Grasshopper outbreak reported in Valley County-

CASCADE, Idaho -- There's a big problem happening right now in Valley County. Hundreds of thousands of grasshoppers are damaging crops and fields, and the Idaho Department of Agriculture is now getting involved to help fight the outbreak.

"We started seeing an increase in population back around Fourth of July and since then it just really exploded," said Mike Cooper with the Idaho Department of Agriculture Plant Industries.

The hot, dry weather is providing the perfect conditions for the grasshoppers to multiply. Cooper says more than 24,000 acres in Valley County have been affected by the grasshoppers. The hardest hit areas include: Cascade, Donnelly, Round Valley and Lake Fork just south of McCall.

"A lot of ranchers started noticing they were losing hay fields, pastures. Grain crops were being damaged," said Cooper.

While Cooper doesn't have a finally tally on the amount of crops and fields damaged, he says some ranchers have had to move their cattle to better pastures for feeding.

By state standards, a grasshopper outbreak reaches damaging levels when there are eight grasshoppers per square yard. Cooper says there have been more than 200 grasshoppers per square yard in parts of Valley County.

The state is mandated under the Idaho Plant Pest Act to assist ranchers and farmers when they request help for controlling grasshoppers and Mormon cricket outbreaks. The state began spraying on Thursday, and they hope to complete the task by mid-week.

"The immediate results that we've had from the ranchers we've already sprayed is they seem to be happy with the amount of mortality they're seeing," said Cooper.

Farmers and ranchers are splitting the cost of treatment with the state. The price tag to fight this outbreak is not yet known. Cooper says the state is only spraying the areas that farmers and ranchers requested assistance, and that the state has provided notification to those who might live or work around those sprayed areas.
Source-http://www.ktvb.com/news/Grasshopper-outbreak-reported-in-Valley-Co...

http://wtkr.com/2013/07/31/dead-dolphins-washing-up-on-virginia-bea...

Dead dolphins washing up on Virginia beaches at an alarming rate

Posted on: 5:27 pm, July 31, 2013, by Todd Corillo, updated on: 07:54pm, July 31, 2013

Virginia Beach, Va.  – Dead dolphins are washing up on beaches in Virginia at an alarming rate in July.

Mark Swingle, Director of Research and Conservation at the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center says the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team has responded to 82 bottle-nosed dolphin strandings in 2013, with 44 of those happening in the month of July.

“An average year for us is about 65 dolphin stranding for the whole year, so we are quite far ahead of that pace,” Swingle explained. “If you go back 10 years, the average number of dolphins in a July would be about 6 or 7.”

Right now, researchers are trying to figure out how and why the dolphins are dying, but initial examinations suggest it’s not from typical human interactions like boat propellers or fishing nets.

“This has not been that way. These animals don’t appear to have been involved in human activities, at least on cursory examination,” Swingle said.

The Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center is hoping testing of samples of tissue they are collecting from the dolphins may shed light on what’s happening.

“That we hope will tell us more information,” Swingle explained. “So we’ll have tissue samples and things that can be tested for pathology, disease and whether they’ve been exposed to toxic substances.”

Swingle says the dolphins that have washed up are of all different sizes and ages. The only similarities seem to be that most are male and most have been found in the Chesapeake Bay.

“We are finding them primarily in the Chesapeake Bay. Not in any one spot though – they are all over,” Swingle commented. “We’ve picked up animals all the way up near Maryland in the Chesapeake Bay.”

The Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response team is working with other coastal states to see if there are any similar trends happening elsewhere.

They stress that if you find a dolphin on the beach, don’t touch it, but immediately call the Stranding Response Team.

Their hotline is (757)385-7575 and is staffed 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10216847/Oy...

Oysters hit by mystery illness along French coastline

A mystery illness is wiping out up to 80 per cent of adult oysters along French coastlines in the latest plague to hit the embattled molluscs, which are struggling to cope with global warming.

Oyster production in Corsica. Experts are at a loss to explain the causes of the recent illness in French oysters Photo: ALAMY

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2383788/Mystery-dolphin-dea...

Mystery dolphin deaths: Experts investigate unusually high number of bottle-nosed dolphins found washed up on East Coast beaches

• 21 dead dolphins have washed up in New Jersey since June up from the usual 12
  
• More than 120 bottle-nosed dolphins have been found dead or dying on East Coast beaches since June
• Marine experts are investigating the deaths but haven't yet found the answer

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 22:04 GMT, 2 August 2013 | UPDATED: 22:05 GMT, 2 August 2013

An unusually high number of dolphins have been found washed up on East Coast beaches this summer.

From New Jersey to Virginia, more than 120 bottle-nosed dolphins have been found dead or dying on beaches since June.

The bodies are sent to the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School for necropsy, or animal autopsy, but so far the answer to what's causing the deaths has eluded experts.

Mysterious: Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team members carry a deceased male dolphin on a metal stretcher from Ocean View Beach in Norfolk August 1, 2013 - their third dolphin retrieval of the day

http://www.halsteadgazette.co.uk/news/10590526.Halstead__Almost_500...

Halstead: Almost 500 fish found dead in river

1:00pm Sunday 4th August 2013

ALMOST 500 fish were found dead in a stretch of the River Colne.

Environment Agency officers were called to the river near Station Road in Earls Colne, behind the industrial estate, on Sunday afternoon.

 At this stage the cause of the deaths of the fish, of which 40 were adults and the rest were babies, is unknown.

The officers have been monitored the river between Sunday and Tuesday and said there was no risk to humans or any other animals.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “Based on a survey on Tuesday morning, we are confident that there will be no further fish deaths.

“We are now investigating the cause of the deaths, and have sent dead fish to our labs for analysis.”

The results are expected to take about a week.

In June last year the same stretch of river was affected after thousands of litres of pesticide spilled into Toppesfield Brook and affected 10km of the River Colne.

Thousands of fish were thought to have died and a further 8,000 were rescued.

Fish were reintroduced into the river in December last year.

and another fish kill in Chapel Hill, NC

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news%2Flocal&id=9195024

Dead fish turn up in Chapel Hill creek

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- Chapel Hill residents have found dead fish in a creek that is near an area hit by a gas leak Friday.

Officials said the leak happened during construction at the Family Fare BP on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Related Photos

PHOTOS: Dead fish turn up in Chapel Hill creek

View all 4 photos

On Saturday, Robert and Sheile Amareld found the dead fish beside the Crow Branch Creek near their home. Now the residents are concerned their water may be contaminated.

"We found some dead fish down there and it was kind of concerning. We collected them so the animals wouldn't eat them, and we gathered some water and we found it was a little darker than the other stream that wasn't affected," Robert Amareld said. "We could smell some gas, only when you got real close to the water."

Residents said they also started to notice a foam starting to gather in the creek that they had never noticed before.

On Friday, authorities said they did not know sure how much gasoline got into the creek. They were doing testing and trying to trap any gasoline they found.

For that, the neighborhood's association president, Julie McClintock said she is grateful and praised the town for their response. However, she said she and others still have concerns.

"Has all the gasoline and ethanol been trapped? Another concern would be, are we doing everything we can to prevent this kind of thing from happening again?" McClintock said.

ABC11 reached out to the state's Division of Environmental and Natural Resources, but was unable to reach anyone.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013%5C08%5C06%5Cstor...

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

Dead Birds Fall 'Like Raindrops' in Winnipeg (Aug 7)

Dozens of birds have been found dead or barely alive in the area of King Street and Dufferin Avenue in Winnipeg's North End.

"You couldn't step anywhere without stepping on a bird."

Workers at a nearby community services agency said they saw dozens of birds falling from the sky at around 10:30 a.m.

"It was like raindrops falling," said one employee.

"It's something in the skies. It was affecting them and they were dropping dead," he said.

The streets near the intersection of King and Dufferin were littered with bird carcasses.

The city sent a crew to pick up the remains of the birds.

The wildlife branch of Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship confirmed the dead birds are common grackles.

Contractors sent to clean up the dead birds said they were even surprised by the numbers.

"I've never seen this before. This is pretty crazy. I get calls for maybe one or two at the same location," said Cameron Vonau.

The birds that are still alive were taken to the Winnipeg Humane Society to be looked at by a vet.

"My husband said, like, 'This is a Hitchcock movie.' It's crazy!" Tiganagis said.

Manitoba Conservation is investigating the deaths.

Sources

http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/deaths-of-dozens-of-birds-in-winnipeg-un...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2013/08/07/mb-dead-bir...

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/218721871.html

Follow-up report:

Grackle Deaths Still a Mystery - Necropsy Shows No Trace of Poison (Aug 10)

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/grackle-deaths-still-a-myste...

Source:http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/08/national-mall-poond-hundreds-o... 

Update on the poor dolphins...

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/hundreds-dolphins-may-die-east-coast...

Hundreds of dolphins may die on East Coast before killer is identified    

Nidhi Subbaraman NBC News 2 hours ago

Michael Newman / Florida Keys News Bureau via AP

Wild bottlenose dolphins play off the bow of a sportfishing boat, off the Florida Keys near Islamorada, Fla. 

A silent, mysterious plague is claiming the lives of scores of bottlenose dolphins off the mid-Atlantic coast. Over July and August, more than 200 dead or dying dolphins have washed up on beaches from New Jersey to Virginia, and the numbers continue to climb. 

The dead include adult animals and calves, males and females. Sometimes, the animals that wash ashore are dead for days. Others arrive on their last breath. None have survived.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has formally classified the mass deaths as an "Unusual Mortality Event." The daily arrival of dead dolphins is an ominous sign of a larger, ailing coastal ecosystem, researchers say. It could even signal the return of a deadly sickness that raged for 10 months in the late 1980s, and felled more than 700 bottlenoses before the carnage ended.

"We started getting really alarmed by July 25, when we started getting more than one animal per day. That was the tipping point," Susan Barco, a researcher at the Virginia Aquarium Marine Mammal Center, told NBC News.

August usually brings about seven strandings to the Virginia shores, but this month, with two weeks to go, Barco has already counted 75 dead dolphins. And calls about new strandings are flooding in daily. "There are days when we cannot get off the phone," she said. "Everyone loves dolphins ... they're certainly concerned."

Of the world's 600,000 dolphins, up to 22,800 coastal migrators — some heading south, to the Carolinas for the winter, and others heading north — are expected to pass through the mid-Atlantic in the summer and fall. "We are worried that ... the elevated strandings will not stop until the dolphins leave our area," Barco said. 

Researchers across the U.S. have rallied to support the investigation, at labs, at stranding sites, and at other remote locations. If volunteers find a recently dead animal — a carcass in good shape — they drive them to the aquarium lab facility. There, a team of three or four researchers works for about seven hours collecting swabs, tissue samples, body fluids — material that can be probed for viral or bacterial pathogens. Genetic tests are also on the to-do list. 

From whole animals, Barco has recorded respiratory infections, joint infections, skin and mouth lesions. Some animals appear emaciated, as if they suddenly went off their food. But the real killer — likely a bacteria or virus of some kind — is still at large. 

The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation / Reuters

Officials examine a dead bottlenose dolphin that washed ashore on the Long Island, N.Y. NOAA has declared a Unusual Mortality Event in the Mid-Atlantic regions including New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.

Prime suspect: Morbillivirus Chief among the suspected "causal agents" is the morbillivirus, a bug that turned up in the tissue of one dead New Jersey dolphin. It's still too early to say if the virus killed that animal, much less the rest of the herds. 

Morbillivirus does have a track record, however. This virus was behind another mass die-off that claimed the lives of more than 700 dolphins between June 1987 and March 1988. The morbillivirus in that event wasn't found until years later, but the experts say technological progress will help identify the cause faster in this case. 

How did those dolphins get so sick a quarter century ago? One theory, Barco explained, is that the coast-dwelling dolphin population caught the virus through exchanging breathed air or body fluids with dolphins that live in deeper waters. The offshore herds are believed to harbor the virus without getting ill from it, unlike their unfortunate coastal cousins.

"Looking at this event from 10,000 feet in the air, it looks much the same as 1987," Charles Potter, collections manager of marine mammals at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, told NBC News. But, he added, further tests are needed "before we can say if this a repeat or if this is just something that looks similar."

Because of the NOAA Unusual Mortality Event classification, dolphin experts have access to a deeper pool of funding for tools, equipment and salaries for investigation. But budgetary belts are tighter than ever, and this doesn't mean carte blanche. Currently, there is $200,000 available in funding for seven open cases, said one NOAA marine biologist. This mass death is just one of those cases.

Though fatigue is already setting in, experienced marine biologists know this may only be the beginning. Potter, who also helped research the 1980s die off, traveled down to the Virginia Aquarium to help with dolphin necropsies. "All of us would hope that this mortality would just cease. But I don't think it's going to happen," Potter said. 

A few weeks in, with a long fall ahead, the work is already taking a toll on the humans involved. "We are alarmed and concerned and exhausted," Barco said.

Have you seen a stranded dolphin? NOAA has the following safety tips: 

• Do not touch the dolphin.
• Don’t allow pets to approach the dolphin.
• Observe the animal from a safe distance of 100 yards (safe for you and the animal)

If you see a dead or stranded dolphin in New York, call the Riverhead Foundation's 24-hour rescue hotline at 631-369-9829. If you're in New Jersey contact the Marine Mammal Stranding Center's hotline at 609-266-0538.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2013/article22016.html

Officials baffled over dead Koh Racha Yai fish in Thailand

Officials are baffled over reports of dozens of reef fish found dead at popular dive sites off Koh Racha Yai isand. Photo: Jana McGeachy

http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/NM-wildlife-biologists-i...

NM wildlife biologists investigating elk deaths

Published 6:39 pm, Wednesday, August 28, 2013

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/30/herd-of-elk-found-dead-in-nor...

Scientists are puzzling over what could have killed an entire herd of elk found dead in northeastern New Mexico. According to KRQE, a herd of about 100 elk were found dead on a ranch near Mora, NM.

The elk had not been shot, so the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish is trying to evaluate the bodies and find out what killed the animals. One possible culprit would be Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD), an illness carried by insect bites.

“With EHD, an elk could get a fever,” said Game and Fish spokesperson Rachel Shockley to KRQE. “It’s usually a pretty fast illness, and up to eight to 36 hours later the animals go into shock, and then they die.”

The animals’ bodies were all found within an area of about one square mile, indicating that the disease spread quickly among the herd. Shockley said that EHD is typically most dangerous at this time of year, when temperatures are high and herds stay close together at water sources.

Tissue samples from the elk and water samples from nearby streams and creeks have been sent off for testing.

EHD is not transmissible to humans or other animals besides elk and deer. Nonetheless, some bow-hunting expeditions for elk are being canceled ahead of the start of elk bow-hunting season, which begins September 3.

Hunters are urged not to fire on or consume any animals that appear sick, but rather to call and report them to Fish and Game officials.

Watch video about this story, embedded below via KRQE:

http://www.enetenglish.gr/?i=news.en.newsmain&id=1447

10 Tons of dead fish found in Lake Ismarida, Greece

Scientists left puzzled at sudden deficiency of oxygen in Lake Ismarida

Authorities in rush to remove ten tons of dead fish from Lake Ismarida, home to the an endemic species called the gelartza (Alburnus vistonicus), a ray-finned fish

Ten tons of dead fish have been found in a lake in the north of the country due to an inexplicably absence of oxygen in the water, researchers have said.

The fishy find in Lake Ismarida, in Rodopi prefecture, was reported by the authority that manages the Nestos delta and lakes Vistonida and Ismarida and researchers from the  Democritus University of Thrace.

"The extent of the phenomenon is unique. Despite the fact every year we identify quantities of dead fish in the lake, this year is the first time we've see such a large amount," Manos Koutrakis, chairman of the authority, told semistate news agency ANA.

According to preliminary data from analysis made by the authority, there is a deficiency in oxygen – for an unknown reason - at the mouth of the lake and at its northern end.

"For an unknown reason, the water has no oxygen," Koutrakis said.

"The dead fish are mainly flathead mullet and eels, as well as butterflies. The important thing is not to lose endemic species such as the gelartza (Alburnus vistonicus) [a ray-finned fish], and for this reason we must move quickly to remove all the dead fish, because decomposition will absorb even more oxygen," said Koutrakis.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2411765/220k-pounds-fish-po...

Authorities in China have scooped up around 220,000 pounds (100 tons) of dead fish today that they say were poisoned by ammonia from a chemical plant.

Locals said dead fish covered the surface of the Fuhe River in central China and stretched for about 25 miles.

The Hubei province environmental protection blamed local company Hubei Shuanghuan Science and Technology Stock Co for the disaster.

Question posed on the ZetaTalk Chat Q& A (Sept 7, 2013)

Zeta's Explanation:

"What do an enclosed lake in Greece, an enclosed lake near Rio, and a river in China have in common?  Though blamed on “an inexplicable absence of oxygen” in Greece, on raw sewage in Rio, and on ammonia in the water in China, these disparate cases have the same cause – methane released due to being in a stretch zone.  The Eurasian Plate is stretched from Europe to China. The S American Plate is bowing such that the area near Rio is stretched. And in China the Hubei province is rift with deep rivers, which is a sign of thin crust at that point, the crust drooping from lack of support. Rock strata that is stretched to release methane trapped between rock layers, or drooping crust that tugs on surrounding rock are the cause."

Oklahoma Cricket Invasion Grosses Out Sooner State Residents

If bugs make you squeamish, be thankful you don't live in Oklahoma.

Swarms of crickets have invaded the Sooner State recently, prompting grossed out Oklahomans to share photos of the harmless, chirping insects.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/04/oklahoma-cricket-invasion_...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tjuUg8nCSw

This is a new report on Honey Bee Deaths in Canada and the staggering loss of numbers that are now worse than previously thought:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/09/09/f-honeybees-winter-l...

Huge honey bee losses across Canada dash hopes of upturn

Manitoba, New Brunswick and Ontario suffer highest death rates

By Amber Hildebrandt,  CBC News

Posted: Sep 11, 2013   5:21 AM ET

Last Updated:  Sep 11, 2013   5:44 AM ET

 - Nearly double the number of honey bee colonies died across Canada this past year compared to the year prior. (Odd Andersen/Associated Press)

1400 Tons of Molasses from Pipeline Rupture in Honolulu Causes Massive Fish Kill (Sept 9)

Fish are dying off en masse in the waters around Honolulu after hundreds of thousands of gallons of molasses spilled into Honolulu Harbor this week -- and there's nothing officials can do to clean it up.

Thousands of fish, suffocated by the sugary sludge, have been killed or threatened. Footage from local media showed fish floating in the harbor, with some seeming to gasp above the surface of the water, which was contaminated by the thick, syrupy sweetener.

Crews can’t skim the stuff off the surface like in an oil spill. The molasses is mixed in with the water and there’s no way to get it out.

“I’ve been around the oceans my whole life. I’ve never seen it this bad,” boater James Connelly said.

The sweet syrup was being loaded onto a Matson ship through a pipeline. But the pipe cracked, dumping 233,000 gallons of it into the water. It’s now spread into Keehi and La Mariana Harbor.

“It’s sucking up all the oxygen. There’s no oxygen at depth. The animals that need oxygen and breathe it out of the water are suffocating,” Department of Land and Natural Resources Coral Reef Biologist Dave Gulko said.

“Look around the harbor and see fish gasping for air with gaping mouths. It looks bad,” Keehi Lagoon boat owner Clarence Callahan said.

“Normally, the water is that blueish water and healthy area with marine life. But as you can see driving around, this is killing everything,” Connelly said.

"We're working with all the local officials, but as the [Hawaii] Department of Health said, there’s nothing you can do to clean up molasses," Jeff Hull, a spokesman for Matson Inc., the company responsible for the leak, told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday. "It’s sunk to the bottom of the harbor. Unlike oil, which can be cleaned from the surface, molasses sinks."

Put another way by Janice Okubo, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health, "It’s sugar in the water. If you know a scientific way to remove it from water, let us know." And once at the bottom, wildlife officials said, the sludge replaces the oxygen-bearing seawater that bottom-dwelling fish use to breathe.

Officials urged residents to stay out of the water, worried that sharks and eels were coming to feed on the dead fish.

"The public is advised not to enter the ocean if they notice a brown color in the water," the Department of Health said in a statement, adding that "the nutrient-rich liquid could also cause unusual growth in marine algae, stimulate an increase in harmful bacteria and trigger other environmental impacts."

The crisis was first reported early Monday morning, when a Matson Inc. ship was loaded with 1,600 tons of molasses for shipping to the West Coast, according to the Department of Health.

A brown haze was reported in the water shortly after. Matson found a leak in a molasses pipeline near one of the harbor's piers and said as much as 1,400 tons of molasses may have fouled the harbor, health officials said.

Divers initially deployed to investigate the leak on Monday discovered the cause Tuesday morning, the company said in a statement. Matson spokesman Hull said that the pipeline has since been patched.

"The discharge of molasses stopped probably a day ago, now, perhaps longer," Hull told The Times.

Hull said the company had been shipping molasses for about 30 years and had large molasses tanks at the harbor, with transfer piping that runs beneath a main terminal.

"It came as a shock to all of us," said Robert Harris, director of Sierra Club of Hawaii. "I don’t think any of us were aware molasses even existed in Hawaii."

Harris added of the disaster, "I’m not sure there’s anything to do. They do have officials out there removing the dead fish to keep potential sharks from gathering, but I think the damage was too quick – once it was reported, it was too late."

Health officials said they expect the molasses plume to go from Honolulu Harbor into the nearby Ke'ehi Lagoon and then dissipate in the ocean. Spokeswoman Okubo said there was no timetable for when that might happen.

In a statement, the company said it "regrets that the incident impacted many harbor users, as well as wildlife.... We are taking steps to ensure this situation does not happen again."

Sources

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-molasses-honolulu-...

http://interactives.khon2.com/photomojo/gallery/preview/8945/173662...

Another example of the same seen before:

Tree resembles spooky giant cobweb after it's covered in silk by thousands of CATERPILLARS

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2418894/Tree-resembles-spoo...

http://www.zetatalk.com/transfor/t154.htm

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130914/local/Residents-...

Malta Residents wake to sight and stench of dead fish

Marsascala residents yesterday woke up to the stench of hundreds of dead fish floating in the saline marshland known as Il-Magħluq.

“I was out on my morning walk and was shocked when I looked over the marshland. The area was ridden with a congestion of dead fish floating on the surface,” said Brian Blackburn.

The local council was immediately informed and beach cleaners were engaged to clear up the area. However, only the dead fish – thought to be bream – caught against the silted-up areas in the middle of the pond could be removed.

I was shocked when I looked over the marshland

“You need a boat to remove all the dead fish strewn all over the place,” said an eyewitness.

It is not yet known whether the fish died from lack of oxygen circulation in the brackish water pool – something that had happened a couple of years ago – or whether they were dumped there overnight.

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority, responsible for the Natura 2000 site, was analysing the fish to determine their source, a spokesman said.

It was deemed impossible for the bream to have made their way from the sea through the narrow pipes that connect it to the pond.

Marsascala mayor Mario Calleja said that, although the fish were seawater, it could very well mean they came in through the interconnecting pipe when they were still young and then, because of lack of water circulation, suffered from oxygen deprivation.

“There are pipes beneath the road running between the ponds and the sea but the design is not good and the pipes are not large enough,” said Mr Calleja.

It was not a matter of regular maintenance to cater for the flow that was required by such a habitat, he said, because the pipes would immediately clog up anyway.

“The pipes had to be replaced by proper channels,” said Mr Calleja, stressing that Marsascala was waiting for Mepa to take action.

The planning authority confirmed that an application for alterations to be made at Il-Magħluq, filed in 2011, was still pending. This May, the Infrastructure Ministry had requested another year-long extension “because the architects want to consider alternative options to enhance water circulation in the area”.

Earlier this year, Nature Trust Malta urged the authorities to relocate scores of ducks at Il-Magħluq as they were not a natural part of the habitat and were damaging the ecology of the area.

Last year, primary schoolchildren petitioned politicians to save an important saline marshland in Marsascala from litter, garbage and duck droppings.

What is Il-Magħluq?

Il-Magħluq, originally two inter­connected fish ponds lined with layered stones, is home to peculiar salt-tolerant marsh communities and critically endangered protected species that include the Maltese killifish and wetland plants such as rushes.

The brackish water found there forms as a result of freshwater from the surrounding fields and rainwater entering the pool and mixing with the seawater that enters through the connection under the road.

It is one of the only two remaining marshes in the south of Malta.

Workers get to grips with the smelly task of clearing away the dead fish.

http://www.ravallirepublic.com/news/state-and-regional/article_0cf0...

More than 100 deer found dead west of Missoula

Wildlife officials are trying to find out why more than 100 whitetail deer have died along the Clark Fork River west of Missoula.

“The deer may show no outward symptoms of disease,” said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologist Vickie Edwards. “People are seeing healthy looking deer fall over dead.”

Fishing guides and landowners along the Clark Fork and fields near and downstream of Harpers Bridge started reporting the dead deer on Sunday. Dead deer have also been found in the Mill Creek area northeast of Frenchtown.

By Tuesday, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks personnel had confirmed 103 dead deer, with more appearing sick or dying. Biologists have collected lung, spleen and blood samples from affected deer to research the cause.

One possible cause is epizootic hemorrhagic disease, which has hammered deer populations in several eastern Montana regions. Biting midges or gnats transmit the disease, usually in late summer or early fall. The bugs typically die off soon after the first hard frost.

“Hemorrhagic disease viruses are not contagious from one animal to another and are not transmissible to humans,” said Jennifer Ramsey, FWP wildlife veterinarian in Bozeman. “Transmission is only known to occur through the bite of the gnat.”

The disease poses no threat to humans. Anyone who sees dead or sick deer in the Missoula area is asked to call FWP at 542-5515 with observations and locations.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Hundreds-of-fish-die...

Hundreds of fish die in Anandwan pond

TNN | Sep 24, 2013, 02.22 AM IST

CHANDRAPUR: Hundreds of fish were found dead in a pond at Anandwan in Warora under suspicious circumstances in the last two days. The incident, in which more than a tonne of fish has been estimated to have perished, sparked fears of poisoning.

However, Anandwan authorities ruled out poisoning following internal investigations. But, the sudden death of so many fish of only two particular species - catla and rohu - still remained a mystery.

Sources informed that incident came to light when residents spotted the dead fish floating onAnand Vihar pond surface on Sunday evening. More dead fish surfaced on Monday.

There are 10 ponds in Anandwan as it administration breeds several species of fish for commercial purpose. As many as six species of fish are bred in the Anand Vihar pond. While no harm was reported to other fours species, catla and rohu have been affected.

Authorities of Anandwan have collected the samples of dead fish and sent it to a lab in Nagpur to ascertain the exact reason behind the incident.

http://gulfnews.com/about-gulf-news/al-nisr-portfolio/xpress/news/w...

1.1235637

http://www.kltv.com/story/23527608/health-officials-investigating-f...

Health officials investigating large fish kill near popular trail

Posted: Sep 25, 2013 12:04 PM CDTUpdated: Sep 25, 2013 5:53 PM CDT

KLTV.com-Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, Texas | ETX News

LONGVIEW, TX (KLTV) -

East Texans going for a run on a popular trail are being faced with a gross and smelly problem.

Dead fish are floating in Cargill Creek, next to Cargill Long park in Longview. Almost overnight, hundreds of fish, maybe thousands, were spotted dead, lining the banks of the Creek.

"Anytime you have something like this where you have a report of possibly we have fish that have died along the creek, it's something we take seriously," says Longview spokesman Shawn Hara.

Numerous species have been found amongst the dead fish.

"There are several things it could have been. First thing that comes to mind is somebody upstream that fertilized real heavy or used some kind of chemicals on their lawn. When you get a big rain like we did recently, it washes off into our water system," says Gregg County Agricultural Extension Agent Hugh Soape.

One witness claims there was a heavy smell of sewage when the fish were found.

"Our public works crew is taking a look right now and investigating and they will report back to TECQ," Hara says.

But there's another remote possibility. The heavy rains from Friday flooded into oxygen depleted waters. Amazingly, the fish could have died from a sudden rush of fresh water.

"A sudden infusion of fresh water into stagnant water can cause problems , oxygen change, sudden pH change. a radical change in pH can very easily kill fish," Soape says.

Only analysis of the water will tell.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Resource Protection Division in Tyler is investigating the dead fish.

The City of Longview confirms there was a sewer overflow a couple blocks away from the creek. However, that overflow has not been linked to the dead fish.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/26/hornet-attacks-kill-18...

Hornet attacks kill dozens in China

Hundreds of people stung in Shaanxi province by swarms of giant insects believed to have multiplied over warm summer  
Tania Branigan in Beijing

theguardian.com,              Thursday 26 September 2013 04.27 EDT                

This year has been unusually severe for hornet attacks in Shaanxi province, possibly because of weather changes, says a local health official. Photograph: Alamy

 

Twenty-eight people have died and hundreds have been injured in a wave of attacks by giant hornets in central China, according to reports.

Victims described being chased for hundreds of metres by the creatures and stung as many as 200 times.

Most of the attacks in the past three months were in remote, rural, wooded areas in southern Shaanxi, the province's China Business newspaper reported.

In the city of Ankang alone, 18 people have died from the stings, health official Zhou Yuanhong told Associated Press. People in the cities of Hanzhong and Shangluo have also been injured.

The insects' highly toxic stings can lead to anaphylactic shock and renal failure. An official from Ankang's disease control centre urged people to seek medical help if they received more than 10 stings, and warned that emergency treatment was required for those stung more than 30 times.

One woman in her 50s said she had spent almost a month in hospital and was still incontinent after receiving more than 200 stings. A man from her village died of kidney failure.

The hornet attacks are a recurring problem in the area from May to as late as November. According to Ankang police, 36 people died in the city and 715 were injured by the creatures between 2002 and 2005. But Zhou said the issue had been particularly severe this year, possibly because of weather changes.

Experts have suggested in the past that warmer temperatures in the area have led to hornets breeding more successfully, that labourers have been moving deeper into areas where they may disturb nests, and that the insects are sensitive to chemicals found in food and cosmetics.

Li Jiuzhou, deputy director of the Shaanxi Bee and Wasp Industry Association, said that hundreds or even thousands of hornets could live in a single nest. They attack humans only if disturbed, he added. But they are carnivorous and can quickly destroy bee colonies.

Ankang's fire service has removed over 300 hornet nests this summer, but experts said that the problem was unlikely to end entirely until the temperature drops.

Wang Zhengcai, an official from one of the affected villages, said authorities had warned people to be careful if they enter the woods. Local authorities have also promised to help patients pay for the treatment, because of the heavy cost for the rural poor.

The culprit appears to be the Asian giant hornet or Vespa mandarinia, which grows up to 5cm long with a 6mm sting, although the area is also home to the smaller Asian hornet, Vespa velutina nigrithorax.

Massive North Carolina Fish Kill (Oct 3)

Millions of fish have perished in both the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico river basins in eastern North Carolina.

The dead fish are mostly Menhaden, between three and five inches long. They've been spotted this week in the Neuse, from Union Point in New Bern to the mouth of Slocum Creek, as well in Washington, Chocowinity and Blounts Creek areas of the Tar and Pamlico rivers.

Samples of the dead fish are now being analyzed by the state.

Sources

http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/Millions-Of-Dead-Fish-Showing-Up...

http://www.witn.com/news/watercooler/headlines/Millions-Of-Dead-Fis...

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/video/dead-birds-found-beach-085247847.html

Dead birds found on beach

Hundreds of dead birds have been found on Main Beach at Stradbroke Island.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/pile-dead-birds-causes...

Pile of dead birds causes environmental alert at Galloway beauty spot

11 Oct 2013 17:10

Muttonbird deaths leave bird watchers puzzled

LONG HAUL: Muttonbirds have been found dead along Boambee Beach.

BIRD watchers and wildlife authorities are trying to understand what's behind the discovery of large numbers of dead wedge tail shearwaters or muttonbirds on Boambee Beach.

Lawrence Orel from the National Parks and Wildlife Service has confirmed there has been a spike in reports of the migratory birds being found dead right along the coastal strip.

"It is unusual that there are dead birds on the beach, but until we have all the details from the examination, we really don't know why," Mr Orel said.

"At this stage we aren't really clear of what is going on with the birds.

"Muttonbirds generally return to the east coast at this time of the year to breed after a long migration from the northern hemisphere. It is not unusual for some to die from sheer exhaustion.

"Since they are a migratory bird, they can sometimes be affected by storms on the way which can lead to fatigue and stress by the time they get to the east coast."

U.S. Moose die-off: Dwindling moose populations, hunting limited by nature officials

http://www.examiner.com/article/moose-die-off-dwindling-moose-popul...

Source

‘Troubling Mystery’: Complete collapse of sardine population on West Coast of Canada around Vancouver — Official: It’s ‘unexpected’ — Expert: Humpback whales rarely seen, they’re telling us something changed… nobody knows what’s going on.

Published: October 15th, 2013 at 1:18 pm ET
By ENENews

The Oregononian, Oct. 15, 2013: [...] a fascinating, troubling mystery: the disappearance of the sardine in waters around British Columbia. The Vancouver Sun fills in the details on the collapsed $32-million commercial fishery this year on the B.C. coast. The consequences of the loss of the tiny fish [...] could be dire.

Vancouver Sun, October 15, 2013 (h/t Charlie3, NoNukes): Sardine fishery [...] has inexplicably and completely collapsed this year on the B.C. coast. [...] failing to catch a single fish. And the commercial disappearance [...] is having repercussions all the way up the food chain [...] Peter Schultze, a senior guide and driver with Ocean Outfitters, said humpbacks are normally found seven to 10 kilometres or closer to shore, but this year were about 18 to 32 kilometres out [...] if they were observed at all. “There were a lot of days where people got skunked.” [...] scientists today attribute the overriding cause to changes in ocean conditions that proved unfavourable to sardines. [...] “This year was unexpected,” said Lisa Mijacika, a resource manager with Fisheries and Oceans Canada [...] Scientists from Canada, the U.S., and Mexico will meet in December to try to find answers to the sardine’s movements. [...]

Jim Darling, whale biologist with the Pacific Wildlife Foundation interviewed by The Sun: Humpbacks typically number in the hundreds near the west coast of Vancouver Island in summer [...] They were observed only sporadically this year [...] “Humpbacks are telling us that something has changed” [...] “I don’t think anyone really has a bead on what’s going on” [...] “[The sardines are] driving the whole system and supporting virtually everything” [...] “There are some important questions to be asked about the sardine fishery.”

18-foot oarfish discovered off southern California coast

(CNN) -- A marine science instructor's late-afternoon snorkel off the Southern California coast last Sunday was first met with shock and soon excitement when she discovered a gigantic oarfish, a deep-sea creature that remains little known to the science world and people outside.

Jasmine Santana was about 15 feet underwater when she found the 18-foot-long, silvery fish with reddish fins and eyes the size of a half-dollar staring at her from the sandy bottom. Realizing it was dead, she snatched the fish's tail, and using buoyancy and low tides, powered her way back on shore.

"I was first a little scared," said the still-thrilled Santana, who has been working for Catalina Island Marine Institute since January. "But when I realized it was an oarfish, I knew it was harmless."

After a 15-minute swim dragging the 400-pound carcass, she needed help from 14 others to lift the fish out of the water at Toyon Bay, California.

"I was really amazed. It was like seeing something in a dream," said Mark Waddington, the senior captain of CIMI's sailing school vessel the "Tole Mour" who gave Santana a hand. "It's the first time I ever witnessed an oarfish this big."

"Oarfish are found in all temperate to tropical waters, but are rarely seen, dead or alive," CIMI, a non-profit marine science education group, said in a release. "It is believed that oarfish dive over 3,000 feet deep, which leaves them largely unstudied. and little is known about their behavior or population."

Waddington, who has been with CIMI since 1994, said it remains unclear why the oarfish was found in shallow water this time, but it appeared to have died naturally.

Waddington said while the oarfish's carcass is still being preserved in ice, CIMI has been sending some of its tissues and other samples to marine scientists, including Dr. Milton Love, a fish expert from University of California at Santa Barbara, to study its DNA and diet habits.

Waddington said CIMI will likely to keep the fish's skeleton for educational purposes. Its program attracts more than 30,000 school-age children each year.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/15/us/california-18-foot-oarfish/index.h...

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ZetaTalk explanation for why these fish are moving into shallow waters  

http://www.zetatalk.com/index/zeta567.htm

These deep ocean fish as all surface or land based animals are sensitive to stress the rock beneath them is enduring. Just as land animals flee the electromagnetic screeches that rock under pressure release, sea life likewise attempts to flee. For deep ocean fish, there is less of this screeching on the surface, because it is further away from the roc

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ZetaTalk News letter about the Oarfish Omen

 http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue176.htm

Are Dolphins Reaching a Breaking Point? (Op-Ed)

Something bad is happening in the ocean. No one's certain what's causing it, but in the past three months more than 550 bottlenose dolphins have stranded along the Atlantic coast and there's no indication that the strandings are letting up. While researches rush to catalog data on the dolphins' deaths, larger questions loom — is the Atlantic coastal ecosystem broken, and are humans the cause?

Yes, dolphins strand all the time, but not like this. As shown below in the figure from the National Marine Fisheries Service, strandings have skyrocketed this year, especially in Virginia and fanning out north and south, with large numbers in Maryland, New Jersey and North Carolina.

It would be easy to finger the morbillivirus, which has ravaged bottlenose dolphin populations in the past and is showing up in the necropsies conducted on these dolphins. But, the high death count and secondary infections by fungi, bacteria and parasites have some scientists questioning whether the deaths of these dolphins — "sentinels of ocean health" — are a sign of a coastal ecosystem sickened by human activities.

Source

10,000 Walruses Storm Alaska Shores (Oct 17)

An estimated 10,000 walrus unable to find sea ice over shallow Arctic Ocean water have come ashore on Alaska's northwest coast.  The walrus have been coming to shore since mid-September.

Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Friday photographed walrus packed onto a beach on a barrier island near Point Lay, an Inupiat Eskimo village 300 miles southwest of Barrow and 700 miles northwest of Anchorage.

The gathering of walrus on shore is a phenomenon that has accompanied the loss of summer sea ice. Pacific walrus spend winters in the Bering Sea. Females give birth on sea ice and use ice as a diving platform to reach snails, clams and worms on the shallow continental shelf.

As temperatures warm in summer, the edge of the sea ice recedes north. Females and their young ride the edge of the sea ice into the Chukchi Sea. However, in recent years, sea ice has receded north beyond continental shelf waters and into Arctic Ocean water 10,000 feet deep or more where walrus cannot dive to the bottom.

Source

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/10/10000-walruses-lacking-...

ZetaTalk Chat Q&A: April 6, 2013

"... the wobble is swinging the Arctic to the right, and then later to the left, creating a circular motion in the waters trapped in the Arctic. Since the Earth rotates counterclockwise, the motion also takes this path. This is yet another piece of evidence that the establishment is hard pressed to explain."

Another rare 'sea monster' lands in California: a 15-foot saber-toothed whale

“Los Angeles (CNN) -- Oh, Jules Verne or Peter Benchley, where are you, great writers of deep-sea monsters?

For the second time this week, Southern California has seen a rare sea beast washed ashore, far from home waters.

This time, it's a saber-toothed whale, better known to live in deep Alaskan waters than in the warm surf of tourist-choked Venice Beach in Los Angeles where it stranded Wednesday.

In an extraordinary way even for scientists, the carcass of the nearly 15-foot and 2,000-pound whale was intact -- except for a couple of fresh bite marks from sharks. The whale, a female, apparently was barely alive when it came ashore -- a highly unusual sight because beached whales are often badly decomposed or badly eaten by marine life, a local biologist said.

"It was really humbling and sad to see such a majestic creature stranded this way," said Heather Doyle, director of the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium. She rushed down the beach on her bicycle to witness the rarely-seen animal after staff naturalist Brittany Corona happened upon a crowd surrounding the whale on the sand.

Such a sighting of the whale up close in California "is a once in a lifetime opportunity," she added.

Giant eyeball washes up on beach

Just three days earlier, another rarely observed species -- a sea-serpent-like animal called an oarfish -- was discovered dead at Catalina Island off the Los Angeles coast.

Oarfish hide in the deep ocean. The one found in the island's Toyon Bay was so big -- 18 feet long -- that it required 15 people to hold it chest-high in a trophy photo taken by the Catalina Island Marine Institute.

"They're so rare and unusual looking," Jim Dines of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles said of the oarfish and the saber-toothed whale. "They are like sea monsters, and people really pick up on that."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/17/us/saber-toothed-whale-california/ind...

http://www.ktvz.com/news/hundreds-of-fish-found-dead-in-driedup-riv...

Thousands of fish found dead in dried-up river channel

Volunteers worked with buckets to save those still alive

Second Rare Oarfish Washes Up in Southern California (Oct 20)
For the second time in a week, the rare, serpentine oarfish has surfaced on a Southern California beach.

Beach goers at Oceanside Harbor crossed paths Friday afternoon with the deep-sea monster when its carcass washed ashore, Oceanside Police Officer Mark Bussey said. The fish measured 13 ½ feet long.

The discovery came just days after an 18-foot dead oarfish was found in the waters off Catalina Island.

“The call came out as a possible dead whale stranded on the beach, so we responded and saw the fish on the sand right as it washed up,” Bussey said.

Oceanside police then contacted SeaWorld San Diego, the Scripps Research Institute and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Suzanne Kohin of NOAA Fisheries Serivice responded, measured and took possession of the oarfish for research, Bussey said.

Bussey added that people on the beach were “flabbergasted” to see the fish.

“It’s not the typical fish you see on shore,” he said, adding the oarfish probably weighed over 200 pounds.

But Bussey recognized the fish from the sighting less than a week ago off Catalina Island. Jasmine Santana, a science instructor for the Catalina Marine Institute was snorkeling off Toyon Bay when she discovered the body of the creature on a seabed.

The fish was far too big for Santana to carry alone; it took 15 people to bring the beast to shore.

Very little is known about the species, since it usually is found hundreds, if not thousands of feet below the surface, reaching depths up to 3,000 feet.  

Source

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/19/21041529-second-rare-oar...

http://www.wbir.com/story/news/local/maryville-blount/2013/10/19/de...

Homeowners puzzled after finding hundreds of dead fish

http://www.gympietimes.com.au/news/dead-mutton-birds-washing-our-be...

Dead mutton birds washing up on Fraser Coast beaches

MUTTON birds making an epic journey from northern Russia to rookeries in Victoria and South Australia are washing up dead on Fraser Coast beaches.

The birds migrate annually and although failures are expected, the number of deaths this year in 2013 has surprised conservationists.

Tony Bussey, husband of Wildlife Preservation Society Fraser Coast chapter president Carolyn Bussey, recently returned from a trip to Fraser Island, a trip he's made regularly for 40 years.

Ms Bussey said the number of dead mutton birds, otherwise known as short-tailed shearwaters, he saw on the island's beaches outnumbered those of previous years.

"Tony said there were hundreds washed up on Fraser Island, dying and dead," Ms Bussey said.

"He was on the island last week. He was born in Bundaberg and has been going for many years and he said he's never seen them like that."

Birdwatchers of Hervey Bay co-ordinator John Knight said strong winds and a lack of food could have contributed to the deaths.

A Department of Environment and Heritage Protection spokesman said thousands of short-tailed shearwaters were found dead around Moreton Bay in 2011 and Fraser Island in 2006.

"The short-tailed shearwaters or mutton birds are on their annual migration ... the birds can succumb to exhaustion along the way and EHP has received reports of the birds being found on Queensland beaches," the representative said.

"This may mean more birds could wash up along the coast for the next few months.

"Anyone who finds a dead bird on a beach is advised, as a precaution, not to handle it."

http://news.msn.com/world/venomous-spider-outbreak-shuts-british-sc...

Venomous spider outbreak shuts British school

                    

© Alamy: Lee Dalton                        

Thousands of Dead Fish in Kentucky River (Oct 20)

Wildlife officials are investigating after thousands of dead fish were discovered in the Little River in Louisville.

Thousands of fish and around a dozen different species have been found dead as a result of the fish kill.

TWRA biologist Jim Negus says more fish are still submerged and won't float to the top for days.

TWRA considers the fish kill to be localized to a two-mile stretch of the Little River between Alcoa Highway and the mouth of the Tennessee River.

Homeowner Mark Scruggs discovered dozens of fish belly up by his boat dock on Friday.    

"Over the weekend it seemed to get progressively worse, especially in the morning when there's not a lot of chop you can see a lot of floating," Scruggs said.  

Any testing to determine if the water was polluted would be conducted by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, though there's no indication those agencies will test the water.

"By the time they get to them on Monday, they may probably be too dead to determine the cause of death," said TWRA biologist Jim Negus.

Source

http://www.wate.com/story/23739333/dead-fish-discovered-in-little-r...

http://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/news/mysterious-fish-kill-puzzl...

Questions as mass of dead fish washes up on Curtis Island

http://altustimes.com/news/news/2700166/Dead-fish-found-on-banks-of...

Dead fish found on banks of City Reservoir

A large amount of Shad fish have washed up dead on the banks of the Altus City Reservoir over the past few days, and City Officials explain the phenomenon as a natural occurance.

“At this point I believe it is a seasonal die off,” stated Supervisor Gene Leister of the Altus Water Treatment Plant. The breed of fish appear to be Shad, he explained. “We’ll put a call in to Fish and Wildlife to check it out. This is usually what happens this time of year.” Leister stated that most of the fish appear to be in the west reservoir, but have not observed any in the east reservoir. “It doesn’t look like any more are out there in distress. It’s pretty much over with.”

http://www.powerfullinfo.com/naturaldisasters/mass-fish-die-off-hun...

MASS FISH DIE-OFF: Hundreds, Maybe Thousands Of Dead Fish Found In A Quarry Lake In Grolloo, Netherlands?

October 28, 2013 - NETHERLANDS - A strong wind blowing over the quarry in the Great Moere Grolloo. The water sloshing against the shore. It stinks. Rotten fish, gas and sewer. Something white floating among the reeds. Many wits in different sizes.

When you approach, then turn out to be. Fishing Some float a while on the surface, they are in an advanced state of decomposition. A cove shows a tomb. How many fish are floating in total along the banks? Hundreds, perhaps more.

It is a walkers eyesore, the fishing mortality in the Great Moere. In late September Dagblad van het Noorden wrote about dead fish in the lake of Forestry. Now it's wrong. This weekend saw hikers again driving numerous fish. The floating fish in September were dark in color, now they are white. The situation is serious, agrees Hunze and Aa. The many fish are floating them eyesore. "This is not so common," said Mieke Newbold, spokesman Hunze and Aa.

The first fish mortality in September did Forestry different tests. The oxygen content in the lake was a bit on the low side, but otherwise there was little to worry about. Toxic substances were also not found, said Bert Witvoet of Forestry. "And after a few days the oxygen level was already at level", says Witvoet. "Nobody knows what's going on."

Spokesman Jorien Bakker of Forestry says it is. Shocked "This is a lot of fish. Here we are going to do something quickly." Forestry Commission this afternoon urgent consultations with the water board about the situation. Also damping the Great Moere now been shut down. The contractor is now working to remove the dead fish. - DVHN. [Translated] 

http://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au/news/moneys-creek-fish-kill-...

Moneys Creek fish kill referred to EPA

FISH KILL: A large portion of dead fish have been found in the Bargara area near Moneys Creek. Photo: Zach Hogg / NewsMailZach Hogg

THE flood gates have once again opened on the topic of fish kills in the regions waterways after hundreds of dead fish were removed from Moneys Creek at Bargara.

Bundaberg Regional Council crews arrived at Moneys Creek early yesterday morning as part of a scheduled opening of the lagoon, which occurs once a month.

Division 5 representative Greg Barnes said while on site, crews worked quickly to clear away between 500 and 600 dead fish from the backwater.

"Humid weather conditions over the weekend, combined with a lack of rain and subsequent low oxygen levels in the water are believed to be the cause of death," he said.

"Council is concerned that freshwater from upstream Moneys Creek isn't reaching the backwater with a small dam pumping the water to a nearby private property.

"Crews will inspect the site again tomorrow morning (today) and council will continue to monitor the situation moving forward and has sought the advice of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)."

Cr Barnes said the council had previously organised an unscheduled opening of the lagoon between October 16 and 18 after being alerted to the low water levels by nearby residents.

"This gave the lagoon a reasonable flush and re-oxygenated the water," he said.

"I received another request for an unscheduled lagoon opening on October 29, however, due to the high cost associated with opening and closing the lagoon, approximately $4000 each time, and its popularity as a recreational spot for swimmers on weekends, council decided to leave it until the next scheduled opening, which was this morning (yesterday)."

The gates will remain open until Thursday morning with the next opening scheduled for Monday, December 2.

Massive Outbreak Killing Pacific Coast Starfish In Droves

Starfish are dying in massive numbers due to a disease outbreak that melts the animals into a white goo, leaving researchers scrambling to explain the troubling phenomenon.

Dubbed Sea Star Wasting Syndrome, the disease is most prominent on the Pacific Coast, ranging from Southern California to Alaska, where at least 10 species of sea stars have been reportedly inflicted. According to the Associated Press, up to 95 percent of sea star populations in some tide pools have been killed.

While major sea star die-off was documented in Southern California in the 1980s and 1990s, the current outbreak, which causes lesions, tissue decay and eventual loss of limbs, in unprecedented.

“We've never seen it at this scale up and down the coast,” Pete Raimondi of the University of California Santa Cruz told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. “They essentially melt in front of you.”

UC Santa Cruz’s Pacific Rocky Intertidal Monitoring Program has been collecting data on the sea star deaths since June, when Washington’s Olympic National Park found up to 26 percent of sea stars in the park were diseased. A map of the data collected by the program shows that since that finding, incidences of the disease have been recorded all along the west coast.

According to the Press Democrat, two scientists from Raimondi’s team are leaving this week for a multi-month sweep of California, Oregon and Washington to quantify the outbreak and further understand the disease they have little explanation for yet.

The Pacific Rocky Intertidal Monitoring Program reports that one major commonality of all the inflicted sites is that the outbreaks followed periods of warmer ocean waters.

"We're not having an El Niño year this year. That's what's really troublesome about this," Raimondi told CBS News. "I don't think there's been a spread, but it's likely that the same causal factors are contributing to these separate outbreaks," he said.

Raimondi explained that the sea stars’ decline has dire consequences for the ocean’s biodiversity. One of the primarily affected species, Pisaster ochraceus, eats mussels, which will crowd out other species if their sea

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/04/starfish-deaths_n_4215015....