a long-shot explanation.

Just a couple of months ago, scientists were faced with another bird mystery off the coast of Chile, when 1,300 birds were suddenly found dead.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, visitors found the mass of bird bodies in the southern town of Lenga. In that case, biologists also suspected disease. Nevertheless, SILive reported a couple weeks ago that all tests turned up negative, just like on Seahorse Key.

Whatever the cause, researchers are concerned that the birds might be abandoning their Florida colony for good. Migratory birds tend to lay their eggs and nest in the same spots year after year. If they’re spooked away this year, it might start a trend, making the island abandoned for good, which may disrupt the area’s fragile ecosystem.

The area is part of the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge, which has protected birds since 1929, allowing them to care for their eggs in relative safety.

Northern Ireland

http://www.irishnews.com/news/2015/07/09/news/fishing-suspended-at-...

Fishing suspended at Dungannon Park after 1000 fish found dead

09 July, 2015 01:00

Around 1,000 fish have been found dead in a lake in Dungannon Park in Co Tyrone over the last number of days.

A Mid-Ulster District Council spokesperson said only roach stocks were affected, and that other fish remain healthy.

Tests are under way to find out how the roach died.

The Council is working with the Department of Agriculture (DARD) and Development Fish Disease Unit. As a precaution fishing has been prohibited at the lake until further notice.

A spokesperson for DARD said it hoped to have preliminary results back next week from tests.

More whales found dead in southern Alaska waters

http://www.adn.com/article/20150710/more-whales-found-dead-southern...

Scientists investigating the mysterious deaths of nine endangered fin whales spotted in late May and early June in the Gulf of Alaska report that the death toll has increased.

Decomposing carcasses of five additional whales -- one fin whale and four humpbacks -- have been reported by fishermen, pilots and survey crews, said Kate Wynne, a marine mammal specialist with the Sea Grant program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Those reports came in over the past several weeks, and all the whales appear to have died at about the same time, said Wynne, who is working with her colleagues to investigate the deaths.

So far, the only sample taken from any of the dead animals has been from a single dead fin whale that was already partially decomposed when it came ashore, Wynne said in an email Friday. Results from one test came back negative for domoic acid, a toxin that is produced by algae and accumulates in shellfish, Wynne said. Results from other tests are still pending, she said.

Gulf of Alaska waters have been warm recently, and one theory is that the whales encountered some kind of toxin related to warmth-induced harmful algal blooms. But so far, Wynne said, that has not been proven.

“We do not have conclusive evidence to link their mortality to algal blooms but continue to sample water/plankton/shellfish with a network of folks statewide,” she said in her email. “Hopefully, by monitoring current conditions and tracking/recording carcasses, we will be quicker to note and respond to a future event if it happens.”

The first dead whale was spotted on Memorial Day weekend. Scientists from UAF’s Sea Grant program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been trying to find an explanation for the unusual event.

Wynne said it's possible the toll could still rise. “The number of now-rotten carcasses may continue to climb as more people travel around the area and submit reports of carcasses they see,” she said.

http://iceagenow.info/2015/07/peru-heaviest-snowfall-in-years-kills...

Peru – Heaviest snowfall in years kills 171,850 alpacas

State of emergency declared in three provinces of Puno.

https://newshongkong.wordpress.com/2015/07/13/dead-fish-found-along...

Dead fish found along Kwun Tong promenade

Shark Invasion! 50 Spotted On Sussex Coast

http://news.sky.com/story/1520127/shark-invasion-50-spotted-on-suss...

Nature wardens say they were "astonished" to come across a group of up to 50 sharks swimming in rising tidal waters in West Sussex.

Video footage shows dozens of fins circling in the knee-deep water at RSPB's Medmerry wildlife site near Selsey.

The society says it was an "unprecedented" group and identified them as smooth-hounds, a type of shark usually found offshore in coastal waters.

RSPB warden Peter Hughes captured the footage.

He said: "It was astonishing. There were just these huge fish everywhere in knee-deep water.

"We assume they were coming in to feed on the crabs and other marine life that have made their home at Medmerry.

"We knew in time that (this) was going to be a great place for wildlife, but I don’t think anyone expected this!"

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&con...

Environmental pollution kills fish in Saihat

 

 

Saudi Gazette report

 

AL-QATIF — Environmental pollution in Saihat Village killed thousands of fish while harming the marine ecosystem and the fishermen’s income, Al-Hayat reported.

 

Eastern Province Fishermen Society Deputy Head Jafar Al-Safwani said a large amount of dead fish was found on Al-Naseem Corniche. 

 

“Al-Naseem Corniche is a closed area of 800 sq. meters only. There are only about 10 openings to the Arabian Gulf in which water and fish can enter. Many fish populate in the area. Not even the plants and trees on the shore are getting enough water to grow, so they end up dying,” said Al-Safwani.

He added the summer season evaporates the water making the water in the area depleting the water volume and killing many fishes.

 

“The area is almost like a lake. The fishermen in the Eastern Province had demanded the authorities to open more channels and entrances from the gulf into the lake about nine years ago. However, no one responded to the fishermen and nothing has been done regarding the issue since,” said Al-Safwani.

 

He added he demanded experts to inspect the fish and prevent them from being sold in the markets to protect the consumer. “I am not sure if these fish are fit for humans consumption. Experts need to get involved to assess the situation. Such an incident is recurrent to rocky shores, although this is the first time fish have been found dead in that area,” said Al-Safwani.

He added many fishermen complained about the incident and others have gathered the fish out of the lake to clean it.

 

“Many fishermen wonder why so many fish were in the lake to begin with. Some said the summer heat drives them away from the open water and closer to the shore as they seek a cooler environment to settle in or they were seeking more oxygen,” said Al-Safwani.

 

An environmental expert said the fishermen in that area reported seeing red spots in the lake. “The dead fish sighted on Thursday died due to environmental pollution. There have been chemical substances and other types of waste such as cleaning detergents dumped into the lake through the sewage system. Although the act is illegal, it still happened harming the fish and the fishermen,” said the expert.

Mayfly Invasion Closes Iowa Bridge (Jul 18)

Emergency snow plows were used to clear a bridge in Iowa closed by knee-deep piles of mayflies.

“I’ve lived in Sabula since ’75, I’ve never seen that many before, ever,” said Teena Franzen, who recorded the incident while riding with her son in a police car.

The bridge connects Savanna, Illinois, with Sabula, Iowa.

A pair of motorcycles lost traction trying to move through the piles of mayflies. No injuries were reported.

“The biggest thing I noticed was (mayflies/shadflies) piled knee-high in front of their headlights from just sitting there,” said Reserve Officer Stephen Thayer of the Sabula Police Department.

“We had Iowa DOT came in with a snow plow and actually plow them off and then sand it because it was still pretty slippery. And then Illinois plowed their side,” Thayer added.

A few days later on July 22, a massive swarm of airborne grasshoppers and beetles showed up on radar near the border between Texas and Oklahoma.

Sources

http://wnep.com/2015/07/23/knee-high-piles-of-mayflies-force-iowa-b...

http://www.weather.com/science/news/radar-birds-bugs-bats-smoke-201...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/07...

http://english.cri.cn/12394/2015/07/22/2743s888424.htm

Another Rare Oarfish Appears in Philippines (Jul 23)

For the seventh time in six months, the extremely rare deep water oarfish has made an appearance.

Julie Miranda was fishing near Antique in Barangay Indalog on Thursday when he saw a shark chasing a big fish.

Shortly after, the shark swam off and the big fish started to float.

Miranda loaded the fish onto his boat and brought it to shore.

But the fish was no ordinary find. It was a 3-meter long oarfish weighing 14 kg.

“It was our first time to see a very big and very long fish in this town. Even the old villagers do not know the local name of this fish,” said Lourdes Sarad, municipal agricultural officer of Tobias Fornier.

The scale-less and silvery fish is named oarfish because of their long pectoral fins, which resemble oars.

It is also called “ribbon fish” because of its body shape and its slender, reddish fin.

What Miranda loaded onto his boat was the third oarfish caught in Antique since 2014.

On Aug. 20, 2014, Milona Alingas, agricultural technician of Laua-an town in Antique, reported an oarfish caught by fishermen.

Cornelius Yangga, agricultural technician of San Jose town also in Antique, said it was the officials’ first time to encounter “the very long fish.”

Yangga recalled another oarfish had been caught also in 2014. The two oarfish said to have been caught earlier had not been measured or weighed, though.

Source

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/707728/rare-deep-sea-dwelling-fish-cau...

Tens of thousands of slimy creatures are washing ashore along the Treasure Coast, FL.

They're called sea hares, and look like black slugs. They've been washing up in massive numbers on Martin and St. Lucie County beaches the past couple of days

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/local-news/st-lucie-county/news-briefs/h...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3177448/The-French-village-...

The French village where homes are swarmed by hundreds of thousands of beetles each night and nobody knows what's causing it

• Thousands of beetles swarm into Saint-Maurice-Montcouronne each night
• Villagers say phenomenon has now been taking place for three weeks 
• They blame nearby farmer for not treating his fields with insecticide 
• Mayor has called in pest experts to get to the bottom of the problem 

Villagers in France have hit out after beetles began swarming into their homes every night.

Locals in Saint-Maurice-Montcouronne, in the Essonne district to the south of Paris, say thousands of creepy crawlies have been invading their properties for the last three weeks.

Amateur videos show colonies of the large black bugs crawling over the ground outside properties in the tiny town, spilling into swimming pools and properties.

French villagers are bugged out by beetle invasion

Being bugged: Residents in the French village of Saint-Maurice-Montcouronne, to the south of Paris, say hundreds of thousands of beetles have been crawling into their homes at night

According to The Local, one local told Le Parisien newspaper: 'It’s horrific. It’s like a remake of the Hitchcock film The Birds, except with insects.'

Another added: 'It’s disgusting and exhausting, when there are thousands in your home. You crush tens of them just getting out of bed.'

Remains of sea creature washed up in Far East Islands

With fur on its tail and twice the size of a human being, no one yet knows what the animal is.

http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/n0282-mysterious-remains...

The remains of an unidentified sea animal with fur on its tail have been washed ashore in the Far East. Found near the airport at Shakhtersk, on Sakhalin Island, its appearance is unlike anything ever found in Russia.

Judging from the remains the creature was giant and about twice the length of a human, and it had a huge nose like a bird’s beak.

Pictures of the carcass have created a stir on social media after being taken by local people and posted online.

Some have claim the remains belong to a Ganges River dolphin from India, because of the long body and narrow beak nose. But the presence of fur on the tail and also its size – twice that of the Indian dolphin species – has created a mystery.

Comments on some pictures on social media joke that the animal got lost and somehow made it to Russia. One wrote: 'Probably, our summer is so cold that even the Indian Dolphins getting into local waters, are covered with fur.'

But one expert insisted it simply is not possible for a fresh water Ganges dolphin to make it to the Far East, and survive in the salty ocean.

Nikolay Kim, Deputy Head of the Forecasting department of the Sakhalin Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, said: 'Judging by the appearance of the head, this is clearly some big dolphin. According to a characteristic of the skin, it is a rare species.

'I doubt that it lived in our waters. Most likely, the animal was brought by the warm current. Here often appear tropical and subtropical species. On cooling, they stay here and then die. 

'I can confidently say that this is some kind of a dolphin. However, it has fur. It's unusual. Dolphins do not have any fur.'

Thousands of Sheep Deaths in Iceland Remain Unexplained (Jul 28)

Farmers in Iceland are baffled by the unexplained deaths of thousands of the country's sheep.

About 5,000 sheep died this spring, with the northern and western regions worst affected, and so far experts haven't been able to work out why, Morgunbladid's Iceland Monitor website reports. One theory is that sulphur emitted during a recent volcanic eruption might be to blame, as it could have contaminated vegetation and caused malnutrition in the sheep. The huge eruption at the Holuhraun lava field lasted for six months, and released millions of tonnes of sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere.

"When the ash cloud moves over the country from the east, it is often accompanied by rain," Prof Jonas Eliasson, from the University of Iceland, tells the site. "The rain cleans the sulphur out of the air and snow does the job even better. When the snow melts in the spring, the sulphur remains on vegetation and in the soil."

Many ewes died after the lambing season, and farmers reported signs of malnourishment in their animals even though they were eating properly, Iceland Magazine reported in June. In the most extreme cases, farms lost up to 30% of their flock. There have been other theories surrounding what might have caused the deaths, including disease, cold weather and poor-quality hay. Blood samples from the sheep have been sent to Norway for testing, with the results expected around the end of July, according to the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority.

Source

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-33688179

• Swarms of Locusts Trigger State of Emergency in Southern Russia
• Plagues of Locusts Darken Skies, Threaten Crops in Southern Russia

https://yamkin.wordpress.com/2015/07/31/thousands-of-dead-fish-wash...   

Thousands of dead fish wash up in a lake in Wuhan City, China

 

Recently, one of the major lakes in Wuhan City of Hubei Province South of Port-au-Prince Lake there large dead fish floating pile up at many of the banks have rotted and smelled the acrid. @ CCTV

Courtesy of news.qq.com

http://goo.gl/qjauqj

Dead whale washes up on beach in Pacifica

http://abc7news.com/society/dead-whale-washes-up-on-beach-in-pacifi...

Another dead whale has washed up on a beach in Pacifica. Biologists have not yet identified what species of whale it is.
A dog walker discovered the large marine mammal on the beach along eEplanade Avenue around 6 a.m. Sunday.

"Just so massive in size," said Pacifica resident Nicole Strasser. "And usually people go in boats just to see these creatures in their natural environment frolicking and playing, they're just like elephants."

This is the third, dead whale to wash ashore in Pacifica since mid-April.

Scientists haven't determined what killed those other whales, along with another that washed up in Half Moon Bay.

Boaters Warned After Dead Whale Found Floating Close To Shipping Lanes Near Pacifica (4th since mid-April)

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/08/03/boaters-warned-after-de...

PACIFICA (CBS SF) — Boaters were being warned to watch out for a large dead whale found floating off the Pacifica Coast near shipping channels.

“We found this Humpback Whale, floating, rather bloated,” boater Tom Mattusch said.

The whale was found just a few miles off the coast, swollen to the size of a small house.

The fishing vessel Hulli Cat was returning from a Farallon bird watching trip when Mattusch spotted it.

“I’ve been coming out on the ocean since 1967, and this is the first bloated, floating whale that large I’ve ever seen,” Mattusch said.

An increased number of dead whales have been washing onto Bay Area shores.  Another dead whale washed onto the beach in Pacifica Sunday.

“We’ve had reports over the last two weeks that there have been large numbers of Humpback Whales and Blue Whales seen feeding off the Farallon Islands,” Moe Flannery of the California Academy of Sciences said.

Mattusch alerted the Coast Guard of the whale’s presence.

“It was not a small whale, so it’s good that it was reported to us, because it could have caused problems if it had a collision with a vessel,” David Flores of the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Researchers say they don’t know why this whale died.

Hundreds Of Sheep Die Mysteriously In Kazakhstan

Kazakh authorities are unable to explain the sudden death of around 1,000 sheep in a single district.

http://www.rferl.org/media/video/kazakhstan-sheep/27163158.html

Toxicity, short-term memory loss: Algae advances off US West Coast, poisoning seafood

http://www.rt.com/usa/311700-algae-toxic-pacific-bloom/?utm_source=...

Welcome to 'Arachnaville': Thousands of rare spiders spin a gigantic web spanning a quarter of a MILE through Texas park

• The 'mega web' in Rowlett is very unusual because spiders usually work alone and attack each other
• The ones building this one are 'communal' and thought to be long-jawed spiders of the Tetragnathidae family
• Experts call it wondrous and say it is keeping down the mosquito and gnat population - but locals are staying away

It's every spider-phobic person's nightmare. A huge colony of the weight-legged creatures has spun a fantastical collection of webs to form one giant web measuring a quarter of a mile long in a public park.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, most residents in the town of Rowlett, Texas, have been steering clear of the spider city along C.A. Roan Drive at Lakeside Park South.

But Texas Master Naturalist Jennifer Kolmes - a trained volunteer who works for parks, said the arachnids are actually doing locals a big favor by catching countless insects in the incredible web formation. 

After taking photos of it, she told ABC News: 'The web was like a smorgasbord of mosquitoes and gnats.' 

Kolmes said she had heard of a similar web in 2007, which was found at Lake Tawakoni State Park, about 35 miles from Rowlett.

Back then, it puzzled experts, as spiders typically work alone. But they came to realize that the spiders building that web were a rare 'communal' breed.

While the specific identity of the massive web-building spiders is not known, they are likely a long-jawed spider of the Tetragnathidae family, according to experts. 

 Mike Merchant, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service urban entomologist, told Agrilife.com: 'These types of spiders are unusual in that they are not aggressive to other spiders of the same species on the same web.

'They also are not known to bite or be harmful to humans.' 

Kolmes told people who are afraid of spiders to try and set their fear aside and go an look at the web in Rowlett. She said it was 'a rare and wondrous event of a sort that we don't get a lot of, and I urge people to go out and look at it'.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3194288/Welcome-Arachnavill...

Yet Another Rare Oarfish Washes Ashore Off California (Aug 17)

Stunned scientists fished for clues Monday to explain the appearance of yet another rare oarfish that washed up on the shores of Catalina Island.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/14-foot-fish-found-washed-...

I wallaby free! Walkers stunned to come face-to-face with runaway albino marsupial in the British countryside

A group of walkers were stunned when they stumbled across a rare albino wallaby running wild in the British countryside. 

Ronald Newbould, 72, spotted the curious creature munching on leaves in a cornfield near the village of Hanslope, Buckingamshire over the weekend - more than 9,400 miles from its native Australia.

The wallaby stood on his haunches facing Mr Newbould and the group of ramblers for almost ten minutes, allowing them to take some astonishing photos.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3202116/I-wallaby-free-Walk...

50 Tons of Dead Fish Removed from Mexican Lake

Fishermen have been removing thousands of dead fish from a lake near the western Mexican city of Guadalajara.

Local media reported at least 50 tonnes of popoche chub freshwater fish had washed up on the shores of Lake Cajititlan, in Jalisco state.

Last year local fishermen removed about 200 tonnes of dead fish from Lake Cajititlan.

More than 100 fishermen are involved in this year's operation.

One local official described their deaths as a "natural, cyclical phenomenon" that occurred every year.

Sources

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-33981128

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/video-news/video-50-tonnes-of-dea...

Hundreds of Dead Birds in Tulsa Oklahoma (Aug 19)

“We saw dozens and dozens of dead birds on the ground, in the parking lots, in the streets — live birds in the streets being run over by cars. It was just an absolute mess,” said Kelly Baker property manager of the Sun Building in downtown Tulsa.

Those who work in the area said they felt like they walked into a horror movie.

"The best guess I can give you is hundreds [of birds]," said Carlos Gomez.

The birds, purple martins, have been roosting in downtown Tulsa since the 1980s.

Dick Sherry, a local purple martin expert and Tulsa Audubon Society member, said Wednesday morning’s thunderstorms likely accounted for the birds' mass demise.

Sources

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/hundreds-of-purple-martins-dea...

http://www.fox23.com/news/news/local/birds-found-dead-downtown-tuls...

Bloomfield resident discovers 29-foot dead whale on local beach (West Prince, Canada)

http://www.journalpioneer.com/News/Local/2015-08-18/article-4249946...

Darryl Donahue discovered the dead whale on the Roseville beach Tuesday morning. 

Lying on the sand, near the water’s edge on the Roseville beach, off the Kelly’s Road, was a 29-foot long dead whale.

“When you see something that big you kind of figure it’s a whale,” he added. “It was in not too good of shape. You could identify what kind of whale it is.”

Donahue, who frequents the beach on the shores of the Northumberland Strait, believes the whale washed up on shore sometime the previous night.

“I would say it was 10,000 pounds anyway. They are going to have to bury it or something. It’s a fairly big whale. It’s no blue whale, but it is a pretty fair size fish.”

Donahue said there were no marks on the whale, surmising that it could have been hit by a boat or may have died of natural causes.

“It’s not the first time that whales have washed up on Roseville beach.”

Sandra Keough, a provincial conservation officer, was en route late Tuesday afternoon to Roseville to inspect the remains.

Keough said based on the description she’s received — specifically a white band on its fin — she thinks that it is a minke whale.

“The Department of Fisheries usually takes care of burial,” she added. “If it is a fresh whale, and it is not too decomposed, the people from the (Atlantic) Vet College usually come down and determine the cause of death and take samples. We are not sure what stage it is at and how long it has been dead.”

She said it is a “different time of year” for a minke whale to wash ashore.

Word of the find hasn’t yet spread through the small West Prince community.

“I never told too many people yet,” said Donahue. “It won’t be too much of a pleasant sight in a couple of days.”

Burning Man,Nevada site has become infested with huge desert-resistant biting bugs just days before start of festival

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3204358/They-New-Mexico-sit...

• Several photos uploaded to Twitter this week showed swarms of bugs
• A blog post on Voices of Burning Man said: 'They crawl all over you'
• One person had been bitten and left with 'nasty red welts,' and bugs reportedly found their way into a woman's visor near her eyes

The Black Rock Desert, Nevada, site for this year's Burning Man has been inundated with biting bugs, it emerged this week. Several photos uploaded to Twitter this week showed swarms of bugs, both on the ground and in the air. User @khloestarr shared one such photograph, writing: 'Bugs on the playa this year. Not normal. Shouldn't a dust storm knock them out? Like Burningman [sic] wasn't gross enough.' On Tuesday, a blog post on the page for Voices of Burning Man reported on the insects' presence

Blogger John Curley wrote: 'You may have seen the bug rumors on the internet. 'We are here to tell you that they are all true. 'Well maybe not all of the rumors, but the bugs are real. 'They're everywhere. They bite. They crawl all over you. They get up and in you.'

The blog post offered several potential explanations for the bugs. It said: 'We don't know where they came from, but there are two main theories: One is that all the spring and summer rain has hatched critters that lie dormant, or usually come to life at a different time of year. 'Or maybe they hitchhiked in on a load of wood from somewhere. 'Or maybe, as Shade postulated out at Man Base, there’s a Johnny Bugseed making the rounds at night, sprinkling them anywhere and everywhere.' According to Curley's post, 'the hope is that the heat and the dryness will knock down the bug population.' The post on Burning Man Voices did not indicated what type of species the bugs are. For more information on Burning Man, visit itswebsite.

Nightmare grips Californian town as swarms of black-and-red bugs rain down like a Biblical plague on residents

• Piles of bug carcasses have been left in the Sierra Nevada's eastern slopes
• The bugs have rained down on local resident and are crawling everywhere
• Scientists say it's the first time the bugs have taken over California 
• The influx has been driven by a mild winter and monsoonal weather

By ASSOCIATED PRESS and BELINDA ROBINSON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 00:48 EST, 21 August 2015 | UPDATED: 16:55 EST, 21 August 2015

It's the stuff of nightmares - an entire town plagued with a swarm of insects that are literally getting into everything and crawling all over residents.

The piles of carcasses, inches deep, left by the bugs in the Sierra Nevada's eastern slopes, can be seen on the ground at the local gas station after they have been swept to the side.

Local residents are doing their best to cope but they rained onto car windshields and flew by the thousands toward even the smallest sources of light, and crept along windows and kitchen tables. 

Such has been the skin-crawling reality for the past two months in the high-desert communities where residents have seen an explosion of the black-and-red seed bug species Melacoryphus lateralis.

'They're in everything. There's no way to get rid of them or eradicate them. They're just here,' said Blair Nicodemus, 33, of Lone Pine, while driving with a bug creeping on his windshield. 

'Sometimes there will be these micro-plumes that'll come through where there will be just thousands of them, and they'll be all over you. ... I'm sure I've eaten at least two dozen, because they get into your food.' 

Similar outbreaks have happened before in Arizona's Sonoran desert near Tucson, but scientists say it's the first one in recent memory in California.

The influx has been driven by a mild winter and monsoonal weather, which provided healthier vegetation for the nutrient-sucking bugs, said David Haviland, an entomologist with the University of California Cooperative Extension in Kern County.

The bugs' flight into town and toward the lights in homes, businesses or cars, however, might be related to the drying up of native vegetation in the summer heat and the drought, said Nathan Reade, agricultural commissioner for Inyo and Mono counties.

The fingernail-sized insects are the main topic of conversation in the area. 

A printout in a hotel lobby in a Lone Pine motel warned people to keep their doors shut at night, and a hotel worker advised people to keep their car windows up if lights are on. 

A Dollar General Store in Inyokern limited its store hours after dark to avoid dealing with the bugs.

Lia Sensanbaugh of Inyokern doesn't turn on her lights when at home. 'I've got them real bad,' she said. 'I've been living off my TV light for about a month and a half.'

Gas stations and rest areas along Highway 395 — a roadway that crosses through sparsely populated and rural areas — are prime bug targets because of their lights. 

After dark, the bugs swirl like surreal artwork below the Pearsonville Shell gas station's overhead lights. 

'Millions, tens, twenty, we can't count it,' gas station owner Soma Praba said. 'At night time, if you go into the station, they'll follow. They go everywhere. They get on your body, your head.'

Each morning Praba's workers have spent three hours sweeping the ground and using a leaf blower to clear away piles of the bugs. 

Around eight times a day, workers will sweep, discovering two hours later that the same amount of bugs are back, Praba said with frustration. 

Spraying insecticide hasn't helped, Praba said, and exterminators have been equally stymied. The only reprieve seems to be a windy day and the recent smoke from fires.

'We are tired of it,' Praba said. 'I am waiting for the first snow to come.'

At a Lone Pine gas station this week, the side of the building was covered with bugs, and a woman was hosing off the wall, despite the drought, said Kathi Hall, who owns the town's Mt. Whitney Restaurant with her husband.

Ridgecrest Mayor Peggy Breeden said some people in town use umbrellas while getting gas because of the swarms overhead. 

She's fielded many dozens of concerned calls and never seen anything like this in her 33 years there.

She put together a notice this week to post around town explaining to visitors that the bugs are a harmless nuisance in the hopes that they'll return when the bugs die down.

That said, Breeden joked, 'If frogs come, we're all leaving.' 

Source:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3205667/Theyre-California-b...