El Nino washes a SECOND deadly sea snake onto popular California beach which has not seen any for THIRTY YEARS

• A dead 27-inch-long male yellow bellied sea snake was discovered last week in Huntington Beach, California
• It's the second time in two months the rare, extremely venomous snake has been found in southern California 
• A two-foot-long yellow bellied sea snake was found in October slithering onto Silver Strand State Beach in Ventura County 
• It last appeared in California during the El Niño system in the '80s 
• Theorized warming ocean currents have allowed snakes to travel farther
• Experts say yellow-bellied bites can be fatal to humans, but they are rare

By REGINA F. GRAHAM FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and EVAN BLEIER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 22:18 EST, 19 December 2015 | UPDATED: 00:26 EST, 20 December 2015

For the second time in two months, a rare deadly sea snake has washed ashore at one of southern California's most popular beaches. 

A dead 27-inch-long male yellow bellied sea snake was discovered last week during a coastal cleanup campaign by volunteers for the Surfrider Foundation in Huntington Beach, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

In October, a two-foot-long yellow bellied sea snake was discovered slithering onto Silver Strand State Beach in Ventura County, but it died shortly after being taken to a US Fish and Wildlife Service office nearby. 

The venomous sea serpent, known to scientists as Pelamis platura, was first spotted in 1972 during an El Niño in San Clemente. 

A descendant of Australian tiger snakes, experts believe the arrival of the sea snake is a harbinger of El Niño because the last time it appeared in California was during the weather system in the '80s.

Greg Pauly, herpetological curator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, said this latest discovery is only the third time the snake has ever been spotted in California. 

'One in a year is incredible. Two in a year is just mind-blowing. I'm just completely shocked,' Pauly told the OC Register. 

He explained to the Times that he thinks the reptile found in Huntington Beach may have been 'prompted to navigate north of its normal tropical habitat by the spread of abnormally warm ocean temperatures because of a strong El Niño this year.'

'It is incredible and fascinating to have two of these aquatic, highly venomous snakes suddenly show up around here,' he told the newspaper. 

'But this is not an invasion, and no one has ever died from the bite of this animal. 

'Their fangs are tiny and they can barely open their mouths wide enough to bite a person.

'So, unless you pick one up, the biggest safety concern with going to the beach is with driving there and then driving home.'

With a bright yellow underside and a flat, paddle-like tail with black spots, the reptile is the most wide-ranging snake species on Earth. 

It usually is found off the coasts of warm tropical waters such as Asia, Australia, Central America, Mexico and Baja California. 

Experts have theorized that the onset of El Niño has allowed the sea snakes to get to California by riding warm ocean currents across the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

The snake sightings have also been noted on a blog for Heal the Bay, and the organization asked members of the public to avoid handling the snake and instead note the location and take photos. 

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3367532/Second-venomous-rar... 

Thousands of dead fish wash up to the surface of a lake near Jakarta following torrential rains in Indonesia as fishermen are left to clear the waters

• Fishermen have been left struggling in Indonesia after thousands of fish died near the Citra Lake
• Torrential rains around the area are being blamed for their deaths in waters situated close to Jakarta, Indonesia
• Lack of oxygen may have caused the massacre and experts are taking samples to determine the cause of death

By TOM WYKE FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 12:17 EST, 20 December 2015 | UPDATED: 12:49 EST, 20 December 2015

Fishermen have been left struggling in Indonesia after thousands of fish died near the Citra Lake, leaving scientists and officials baffled by the cause of their dramatic deaths.

Hundreds of tons of dead fish were found floating in waters near Jakarta with torrential rains around the area being blamed for their deaths. The department of fishery have suggested that the heavy rainfall may have caused a sudden rise in the water temperature.

The change in conditions is thought to have been behind the decimation of the fish population in the local water, leaving fishermen and local volunteers forced to clean up the waters in order to ward off further deaths.

A lack of oxygen for the fish may have caused the massacre and experts are taking samples of the dead fish to determine their cause of death.

'In the morning, I found just a few dozen dead fish [floating on the water] but as hours went by, the number grew to hundreds and it created a foul stench,' Bambang, a 47-year-old fisherman at Muara Angke port told the Jakarta Globe.

'It is not unusual that many fish die, like this. But this year, there has been an increase both in the frequency and the volume,' he said. 

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3367891/Thousands-dead-fish... 

Rare sea snakes, thought extinct, found in Australia

CAIRNS, Australia, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Biologists in Australia assumed both the short-nose sea snake and leaf-scaled sea snake were extinct. ...

The critically endangered species hadn't been seen in at least 15 years. But as they recently recounted in the journal Biological Conservation, scientists located both snakes unexpectedly off the coast of Western Australia.

The rare short-nose sea snake's only known habitat was the water surrounding the Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea. But the species hadn't been seen there in nearly two decades.

Earlier this year, however, Grant Griffin, an officer with Western Australia Parks and Wildlife, spotted a pair courting near Ningaloo Reef. Griffin snapped a photo of the snakes, and biologists back on the mainland confirmed the sighting. ...

The other species, the leaf-scaled sea snake, is also endemic to Ashmore Reef. But their most recent sighting, the first in years, occurred more than 1,050 miles south in the thick seagrass beds of Shark Bay. There, scientists found a significant population.

"We had thought that this species of sea snake was only found on tropical coral reefs. Finding them in seagrass beds at Shark Bay was a real surprise," said D'Anastasi.

Unfortunately, this unexpected but positive news was paired with bad news. A number of sea snake species are declining along the Ashmore Reef, and researchers aren't sure why. Sea snakes are vulnerable to trawling, a destructive commercial fishing technique, but fishing is off-limits among the marine sanctuaries surrounding the reef.

"The disappearance of sea snakes from Ashmore Reef could not be attributed to trawling and remains unexplained," said co-author Vimoksalehi Lukoschek, also wtih the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2015/12/21/Rare-sea-snakes-thought-...

Ashmore Reef (yellow), Ningaloo Coast (blue), Shark Bay (red)

http://kbbi.org/post/murre-die-around-kachemak-bay-thousands

Murre Die-off around Kachemak Bay in Thousands

Die-offs of Common Murres have been taking place across Alaska since Summer and the latest report is from Kachemak Bay, according to biologists with the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge in Homer. 

Wildlife Biologist, Leslie Slater, says there have been two waves of mortality.

“This die-off started to be noticed, around mid-July in certain parts of the state. And so it continued at some level, a fairly high, noticeable level for a couple weeks and then it seemed to diminish and then there seemed to be resurgence again of the number of carcasses that we were seeing on beaches, and that happened in mid-November or so," Said Slater.

Wildlife Biologist Leslie Slater holds one of about a dozen dead Common Murres found along a short stretch of beach at the Spit in Homer Tuesday, December 22.

There have been die-offs reported of the penguin-like sea birds in Cold Bay in July and in Kodiak in November. Slater says they’ve also had reports from Seward, Sitka and Prince William Sound. In November starving and dead Murres turned up around the Mat-su and Anchorage areas, farther inland than usual.

“It seems that then they would either be disoriented, which could be the result of ingesting a toxin or they could be very desperate in searching for food and just kept traveling up the inlet,” said Slater.

Seabird die-offs have been recorded all along the west coast of the U.S. in Washington, Oregon and California this year. Slater estimates that a large number of Murres have died around Kachemak bay.

“Based on the duration of the time that we’ve had carcasses being reported to us, I would say, it’s into the thousands, certainly, throughout Kachemak Bay,” said Slater.

The dead Murres are being counted by citizen scientists all along the Spit and along the beach up to Anchor Point. 

“They’ve been doing this for several years and so there’s been a baseline established of what we would consider being a normal winter and so far, it’s been at least six times the normal background amount that’s been observed,” said Slater.

Slater says the citizen scientists mark the Murres with color-coded zip ties around a wing or foot and if you see a bird with a zip tie she says you should not disturb it because it’s part of a study.

And anecdotal reports of Dead Murres and other birds are coming in from across the Bay. They’ve also had reports of some dead tufted puffins, horned puffins and an ancient murrelet. She says the birds, along with Murres, feed on small fish or dive to get invertebrates during summer and dive for squid, crustaceans and krill during winter.

Slater says Murre carcasses were sent to the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin where bird flu was ruled out. The dead birds seem to have starved, but Slater says there could be other factors.

"There are analysis that are pending. So it could be something that had to do with PSP, like paralytic shelfish poisoning that was ingested at some point, but that is still unkown," said Slater.

Results from those tests should be back in January. That’s also when Biologist, Heather Renner, with the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge will be presenting a paper on the Murre die-off at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage.

http://www.ejinsight.com/20151224-massive-fish-kill-hits-tai-po-fis...

Tens of thousands of fish were found dead in fish culture zones in Sam Mun Tsai and Tolo Harbour. Photos: Apple Daily, dcfever.com

45 dead dolphins wash ashore in Oman

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/oman/45-dead-dolphins-wash-ashore-in-...

Muscat: More than 45 dolphins were washed ashore in Khabourah province during the past two weeks, according to residents.

Residents demanded that authorities bury the dead dolphins as a stench was starting to develop from the carcasses.

Pictures of the dead dolphins went viral on the social media, with many users demanding that the authorities intervene and deal with the issue.

Reasons behind the death are not yet clear.

Ahmad Al Beloushi, an environmental expert, told Gulf News that one of the reasons may be that many dolphins swim towards the shores and cannot go back to the sea.

He also attributed the deaths to a shortage of oxygen during red tide, adding that oil spills from ships also lead to suffocation of the fish in general.

Some fishermen throw their fishing nets near the shores and trap dolphins, said Al Beloushi.

An official at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs told Gulf News that a team has been formed to tackle the issue.

The team of experts will head this week to Khabourah shores to investigate the issue and take samples from the dead dolphins.

Dolphins are widespread in Omani waters, particularly off Muscat, Musandam and Wusta governorates.

Indian Ocean dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, rough-toothed dolphins, the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, risso’s dolphins, spinner dolphins, long-beaked dolphins and stripped dolphins are the types of dolphins found in Oman’s waters.

Mystery fish kill taints Fla. beaches

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/12/21/mystery-fi...

PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — Thousands of dead herring provided an odious distraction Monday from otherwise hospitable beach conditions, dotting the shoreline from south of Patrick Air Force Base through ...

They appear to be the same species of fish — thread herring — found washed up along other beaches along the Space Coast last week. Countless thread herring washed up dead Thursday along beaches in Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach.

"There was nothing out here yesterday," said Ron Van Kempen, a seasonal resident from Minnesota, fishing just south of Patrick AFB Monday. He cast his fishing line among floating herring corpses, which also speckled the beach where he stood.

The cause of the fish kill remains unknown.

http://www.wdam.com/story/30835598/dead-fish-littering-hancock-coun...

Hancock County crews working to remove dead fish from beachfront

Posted: Dec 27, 2015 2:34 PM EST Updated: Dec 27, 2015 4:29 PM EST

HANCOCK COUNTY, MS (WLOX) -

Dead fish are littering Hancock County's beachfront Sunday morning, and cleanup teams say they've been told the deaths are linked to the red tide bloom in the Mississippi Sound. 

County crews spent the day digging fish off the shoreline that have washed up on the sand during the last three days; filling a dump truck.

Sunday's cleanup extended from Washington Ave. to the Silver Slipper. When crews finish, they'll return to downtown Bay St. Louis and remove any dead fish found in the area.

Additionally, a  Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality team was spotted in Waveland Sunday. Scientists have been monitoring this fish kill since the red tide algal bloom spread into Mississippi waters two weeks ago.

All coast beaches and oyster reefs have been closed indefinitely, as indicated by the red flags found along the shoreline.

The public is advised to heed warnings from officials and stay out of the water. While illness is rare, the DMR advises it is possible and can be extremely harmful to people. Those with severe respiratory conditions may experience stronger adverse reactions.

Any dead fish or birds that are found on the beach should also not be touched.

According to the Office of Marine Fisheries, seafood poses no immediate threat, however, people are only advised to eat the tissue of fish and not the organs until further notice. Additionally, any dead or distressed fish that have washed up on the shore should not be consumed.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/blizzard-kills-more-than-...

http://baodongnai.com.vn/english/business/201601/hundreds-of-tons-o...

Hundreds of tons of farmed fish found dead

(ĐN)- Hundreds of tonnes of fish reared in floating rafts in the Cai river in Bien Hoa city were found dead on January 4, causing a loss to farmers of tens of billions of dong.

Hundreds of tonnes of fish, including those in cages and others living in the river, have died in the area since December 30.

It was not the first time fish in the river had died in such large numbers. Such sudden deaths have also happened in 2011 and 2014.

 Many breeders blamed the deaths, which occurred from December 30, 2015, on wastewater discharged from chemical plants nearby.

Bien Hoa city's People Committee arrived in the area to consider the situation.

A working group of relevant agencies arrived in the area to consider a situation in which many fish breeders suffered great losses due to mass fish deaths, ranging from about 600 kg to as much as 10 tons per breeder.

Nguyen Dinh Thanh and Nguyen Van Vi, who had the highest volume of dead fish, said most of the dead fish were carp, hemibagrus, and red tilapia.

Giant Squid surfaces in Japanese harbor

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/12/28/asia/toyama-japan-giant-squid/

Tokyo (CNN)It isn't every day that a mystery from the deep swims into plain sight. But on Christmas Eve, spectators on a pier in Toyama Bay in central Japan were treated to a rare sighting of a giant squid.

The creature swam under fishing boats and close to the surface of Toyama Bay, better known for its firefly squid, and reportedly hung around the bay for several hours before it was ushered back to open water.

It was captured on video by a submersible camera, and even joined by a diver, Akinobu Kimura, owner of Diving Shop Kaiyu, who swam in close proximity to the red-and-white real-life sea monster.

"My curiosity was way bigger than fear, so I jumped into the water and go close to it," he told CNN.

"This squid was not damaged and looked lively, spurting ink and trying to entangle his tentacles around me. I guided the squid toward to the ocean, several hundred meters from the area it was found in, and it disappeared into the deep sea."

Second Rare Deep-Sea Ragfish Washes Ashore in Alaska (Jan 7)

A type of big, deep-ocean fish rarely seen at the water’s surface was found washed ashore Thursday in Gustavus in Southeast Alaska, the National Park Service reported.

A ragfish, measuring 65 inches long, was spotted near the dock in Gustavus, the town that serves as the headquarters for Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, officials said.

The discovery was made by a state transportation worker, said Craig Murdoch, a Park Service fisheries biologist.

“He was checking the dock and he noticed what he thought was a halibut,” Murdoch said. “He went and checked it out, and it was a fish he had never seen before.”

Thursday’s sighting followed one in the same area in July, when a 78-inch ragfish turned up on the shore of Bartlett Cove, Murdoch said.

In both cases, the fish were dead adult females and were full of eggs, he said.

There have not been many observations of ragfish, so it is hard to know the significance of two sightings in the same area within six months of each other, Murdoch said.

There is not a lot of information available about them, either. The formal species name, Icosteus aenigmaticus, is a nod to its enigmatic qualities. The common name “ragfish” derives from its limpness; its bone structure is mostly soft cartilage and its flesh is squid-like, according to the Park Service.

They are occasionally caught accidentally in some commercial seafood harvests, but there has been little research about them, said one study published in 2001 that analyzed records of more than 825 ragfish caught around the North Pacific.

They are found in much of the North Pacific, from the California coast to Japan. Adults are believed to live in waters 4,000 feet and deeper, though the maximum depth is not yet known. They are believed to eat squid, octopuses and jellyfish, Murdoch said.

The two fish found in the Glacier Bay area had empty digestive tracts, according to a Facebook message posted by the park.

Having two sightings occur within a short period in the same area “raises questions,” Murdoch said.

Source

https://www.adn.com/article/20160107/rare-deep-sea-fish-washes-asho...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/75737279/climate-ev...

'Climate event' blamed for trout and eel deaths at Lake Tutira in Hawke's Bay

Last updated 21:18, January 10 201

Hawke's Bay Regional Council scientists are investigating an apparent "climate-related event" that has killed large numbers of trout and eels at Lake Tutira, north of Napier.

One estimate is that hundreds of fish have died at the lake, beside State Highway 2 between Napier and Wairoa.

The regional council believes the environmental conditions that caused the deaths have now abated and do not pose a danger to people visiting the lake.

Some of the dead eels found at the lake.

Council scientist Andy Hicks said the deaths were probably related to low levels of dissolved oxygen in the surface water of the lake.

Data collected at Lake Tutira showed dissolved oxygen levels had been "atypically low" over recent days while summer weather had brought high water temperatures.

"At this time of year, the warmer surface usually stays separated from the cooler but low-oxygen bottom water. But there is some evidence of mixing – and this would explain the unusually low oxygen seen in the surface water," he said.

"In combination with the high water temperature, the low oxygen levels observed would certainly be enough to explain some fish kills."

Oxygen levels had "crept up" since Wednesday, meaning more deaths were unlikely, but the council would continue to monitor the situation, Hicks said.

Council environmental officer Ian Lilburn said he was unsure if the count of dead fish and eels would reach into the hundreds, as had been suggested.

He had encountered two to three dozen dead trout and a few eels when he visited the lake on Tuesday.

Despite the oxygen issue affecting fish at the lake, the water quality appeared to be "reasonable" meaning there was no public health issue, Lilburn said.

Just prior to Christmas the council warned the public of a non-toxic algal bloom on the lake.

Lilburn said as an algal bloom died off, it could sap oxygen from the lake, which may have been a factor in the fish deaths.

It was not the first time such conditions had led to fish deaths in the lake, he said.

http://news.sky.com/story/1621323/thousands-of-seabirds-found-dead-...

Thousands Of Seabirds Found Dead In Alaska

Experts believe warming ocean surface temperatures could be making food sources scarce for the common murres.

The common murres have starved to death. File picture

Venomous Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake Washes Up on Coronado Beach (1/13/16)
 A 20-inch-long, venomous, yellow-bellied sea snake, rarely seen on the California coast, washed up on Coronado's north beach Tuesday.

...Lifeguards reached out to several local snake experts who confirmed the creature was a yellow-bellied sea snake normally found in tropical oceanic waters.

This is the second yellow-bellied sea snake to wash up on Southern California shores in the past month. On Dec. 12, another one was discovered in Huntington Beach.

The Coronado discovery would be the fourth time this dangerous animal has been found in California. Multiple snakes were seen in Oxnard in October.

Before that, a yellow-bellied snake hasn’t been seen since one came onto San Clemente Beach in 1972, according to the Surfrider Foundation.

Surfrider experts previously told NBC that the snakes are now appearing due to El Nino. As the water temperatures get warmer, the snakes could be coming farther north to feed on small fish and eels.

The species is typically spotted in the warmer waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans. ...

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Venomous-Yellow-Bellied-Sea-S...

http://www.inquisitr.com/2647825/rare-sea-serpent-washes-ashore-in-...

http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2016/01/14/48705/

Masses of Dead Fish Found Near Olympic Sailing Venue

Published on January 14th, 2016

Thousands of dead fish were found floating in Rio de Janeiro’s picturesque but polluted bay Wednesday (Jan 13), not far from where the Olympic sailing competitions will be held in August.

Bobbing in the waves alongside floating garbage, the fish, mostly sardines, washed ashore near the international airport, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from where Brazil will hold the 2016 Olympic sailing courses.

Masses of dead fish have previously been found floating in the bay in October 2014 and February 2015, when more than 12 tons were removed. Authorities have blamed the tropical heat, but some residents are doubtful.

“It’s because of the contamination of the water, it isn’t a natural phenomenon. The water is very, very polluted,” said Roger Texeira, a 45-year-old travel agent.

Environmental authorities said they were investigating whether the fish may have been dumped by commercial fishermen who were trying to catch more valuable species.

The Rio state government had vowed a major clean-up of Guanabara bay for the Olympics, but now admits it will not meet its goal. However, Olympic organizers say the sailing venue will be clean and that competitors will not face any health risks.

http://www.thebigwobble.org/2016/01/at-least-45-whales-died-after-g...

Thursday, 14 January 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ONaFJVwbmg

At least 45 whales died after a group of 81 washed ashore in Tamil Nadu India: Underwater disturbance... earthquake or volcano thought responsible.

What spooked a group of more than 80 whales to wash ashore in Tamil Nadu India?
At least 45 whales died after they washed ashore overnight on a beach in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin district, officials said on Tuesday, with experts attributing the deaths to a possible underwater disturbance like an earthquake or volcano.
Helped by local fishermen, workers of the Tamil Nadu fisheries department, police and the administration managed to save 36 whales of the pod -- or group -- by towing them back to sea on Tuesday, officials said.
While beaching of whales and other aquatic animals is common around the world, experts said it was rare to find such a large number of whales washing up ashore and hinted at the mammals being disoriented by underground activity.
Officials said that the pod of 81 short-finned pilot whales had beached near Mandapu village since Monday evening.
The area is around 600 km south of Chennai.
"It appears the whales are in shock.
It mainly happened due to unusual activity deep inside the sea," said a scientist with the Chennai-based Central Marine Fisheries Institute.
A team of experts have also rushed to the village for an on-the-spot assessment of the cause.
Pilot whales - known to be among some of the most social aquatic mammals -- are so named because they are led or 'piloted' by a leader in their search for food or breeding grounds.
A forest department official who had visited the beach said there were injury marks on the dead whales which indicated "high intensity" underwater activity.
"This may have happened hundreds of kilometres away and the whales may have been washed to the coast because of the tide," said the official who did not give his name.
Rescue workers and fishermen worked through the day to pull the whales -- each weighing between 1 tonne to 1.5 tonne and measuring between 8 feet and 10 feet -- back into the sea.
Ten fishing boats and one mechanised fishing made several sorties, each ferrying one whale at a time to sea and returning for more on the shore.
Local residents said that the last time they saw such a large number of whales beaching was way back in 1973 when 140 whales had washed ashore.
Many of them had died.

Thousands of squid wash ashore on Chile beach (1/14/16)

Thousands of squid have washed up on the shores of Chile, causing a foul stench and health concerns for local residents.

Residents on the island of Santa Maria in southern Chile said the squid started washing up on the beaches five days ago. Squid wash up there every year, but residents say there are a lot more of them this year.

As the clean-up effort is prolonged and the bodies begin to decompose, people are worrying about the health implications.

...An investigation is underway to determine why so many more squid washed up on the shores this year. Experts say preliminary evidence suggests the squid died and washed up on shore due to an oceanographic phenomenon called "upwelling," which is when dense, cooler and usually nutrient-rich water moves towards the ocean surface, replacing the warmer, usually nutrient-depleted surface water.

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/thousands-of-squid-wash-ashore-on-chile-...

Another Giant Oarfish Appears in Philippines (Jan 6)
A giant oarfish was found in Albay province on January 6.

Recovered on a beach in Pantao, Libon, an Albay town, it measured 4 meters and weighed 50 kilos.

Its appearance on the coast of Albay bewildered beachgoers and fishermen.

A series of photos capturing the oarfish uploaded on Albay Governor Joey Salcedo’s Facebook page went viral.

This elusive creature lives at depths of 3,280 feet.

Sources

http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/118730-rare-fish-sighting-albay-spar...

http://www.earthtouchnews.com/oceans/deep-ocean/another-giant-oarfi...

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mass-animal-deaths-on-the-rise-worldwide/

Mass Mortality Events (MME)

January 16, 2015, 5:54 AM

​Mass animal deaths on the rise worldwide

Thousands of birds fall from the sky. Millions of fish wash up on the shore. Honey bee populations decimated. Bats overtaken by a deadly fungus. Piglets die in droves from a mysterious disease.

It was tragic stories such as these that prompted a group of researchers from the University of San Diego, UC Berkeley and Yale to embark on a broad review of all the reports of large animal die-offs in the scientific literature since the middle of the last century. They turned up 727 such papers documenting "mass mortality events" (MME) of 2,407 global populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians and marine invertebrates -- like the thousands of starfish that perished in North America in 2014.

Their analyses, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, revealed that not only are these events becoming more frequent, they're also increasing in magnitude, with the number of fatalities higher for birds, fish and marine invertebrates. Thirty-five events completely or nearly wiped out an entire population.

Play Video

Mass fish die-off in Calif.

Over the last 70-plus years -- between 1940 and 2012, when the researchers ended their data collection -- there has been about one more MME per year.

"Going from one event to 70 each year is a substantial increase, especially given the increased magnitudes of MMEs for some of these organisms," said Adam Siepielski, University of San Diego assistant professor of biology and the study's co-lead author.

The cumulative death toll reaches into the billions.

The number one cause was disease, which was responsible for 26 percent of the mass killings, followed -- no big surprise -- by human activity, mostly traceable to environmental contamination. Toxic algal blooms, like the one that has plagued Lake Erie in recent years, have also emerged as a leading killer.

"Mass die-offs result from both natural and human-driven causes," said study coauthor Samuel Fey, a Yale researcher who studies how extreme temperatures can affect biological populations.

Play Video

Honeybee crisis: What's killing the bees?

And even accounting for the possibility of reporting bias -- that is, an increase of attention that can potentially skew numbers to look artificially more impressive -- he and the team believe that their results are robust. That said, as much as anything, their findings show how important it is to get the reporting right.

"Determining whether or not the upswing in the occurrence of MMEs is a real phenomenon or simply a result of increased awareness remains a critical challenge that needs to be addressed," they wrote. "Such results, combined with lack of studies measuring MMEs using population-level data, highlights the need for an improved program for monitoring MMEs."

Kent Redford, a conservation consultant and former director of the Wildlife Conservation Society Institute who was not involved in the study, agreed.

"Rare and dramatic events capture the human attention and imagination," he told CBS News. "This paper makes the important case for the need to document the dramatic death of large numbers of animals. Understanding the factors that structure animal communities requires knowledge of how and why animals die and more importantly, understanding how and why human actions shape the 'unnatural' deaths of animals is a prerequisite to knowing how to ameliorate such deaths."

But while headline-grabbing stories -- like the deaths of a third of the nation's honey bees due to colony collapse disorder, or white-nose syndrome, which has killed 6 million bats in the U.S. since 2007 (neither was included in the PNAS paper) -- deserve close study and widespread alarm, they don't show the whole picture.

"We must not let the rare dramatic events distract us from focusing on the smaller but constant erosion of animal communities that is taking place worldwide as a result of human action," said Redford. "Over the long term, these less-interesting and less note-worthy mortality factors are undoubtedly more important to study and to stop."

http://www.thebigwobble.org/2016/01/300-dead-turtles-found-on-beach...

300 dead turtles found on a beach in Odisha, India: Locals astonished by sheer number!

It's been a bad start to the year for for marine wildlife around the world along with the 7 dead grey whales on the Mexican coast, 13 sperm whales died on the Dutch and German coast last week and 45 dead whales washed up on the Indian coast....
Probably more than 100,000 sea birds have died along the coast of Alaska and thousands of squid have washed up dead along the coast of Chile all after a report stating 70% of our sea birds and 75% of the worlds fish are now depleted:

No fish left in our oceans by the year 2048 NOAA:

More marine life carnage is being reported from Puri Beach, Odisha in India, as 300 Olive Ridley turtles have washed up dead along the popular beach, a bottlenose dolphin was also found dead...
It's not unusual to find the occasional dead turtle this time of the year however the sheer number of turtle carcasses has astonished the locals.
According to news reports, the forest and marine fisheries authorities have seized two trawlers for carrying out unauthorised fishing - despite a ban which was put in place due to the nesting season of the turtles. Collector of Puri, Arabind Agarwal, told the media that a report had been sought from the concerned agencies. He said:
"This is unfortunate that a large number of Olive Ridley turtles died on the beach.
It seemed that they were hit by trawlers."
The Beach Protection Council of Odisha (BPCO), a voluntary organisation working for the protection of the beach has given a memorandum to Aggarwal demanding strict implementation of the fishing ban between November and May.
Further south around 80 whales were washed ashore on the southern coast at Tiruchendur in Tamil Nadu.
At least 45 of the short-finned pilot whales died despite rescue efforts.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jan/25/fifth-whale-repo...

Fifth dead whale found on English beach

Experts investigate possible causes of worst stranding on the English coast since records began in 1913, while people flock to sites to take photos

A fifth dead whale has been found washed up on the Lincolnshire coast, several miles from four other members of the same pod, marking the worst sperm whale stranding off the English coast since records began in 1913.

The fifth whale was discovered by a member of the public on Monday afternoon on a former weapons range in Lincolnshire where the second world war Dambusters squadron practised bombing runs.

Onlookers have been told to stay away from the land, which was sold by the Ministry of Defence six years ago, and it remains inaccessible to scientists amid warnings that it may be strewn with unexploded bombs.

The male sperm whale was found five miles down the coast from where three others were found in Skegness at the weekend and across the shallow waters of the Wash from where another whale was found on Hunstanton beach in Norfolk.

Scientists believe that the whales, all members of the same pod, were hungry and dehydrated but alive when they were stranded in shallow waters during their search for food. Sperm whales are deep sea creatures and can easily become disoriented if they get into shallow water.

One of the Skegness whale bodies “exploded” when pathologists cut it open, and Rob Deaville, project manager at the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, a Defra-funded group that investigates whale deaths, said the quickly decomposing state of the carcasses made it “much harder to gain any pathologically useful information”.

According to Deaville, their investigations found little in the whales’ intestines apart from “some squid beaks and some little fragments of plastic”. He said this suggested the whales died when the weight of their own bodies caused their internal organs to collapse. 

“This is an unusual event and the question hanging is why they were in the North Sea in the first place,” said Deaville. With a lack of food and shallow, disorientating waters for a deep sea animal, “they were always up against it unless they could find their way out through the big open end between Norway and Scotland.”

Thousands of people have flocked to the tourist resort of Skegness to see the whales since Sunday, with onlookers taking selfies in front of the huge carcasses as marine biologists cut away chunks of flesh and bone.

Experts are investigating whether the whales are linked to 12 more that have washed up on the Dutch island of Texel and the German islands of Wangerooge and Helgoland since 11 January.

There was controversy after anti-nuclear activists sprayed two of the dead whales with graffiti. The message “Fukushima RIP – man killed me” was daubed in white paint along the back of one, and “CND” was sprayed on the tail of another.

James Gilbert, of East Lindsey district council, said it was “very unfortunate” that activists had targeted the dead whales. “It’s incredibly sad to graffiti such a beautiful animal,” he said.

The council has applied for a licence from the Marine Management Organisation to remove the carcasses as soon as postmortem examinations are complete. That is expected to happen in the next few days, he said.

“They have been cordoned off. The very clear message we’re giving to people is while we understand people do want to come and have a look because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, please don’t touch. We put all the cordons in place first thing Saturday morning but some people do have the enthusiasm to want to touch,” Gilbert said.

He estimated that crowds “in the low thousands” had been drawn to Skegness over the weekend to see the whales. As he spoke, a crowd of around 100 

spectators had gathered around the two whales found side by side on the beach as a scientist from the Zoological Society carried out his work.

Gilbert added: “It’s an educational experience for some people. It’s just incredibly sad to see such beautiful animals in that space at the same time.

“There’s no doubt about it – there’s an awful lot of people in the resort and quite a few people have come here because of the whales. Skegness, for the past few days - although it’s a very sad reason why – has been all over the broadcast media, print media and people have certainly come as a result of hearing and reading about it.”

http://www.news24.com/Green/News/argentina-snake-invasion-forces-be...

Argentina snake invasion forces beach closures

A street flooded in Alto Alegre, province of Cordoba, Argentina. 

Rosario - An invasion of poisonous snakes washed downriver in recent floods forced authorities to close beaches to summer holidaymakers in northern Argentina, officials said on Monday.

Floodwaters in the Rio Plata and Rio Parana carried a species of water lily and with it countless crawling, slithering creatures, south to beaches at the mouths of those rivers near Buenos Aires.

"We are raising awareness of the risk and danger present today. There are otters and species of snakes that are poisonous," said Matias Leyes, an official in the coastal town of Quilmes, south of the capital.

"The beaches of Quilmes have been closed as a precaution. We were cleaning up the coast during the week and while doing so we saw the snakes under the water lilies."

Inland river beaches were also closed over the weekend in the northern city of Rosario.

Locals there spotted displaced animals such as otters, a wild boar and a fox cub as well as snakes, scorpions and stinging insects.

Water covered the beaches and even the terraces of seaside bars in Rosario, as summer temperatures reached 40°C.

"It is dangerous because when there is not much beach there is more risk of coming into direct contact with rodents or snakes, whose dens are all flooded," said Gonzalo Ratner, a top civil defence official in Rosario.

Experts have blamed severe flooding in recent weeks in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay on the El Nino extreme weather phenomenon.

Locust plagues being reported in Argentina and northwest Queensland in Australia.

Argentina Scrambles to Fight Biggest Plague of Locusts in 60 Years (Jan 25)

Farmers and fumigators in Argentina are running out of time as they scramble to control the country’s worst plague of locusts in more than half a century, officials warned on Monday.

The provincial authorities and Senasa, the government’s agricultural inspection agency, have intensified their efforts to exterminate swarms of the insects in the dry forests of northern Argentina. But their attempts might not be enough to prevent the locusts from developing into a flying throng in the coming days — when they will then threaten to devour crops like sunflowers and cotton, and grasslands for cattle grazing.

“It’s the worst explosion in the last 60 years,” Diego Quiroga, the agriculture agency’s chief of vegetative protection, said in a telephone interview. “It’s impossible to eradicate; the plague has already established itself. We’re just acting to make sure it’s the smallest it can be and does the least damage possible.”

Small pockets of locusts, which first appeared last June, at the start of winter in the Southern Hemisphere, have spread across an area of northern Argentina about the size of Delaware. The mild and rainy winter here created comfortable breeding conditions for the locusts; their surge outpaced the ability of the authorities to control the spread of the insects.

Farmers last year reported locust clouds that were more than four miles long and nearly two miles high, said Juan Pablo Karnatz, a representative for the Province of Santiago del Estero at the Rural Confederations of Argentina, which represents more than 100,000 farmers here.

In the past five years, Senasa, the agricultural agency, has seen an increase in the numbers of insects that can destroy crops — like fruit flies that threaten citrus groves — as a result of warmer, wetter winters.

Sources

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/26/world/americas/argentina-scramble...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyYYJiO-A54

Locust Plagues Wreak Havoc on Queensland Farms (Jan 27)

Plagues of locusts are causing nightmares for northwest Queensland graziers just weeks after their dreams of much-needed rain were realised.

The large plagues have emerged around Charters Towers, wiping out grass shoots that began to sprout after late December rain.

Charters Towers Mayor Frank Beveridge said the problem was particularly bad in some areas west of the township.

"You can be driving along and then hit a huge plague of them and be left with dead insects all over your car," he told AAP.

"It can be quite devastating if you are a grazier and have waited 12 months for rain ... and then the grass disappears."

Videos highlighting the extent of the problem have emerged on Facebook.

Grazier Patrick Scharf posted a video showing a huge swarm of the locusts hopping over a patch of land.

"This is what we have to put up with now. As a small green pick comes up these little mungral's (sic) just chew it off," he wrote.

Mr Scharf said he had been spraying the locusts since mid-January and help was needed from government departments.

Cr Beveridge said the climatic conditions had to be just right for the locusts to thrive and it was hard to predict how long the problem would last.

"If the conditions extend then they might cycle a number of times, which means they are a problem for a lot longer," he said.

Source

http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/01/27/11/49/plagues-of-locust...

Martha's Vineyard

http://www.mvtimes.com/2016/01/26/fish-bodies-on-the-lagoon-as-far-...

Wild Side: Fish bodies on the Lagoon, as far as the eye could see

What might cause so many scup to perish?

One of many dead scup washed ashore, its eyes pecked out by fish crows. Photo by Matt Pelikan

http://www.ejinsight.com/20160201-mass-fish-deaths-reported-again-a...

Scientists think Gulf of Alaska seabird die-off is biggest ever recorded

https://www.adn.com/article/20160129/scientists-think-gulf-alaska-s...

The mass of dead seabirds that have washed up on Alaska beaches in past months is unprecedented in size, scope and duration, a federal biologist said at an Anchorage science conference.

The staggering die-off of common murres, the iconic Pacific seabirds sometimes likened to flying penguins, is a signal that something is awry in the Gulf of Alaska, said Heather Renner, supervisory wildlife biologist at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.

“We are in the midst of perhaps the largest murre die-off ever recorded,” Renner told the Alaska Marine Science Symposium on Thursday. While there have been big die-offs of murres and other seabirds in the past, recorded since the 1800s, this one dwarfs most of them, Renner said.

 “This event is almost certainly larger than the murres killed in the Exxon Valdez oil spill,” she said.

After that spill -- at the time, the nation's largest -- about 22,000 dead murres were recovered by crews conducting extensive beach searches in the four months after the tanker grounding, according to the Exxon Valdez Trustee Council, the federal-state panel that administers funds paid to settle spill-related claims for natural-resource damages. 

Now, hundreds and thousands of dead murres are turning up on a wide variety of Alaska beaches, including nearly 8,000 discovered this month on a mile-long stretch in Whittier, she said. A preliminary survey in Prince William Sound has already turned up more than 22,000 dead murres there, she said. Starving, dying and dead murres are showing up far from their marin..., in inland places as distant as Fairbanks, hundreds of miles from the Gulf of Alaska coast, making the die-off exceptionally large in geographic scale.

Even if she weren’t an expert, the bird die-off would be obvious to Renner. She lives in Homer, where the beaches are “littered” with murre carcasses, she said.

“You can’t walk more than a few feet without finding murres,” she said.

Since only a small proportion of those killed ever show up as carcasses on the shore -- past studies put that proportion at 15 percent -- the actual death toll is likely much higher, Renner said.

The murre die-off began last spring, making it an especially long-lasting event. It coincides with widespread deaths of other marine animals, from whales in the Gulf of Alaska to sea lions in California. The die-off is overwhelmingly affecting common murres rather than thick-billed murres, which are closely related but tend to use slightly more western and northwestern waters from the Aleutians to the Chukchi Sea.

The immediate cause of the bird deaths is starvation.

“They just simply aren’t able to find the food that they need to survive,” Renner said. Necropsies conducted by the National Wildlife Health Center in Wisconsin found the dead murres were emaciated, with no food in their gastrointestinal systems and no fat on their bodies.

But what's behind the starvation?

Renner said biologists are focusing on three potential culprits that may be working independently or in concert with one another. And a common thread is heat, likely related to the “Blob” of warm water that persisted in 2014 and 2015 in the North Pa... and pushed temperatures as much as 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal.

“Warm water is implicated,” she said.

Warmer waters might have affected murre food supplies or altered the birds' food needs by changing their metabolism, she said. Many past die-offs have been associated with warm waters, supporting the argument that the Blob is to blame, she said. The investigation is complicated because biologists have unanswered questions about the winter diet of murres, birds famous for their deep dives to forage for fish in summer.

“We know a lot more about what they eat in the summer than what they eat in the winter,” Renner said.

Another suspect is a series of strong storms that might have scattered already stressed birds this winter, she said.

A third suspect is harmful algal blooms, which proliferate in warm waters and have been connected to some other marine animals' deaths.

So far, toxins associated with such algal blooms have not been found in dead murres examined by the National Wildlife Health Center. But it is possible that the signs of the toxins would have vanished long before the tests, even if they killed the birds, because the toxins don’t linger in body tissue and instead are generally found in food in animals’ digestive systems -- something missing from these murres’ carcasses.

Renner said she is not yet worried about the die-off threatening Alaska's overall common murre population, roughly estimated at 2.8 million.

Still, troubling signs warrant monitoring in the future.

A breeding colony in the Barren Islands that is usually teeming in late summer with adult murres tending their young was deserted this year, she said. The site, at East Amatuli Island, usually has nesting birds crowded into the cracks of the rock face, but this year, “nobody was home,” Renner said. “In more than three decades of monitoring murres in the Barrens, we’ve never had complete reproduction failure before.” Similar failures occurred at some other nesting colonies, though not at all, she said.

Common murres and whales -- which are the subject of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration investigation after several were found dead this summer -- are not the only Gulf of Alaska marine animals to fall victim to ailments believed to be related to warm waters in 2014 and 2015.

Tammy Hoem Neher, a NOAA scientist working with the multiagency program Gulf Watch Alaska, listed a wide range of changes in the marine systems observed during the period of unusual warmth.

Kachemak Bay saw an eight-fold increase in sea otter deaths, with carcasses showing signs of toxins produced by harmful algal blooms, Neher said at the symposium. Sea stars in Kachemak Bay in 2015 were found stricken with a wasting disease similar to that which has killed large numbers of the animals elsewhere on the U.S. West Coast, she said. One hypothesis is that the unusually warm waters exacerbated other stresses on the sea stars, she said.

But at least one Gulf of Alaska marine population thrived in the new conditions, Neher said. Fish-eating resident killer whales have feasted on big runs of salmon, fattening up without having to swim very far, she said.

“They kind of lazed around day to day,” she said.

North Sea whale death toll rises to 23 as another eight are washed up on German coast after mass beachings across Europe

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3427195/The-gentle-giants-g...

• Eight dead sperm whales have washed up on a German beach near the northern town of Friedrichskoog 
• They were lying close to each other in the mudflats of a restricted area of the Wadden Sea national park 
• The total number of whales dying after becoming beached on the coast of northern Europe has risen to 23 
• Three sperm whales died after they washed up on a Skegness beach and were taken to landfill to avoid vandals  
• Shocking pictures later emerged of 'trophy' hunters hacking at the bodies and stealing teeth

Eight dead sperm whales have died after they were washed up on a German beach today, taking the total number of dead whales to 23 after a devastating number of beachings during the past month across northern Europe.

The eight whales found near the northern town of Friedrichskoog were young bulls, around the same age as the animals discovered three weeks ago at various North Sea spots.

They were lying close to each other in the mudflats of a restricted area of the Wadden Sea national park, the Schleswig-Holstein regional environmental authority said in a statement.

Since the 1990s, a total of 82 sperm wales have been found stranded in the Wadden Sea in Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany.

The sperm whale is the largest of the toothed whales, and the largest toothed predator.It can measure up to 20 metres (67 feet) long and weigh over 50 tonnes.

'The males of this population spend their winters in the north Atlantic.During their migrations, individual animals mistakenly wind up in the shallow and nutrient-poor North Sea,' the authority said.

The shallow water makes it difficult for them to use their acoustic orientation to navigate and many become beached.

Wildlife protection groups also blame the underwater noise from sea traffic and oil platforms for interfering with acoustic signals.

http://www.kake.com/home/headlines/Dozens-of-birds-found-dead-in-Wi...

The man in the video said they were dropping from the sky.

Dozens of birds found dead in Wichita neighborhood

Updated: Thu 5:45 PM, Feb 04, 2016

WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) -- About 40 Starlings were found dead on a street and in a neighborhood in West Wichita on Wednesday.

"It's kind of weird," said Seth Dugan, who works nearby.

The birds were found dead on Carr Avenue, south of Kellogg and Maize Road.

"Completely clear and then come back out 20 minutes later and there was a ton of birds laying out here and people were stopping and taking pictures on their cell phones," said Dugan.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Wichita Fire Department responded to the scene and gathered the dead birds. The Kansas Department of Wildlife Parks and Tourism also responded and investigated the cause of death.

Wildlife Biologist Charlie Cope has ruled out poison and guns as the cause of death.

"Occasionally, a couple may come in contact with electrical line," said Cope. "Those birds being in contact and getting electrocuted, that would be my best guess based on years of doing this."

Cope added that Starlings are not protected by federal or state law as they are an "invasive species" and not native to North America.

If you need assistance with picking up stray, sick, injured, or dead animals, call your local animal control agency. The Wichita Animal Control can be reached at 350-3360

The location of dead birds reported in Starr's post below coincides with mystery booms heard in January - Wichita, Kansas.

http://ksn.com/2016/01/24/loud-booms-bring-deputies-firefighters-to...

http://www.sott.net/article/311636-Fish-rain-down-on-Dire-Dawa-Ethi...

Sun, 07 Feb 2016

Fish rain down on Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

Fri, 29 Jan 2016 18:31 UTC

Residents of Dire Dawa observed the rains of fish in the town. According to sources, it was dust particles that was dropping in balls. Later the fish drop everywhere. The residents are familiar with such a rain since it rain in the past.

While asked his comments on the unusual incident Haromaya University Academician in the field of Meteorology and Climate Mr Efrem Mamo said such incidents are common in areas where ocean currents and winds are heavier than the usual. Mamo who said he had once heard similar thing happening in Hawasa about 10 years ago added, to have a clear view on today's happening it will be necessary knowing recent day's metrological data of Dire Dawa town.

Source: gudnew.com

Shark attacks hit record high in 2015, global tally shows (2/8/16)

Sharks attacked people 98 times in 2015, a spike in unprovoked attacks that set a new record...

Six people were killed by sharks, including a snorkeler in Hawaii. Two deaths were recorded off the Indian Ocean island of Réunion, and shark attack victims also died in Australia, Egypt and New Caledonia, according to data submitted by scientists worldwide.

While last year saw twice as many fatal attacks as 2014, the number of deadly encounters was roughly on par with the past decade’s average, said George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File. Maintained at the University of Florida, the database was established in 1958.

The International Shark Attack File said it had investigated 164 incidents worldwide in 2015, and found 98 to be cases of unprovoked shark attacks on humans.

It defines unprovoked attacks as “incidents where an attack on a live human occurs in the shark’s natural habitat with no human provocation of the shark”.

The 98 unprovoked attacks surpassed by 10 the previous high recorded in 2000, Burgess said.

Shark attacks are occurring further north in the United States as warmer ocean temperatures extend the marine animal’s range, Burgess noted. In a rare incident, a New Yorker was attacked while boogie boarding off Long Island, he said. ...

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/09/shark-attacks-re...

ZetaTalk Explanation 5/31/2008 in "Shark Attack Increase"

These are just some of the signals that humans and animals alike are getting from the presence of Planet X. For the shark, this is primarily a warmer ocean habitat, with their normal prey shifting locations due to these changes. A shark's normal prey can be depleted or decimated due to illness, or a depressed immune system, so the shark needs to hunt other prey. It is not just a trapped animal or an animal protecting its young that gets more aggressive. A hungry animal is also more aggressive. The assumption is made that the shark is the problem, so that the focus in on the shark. Have studies been made as to the effect of warming waters on the shark's normal prey? Where is the global seal count in all of this? Nonexistent!

Thousands of starfish wash ashore in ‘rare' Florida moment (1/26/16)

Florida Fish and Wildlife officials have an environmental mystery on their hands after thousands of starfish were found beached.

Port St. Joe is south of Panama City, and people who live along the coast there found thousands of the sea creatures washed ashore Sunday morning.

Officials say it’s rare, but has happened before.

Researchers say environmental factors like temperature change or the recent case of red tide could have caused the starfish to wash ashore.

http://www.wkyc.com/news/special-reports/watch-thousands-of-starfis...

Guangzhou is a large number of dead fish in a lake packed away, said the public “not afraid”

During the Yangcheng Evening News reporter Liang Yi Tao reported that the Spring Festival holidays, have to go to Guangzhou University Town Lake play people found University Town Center lake large number of dead fish. Yangcheng Evening News reporter February 8 pm arrived at the scene, there are indeed a phenomenon. For the fish’s death, there are fishing experienced public that fish is frozen to death, University Town Center lake represents the relevant security personnel will be arranged as soon as possible to clean up. Some people also do not mind dead, still salvage away. Site: dead fish floating on a lake, the lake is now smell February 8 afternoon, the reporter in Guangzhou University Town Center lake to see holiday here people such as weaving, many people sitting in this resort. “Do not be too close to the lake.” For some of the kids from the parents came to the center of Lake, immediately to discourage parents. Approaching the lake, the reporter saw clear water discoloration, dark green from the middle of the lake, the lake turns red soil. Look closely, near the lake of red soil around the lake, even mixed with a lot of dead fish. I saw these dead fish, some small, some like dead many days, just as some did not take long to die, even if occasionally see twelve float, they have shown a moribund state. “How suddenly so many dead fish?” A visitor for the immediate scene expressed surprise. During the reporter arrived at the scene, University Town Center lake continued wafting smell. Fishing persons: fish froze to death; those for fish: do not mind dead fish Hey lake, how a large number of dead fish it? And surprised the general public compared to fishing lake several guests, appeared to be quite calm. I saw them at the scene still swing fishing, caught a fish on the spot was also up. “Do not worry too much.” Fishing man told a reporter, full of dead fish tilapia. This massive death of fish, usually certain conditions are met, “This fish is tropical fish, as long as the water temperature is below 5 degrees will not survive.” The man said, recently in Guangzhou, low temperatures, especially after dark, because they can not believe that these fish are get through the low temperature and large number of deaths. Despite the recent warmer weather, the fishing but analysts said the freezing cold tilapia usually after some time to see, “when cold sink to the bottom of the lake to fish, frozen to death slowly float from the bottom of the lake.” It was in addition to fishing, more reporters in the crowd and saw a middle-aged man holding a fishing net and a plastic bag, in the heart of Lake scoured “prey.” Whenever you see the lake there is no dead fish dying, the middle-aged man put the fish scooped “take away.” “Not afraid of, but not poisoned.” The middle-aged man said. But for these fish to eat their own or for other purposes, the middle-aged man declined. Security Service said it would clean up as soon as possible, look up the history of University Town Center lake dead fish more than once a collective For a large number of dead fish, the scene of Xiaoguwei security personnel said they had noticed this phenomenon, “We will inform the higher authorities as soon as possible to clean up salvage.” Security personnel said the University Town Center lake collective dead fish, in fact, there have been more than once. Search of past media reports, the Guangzhou University Town Center lake, fish first appeared almost a year in recent years, collective deaths. February 26, 2014, University Town Center lake was found a large fish kills tourists. At that time, he had informed Xiaoguwei regard, a large number of fish died, and the cold weather related. March 23, 2015, University Town Center lake again was found dead fish, there are NGO by drawing water samples and found that poor water quality, five belong to inferior water quality.

http://www.hihuadu.com/2016/02/09/guangzhou-is-a-large-number-of-de...

An excellent compilation of die-offs in 2015

http://strangesounds.org/animal-mass-die-off-strange-behaviors

Am I completely nuts or apocalyptic animal mass kills are increasing dramatically around the world?

Yes, giant mass die-offs, disease outbreaks and other stressors are on the rise, killing billions… But we don’t react! Are they so mysterious?

Below, find a collection of animal mass die-offs from around the world for 2015.

Animal are dying in huge numbers due to pollution of sea and air:

• Millions of fish and massive numbers of whales and dolphins are washing ashore dead.

• Birds are falling dead from the sky

• Poultry are dying from avian flu. and cattles from other sometimes unknown disease.

The increase of mass die-off is unprecedent right now and will probably continue raising at an alarming rate if we don’t start to take more care about our Earth!

And of course discover the latest news and articles about strange animal behaviors and new animal species discovery.

Ochre sea stars have suffered 95 percent die-off in SLO County (1/15/16)

The mass die-off of sea stars along the West Coast continues unabated, including in San Luis Obispo County, where an estimated 95 percent of ochre sea stars have died.

...From Alaska to Mexico, from 70 to 99 percent of the sea stars have died. Areas on the East Coast have also been affected.

The disease was first detected in 2013 and spread rapidly. Sea stars are often called starfish.

“In some places, they are completely gone,” Raimondi said. “It’s bad, and it’s been bad for the past several years.”

Researchers with Raimondi’s lab monitor eight tide pool locations in San Luis Obispo County twice a year, including Shell Beach, Diablo Canyon and Montaña de Oro State Park. About 15 species of sea stars are affected by the disease.

...The good news is the fact that researchers are finding a lot of baby sea stars in tide pools. Animals like sea stars often react to being under stress by reproducing as much as possible, he said.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article60541556.html

ZetaTalk Chat Q&A for November 16, 2013 http://www.zetatalk.com/ning/16no2013.htm

It is not pollution, but the sloshing tides caused by the Earth wobble that are killing the Starfish on N American coasts. Puzzled scientists should examine water samples from the killing zone with samples where the Starfish are healthy. Starfish are not found universally in all waters around the world. Why do some ecosystems cause them to flourish, and others not? Therein lies the answer.

http://www.sott.net/article/312780-Dozens-of-dead-birds-found-along...

Dozens of dead birds found along highway in Youngstown, Ohio

Dead birds

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is investigating the death of dozens of birds found Saturday along Interstate 680 in Youngstown.

Passers-by spotted the carcasses of large black birds along the north bound lane near Midlothian Boulevard.

ODNR Wildlife Officer Jesse Janosik told 21 News that he would take photographs of the dead birds and collect samples for testing.

Janosik says he expects it will take a couple of days before it is determined what caused the animals to die.

According to the Division of Wildlife website, ODNR actively follows up on reports of any wildlife diseases in Ohio and monitors the health of wildlife populations to ensure their long-term conservation.

and another:

http://www.eveningsun.com/story/news/local/2016/02/22/13-bald-eagle...

13 bald eagles found dead in Maryland

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-bald-eagles-2016022...

Federal officials are investigating the deaths of 13 bald eagles.

The Baltimore Sun reports investigators were called to a farm in Federalsburg, Maryland on Saturday afternoon after a man discovered some of the birds.

Maryland Natural Resources Police spokeswoman Candy Thomson said the man was looking for shed deer antlers when he noticed four dead bald eagles. Thomson said officers went on to search the grounds and discovered an additional nine dead eagles.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now investigating the situation.

Officials have not said if the eagles were killed intentionally. Additional information has not been provided.

Federal officials are investigating the deaths of 13 bald eagles.

Vanuatu fish stocks down with soaring temperatures

http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/296800/vanuatu-...

Updated at 7:51 pm on 17 February 2016

As Vanuatu struggles to cope with minimal food crops in the wake of last year's Cyclone Pam, the soaring temperatures are now impacting fish stocks.

Dead fish washed up on Fiji's coral coast.

Photo: Reef Explorer Fiji Ltd

'Fish kills' occur when the water temperature does not decrease enough during high tide, and the fish swimming in the shallows can't survive.

Thousands of fish have been washed ashore in Fiji and Vanuatu in the last few days.

Rocky Kaku is with the Vanuatu Fisheries Department and said people on the island of Efate were worried about their livelihoods.

"They are quite worried about the fish, which some of them benefit for their livelihood, they use the fish for food and so since we are in the hot season they are quite worried about what they will eat and what they will make money out of in the coming months or future."

Mr Kaku said the government had allowed fish aggregation devices to be set up for local boat owners as well as fishermen who did not have boats, so to avoid fishing on coral reefs, which had also been damaged.

A lengthy compilation of mass deaths so far in 2016.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/02/22/467652376/cdc-say...

Mass Animal Deaths for 2016

Below is a list of worldwide mass animal deaths for 2016, with pages also for mass die offs from the previous 5 years. There are animals dying all over the world today in huge numbers, due to the polluted state of the sea and air. Millions of Fish and massive numbers of whales and dolphins are washing ashore dead. Birds are falling dead out of the sky, and millions of poultry are dying from avian flu. The animals of the land like cattle are also dying in large numbers from disease. Although animals and fish have been dying all throughout history, we have not seen the massive consistant numbers that we are seeing today. Please remember! This is just one of the MANY signs of the last days.

In many of these events people from all walks of life are saying that they have "never seen anything like this before".

INFO: 970 MILLION Monarch butterflies - a major pollinator - have been killed since 1990 in America by Monsanto's herbicide, wiping out 90 percent of America's total population of Monarchs. (source)

INFO: MASSIVE die off that went unreported in 2011. MILLIONS of sea urchins and sea stars die suddenly along 60 miles of California coast in what was 'one of the most unusual and dramatic die-offs marine biologists have ever recorded.' (source and here)

Hosea 4:1-3 ...'Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.'

Revelation 11:18 ...'And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.'

MASS ANIMAL DEATH LIST                                  91 Known MASS Death Events in 38 Countries (or Territory)

22nd February 2016 - 20 TONS of fish die in Lake Maninjau, Indonesia. Link

21st February 2016 - Dozens of dead birds found along a highway in Ohio, America. Link

20th February 2016 - 6 dead dolphins have washed up this year in Yucatan, Mexico. Link

19th February 2016 - 118 turtles found dead along the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. Link

18th February 2016 - Hundreds of dead sea birds found washed up in Trujillo, Peru. Link

18th February 2016 - Hundreds of birds fall dead from sky in Odessa, Ukraine. Link

17th February 2016 - MASSIVE - 1000+ TONS of fish have died in fish farms along the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Link

17th February 2016 - Hundreds of dead fish found in a lake in Chapultepec, Mexico. Link

16th February 2016 - Tens of thousands of cattle dead, due to drought in Southern Zimbabwe. Link

16th February 2016 - 445 dead turtles found washed up along beaches in Guerrero, Mexico. Link

16th February 2016 - Large die off of fish along the waterways of Karatay in Turkey. Link

15th February 2016 - Thousands of fish are dying along the Porce River in Colombia. Link

13th February 2016 - MASSIVE - 150,000 penguins die after giant iceberg becomes grounded in Antarctica. Link

11th February 2016 - Hundreds of dead fish wash up on beaches in Mauritius. Link

11th February 2016 - Thousands of fish continue to die along the Nile Delta in Egypt. Link

11th February 2016 - Dozens of monkeys are dying off, 'a mystery' in the forests of Nicaragua. Link

11th February 2016 - Thousands of dead fish are washing up on beaches in Fiji. Link

11th February 2016 - Hundreds of dead fish founf in the waters of Oosterhout, Netherlands. Link

11th February 2016 - 5,800 chickens killed due to avain flu in Tainan, Taiwan. Link

11th February 2016 - Masses of dead fish wash up on beaches in Montevideo, Uruguay. Link

10th February 2016 - Thousands of dead fish wash up in the waters of New Caledonia. Link

10th February 2016 - Hundreds of dead eels found in a creek in Marlborough, New Zealand. Link

10th February 2016 - Dozens of dead sea birds, plus other marine creatures found on a beach in Malibu, America. Link

9th February 2016 - Dozens of cattle dying off due to unknown disease in Warrap State, Sudan. Link

7th February 2016 - 55,000 cattle dead during past 6 months, due to drought throughout Colombia. Link

6th February 2016 - Hundreds of dead fish wash ashore 'due to red tide' in Florida, America. Link

5th February 2016 - MILLIONS of Oysters are dead due to disease in southern Tasmania, Australia. Link

4th February 2016 - Dozens of birds suddenly die in Wichita, Kansas, America. Link

4th February 2016 - Dozens of Pelicans dying, reason unknown on Grand Isle, Louisiana, America. Link

4th February 2016 - 6 dead whales have washed ashore along the coast of East England. Link

4th February 2016 - Hundreds of dead fish wash ashore, 'sparking fear' in La Brea, Trinidad and Tobago. Link

4th February 2016 - Massive die off of fish in a lagoon in Marica, Brazil. Link

3rd February 2016 - 8 more dead whales found along coast of Friedrichskoog, Germany. Link

3rd February 2016 - 700,000 birds killed due to avian flu in Kurdistan. Link

3rd February 2016 - 41,000 chickens have died from Newcastle disease in Luzon, Philippines. Link

3rd February 2016 - 36 TONS of fish have died in farms, 'due to read tide' in Hong Kong. Link

3rd February 2016 - Dozens of dead turtles found along beaches in Tecpan de Galeana, Mexico. Link

3rd February 2016 - Hundreds of dead fish found in ponds in Queensland, Australia. Link

3rd February 2016 - 11,500 Chickens killed due to avian flu in Changhua County, Taiwan. Link

1st February 2016 - 1 Whale and 3 dolphins wash up dead along Oregon-Washington Coast, America. Link

1st February 2016 - Hundreds of dead fish found in a lake in Texas, America. Link

1st February 2016 - Mass deaths of fish in Shing Mun River, Hong Kong. Link

1st February 2016 - Masses of dead fish discovered along 1km of river in Hubei province, China. Link

31st January 2016 - Large die off of fish, 'never seen before' in Snake River, Washington, America. Link

30th January 2016 - 500+ camels have died from 'mysterious disease' in Marsabit, Kenya. Link

30th January 2016 - 19+ TONS of dead fish found in a lake in Goias, Brazil. Link

29th January 2016 - 2.5 Million birds killed due to avian flu in 18 states of Nigeria. Link

28th January 2016 - 22,000+ sea birds found dead, 'biggest die off ever recorded', along beaches in Alaska, America. Link

28th January 2016 - Hundreds of sea birds found dead on a beach on Sea of Galilee, Israel. Link

28th January 2016 - 8,900+ Buffalo and cows killed by cold in Northern Vietnam. Link

28th January 2016 - HUNDREDS OF TONS of fish have died in farms in Ha Tinh province, Vietnam. Link

27th January 2016 - 400 TONS of fish have died due to cold in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. Link

27th January 2016 - Thousands of fish have died in a reservoir in Nevada, America. Link

26th January 2016 - Thousands of dead fish wash ashore on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, America. Link

25th January 2016 - Thousands of chickens killed by 'mysterious disease' in Kampong Thom, Cambodia. Link

25th January 2016 - Thousands of dead starfish are washing ashore at Port St. Joe, Florida, America. Link

25th January 2016 - 1000+ swans dead due to avian flu in Hunan, China. Link

25th January 2016 - Hundreds of thousands of fish found dead in a lake in Samut Prakan, Thailand. Link

21st January 2016 - 24,000 Fowls, 250 Peacocks, and other birds killed due to avain flu in Adamawa, Nigeria. Link

21st January 2016 - 300 dead turtles found on a beach in Odisha, India. Link

20th January 2016 - 400,000 birds killed due to outbreak of avian flu in Indiana, America. Link

18th January 2016 - 7 dead whales found along the coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico. Link

18th January 2016 - Mass fish kill in a river in Eloor, India. Link

17th January 2016 - 12 sperm whales wash up dead on islands in Netherlands and Germany. Link

17th January 2016 - Large die off of fish spotted along the Nile in Rosetta, Egypt. Link

16th January 2016 - 8,000+ birds killed due to avian flu in Tripura, India. Link

15th January 2016 - MASSIVE - 10,000+ dead squid wash ashore 'reason unknown' in Arauco, Chile. Link

15th January 2016 - 10,000 ducks killed due to more outbreaks of avian flu in Taipei, Taiwan. Link

15th January 2016 - Hundreds of dead fish found floating in a river in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Link

14th January 2016 - 5 giant sperm whales wash ashore dead on Texel Island in Netherlands. Link

13th January 2016 - Thousands of dead fish wash up in Guanabara Bay, Brazil. Link

13th January 2016 - 40,000 chickens to be killed due to avian flu in Fife, Scotland. Link

13th January 2016 - Hundreds of thousands of fish dead or dying in Hunter river, NSW, Australia. Link

12th January 2016 - Hundreds of animals killed by hail storm in Canchabamba, Peru. Link

12th January 2016 - 100+ Whales stranded, 45 dead on the coast of Tamil Nadu, India. Link

12th January 2016 - 700,000 birds killed due to another outbreak of avian flu in Kano State, Nigeria. Link

10th January 2016 - Hundreds of dead fish and eels found in a lake in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. Link

9th January 2016 - 4,000+ cattle dead due to drought in Huila, Colombia. Link

8th January 2016 - Thousands of dead fish wash up in Gulfport, Florida, America. Link

8th January 2016 - 330,000+ birds killed due to avian flu in Kano and Delta regions, Nigeria. Link

8th January 2016 - Tens of thousands of dead starfish and jellyfish wash up along Sussex and Hampshire, England. Link

7th January 2016 - Tens of thousands of birds killed due to avian flu in various areas of Taiwan. Link

7th January 2016 - 2,000 dead fish found along the banks of a river in Amalfi, Colombia. Link

6th January 2016 - 100+ TONS of fish die, in a river in Dong Nai Province, Vietnam. Link

6th January 2016 - Hundreds of dead birds found in Cueramaro, Mexico. Link

6th January 2016 - 25,000 birds killed due to avian flu in Accra, Ghana. Link

5th January 2016 - Massive die off of fish in a lake in Marica, Brazil. Link

5th January 2016 - Hundreds of dead fish found along a river in Gebeng, Malaysia. Link

2nd January 2016 - 40,000 cattle killed in storm in Texas and New Mexico, America. Link

2nd January 2016 - Thousands of fish dead in a river due to pollution in Pelalawan Regency, Indonesia. Link

2nd January 2016 - Hundreds of dead starfish wash ashore on a beach in Portsmouth, England. Link

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/26/americas/dead-sea-lions-chile/index.html

Hundreds of sea lions wash up dead in Chile

Updated 6:58 PM ET, Fri February 26, 2016

Most of the dead sea lions that are washing up along northern Chile are newborn pups. The deaths are part of a widespread die-off observed elsewhere on South America's Pacific coastline. Part of the problem: El Niño.

"This is happening along the entire coast of northern Chile and we're getting reports that it's also happening in Peru, our neighbor to the north," researcher Carlos Guerra-Correa told CNN. "We could be talking about hundreds of sea lions washing up ashore dead in the entire region."

The South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens) is the species affected by the die-off observed in the area of the Mejillones Peninsula in Antofagasta province, where the researchers routinely conduct marine studies.

Guerra-Correa said he is concerned that the vast majority of the dead sea mammals are newborns -- though some juveniles and adults have been found.

"Some of the dead animals we have found still had their umbilical cord attached," Guerra-Correa said. "We found one with a placenta."

What's killing the sea lions?

Guerra-Correa says a series of factors affecting the sea lions' food sources are to blame for the deaths.

Mystery illness strikes California sea lions 01:50

First, there's El Niño. The recurring climate pattern across the tropical Pacific brings warm water to the coasts of Chile. This warm water does not have the same nutrients of phytoplankton that colder water has. Phytoplankton is important because it feeds sardines and anchovies that sea lions thrive on. In other words, sea lions seem to be starving to death because the food chain has been disrupted.

Record number of sea lion pups stranded in California

"Starvation is primarily affecting female sea lions in the latter stages of pregnancy. That's why their babies are dying at birth or being miscarried," said Guerra-Correa, who is director of the Regional Center for Environmental Studies and Education at Antofagasta University.

Also, he says, over-fishing is aggravating the problem because it dramatically reduces feeding options for sea lions and other species.

Whale skeletons found in southern Chile

Teams with Chile's National Fishing Service are investigating what the Chilean government calls "massive deaths of cetaceans." Investigators have found dead whales in Penas Gulf in the Aysen Region located in southern Chile. The National Fishing Service reports the finding of 70 skeletons. They also found the bodies of two other animals, possibly whales, which died recently. Officials also blame these deaths in a disruption in the food chain.

Guerra-Correa the news is not so bad for South American fur seals (Arctocephalus australis), which seem to be surviving the disruption of the food chain.

"Unlike the other affected species, these sea lions are able to swim much deeper and find fish that are not present in shallow waters," he said.

Both the fur seal and sea lion can be found along the continent's southern Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

(2/23/16)

...“We are currently experiencing the longest global coral bleaching event ever observed,” said Mark Eakin, NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch coordinator. “We may be looking at a 2- to 2½-year-long event. Some areas have already seen bleaching two years in a row.”

According to Eakin, the length of the event means corals in some parts of the world have no time to recover before they are hit by more bleaching. The current global bleaching event is hammering some reefs repeatedly.

Scientists first observed the current global coral bleaching event beginning in mid-2014, when bleaching began in the western Pacific Ocean. In October 2015, as the current El Niño was still strengthening, NOAA scientists declared the third global bleaching event on record was underway.

...Coral bleaching happens when corals are stressed by conditions such as high water temperatures.Bleaching occurs when the corals expel the algae that live in their tissues. Without the algae, corals lose a significant source of food and are more vulnerable to disease. In a severe bleaching event, large swaths of reef-building corals die. This causes reefs to erode, destroying fish habitat and exposing previously protected shorelines to the destructive force of ocean waves.

...The first widespread mass bleaching occurred during the 1982-83 El Niño. The first global bleaching event occurred in 1998 during a strong El Niño that was followed by a very strong La Niña, which brings warmer waters to places like Palau and Micronesia in the Pacific. A second global bleaching event occurred in 2010, during a less powerful El Niño. ...

http://www.noaa.gov/el-ni%C3%B1o-prolongs-longest-global-coral-blea...

http://www.globalcoralbleaching.org/

"Bleaching in American Samoa"

http://strangesounds.org/2016/02/biblical-beetle-invasion-beaches-a...

A biblical beetle invasion has started along the beaches of Mar de Ajó and San Bernardo in Argentina.

The strange phenomenon surprised locals and tourists, but the cause of this insect plague remains unexplained.

Is climate warming responsible for this mysterious apparition? This strange phenomenon is baffling!

Rare Seahorse Caught On Video In Waters Off Long Beach (2/24/16)

...Diver Roger Hanson says he couldn’t believe what he found twice Sunday just off the Long Beach coast: a rare Pacific seahorse calmly gliding above the ocean floor in just a few feet of water.

...Hanson had last spotted the spiny curvaceous creature last month...

...Usually they’re found among the coral reefs as far south as Peru and hardly ever found north of San Diego.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/02/24/rare-seahorse-caught-on-v...

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/532082/hundreds-fish-die-devige...

Hundreds of fish die in Devigere lake

 Hundreds of fish were found dead at Devigere lake, in the city, on Tuesday. Lack of oxygen is suspected to be the cause behind the death of fish.

Passersby, who noticed dead fish floating in Devigere, on Tuesday morning, informed the City Municipal Council officials. The officials, who inspected the lake, sprinkled 15 bags of salt into it, in an effort to increase oxygen level. Within a few minutes, several fish, which were battling for life started moving in the water. The dead fish were cleared from the lake.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, CMC Commissioner Naga- bushan said, people were still unaware about maintaining cleanliness and hygiene in their surroundings. Fresh water would be filled in the lake soon. Salt has been added to provide oxygen to the fish.

The issue will be taken up in the CMC meeting, scheduled to he held on Wednesday, he said. As there is a vegetable and flower market near the lake, the vendors  wash flowers and vegetables in the lake, polluting the water. Moreover, hoteliers nearby dump the leftovers in the lake. Hence, the lake water is polluted, resulting in the death of fishes, he said.

However, local people put the blame on the CMC for not placing dustbins in the area to keep the surroundings clean.

http://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2016/03/02/rsw-waterfowl-f...

Ducks, goldfish found dead in golf course pond; authorities mystified

March 2, 2016

ST. GEORGE — Wildlife authorities are investigating the deaths of numerous birds, waterfowl and several fish reportedly found Tuesday in a local golf course pond.

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Conservation Outreach Manager Lynn Chamberlain said reports came in Tuesday night of dead fowl and fish at the edge of a pond at the St. George Golf Club, 2190 S. 1400 E., in Bloomington Hills.

Division of Wildlife Resources employees arrived at the pond Wednesday about 9 a.m. to investigate and collect samples.

The dead animals found floating in the water included 18 small water birds called coots, 3 mallard ducks and 1 great-tailed grackle, along with 4 large goldfish discovered dead on the shore.

“It will probably be a few days at least before we have much information on what may have happened,” Chamberlain said, adding there was no obvious cause of death noted.

Chamberlain said he would release more information when it becomes available.

http://traveller24.news24.com/Explore/Green/7-tons-of-dead-fish-was...

7 tons of dead fish wash up along Cape vlei

2016-03-04 17:22

Cape Town -  Zeekovlei residents have been warned not to eat any dead fish found in the area as the City of Cape Town has been collecting thousands of dead carp, believed to have died of natural causes.

The city said an estimated 5 000 individual fish or 6 to 7 tons have been removed, as the bodies of the fish bloat and rise to the surface.

"Fish kills, which refer to a localised die-off of fish populations, often occur at this time of the year with the change of seasons when water levels are low and temperatures are high," City of Cape Town Area Manager Asieff Kahn said.

"Fish sometimes become stressed during breeding and they may pass on infectious disease due to the grouping of large numbers of adult fish together."

The city is investigating to confirm the cause of death as samples taken in the area on Thursday show toxicity is not a cause for concern.

Algal toxins from the sample were well below the guideline limits in the affected area Khan said. "The fish bodies are being transported to the City’s Vissershok landfill site." 

Zeekoevlei is a major freshwater lake found on the Cape Flats in the Western Cape. Also known as "hippopotamus lake," 'zeekoe' being Afrikaans for hippopotamus and 'vlei' meaning lake, the estimated 250ha body of water can be found about half an hour’s drive from Cape Tow.  

While hippo are no longer found in the area, neighbouring Rondevlei Nature Reserve is believed to be home to the only group of hippos in the greater Cape Town area.

More than 15 turtles found dead in coastal Zihuatanejo, Guerrero (West coast of Mexico)
Zihuatanejo, Guerrero.- Increasingly sea turtles come to the beach dead and to date no authority to issue a bulletin to explain what has been happening with these aquatic species.

The problem began more than a month on the beaches of the municipalities of the Costa Grande, and gradually the plague is spreading to the coastal state bordering Michoacan.

The director of Ecology and Environment announced that this plague came to the beaches of the municipality of Zihuatanejo, and in two days counted 16 dead turtles, more than one appearance in Playa La Ropa,

the latter already inside the bay but still alive. Until now it has a record of about 500 turtles dead, for yet unknown reasons.

In this case it is a black turtle, which is recovering quarantined for analysis because it had high degree of dehydration and subsequently recovered and will be returned to the sea.
Google translation

Link1 (Spanish)
Link2 (Spanish)

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&a...;

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&a...

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/070316/dead-f...

Bengaluru: Fish found dead in Ulsoor Lake, Environment Ministry orders probe

 The rising level of pollution in the lake was because the dam, which was stopping the sewage water into the lake, had broken about two years back. (Photo: Twitter/ANI)

http://strangesounds.org/2016/03/methane-bubbles-asphalt-cracks-ger...

Toxic methane leaked out of soil on Germantown cove on March 10, 2016.

Close to 70 people have been evacuated as besides being flammable, the methane forced oxygen out of buildings, making it difficult to breathe.

Germantown firefighters and Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division believe soil saturated by rain caused multiple methane gas leaks bubbling through cracks and breaks in the asphalt on Wolf Trail Cove at Germantown Road Thursday.

Germantown police evacuated close to 70 people from the office building at 7796 Wolf Trail Cove and seven adjacent businesses, including Waffle House and Las Tortugas Deli Mexicana at 1215 S. Germantown Road.

They were kept out of the buildings as officials waited for air levels to return to normal. Besides being flammable, the methane forced oxygen out of buildings, making it difficult to breathe, Germantown Fire Chief John Selberg said.

The gas levels were high enough to be flammable. When the rain stopped briefly, around 4 p.m., the readings dropped, likely because the methane could dissipate in the drier air, Selberg said.

For several hours, authorities including engineers from MLGW did not know if the leaks were methane or natural gas.

“Methane is little better because it is not as flammable. But the problem with it is, I can’t shut this off,” Selberg said.

Pepe Magallanes, who owns Las Tortugas, rushed to the scene when the store manager called him at 2:15 p.m., saying police were evacuating the restaurant.

“We just want to know when we can get back in and clean up,” he said, waiting anxiously near a line of firetrucks idling along Germantown Road.

The cove sits over an old landfill. It is equipped with ventilating equipment to allow gas from the decaying debris to escape. Authorities believe the rain concentrated the gas in the soil, forcing it out at toxic levels. Leaks were bubbling up in foamlike swirls across the cove, in cracks in floors and in the nearby Wolf River.

At the back of the cove, gas readings were low enough that guests and workers at Holiday Inn Express did not have to evacuate, although they were confined to the building.

By about 4 p.m., the methane levels had abated enough in open areas that police allowed hotel guests to start their cars and leave.

The first call came from workers in the office building, complaining of the smell and nausea.

When police and firemen responded, they found numerous leaks across the area.

http://azdailysun.com/news/local/enviro/thousands-of-fish-found-dea...

Two days after the Arizona Game and Fish Department stocked Lower Lake Mary with nearly 8,000 trout, a sizable portion of those fish were found dead.

On Thursday, the department collected 1,500 to 2,000 dead fish from the lake, department spokeswoman Shelly Shepherd said.

The reason for the kill, water testing later revealed, was low dissolved oxygen levels in certain areas of the water, Shepherd said. The department hadn’t tested the lake’s dissolved oxygen levels before the fish were stocked, she said.

“It was one of those rare occurrences and we were caught by surprise,” she said.

Shepherd explained that ice and snow that covered Lower Lake Mary for nearly two months over the winter blocked sunlight from filtering to the lake bottom, halting photosynthesis among the aquatic plants. In the absence of light plants do however, continue to respire. During that process, plants consume oxygen and produce carbon dioxide, which is what lowered oxygen levels in the water.

As a result of the fish kill, fishing at Lake Mary will slow temporarily, Shepherd said. She said anglers should be on the lookout for signs of fish becoming active on the surface of the lake, which will signal that the fishing is good again, Shepherd said.

The department will continue to monitor water quality and will restock more fish in Lower Lake Mary when conditions improve. Shepherd said she wasn’t given an estimate on when that might happen.

She did note that Game and Fish officials saw live fish as well when they were out at the lake on Thursday.

In the meantime, the department advised anglers to check out Dogtown Lake south of Williams or Frances Short Pond in Flagstaff as alternative fishing locations.

Large fish kill reported at McPhee Reservoir (3/12/16)

Authorities are trying to determine the cause of a large fish kill at McPhee Reservoir near Dolores.

Fishermen discovered hundreds of dead trout, kokanee salmon and carp on Friday.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife fish biologist Jim White says there can be natural fish kills in shallow bodies of water because of ice and lack of oxygen this time of year. He says toxic pollution has been ruled out as a cause.

According to the Cortez Journal, the fish may have been affected by a problem with an intake pipe system that isn't working properly.

http://www.9news.com/news/weird/large-fish-kill-reported-at-mcphee-...

http://www.cortezjournal.com/article/20160311/NEWS01/160319970/Fish...