https://www.sott.net/article/321482-Mass-fish-die-offs-in-Canadian-...

Mass fish die-offs in Canadian river has scientists puzzled

Tens of thousands of fish are dead in the Yamaska River.

Wildlife officials in Quebec don't have a good answer for why tens of thousands of fish in the Yamaska River, near Saint-Hyacinthe, are dead. The fish kill was first noticed on Thursday, but many of the fish had been dead for several days. 

The fish kill has not been selective, as wildlife officials say the dead fish include minnows to large fish, up to 15 to 20 centimeters (6 to 8 inches) in length. 

Christian Blanchette, the regional coordinator for Urgence Environment told CTV News that biologists and scientists came to the river on Thursday and Friday, trying to discover the cause of the fish kill. He said they were looking into several possible causes, including spills, sewage and construction waste. 

According to Blanchette, some fish were found at the bottom of the river in an advanced state of decay, indicating the die-off had been going on for a number of days. Two wildlife officials collected a number of the fish on Friday morning for further study. 

Residents in the area were alerted to the fish deaths Thursday evening and at first, everyone mistakenly believed the deaths were caused by companies in Saint-Hyacinthe's industrial park, which emptied their tailings ponds on Thursday. But the fish deaths obviously preceded the dumping of the tailings by several days, so this was ruled out, according to CBC Canada. 

Particularly alarming is the low water levels in the river. Blanchette said he could cross the river on foot without getting wet. He suggests that high temperatures, low water levels, and the use of the river as a source of drinking water may all contribute to the fish kill. 

Blanchette pointed out that low water levels also mean less oxygen is available for the fish. Pointing to one section of the river that was dried up, he added, "There was nothing conclusive, except when we came to this area right now. Where you can see there's no water in the river." 

CJAD News is reporting that the city is testing its drinking water every two hours to ensure it is safe to consume. The city is also expected to make a decision on Monday as to whether water restrictions need to be put in place. 

The Yamaska River and its ecosystem is hanging on for dear life at this point after years of environmental abuses.

Crossing nearly 20 municipalities as it runs from its source in the Eastern townships, the Yamaska River winds it way 177 kilometers (110 miles) to Lake Saint-Pierre where it becomes a tributary of the Saint Lawrence River. The Yamaska River has had a hard life because of human and environmental impacts, but somehow, a much-depleted ecosystem has managed to survive. 

According to a government of Canada publication entitled "The Effects of Nutrient Addition on Ecosystems"

Water quality in the Yamaska River is considered poor by Québec standards. Phosphorus concentrations exceed the Québec guideline for the prevention of eutrophication (0.03 mg/L total P) almost everywhere in the basin. At the mouth of the river, median concentrations for total P (0.195 mg/L) and N (2.15 mg/L) are higher than in any other tributary of the St. Lawrence River (Primeau 1999). Levels of P, N, suspended solids and turbidity throughout the basin are among the highest in Québec and the river is considered to be severely eutrophic.

"There's not much to do then (except) wait for the rain right now, if it is that, which we think it is," Blanchette said.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3678554/Colony-MILLION-peng...

Colony of a MILLION penguins face being wiped out after their island off South America was covered in ash from a huge volcanic eruption

• Nearly half of remote volcanic Zavodovski Island has been covered in ash
• Island off South America home to the largest colony of chinstrap penguins
• Ash has deposited over the lower slopes of the volcano, home to the birds
• Experts fear volcanic activity 'may have a serious effect on the population'

A colony of more than a million penguins is being threatened by ash falling from an erupting volcano, scientists have warned.

Nearly half of Zavodovski Island - between Argentina and Antarctica and home to the world's largest colony of chinstrap penguins - has been covered in ash.

The birds live closely packed alongside around 180,000 macaroni penguins, who share the island with Mt Curry which has been erupting since March of this year.

Nearly half of Zavodovski Island - between Argentina and Antarctica and home to the world's largest colony of chinstrap penguins (pictured on the island) - has been covered in ash

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) was recently alerted to a large (7.2) magnitude earthquake in the area last month. Following the earthquake, fishing vessels in the area captured photos of the Zavodovski Island eruption

Satellite images have confirmed that between one third and one half of the island has so far been covered in ash

The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) was recently alerted to a large (7.2) magnitude earthquake in the area last month.

Following the earthquake, fishing vessels in the area captured photos of the Zavodovski Island eruption.

They show the main volcanic vent is on the western side of the island, but the prevailing wind is blowing the smoke and ash to the east, and depositing much of it on the lower slopes of the volcano, home to the penguins.

Satellite images have confirmed that between one third and one half of the island has so far been covered in ash.

At the time photos were taken, the adult chinstraps were moulting, shedding their old feathers for new ones and therefore unable to leave the island.

The birds live closely packed alongside around 180,000 macaroni penguins, who share the island with Mt Curry which has been erupting since March of this year

Geographer Dr Peter Fretwell from BAS said: 'We don't know what impact the ash will have on the penguins.

'If it has been heavy and widespread it may have a serious effect on the population.

'It's impossible to say but two scientific expeditions are scheduled to visit the region from later this year and will try to assess the impact of the eruption.'

Penguin ecologist Mike Dunn from BAS said: 'As the images were captured during the moult period for the chinstraps, the consequences could be very significant.

'When the penguins return to breed later in the year, it will be interesting to see what impact this event has on their numbers.'

http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=&to=en&a=ht...

Mystery in catanzarese, thousands of dead fish inexplicably [VIDEO & photos]

MONTEPAONE (CZ) – a summer morning like many, on the beach of Montepaone Lido, in the province of Catanzaro. The clear water is one of the Ionian Sea, which acts as a theater for one of the most beautiful parts of Calabria. This morning, though, swimmers have found before them a bad show.

Thousands and thousands of fish dead, in fact, have surfaced from the clear waters of the Ionian Sea. A truly inexplicable event that put a bit of concern to many swimmers present this morning at the beach. This was all accompanied by a strong game. The stretch of sea is the one that goes from the "Lido San Luca" to the "Lido of financier". There may be waste of fish, since water was found to be clear and clean. This would be the only plausible cause.

We thank our reader Vitaliano Sicily for sending us the video contribution that you find here below.

VIDEO: "Mystery in Montepaone Lido (CZ), thousands of dead fish inexplicably-July 2, 2016"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_5m2dmAZhk

(June into July) Thick, smelly, toxic algae invades Florida beaches - State of Emergency declared

https://youtu.be/ojEMeUvao4A

https://youtu.be/ojEMeUvao4A

https://youtu.be/ufTd8W0K4IU

http://www.cheknews.ca/alarming-number-sea-birds-found-dead-victori...

Alarming number of sea birds found dead on Victoria beaches

http://kuow.org/post/starving-seabirds-washing-dead-washington-beaches

Starving seabirds washing up dead on Washington beaches

Seabirds have been washing up dead on beaches in Washington and British Columbia this summer, and scientists can't say why.

Rhinoceros auklets are one of the most common birds in the network of inland waterways shared by Washington and British Columbia. Since May, volunteer "citizen scientists" on the north side of the Olympic Peninsula and across the water in Victoria, British Columbia, have found dozens of the puffin-like birds washed ashore.

It's a tiny toll compared to the dieoffs of other species of seabirds in 2014 and 2015. Common murres and Cassin's auklets washed up by the hundreds of thousands up and down North America's west coast.

But scientists are concerned nonetheless.

"There's something larger going on here," University of Washington biologist Julia Parrish said. “If we ignore it and only pay attention when it’s really dire, then it’s often too late to do anything about it.”

A rhinoceros auklet off the Washington coast.

CREDIT PETER HODUM, UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND

Parrish runs the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team, whose volunteer beachwalkers help scientists keep tabs on seabirds and garbage floating ashore in five western states.  

"Normally you only have one or two birds reported any year," biologist David Bradley with Bird Studies Canada said. Volunteers with his nonprofit group have found some 30 dead rhinoceros auklets on beaches around Victoria. "So to see this many birds washed up in this short a time period is definitely alarming," he said.  

Hundreds of thousands of the peculiar-looking seabirds live in Washington and B.C. The puffin relatives dig underground burrows to nest in, can dive 300 feet deep and mate for life.

Listen

Listening...

0:39

LISTEN: Two rhinoceros auklet adults and a chick on Protection Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Recorded by Jeff Rice for the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound.

"I wouldn't say that we're alarmed. I would say that we're alerted," Parrish said. "We're paying attention. It's like the light has gone from green to yellow, and we're looking around just to make sure it's not going to go to red."

A few of the auklet carcasses from Washington beaches have been sent off to a federal wildlife forensics lab in Wisconsin.

"They had zero body fat," Parrish said. "They definitely starved to death."

She said that's usually the case when a bird is found dead. But scientists are just starting to look into why these birds starved: Did disease leave them too weak to dive after fish? Did a bloom of toxic algae sicken them? Did their food supply run low? Parrish said answers could be weeks or months away.

Bradley said the auklets found dead near the British Columbian capital have not yet been sent in for forensic analysis.

"Most of our volunteers are pretty dedicated volunteers," he said. "They don't mind having a dead bird in their freezer."

"Just double bag it to avoid any problems," Bradley said.

Attack of The Blob

In 2014 and 2015, a gigantic pool of unusually warm water—popularly known as "The Blob" — spread across much of the North Pacific Ocean. The underwater heat wave changed the ocean food chain from top to bottom for thousands of miles. Seabirds were left with less of their preferred types of fish to eat, and they wound up eating less-nutritious prey.

"It's like going to the grocery store and only finding rice cakes," Parrish said. "You actually lose weight with all the muscle movement of just crunching [the food]."

Scientists believe the extreme seabird dieoffs in those years were connected to The Blob.

Much of the North Pacific, especially off Alaska, is exceptionally warm, compared to the 1971-2000 average.

CREDIT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, IRI/LDEO CLIMATE DATA LIBRARY

The Pacific has cooled off a bit since then, but vast areas are still warmer than normal.

"The temperatures have moderated to an extent, but the biology is still obviously feeling the effects of this marine heat wave," Washington state climatologist and University of Washington researcher Nick Bond said.

Upwelling of deep, cool water has allowed a thin strip of surface water along the Northwest coast to return to near-normal temperatures. But the seas farther offshore, including waters frequented by rhinoceros auklets, remain abnormally warm.

"Overall, the Northeast Pacific is really warm," Bond, who coined the term "The Blob," said.

Bond said the long-term forecast for the Northeast Pacific Ocean is for more warmer-than-normal temperatures through next year.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/Thousands-of-fishes-...

Thousands of fishes found dead in the lake of Kanpur zoo

 Jul 17, 2016, 10.44 AM IST

KANPUR: Thousands of fishes of different species including 'Chilwa' and cat fish died in the lake of Kanpur zoo following dip in the level of dissolved oxygen in the lake water. The dead fishes were found floating on the water surface in the lake spread in an area of 10 hectares. This according to the zoo vets was for the first time that the fishes in the zoo lake had died.

The fishes had died in such a large number that the foul smell emanating from it which had made it difficult for the zoo staff to cleanse the lake. The incident created flutter amongst the zoo authorities. They contacted the Kanpur district administration, Kanpur Nagar Nigam, Kanpur Development Authority and the UP pollution control board and apprised them about the mortality of the fishes. Soon the zoo vets started disinfecting the lake to prevent more mortality. The postmortem examination of the fishes revealed that they died due to extreme dip in the level of dissolved oxygen in the lake water.

The Kanpur zoo authorities and the zoo vets blamed the nullah which overflew inside the zoo campus to be the cause of dip in the oxygen level in lake water. The sewage waste from this nullah got mixed with the lake water. The nullah is situated on the land of the forest department adjacent to the rear boundary wall of the zoo. Whenever the sewage water is not pumped and this water is not put in the sumpwell (situated on the land of the forest department), it overflows and enters inside the Kanpur zoo. According to the zoo vets, the sewage waste and the water are the source of pathogens which can spread deadly diseases in the wild animals kept in the zoo campus. The autopsy concluded that due to mixing of some kind of toxic from the sludge and the sewage waste from nullah into the zoo lake that the oxygen level went low.

On Saturday at the time of the incident when the dead fishes were found floating on the water surface in lake, the nullah was overflowing inside the zoo. The zoo vets rushed to the spot and got potassium permanganate sprinked over the sewage water and the sludge to counter toxicity. This worried the zoo vets further who stated that all this could be risky for the lives of various animals housed here especially those protected under schedule-I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Without delay, the zoo vets began the task of cleaning of the lake as several migratory birds which have arrived and nesting around the lake on the tree tops were also at the risk of developing infection. The threat also looms large over the crocodiles, turtles and other big fishes in the zoo lake.

Talking to TOI, Kanpur zoo director, Deepak Kumar said that he has apprised the matter to the Deputy municial commissioner of Kanpur Nagar Nigam and asked him to ensure that the sewage waste from the nullah does not flow inside the zoo lake as it is harmful for the zoo inmates. Later in the afternoon the zonal officer of KNN visited the site.

"We will get the water of the lake checked in the lab of the Pollution control board for which we got a water sample collected already. It will be from the test report we will come to know which caused toxicity and the death of fishes", said Kumar further. He added, "We are pumping in fresh water from Ganga barrage into the lake. This will help in reducing the toxicity in the lake. The zoo vets have already take preventive measures and mixed medicines in the water to up the oxygen level in the lake."

Zoo vets UC Srivastava and Mohammad Nasir who conducted the autopsy told TOI that the toxic gases such as Methane, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide exist in the sludge and the sewage waste which can affect the acquatic animals. The doctor duo said that the fishes died due to dip in the oxygen level in the lake water. "The gills of these fishes had turned white in colour from red colour which indicated towards the fact that there was a dip in the level of dissolved oxygen in lake water. The lungs of these fishes had shrunk", said Dr Nasir.

http://24h.bestthenews.com/article/scores-dead-fish-found-lim-chu-k...

Scores Of Dead Fish Found At Lim Chu Kang Jetty

Now the proof: permafrost 'bubbles' are leaking methane 200 times above the norm

22 July, 2016. Scientists say a 'fountain of gas' poured from jelly-like trembling earth in tundra on Belyy Island in northern Siberia.

The swelling pockets in the permafrost - revealed this week by The Siberian Times - are leaking 'alarming' levels of ecologically dangerous gases, according to scientists who have observed this 'unique' phenomenon. Some 15 pockets have been found on the Arctic island, around one metre in diameter.

Measurements taken by researchers on expeditions to the island found that after removing grass and soil from the 'bubbling' ground, the carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration released was 20 times above the norm, while the methane(CH4) level was 200 times higher.

One account said: 'As we took off a layer of grass and soil, a fountain of gas erupted.'

An early theory is that warm summer heat has melted the permafrost causing the release of long-frozen gases.

Video images of the phenomenon show how the ground wobbled under the feet of scientists. Other descriptions say the tundra surface - in a permafrost zone some 765 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle - bubbled or trembled.

'It was like a jelly,' said one researcher, according to a broadcast by Vesti Yamal. 'We have not come across anything like this before.'

A scientist, not named in video footage, warned it was a 'serious reason to be concerned if gas bubbles appear in the permafrost zone', suggesting there could be 'unpredictable' consequences.

Now the proof: permafrost 'bubbles' are leaking methane 200 times above the norm

The Belyy Island marked on the map of Russia. Picture: The Siberian Times

The researchers are to continue investigating the jelly holes, which also contain unfrozen water. Another scientist Alexander Sokolov has revealed he first witnessed the phenomenon last summer during an expedition to the remote island.

'We didn't know about these bubbles before the expedition,' said Sokolov who is deputy head of ecological R&D station of the Institute of Ecology of Plants and Animals, in Labytnangi, Tyumen region, Ural Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences

'We walk dozens of kilometres every day and after having walked quite a lot we came across one such bubbles.

'I've been working in Yamal for 20 years now - some of my peers have been here even longer - and it's the first time I have ever seen this.

'I've walked in the tundra for hundreds of kilometres and I went to the exact place where we spotted the first bubble last year at nearly exactly the same time.'

He explained: 'The day after seeing this bubble, we came across another one. As shown on our video, we punctured it and, let's say, 'air' starting coming out quickly.

'It had no smell - and there was no liquid (eruption). When we returned to our camp, we started discussing the phenomenon with colleagues and decided to find out what was the gas coming out of it.

'Our colleagues gave us a gas analyser worth 7 million roubles ($10,850). This device measures the concentration of the two greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide and methane. Gases are typically measured in parts per million or ppm.

'The gas analyser showed that one of these gases was dozens of times higher and another was hundreds of times higher than normal.'

The peak CO2 measurement was 7750 ppm, the CH4 reading was 375 ppm.

Methane bubbles, the Belyy island. Pictures: Alexander Sokolov

Now the proof: permafrost 'bubbles' are leaking methane 200 times above the norm

Methane measurements showed it being 200 times above the norm. Pictures: Vesti Yamal

On whether climate change is behind the gas release, he told The Siberian Times: 'It is worth mentioning global warming. 'There is neither warming nor cooling in the Belyy island if you look at the average temperatures. But this figure isn't very representative.

'It's just like in a famous joke about average temperature in a hospital: some people have fever, some are dead, this number doesn't really make sense.

'I can't say if this summer has been the warmest over the past few years but simply because I'm not following it.

'Yet it is likely that that 10 days of extraordinary heat could have started some mechanisms, (and the) higher level of permafrost could have thawed and released a huge amount of gases. Geologists suppose that there might be some gas leaking from the underground but it's unlikely. There is solid permafrost under the bubbles.'

Alexander Sokolov's view is that the gas release if from thawing ground immediately below the surface to a depth of around one metre. He is concerned about the consequences of the gas release.

'It is evident even to amateurs that this is a very serious alarm. As for the future, we are interested in further study of the bubbles.

'We have discovered over a dozen of them. We need interdisciplinary study.

'Initially, we went to Belyy Island for a different reason.'

Now priority is being given to the bubbling tundra.

'We study tundra ecosystems. The expedition started on 3 June and will continue to 15 August.'

Scientists have warned at the potential catastrophic impact of global warming leading to the release into the atmosphere of harmful gases in the Arctic hitherto frozen in the ground or under the sea.

A possibility is that the trembling tundra on Belyy Island is this process in action.

Further south, on the Yamal and Taimyr peninsulas, scientists are actively observing a number of craters that have suddenly formed in the permafrost.

When the craters first appeared on the Yamal Peninsula - known to locals as 'the end of the world' - they sparked bizarre theories as to their formation.

Most experts now believe they were created by explosions of methane gas unlocked by warming temperatures in the far north of Russia.

This crater was discovered by hecilopter pilots in 2014. Picture: Vasiliy Bogoyavlensky

On Yamal, the main theory is that the craters were formed by pingos - dome-shaped mounds over a core of ice - erupting under pressure of methane gas released by the thawing of permafrost caused by climate change.

The Yamal craters, some tiny but others large, were created by natural gas filling vacant space in ice humps, eventually triggering eruptions, according to leading authority Professor Vasily Bogoyavlensky, of Moscow's Oil and Gas Research Institute. Recently there were accounts of a 'big bang' leading to the formation of a crater on the Taimyr Peninsula.

The noise could be heard up to 100 kilometres away and one resident saw a 'glow in the sky' after the explosion. The crater was first seen by reindeer herders who almost fell into it soon after the 2013 eruption. Since then, its size rapidly increased at least 15 times during the next year and a half.

It is expected to be even wider now but no recent scientific surveys have been made to the remote site.

Our pictures show the so-called Deryabinsky crevice in snow soon after it was formed, when the hole was some four metres in width, and the latest known pictures which illustrate how it is now a lake, some 70 metres in diameter. Source: siberiantimes.com

http://www.thebigwobble.org/2016/07/20000-dead-fish-wash-ashore-at-...

Friday, 22 July 2016

20,000 dead fish wash ashore at at a Trinidad creek with maybe 5 times more at the sea bottom

Photo www.cnc3.co.tt
Earlier today fishermen and residents of Mosquito Creek noticed schools of fish floating on the water. While reports as to what exactly caused today’s occurrence, Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) Corporate Secretary, Garry Aboud in an interview with News Power Now gave details regarding what he says is an ongoing issue in South Trinidad.
Aboud who visited the area today stated that approximately 20,000 dead fish had washed ashore with maybe five times more are at the bottom of the sea.
He said that while it is generally the position of FFOS to defend fishermen, in this instance they area calling for fishing in these waters to be stopped as it poses a major health risks to persons who may consume fish from the area.
Meanwhile, News Power Now understands that thousands of dead herrin, mullet and catfish have been washing up along the shoreline of the Mosquito Creek over the past few days.
The dead fishes started coming to shore late on Monday afternoon and President of the Debe to Penal Action Committee Edward Moody is now calling on the Institute of Marine Affairs to investigate the cause of the deaths.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/cities/amritsar/scores-of-dead-fis...

Posted at: Jul 26, 2016, 1:26 AM; last updated: Jul 26, 2016, 1:26 AM (IST)

Scores of dead fish surface at holy pond of shrine

Dead fish lies at steps of the holy pond at the Ram Tirath area in Amritsar on Monday. A Tribune photograph

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 25

Tempers flared at ancient Bhagwan Valmiki Temple in the Ram Tirath area near here after scores of fish were found dead due to low water level.

While criticising the state government and other departments, Mahant Manjit Giri, Jagtar and Avtar said it was due to lax attitute on part of agencies that the minimum water level to ensure delivery of oxygen for fish was not maintained.

Expressing resentment they threatened to launch agitation in case the government did no pay attention to the problem.

Giri said the six-feet-level came down to just three feet as the water was not released today. He said evaporation caused by continuous heat wave condition for the past few days reduced the water in the holy pond to dangerously low level in which fish could not survive.

Officials of the PWD, Fishery Department and the construction company engaged in raising new building for the temple visited the spot after the matter was brought to the notice of the district administration. They also offered feed in the fish pond.

According to officials preliminary investigations indicated that fish may have died because of biological oxygen demand (BOD) as sufficient water had been drained out from the holy tank.

They said the respiratory system of a fish, especially common carp, seemed to have chocked because of the depleted water.

Earlier, thousands of fish in the holy tank of ancient Ram Tirath Temple had died in 2004.

Ram Tirath Temple is a heritage site where Bhagwan Valmiki wrote the sacred ‘Ramayana’. The temple is also the birth place of Luv and Kush, sons of Lord Rama.

At present, the state government has started an ambitious project of developing ancient hermitage of Bhagwan Valmiki into a tourist hub.

A magnificent temple building with elaborate infrastructure is being raised at a cost of Rs 200 crore at the site, situated over 10 km from Amritsar.

Keeping in view the popularity of the shrine among the Valmiki community, the SAD-BJP coalition government had laid the foundation stone to raise Bhagwan Valmiki Temple in 2013.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has chaired many meetings to speed up work of the project.

Meanwhile, the district administration swung into action after learning about the unsavoury development.

and another:

http://www.sunherald.com/news/local/counties/harrison-county/articl...

JULY 25, 2016 3:11 PM

Big fish carcasses found floating near Cat Island, fisherman reports

https://www.sott.net/article/323272-Wildlife-dying-en-masse-as-Pilc...

A cattle carcass on the Agropil ranch, in Boquerón, on the border between Paraguay and Argentina. The Pilcomayo River is suffering through its worst drought in almost two decades while cattle and wildlife pay the price.

Vultures rest in the tree's upper branches, their black bodies in stark contrast to the blanched wood beneath their feet. Below them, caimans and capybaras crawl in sucking mud through the Agropil lagoon, seeking water that is unlikely to arrive for many months. The river has dried up, and there is nowhere for them to go. 

The lagoon, located in the western Paraguayan province of Boquerón, is just one of many stretches of the Pilcomayo River suffering an extensive die-off of caiman, fish, and other river creatures. There have not been any official estimates from the Ministry of the Environment, but Roque González Vera, a journalist for ABC Color in Paraguay, reports utter devastation in some places: Up to 98 percent of caimans (Caiman yacare) are suspected dead, and 80 percent of the capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) population has died. 

Paraguay is in the midst of an ecological crisis. 

Caimans (Caiman yacare) and capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) are stuck in the mud of the dry Pilcomayo River, which forms the border between Paraguay and Argentina.

The crisis stems from a combination of drought and mismanagement that has left the Pilcomayo River dry for nearly 435 miles (700 kilometers), according to Vera. On June 24, Paraguay declared an environmental emergency, but little has been done, or can be done, to provide relief for the imperiled animals until the wet season returns. The dry season typically lasts through October, and the annual recharge does not generally occur until January. 

So, what went wrong? 

A perfect storm of drought and mismanagement 

The Pilcomayo River originates in the Bolivian Highlands, which form the upper basin of the river. The lower reaches run through the Gran Chaco—a hot, semiarid lowland also known as the Chaco Plain—and form a 518-mile (834-kilometer) international border between Argentina and Paraguay. This stretch of the river relies on an annual, three-month pulse of water from the upper basin during its rainy season (roughly January to March). Quite simply, this past year did not deliver. 

According to the Ministry of Public Works and Communication (MOPC), the drought is the second worst in the past 30 years, and the paucity of rain has not been seen since 1996-97. 

Alone, the drought posed a threat to wildlife and agriculture, but the crisis has been exacerbated by the mismanagement of water resources and infrastructure by the Paraguayan government, according to Vera. 

In a recent article, the reporter argues that the government is complicit in the wildlife die-off, alleging laziness, inefficiency, and irresponsibility in the rehabilitation of the Paraguayan channel. 

To some extent, the government agrees. The MOPC concluded that the National Commission of the Pilcomayo did an insufficient job of maintaining the river's channels and canals and recently fired the head of the commission, Daniel Garay. Garay was also charged for the alleged irregularities. 

However, the mismanagement also extends across the border to Paraguay's neighbor, Argentina. 

In 1991, the two countries signed a water distribution agreement for the Pilcomayo, but they have struggled to maintain a fair distribution of water. In any given year, the river largely flows in one country and not the other. A recent review of the river proposed that the country that gets the water is either lucky the river shifted to them, and/or they were more diligent in canal work. 

Both countries have built up artificial canals outside the agreement—ample mistrust between the nations fuels the construction—but Argentina appears to have done a better job managing theirs, while also adding some reservoirs to hold water surpluses. In recent years, they were luckier and more diligent: Argentina has the water now. 

How long Argentina keeps the water is largely dependent on a third factor: the natural characteristics of the Pilcomayo River. 

Natural phenomenon? 

Oscar Orfeo, an Argentinean geologist at the Center for Applied Coastal Ecology, believes the lack of water is simply a natural result of the river's morphology; the river simply does what it wants. The artificial canals cannot control the slope of the plain or the river's shaping capacity, he says. 

Orfeo also believes that the current environmental emergency cannot be attributed to a period of extreme drought but is really due to the "wandering" behavior of the river. 

This wandering is largely related to the significant amounts of sediment the Pilcomayo transports downstream—some 140 million tons of sediment every year, one of the highest amounts in the world. The sediment, in combination with wood debris carried downstream, has created a blockage that disperses the river outside the channel into the surrounding land. 

As the blockage moves farther upstream every year, the dry river channel grows. It has now been nearly a hundred years since the Pilcomayo's main channel connected with the Paraguay River in Asunción. 

With both human and natural forces at play, scientists in Paraguay worry the current crisis could easily become an annual occurrence. 

Seeking a solution 

In the face of public pressure, the Minister of Public Works and Communication, Ramón Jiménez Gaona, announced that the government is working with local authorities, indigenous groups, and residents to remedy the situation. 

Yet, despite the claims of the government, so far there has been little action to address the situation, says Vera. 

At the time of this publishing, National Geographic had not received a response from the Ministry of the Environment or the National Commission of the Pilcomayo, which is housed in the MOPC. 

In reality, it is hard to see a clear solution right now; there is no water to release or divert. Existing options to rehabilitate the Pilcomayo mostly center on cleaning and updating the canals that are filled with sediment, but it is neither quick nor easy to do so. To restore a consistent flow on both sides of the border, Paraguay and Argentina must commit to sharing water, but cooperation has been hard to come by. 

Until the infrastructure is developed and maintained, observers can only watch and wait, hoping that it rains enough next year to save the animals, or that the river shifts back into its Paraguayan channel. 

Politics, water, and wildlife: Welcome to 21st-century river management.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/hundreds-reindeer-dead-russia...

Hundreds of reindeer dead in Russian Anthrax outbreak

More than 1,500 reindeer have died in the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous district since Sunday.

Abnormally high temperatures thawed an Anthrax-laden reindeer carcass, causing an outbreak of the infection in a nomadic Siberian community. More than 1,500 reindeer have died since Sunday, according to the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous district’s government, and 13 residents, including nine children, have been hospitalized. A state of emergency has been imposed on the region populated by reindeer herders, who are being evacuated to its capital, Salekhard. A quarantine of the area could last through September, according to Andrei Listishenko, the region’s head of veterinary services.

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20160727/NEWS/307279979/s...

Scientists look for answers as hundreds of dead birds wash ashore along Strait of Juan de Fuca

Peter Hodum

Scientists are trying to determine the cause behind a die-off of rhinoceros auklets.

PORT TOWNSEND –– Scientists are trying to figure out why hundreds of dead seabirds have washed ashore in the eastern part of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

About 300 rhinoceros auklets, seabirds closely related to puffins, have washed ashore dead since May, and there isn't a clear reason why, said Julia Parrish, executive director of the Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST).

“I cannot answer that question because we don't know the answer to that question,” she said. 

“We've never seen anything like 300 rhinoceros auklets wash ashore in the eastern Strait. There's definitely something going on.”

Dead birds have been found at Discovery Bay, Dungeness Spit near Sequim and across the Strait near Victoria.

At this point, scientists are trying to rule out possible causes.

Parrish said it seems unlikely that a lack of food supply could be the cause of the deaths. 

“There are a heck of a lot nesting on Protection Island,” she said. “That's part of the mystery.”

About 72,000 of the birds are successfully breeding on Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge, an island located near the mouth of Discovery Bay and west of Port Townsend.

“What that tells us is the majority of parents have found enough food to feed the chicks,” she said. 

“That actually is the information we're using to decide it's not a general lack of food.”

Scientists also are looking into possible contagions or poisons. But if that were the case, Parrish would expect more to be dying.

She said there could be a small algae bloom possibly adding toxins to the food supply, but no one is sure what is actually causing the deaths.

A few specimens have been sent to the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center. The bodies will be tested in an attempt to determine the cause of death, she said.

Parrish said the public should not approach or try to help any dead or dying birds they find on the beach. 

“It's always unwise to approach any wildlife and wildlife that is sick and dying,” she said.

COASST has hundreds of trained volunteers who monitor the beaches in the Strait and are recording what they find, she said.

COASST is one of two citizen science organizations that are helping collect data on more than 80 beach sites monthly.

British Columbia Beach Bird Survey is recording the dead birds found on the Canadian shore.

“We've got beaches on both side of the Strait that people walk on a regular basis looking for beached birds,” she said.

Parrish suspects that birds will continue to wash ashore. She said it is likely there are more dead or nearly dead birds floating in the Strait.

http://www.wilx.com/news/nationalnews/headlines/Dead-fish-pile-up-i...

Dead fish pile up in Cocoa Beach, Florida

Posted: Tue 12:56 PM, Mar 22, 2016

(WESH) Dead fish are clogging canals in Brevard County, Florida following several recent die-offs.

One longtime resident says it's the worst he's seen since moving to the area in the 1970s.

Biologists say they're not sure why the fish are dying, but suspect it may be related to a new type of algae blooming in several square miles of water along the coast. When the algae decays, the water loses oxygen, killing the fish.

Local officials are still working on a clean-up plan.

http://biointel.org/article/authorities-investigate-thousands-dead-... 

Authorities investigate thousands of dead fish found in Arroyo Colorado river - KGBT-TV

http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyles/recreation/fish-kill-closes-m...

Fish kill closes 183 miles of Yellowstone River, tributaries to all recreation

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Hundreds-Of-Dead-Fish-Floating...

Thousands of Dead Fish Found Floating in NJ Waters

Hundreds of thousands of dead fish were spotted floating in the waterways in New Jersey this week.

Officials said that the scores of dead bunker fish that were spotted on the surface of local waterways around the Raritan Bay in West Keansburg Tuesday were victims of a fish kill.

Department of Environmental Protection officials said the fish were likely chased into the bay by bluefish or skates, and once there the fish were killed off by low levels of dissolved oxygen in the water.

Fish were found in Natco Lake, Thornes Creek and Waackaak Creek, officials said. 

Officials said that it was the second fish kill in the waterway this week. It’s a common occurrence caused by a cocktail of warm, still waters and growing plant life.

"The temperatures have been sweltering, and you can imagine what it's like in the smaller bodies of water," said Greg Remaud, the deputy director of NY/NJ Baykeeper.

Baykeeeper officials said that tests revelaed that oxygen levels in the waterways were below the minimum concentration for fish to survive. 

“This is primarily a natural phenomenon, but it is exacerbated by polluted runoff, including fertilizers from lawns, which is why preserving stream corridors and buffers is important,” said Remaud.

Chopper 4 footage from the scene showed thousands of fish carcasses floating in the bay, mostly grouped around docks and twists in the waterway.

Officials said that most of the fish, normally used for fertilizer, will likely be washed out of the bay within two tide cycles.

There is no risk to the public from the water or the dead fish, authorities said.

Mystery of the great mussel death: Thousands of dead animals wash up on shores of Long Island

• Mussels thrive in the Long Island Sound's typically mild temperature
• Mussels appear to have been born in 2013 and 2014, both cooler years
•  This summer's high temperatures probably caused them to die

Thousands of dead mussels have washed up this week on the shores of Long Island, baffling scientists.

Mussels thrive in the Long Island Sound's typically mild temperature.

However, experts say this year's high temperatures may have killed them off. 

A Stony Brook University marine science professor says he examined the blue mussels that have come ashore in Jamesport and says the die-off could have to do with the hot summer.

Professor Christopher Gobler says the mussels thrive in the Long Island Sound's typically mild temperature. 

He says the mussels appear to have been born in 2013 and 2014, both cooler years.

But he says this summer's high temperatures probably caused them to die and wash ashore.

Residents said the mussels are starting to smell, and they hope the tide takes them away.

Peter Gruner, a Jamesport resident, told The Suffolk Times there are 'hundreds of thousands' of mussels lining the shore between Iron Pier Beach in Jamesport and United Riverhead Terminal in Northville, a 1.7-mile stretch of beach. 

The smell on Wednesday afternoon, as the shellfish dried in the heat, was worse than in the early evening, Mr. Gruner said.  

'They're all about the same size, all clean shells,' he said. 

'It's not like anything I'd ever seen growing on the Long Island Sound.'

The state Department of Environmental Conservation tells WCBS-TV mussel wash-ups can occur a few times a year across the region.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3759930/Thousands-mu... 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3763329/Lightning-strike-ki...

300 reindeer are killed by a single lightning strike after a Norwegian national park is hit by stormy weather 

• WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT: 323 wild reindeer killed in lighting strike at a Norwegian national park
• The tragedy occurred on Friday at Hardangervidda mountain in Norway during a freak lightning storm
• Dead included 70 calves. Reindeers stay close together in bad weather increasing risk of mass casualties

http://wgme.com/news/local/thousands-of-dead-fish-seen-in-portland-...

PORTLAND (WGME) -- Thousands of dead fish could be seen in Portland Harbor Saturday.

Acting Portland harbor master Kevin Battle calls it a "fish kill". He says it appears bigger fish like stripers chased smaller fish into the harbor, eating them. When that happens, Battle says the fish use up lots of oxygen and more fish die in the process.

Battle says as many as 10,000 fish were floating in the harbor. He says this is the first time he's seen this in Portland in eight or nine years.

http://www.thebigwobble.org/2016/08/thousands-of-dead-fish-washed-a... 

Tuesday, 30 August 2016

Thousands of dead fish washed ashore in Russia's Sverdlovsk region: The lake is the main source of drinking water for residents

Photo www.pravdareport.com
An unprecedented amount of dead fish have washed up on Chernoistochinsk lake in Nizhny Tagil on August 27 and 28.
The lake is the main source of drinking water for residents of the city of Nizhny Tagil.
The locals complained of putrid odor and unpleasant taste of water in the middle of the outgoing summer.
As it turned out, the water did not meet organoleptic standards.
The city administration requested financial assistance for the region.
According to preliminary calculations, the region needs 11 billion rubles to ensure supplies of drinking water to local residents.
According to URA.Ru, the prime suspect for the disaster is LLC Vodokanal-NT (Water Channel Nizhny Tagil).
A week earlier, an administrative investigation was launched against the company into violations of water use rules for wastewater discharge into water bodies.
The company has also repeatedly exceeded concentrations of chloride ions, suspended solids and aluminum in the water.

Five rare white killer whales spotted together

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/orca-killer-whale-white-i...

At least five white orcas have been spotted in the north-west Pacific.

Killer whales, as they are also known, are usually black and white but white ones have occasionally been seen before.

However, they are usually lone, immature animals and it is thought they have a tendency to die young as the trait can be associated with health problems.

Now researchers are concerned that at least one group of the apex predators are starting to struggle after between five and eight white orcas were seen in August last year off Russia's Kuril Islands, north of Japan.

Their findings have just been revealed in an academic paper in the journal Aquatic Mammals.

Erich Hoyt, who works with the Far East Russia Orca Project and who spotted Iceberg in 2010 and 2015, told The Independent their most significant finding was the number of white orcas in the group.

Normally, he said, they were "quite rare" and researchers in the Antarctic, where there are tens of thousands of killer whales, might never have seen one.

"To have five – or up to eight – in one area of the Russian north-western Pacific, is an indication that there may well be inbreeding issues there," said Mr Hoyt, who is a member of specialist cetacean group at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and also a senior research fellow with the UK-based group Whale and Dolphin Conservation.

Dozens of Birds Fall Dead from Sky in Boston (Sep 8)

Health officials are trying to figure out what caused dozens of birds to fall out of the sky onto a Boston neighborhood.

"We started getting complaints about birds literally falling out of the sky," John Meaney, of Boston Inspectional Services, said.

City officials say 47 grackles were found Thursday in the city's Dorchester neighborhood.

Thirty-five of those birds are now dead. A dozen died before rescuers arrived, others were found thrashing in the street and were later euthanized or died on the way to the shelter.

The bizarre occurrence took place Thursday morning on Bakersfield Street.

The city’s Inspectional Services says that grackles were the only type of birds that were affected.

Sources

http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/dozens-of-birds-fall-from-sky-in-boston...

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mystery-over-why-dozens-of-birds-fell-f...

 http://www.wcvb.com/news/dozens-of-birds-found-dead-in-dorchester/4...

http://www.theadvertiser.com/story/news/local/2016/09/13/thousands-...

Thousands of dead fish found floating in Moncus Park at the Horse Farm’s coulee

Workers at the Moncus Park at the Horse Farm were surprised to find thousands of dead fish in the park's coulee Monday.

Elizabeth Brooks, director of Lafayette Central Park Inc., said thousands of fish died, but there are “thousands and thousands more still alive.”

Spokesmen from the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries said the death of  the fish is a byproduct of receding floodwaters, however, they are still investigating the phenomenon, KLFY reports.

“What’s happening is the water temperature is high, about the mid-80s,” said Jody David with Wildlife and Fisheries, “The ones (fish) that did leave, they left, but they still have some (fish) that’s in there and they’re basically trapped and the oxygen level is failing and therefore the fish are going to perish.”

David said the majority of the dead fish are buffalo fish, freshwater drum and a few catfish.

The fish that are still alive appear to be swimming upstream of the Coulee Mine, which drains into the Vermillion River, officials said.

A large number of fish found dead in the coulee that runs through Moncus Park at the Horse Farm. September 12, 2016. (Photo: SCOTT CLAUSE/THE ADVERTISER)

“Last night’s rain I think helped a little bit because I think it created a little bit more oxygen in the water,” Brooks said. “But it’s not enough. They’re definitely gasping for air.”

The fish gasping for air and the smell wafting through the air has some residents concerned.

“I really hope these fish corpses don’t just sit here indefinitely because that doesn’t seem safe,” Rozanne Macmanus said.

Officials said not much can be done for now, adding it’s simply a matter of waiting for nature to take its course.

According to Brooks, the park is still safe to visit. However, she doesn’t recommend fishing in the coulee anytime soon.

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/society/163845/gov-t-investigates-...

The order came as the media reported massive fish deaths in recent days at Tinh Gia District’s Nghi Son Island Commune.
The minister further asked the department and local officials to invite experts and scientists to take water samples for testing.
They were also requested to check on information about waste sludge from coastal dredging projects in Nghi Son Port which poured into the ocean.
The agencies have to report back to the ministry before September 20, the minister said.
Earlier, nearly 50 tonnes of fish bred in cages, and 300kg of natural fish, were found dead in Nghi Son Island Commune, raising suspicions that the fish were poisoned by toxic waste.
However, the provincial Natural Resources and Environment Department confirmed that the blooming of algae, resulting in the red tide phenomenon, was the main reason behind the massive fish deaths.
On Tuesday, the Fisheries Research Institute’s working delegation visited Nghi Son, Tinh Hai and Hai Yen communes in Tinh Gia District to take water samples, Nguyen Van Nguyen, deputy head of the institute, said.
He added that the officials would take water samples every hour along three sites that had reported the fish deaths.
On the same day, the ministry’s Environmental Monitoring Centre also took samples of water from cages and from the area near the wastewater discharge system of the Nghi Son Oil Refinery and Petrochemical Complex, where dead fish had also been found.
Also, the deputy head of the Management Board of Nghi Son Economic Zone said the complex had a plan to wash out crude oil pipes.
After receiving the information, the local Department of Natural Resources and Environment and police asked the complex to stop the discharge of wastewater and wait for test results, as well as specific verification from the Environment General Department.
Regarding information about nearly 400 tonnes of waste in the Taiwanese Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corportation, Nghi Son Environment Joint Stock Company has ended its contract with Formosa Ltd Co for handling this waste.
Formosa company has still yet found a unit for shipping and handling its waste, while the amount of waste in the company’s warehouse is building up.
VNS

Dead humpback whale weighing 20 TONS washes up on New Jersey beach

• Bob Schoelkopf with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center says the over 30-foot juvenile whale had no apparent injuries
• He says it washed ashore around 2pm Friday in Sea Isle City
• A necropsy will be performed on the beach Saturday morning to learn how the whale died

A dead male humpback whale has washed up on the beach at the Jersey Shore.

The founder of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine tells The Philadelphia Inquirer the over 30-foot juvenile had no apparent injuries.

Bob Schoelkopf says it washed ashore around 2pm Friday in Sea Isle City.

He told the Press of Atlantic City that the whale was possibly sick or its mother possibly died.

A necropsy will be performed on the beach Saturday morning to learn how it died.

Officials brought in heavy machinery to draw the carcass further up the beach and away from waves that could drag it out to sea.

The Marine Mammal Stranding Center wrote on Facebook Friday: 'Director Schoelkopf and Technician Mike Kapp responded to the whale in Sea Isle today.

'Tomorrow our stranding staff will be on scene early in morning to collect data, samples and work on disposal.'

The male mammal weighs about 20 tons. 

Adult male humpback whales weight 25 to 40 tons, the Press of Atlantic City reported.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3793667/Dead-humpback-whale... 

www.thebigwobble.org/2016/09/concern-as-hundreds-of-thousands-of.ht...

Concern as hundreds of thousands of fish wash up on Turkey's paradise beaches

Photo www.hurriyetdailynews.com
Hundreds of thousands of dead fish washed ashore in the Tarsus district of the southern Mersin province on Sept. 19, reportedly due to contamination from a malfunctioning wastewater treatment plant in neighboring Adana.
Officials have warned residents not to consume or touch the fish.
"The scene that you see here is heartbreaking.
It breaks the hearts of Mersin and Tarsus residents. Millions of dead mullets have filled the beach and when we ask about the issue to the villagers nearby, they say that it's been going on for four months now," Mersin lawmaker Aytug Atici said as he visited the area, according to Dogan News Agency. "We won't stop pursuing these incidents and will prevent fish deaths.
We know that the people of Mersin and Tarsus are with us in this struggle.
We are calling on them to support us," he said.
Saying there were reports of fish dying due to a wastewater treatment plant in the neighboring province of Adana, Atici called on officials to investigate the aforementioned claims.
"Nature-friendly people and environmentalists concerned with the issue say that a wastewater treatment plant in Adana isn't functioning properly and that that is the cause of the fish deaths.
This is an extremely grave allegation.
Actually, it's beyond an allegation; it has become a finding because the environmentalists here forced official institutions to analyze the water with their own money, and the results said the water released from the plant in Adana was contaminated," he added.
During his visit to the beach, Atici said that in addition to the fish dying, the contamination was having negative effects on the health of humans and animals living in the sea.
"We examined the results of the analysis one by one and we were convinced that this is a situation that can be prevented.
Meanwhile two days earlier thousands of dead fish washed up on the beach in Bozcaada Turkey. Sudden changes in water temperature are thought to be the reason thousands of dead sardines washed up dead along the beaches of the tourist paradise in the North Aegean Sea

Photo Agenda
It is thought some of the sardines may have been thrown away by fishing trawlers?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/mexico-cleans-thousands-fish-killed-red-...

Mexico cleans up thousands of fish killed by red tide

September 23, 2016

http://longisland.news12.com/news/massive-fish-kill-reported-in-cen...

Massive fish kill reported in Centerport

September 23, 2016 8:00 AM

http://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/hanoi-lakes-to-be-checked-followin...

Hanoi lakes to be checked following massive fish die-off in West Lake

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

http://www.wjhg.com/content/news/Something-fishy-in-the-Callaway-Ba...

Something fishy in the Callaway Bayou

Posted: Sat 9:54 AM, Oct 22, 2016

CALLAWAY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Some Callaway residents said they came home to a sight Thursday that smelled just as bad as it looked, and some are saying it's only getting worse.

Gil Walker of Callaway came home from work for lunch Thursday to an odd odor. He said he went to his backyard and found hundreds of dead fish all over the bayou. Walker immediately called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to report it.

"I've lived here 27 years and I've never seen a fish kill on this waterway," said Walker. "The neighbor a few houses down, of course, has never seen anything like this either," Walker added.

Several other neighbors were concerned as well, saying they were wondering where the smell was coming from and why there were so many birds on the water.

"Right now we have an odor in the house, to mask this odor out. We should be ok. We're not going to be coming outside much. We won't be catching any fish for a while," Walker said.

An official with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said biologists tested the water Friday and they're currently waiting for the results.

http://klfy.com/2016/10/24/tens-of-thousands-of-dead-fish-wash-up-a...

Tens of thousands of dead fish wash up along False River

Published: October 24, 2016, 6:09 am

(Photo Courtesy: WAFB)

FALSE RIVER, La. (WAFB) – People who live along False River woke up Saturday morning to find schools of dead fish floating along the banks of their properties. Some of the fish had washed up on private boat launches and docks overnight.

According to Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Biologist Manager for the Inland Fisheries Group, Brian Heimann, a cold front which came through the area this week caused the shallower areas of the lake to lose oxygen. He said the Threadfin Chad fish typically survive in the upper six to eight feet of lake waters.

“When you have a front roll through, it can pull the bad water up to the surface. Threadfin Chad swim in open water and are tender. They are typically the first ones to succumb to it,” Heimann said.

The water levels in False River have been reduced by four feet since September when the Pointe Coupee Parish Police Jury voted earlier in 2016 to draw down the river by six feet to help revitalize the lake.

While Heimann said the move is not directly related to the death of the fish, it did result in less water in which for them to swim. He noted 95 percent of the fish the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries found dead on Saturday in the lake were Threadfin Chad. According to Heimann, False River is overpopulated with the species and there were already efforts underway to control the species’ numbers.

“This is just nature’s way of taking care of it,” Heimann said. He also said the kill was confined to the north end of the lake.

http://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/fish-go-belly-up-in-another-hanoi-...

https://yamkin.wordpress.com/2016/11/04/thousands-of-dead-fish-foun...

Thousands of dead fish found in a reservoir in El Penon, Colombia

November 4 2016

www.publimetro.co/_internal/gxml!0/2qijkhn0ctpwx8acoz5fxkpvtmr4nbh$20p57eowxcd2ip5r7kq0iiszzbqk4r6/whatsapp-image-2016-10-28-at-12-19-41-pm.jpeg" width="438" height="540"/>

www.strangesounds.org/2016/11/the-smell-of-death-is-everywhere-3500...

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/11/14/shinnecock-canal-fish-kill/

Thousands Of Dead Bunker Fish Pack Shinnecock Canal In Hampton Bays

November 14, 2016 8:01 PM

HAMPTON BAYS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — Tens of thousands of dead fish were found packing a canal in the Hamptons.

As CBS2’s Alice Gainer reported, the die-off involved bunker fish in the Shinnecock Canal in Hampton Bays.

It was quite a sight for many to behold — dead fish as far as the eye could see.

“There are thousands and thousands of them down there,” one resident said.

The sight forced many to do a double take.

“I thought it was frost in the morning,” another resident added.

Others thought it looked like ice, and many couldn’t believe what they were seeing and smelling.

The bunker fish were in the Shinnecock Canal on Monday morning, but then the locks were opened out and they went into the bay.

“They’re all dead up on the beach, in the water, behind the building,” Ken Reney said.

“I actually talked to a couple of DEC officer who said they’ve never seen it this bad before,” boat captain Dennis DeMarco said.

The DEC or state Department of Environmental Conservation said it’s investigating. Local experts believe they know the cause.

“There was a big school of blue fish in the bay earlier on Sunday,” Marine Scientist Center, Manager, at Stony Brook Southampton, Chris Paparo said. “Blue fish eat bunker and they chase the bunker into the canal like this and the locks are closed, fish can’t escape, and when they get pushed in they deplete the oxygen.”

That means a free meal for a lot of young birds who prey on bunker, and an early gift for some fishermen.

“They’ll use them for lobster bait, crab bait, fishing bait, so for them, a couple of them were saying it was Christmas,”Paparo said.

An excellent compilation of 2016 animal, fish, bird, bee deaths

http://www.end-times-prophecy.org/animal-deaths-birds-fish-end-time...

Mass Animal Deaths for 2016

More than 2,000 deer reported dead in South Dakota disease outbreak

http://www.capjournal.com/news/more-than-deer-reported-dead-in-s-d-...

STORM ANGUS: Thousands of starfish wash up on beach after rough waves batter coastline

THOUSANDS of stranded starfish were discovered on a beach after Storm Angus battered Britain's coastline.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/735128/Storm-Angus-starfish-Souths...

Nov 22, 2016

The creatures were dislodged from the seabed in the rough waves and left strewn across the stone-covered sands as the tide went out.

Shocked walkers discovered the starfish on Southsea beach, in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and tried to return any still alive to the water.

But a large number were already dead after being out of the water too long and some had even been thrown off the beach by the stormy conditions and onto the nearby promenade.

Peter Whitelock, who regularly combs the beach for valuable items, was shocked after finding the creatures when he arrived and says he has never seen anything like it

The 62-year-old, of Portsmouth, said: "There were thousands of them. I've never seen so many all in one place.

"It must have been the storm that brought them all in from the sea." 

And Rachel Hammerton, 39, of Southsea, who walks her dog on the beach, was also amazed by the number of starfish she found.

There were thousands of them. I've never seen so many all in one place

Peter Whitelock

She said: "I don't think anything like this has happened in previous years when we have had storms.

"When I got down to the beach there were loads of them just laying there." 

A number of local residents went to the beach with buckets to try and save the creatures after seeing they had been washed up in the storm.

Jennifer Harris, of Waterlooville, said she felt they were fighting a losing battle, with the water washing more and more up each time they rescued some.

She said: "The more I collected in a bucket and put back into the sea even more seemed to wash ashore again.

"It's not often you spend an afternoon trying to save such beautiful creatures. The starfish have been washed up in their thousands." 

http://patch.com/new-york/southampton/more-1-million-lbs-smelly-fis...

More Than a Million Pounds of Smelly Fish Wash Up Near One of Wealthiest Streets in Hamptons

After fish kill, 1.4 million pounds of dead fish washed up; wealthy residents can't turn on heat because smell is so bad, some say.

November 30, 2016 8:35 am ET 

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — The after effects of a massive fish kill in the Shinnecock Canal continue to pile up in the Hamptons — and most recently, more than a million pounds of smelly bunker have washed up near Meadow Lane, one of the wealthiest areas in Southampton.

Cleanup efforts are underway, both Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman and Southampton Village Mayor Mark Epley said Monday, with Will Caldwell of C Well Fish leading the efforts.

"We removed 12 tons of fish today," Epley said Monday. "The town hired the same company, Will Caldwell, to remove the fish."

The village, Epley said, is working to get a permit from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to go into the marsh and collect the dead bunker.

Something rotten in Southampton

But the deluge of dead fish has meant something's rotten in the Village of Southampton.

"Unfortunately the locks were opened after the fish died and the village along Meadow Lane is impacted greatly. The smell is bad. I have received complaints. Fortunately this happened now not in the middle of the summer," Epley said.

Schneiderman said Caldwell and his crew removed approximately 57,000 pounds, or 28.5 tons of "dead, smelly fish from Shinnecock Bay beaches in three days over the weekend. That's a lot of fish."

Southampton Town will take the fish into its facility, where it will become fertilizer; the town will also take the village's bunker and charge no tipping fees, Schneiderman said.

"Our facility is capable of taking in another hundred yards of material. We will end up with excellent compost next year," the supervisor said.

The Meadow Lane fish, Schneiderman said, "go on for a very long stretch. It's just tremendous." All the fish that died in the Shinnecock Canal got pushed out with the outgoing tide, and, as they began to decompose, began to float. Prevailing winds pushed them in a southeasterly direction to Meadow Lane, where many multi-million dollar estates are located, the supervisor said.

"I think some people were surprised when they came out for the weekend and the smell was unbearable," Schneiderman said.

Caldwell said neighbors on Meadow Lane have approached him as he commenced with the cleanup.

Two homeowners, he said, walked out and begged him to come to their house. "They said they can't turn on the heat because the smell coming from the vent is atrocious. They've been living in the cold."

Another woman, a caretaker for an "enormous mansion," said the homeowners came out this weekend. "They said they're not coming back until this is over with."

Southampton Town has contracted $6,000 for cleanup for three days, Friday through Sunday; Southampton Village, Caldwell said, has contracted for four days at a price of $10,000.

"But this project could go into a month," Caldwell said. "We are seeing if this can be declared a natural disaster and can receive some Federal Emergency Management funding." The village, he said, "can't afford something like this."

Caldwell said he's working at half his normal rate because he lives in town but "it's still expensive."

Schneiderman said, at some point, the town will run out of ability to take in the massive loads of fish. There may be a private farmer to take some of it, he said.

The supervisor said he's very pleased with the efforts of Southampton Town trustees and the baymen.

Altogether, Caldwell said so far, he's taken away close to 200,000 pounds of bunker. In one day in Southampton Village, he moved 12 tons, or 24,000 pounds.

In total, the amount of fish to be removed from Southampton Village, he said, is 1.4 million pounds.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "It's huge." It's the biggest fish kill he's faced, "by tenfold," Caldwell said.

Caldwell said a Bobcat-type machine is used, with men raking the fish into rows and using pitchforks to put them into buckets for removal; no heavier equipment can be used on the beach for fear of hurting the beach or grass, he said.

Caldwell said when he surveys the scene, its enormity astounds. "All I can say is, 'Wow, this is crazy,'" he said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/12/01/nova-scotia-dead-fish_n_133...

Nova Scotians Puzzled By Thousands Of Dead Fish Washing Up On Shore

‘Thousands’ of Mysterious Jelly-Like Creatures Wash Up Near Huntington Beach, Prompting Speculation

http://ktla.com/2016/11/29/mysterious-jelly-like-creatures-wash-up-...

A number of photos showing mysterious jelly-like creatures that recently washed up on the sand in Huntington Beach have prompted rampant speculation on social media.

These "critters" appeared in the Huntington Beach area on Nov. 28, 2016. (Credit: Don Coursey)

One Facebook user, Ryan Rustan, wrote that he was walking on the shoreline Monday night when he felt "little water balloons popping under my feet, super squishy."

He said looked down and was unsure what exactly he had stepped on.

"Couldn't tell if they were jellyfish or eggs but there are thousands up and down the beach," Rustan wrote on Facebook, sharing the post to the Huntington Beach Community Forum group.

Rustan told KTLA he saw the creatures near 10th Street and Pacific Coast Highway, on the north side of the Huntington Beach Pier, but said they were "all over" the beach.

Ryan Rustan took this photo of creatures on the sand in Huntington Beach on Nov. 28, 2016. (Credit: @ryanrustan)

Dan Coursey, who also posted pictures of the jelly-like pods to the same Facebook group, wrote that the creatures burrowed in the sand.

He was walking down the beach Monday when he spotted hundreds, if not thousands of the creatures. He told KTLA he’s been walking on the beach for decades and had never seen anything like it.

“It feels like feels like Jello,” Coursey said described, holding one in his hand. “If you were a little kid, you’d love to have something like this so you can drop down your sister’s shirt.”

Both posts prompted a number of comments about what the mysterious creatures are, with guesses ranging from baby jellyfish to burrowing sea cucumbers. A number of commenters believe they are salps, which are a type of invertebrate marine animal.

Some simply called them "creepy sea creatures," while others speculated they were alien life forms.

This creature appeared in the Huntington Beach area on Nov. 28, 2016. (Credit: Don Coursey)

Christopher G. Lowe, a marine biology professor at Cal State Long Beach who is the director of the university's shark lab, told KTLA that the the school's resident invertebrate expert says they are sea cucumbers.

Huntington Marine Safety Lt. Claude Panis, who has worked for the lifeguard department for nearly 40 years, told the Orange County Register he was unsure what the jelly creatures were; however, he said it was possible they were a lingering effect of last winter's El Niño.

“There’s all kinds of weird things happening,” Panis told the newspaper, noting that was not the only unusual occurrence in the Huntington Beach area.

In addition, a number of stingrays have been spotted uncommonly close to shore.

“It’s just strange," Panis said.

http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/update/2016-12-04/confusion-as-...

Confusion as dead fish litter beach

Walkers and residents have been left baffled after thousands of dead fish were found washed up on a Cornish beach.

Huge numbers of mackerel or herring were discovered lying on the sand at Pentwean Beach in Cornwall.

Earlier this year hundreds of jellyfish were stranded on Perranporth beach and in 2014 dead whitebait were found washed up on Mullion harbour.

It is unclear why the fish have ended up there, but they may have been chased in by predators.

Different species of rare whale washed up on same beach on same day

http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2016/12/02/different-species-rare-wha...

EXPERTS are investigating after two different species of rare whale were washed up near the same town on the same day.

Locals found a Sowerby’s beaked whale on Dunnet Beach near Thurso, Caithness, on Thursday morning.

Later the same day the carcass of a bloodied Pygmy sperm whale was discovered on the same beach.

Both whales are due to be examined by experts Scottish Marine Animal Stranding-Scheme this week to determine the cause of death.

But the fact that two rarely-seen species of whale were found dead together has led some locals to ask whether Royal Navy vessels were in the area at the time.

Donald Mitchell said: “Two rarish species at the same time in the same area. Has the MoD been active in the area?”

Cathie MacLeod wrote: “So sad to see these beautiful creatures dead on a beach.”

And Scott Youngson, who discovered the Sowerby, said: “Sad sight on Dunnet Beach this morning. Sowerby’s beaked whale, quite rare I’m told.”

Sowerby’s beaked whales prefer deep waters and mainly spend their time along continental shelf edges so sightings in Hebridean waters are rare and records include stranded animals.

They extend along the east coast of North America and Canada, offshore in open waters, and from northern Africa to the Scandinavian coast.

One of last reported sightings was last year when the carcass of a young Sowerby’s beaked whale was discovered off the Isle of Lewis.

A post mortem revealed the cause of death was blunt force trauma that resulted in a fractured lower jaw and meant the whale being unable to feed.

Pygmy sperm whales inhabit waters as far south as New Zealand, whilst Scottish waters represent its most northerly limit, but sightings in Hebridean waters are extremely rare.

Since formal records began in 1913, there were only eight strandings on the British coast from 1980 to 2006, mostly in southwest England and Wales.

In 1999 an adult female and a calf of unknown sex stranded at Loch Ryan, Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway and believed to be the first sighting recorded in Scottish waters.

In 2011 the Royal Navy were found to be responsible for the death of 19 pilot whales after setting off underwater bombs.

A report by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs says that the noise from the explosions could have damaged the hearing and navigational abilities of the whales, causing them to beach and die.

Last year the SNP called on the Ministry of Defence to give assurances that no more bombs will be exploded underwater in Scottish seas in a bid to prevent further damage being done to sea creatures.

The Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme confirmed they would be examining the remains but declined to comment until post postmortems had been done.

Thousands of snow geese die in Montana

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/07/thousands-of-snow-g...

Several thousand snow geese have died after a snowstorm forced large flocks to take refuge in the acidic, metal-laden waters of an old open pit mine in Montana.

Methane Levels Have Spiked A Worrying Amount And No One Is Sure Why

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/methane-surge-global-warming-...

Methane gas emissions are growing faster now than at any time in the last two decades, threatening efforts to limit global warming to two degrees celsius.

Scientists have warned that the proliferation of the powerful greenhouse gas could undermine progress made to curb other emissions like carbon dioxide.

A team of international scientists found that methane emissions began to surge in 2007 and shot up in 2014 and 2015 by 10 parts per billion each year.

While the cause of the spike is unclear, scientists suspect it comes from agricultural sources around the tropics, like rice paddies and cattle pastures.

There’s significantly less methane in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, but it’s much more potent, trapping 28 times more heat.

“The levelling off we’ve seen in the last three years for carbon dioxide emissions is strikingly different from the recent rapid increase in methane,” said Robert Jackson, a co-author of the paper and a Professor in Earth System Science at Stanford University.

The results are “worrisome but provide an immediate opportunity for mitigation that complements efforts for carbon dioxide”, Jackson added.

Researchers looked at a range of information to make the calculations, including inventories of methane emissions, computer models and air measurements.

Methane growth was stagnant from 2000 to 2006, but surged after 2007, according to the analysis.

“Why this change happened is still not well understood,” said Marielle Saunois, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of Université de Versailles Saint Quentin and researcher at Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement in France.

“For the last two years especially, the growth rate has been faster than for the years before. It’s really intriguing.”

Another Massive Fish Kill in Southern England (Dec 19)

Hundreds of thousands of dead fish have washed ashore on a Cornish beach for the 2nd time this month.

Witnesses said the fish stretched “as far as the eye could see” along Marazion beach.

Lyn Barton, from Penzance, was walking along the beach and said: ”It is truly astonishing. I have never seen anything like it before. There are literally hundreds of thousands of fish washed up on the shoreline."

It comes just two weeks after thousands of dead fish were found washed up on another Cornish beach.

Walkers made that discovery on Pentewan beach near St Austell.

The dead fish – which were mackerel or herring – were also packed along the water’s edge.

At the time, James Wright, curator of the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, told the BBC such events normally occurred in summer when mackerel followed prey into warmer waters.

“It’s quite unusual for fish to want to leave the water, it’s usually a result of panic, because of a predator, but at this time of year that would be unusual.

Source

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2428830/mystery-as-tens-of-thousands-...

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20161227_Why_are_birds...

Why are these birds falling from the sky in South Jersey?

Updated: December 27, 2016 — 1:07 AM EST

SHILOH, N.J. - Weather-wise, it had been a fairly typical November day, two days before Thanksgiving, in the western Cumberland County agricultural community of Stow Creek Township - mostly sunny, with a bit of a nip in the air.

Then, all of a sudden, it was raining dead birds.

And by the time the brief "shower" was over, as many as 200 red-winged blackbirds littered the ground in a small housing development off Frank Davis Road surrounded by vast farm fields.

"They just fell from the sky," said Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

It was the second time in less than three weeks that a die-off of blackbirds had occurred in the same rural neighborhood; the first time, a couple of dozen dead birds were found. A similar incident had happened in a North Jersey farming area earlier in the year, Hajna said.

After county agricultural agents had been notified by homeowners, the DEP's Division of Fish and Wildlife arrived in Stow Creek and removed the birds, collecting some of them to be sent to a state lab for necropsy, toxicology, and histopathology tests.

But the results of all the tests were inconclusive, Hajna said last week.

"We did ascertain that the birds suffered trauma and internal bleeding from hitting the ground," Hajna said. "But what made them fall from the sky in the first place . . . we can't say for certain."

Even wheat seed from a nearby farmer's field was collected and tested for chemical compounds by the University of Pennsylvania. The farmer told the DEP's Bureau of Pesticides that the seed had been treated with the fungicides difenoconazole, mefenoxam and sedaxane, and the insecticide imidacloprid. None of those compounds is considered harmful to birds and none of the chemicals was found to be among those that are sometimes used by farmers to control "nuisance" species like blackbirds, Hajna said.

And while animals falling from the sky is not a usual occurrence, it does happen across the globe: besides birds, fish and frogs seem to be the most common.

In 1998, about 10,000 birds, all Lapland longspurs, rained down and died on fields in Minnesota and Iowa after they became disoriented in a snowstorm. Fish can sometimes get caught up in whirlwinds and in meteorological waterspouts and can be carried great distances, such as in 2010, when some striped bass ended up in a Massachusetts backyard about 20 miles from the seacoast.

While it is not illegal in New Jersey for farmers to attempt to protect their crops and control populations of such species as blackbirds, crows, grackles and magpies, agriculturists must follow certain protocols in using such chemical compounds so that the usage does not damage crops, contaminate feed for livestock, create groundwater hazards, or in any way effect endangered and threatened species of animals and plants.

Populations of red-winged blackbirds are robust, and they are not considered a threatened or endangered species. They are therefore exempt from state and federal regulations that protect some migratory birds, officials said.

Birding officials said habitat loss globally poses a much greater threat to all bird species than do incidents of bird die-offs.

Hajna said the state ultimately ruled out that the kill-off was caused pesticide poisoning because of the "highly localized nature" of the mortalities. The bird deaths also were not likely caused by compounds reported in wheat seeds planted in an agricultural field, nor were they the result of infectious disease.

"We have determined that the deaths were not caused by pesticides commonly known to be toxic to wildlife and not likely caused by compounds reported in wheat seed planted in an agricultural field," Hajna said.

A similar die-off occurred in nearby Millville in 2012, and it was later determined that a farmer had legally used a chemical to keep blackbirds from his crop. About 300 birds were reported dead in that incident, Hajna said.

But the dead birds falling from the sky here last month has left some residents here worried about the cause.

"Out in the country like this, you find dead stuff lying around all the time . . . but this was kind of weird," said resident Debbie Hitchner, 32, who said she found a half-dozen of the dead blackbirds in her Frank Davis Road backyard after the incident was reported. "My dog just kept finding them, one after the other."

and another:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/fish-kill-off-st-mary-s-b...

Why are dead lobsters, crabs and herring washing up along this Nova Scotia shore?

Boxing Day find comes after weeks of reports of dead herring washing up along shores

CBC News Posted: Dec 27, 2016 11:46 AM AT Last Updated: Dec 27, 2016 12:26 PM AT

Halifax resident Eric Hewey was home in Digby, N.S., visiting for the holidays when he got a call from friends on Boxing Day summoning him to the beach below Savary Park in nearby Plympton.

"They said we've got to come down and look at the beach."

On Tuesday Hewey described when he found when he arrived at the beach as sad: lots of dead herring — an ongoing and as yet unexplained problem — but also dead starfish, lobsters, bar clams, scallops and crabs.

• Schools of dead herring continue to wash up on Nova Scotia beaches

'A very striking and terrible scene'

Ted Leighton is a retired veterinary pathologist who has been tracking the dead herring reports.

He hadn't been to the beach to see the most recent findings, but he's seen Hewey's pictures and noted it's a place dead herring have been found before.

"It's a very striking and terrible scene," he said in an interview on Tuesday.

Leighton said he's most struck by the assortment of species Hewey and others found on Boxing Day. Other than most likely all being from the bottom of St. Mary's Bay, Leighton can't see any other obvious link.

While he has no idea what caused the kill, Leighton said the fact it cut across so many different species likely rules out some kind of infectious disease, because they tend to have a narrow range.

"A particular virus, for example, might affect several different species of fish but it's unlikely to affect people and it's unlikely to affect clams."

His first question is whether it has anything to do with the death of the herring. Leighton doesn't know, but he also noted herring have been dying for more than a month but this is the first time anyone has reported anything like this.

"It would seem to be at least a new phenomenon, but since we don't know why the herring are dying, we can hardly say with any surety that, 'Well, these other things can't be dying of that.' So I think we have to be open-minded about this."

• Tests haven't pinpointed what killed herring in Digby County

Leighton said it needs to be determined if this has happened anywhere else and it also needs to be confirmed that all of the animals on the beach near Plympton did, in fact, come from St. Mary's Bay.

Researchers need to get to the bottom of the bay and see what's happening, he said.

Dead fish and other aquatic creatures were discovered washed up on a beach in Plympton, Digby County on Boxing Day. (Eric Hewey)

"In a die-off of water-dwelling creatures like that ... one of the first things you want to do is go out to where it is happening and measure everything you can about the water, because that's what they live in."

It's also the only way to know if the environment is changing, he said.

Leighton noted the most recent discovery and discussion are the result of "citizen scientists," such as Hewey, and posts on social media. He hopes people keep patrolling the beaches and reporting any findings.

"That will really help us think through the kinds of things that might have caused it."

A representative with Fisheries and Oceans Canada could not be reached for comment.