50 Tons of Dead Fish in Mexico's Lake Cajititlán (Sep 1)

Mexicans are baffled at the sudden death of tons of fish in a lake in the centre of the country, a dramatic intensification of a problem that no one has yet been able to explain.

Over 53 metric tons of dead popoche chub fish were removed at the weekend from Lake Cajititlán, a lagoon in the central state of Jalisco.

Fishermen, firefighters, town hall workers and staff from the state agricultural ministry using shovels, a bulldozer, boats and wheel barrels removed the dead fish. The workers wore masks to ward off the smell of rotting fish and buried them in a pit.

The incident comes after of a series of smaller waves of dead popoche chub in the lake in recent months, including one last week, ensuring that 2014 is already by far the worst year for the species.

It was the fourth time this year there has been a die-off at the lake, which sits between Guadalajara and Lake Chapala.

The authorities in the lakeside town of Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, about 25 minutes' drive south of the city of Guadalajara, had previously blamed the deaths on "a cyclical phenomenon caused by temperature variations and the reduction of oxygen".

The small, finger-sized fish are apparently a type of chub. The cause of the die-off has not been determined; samples of the dead fish have been sent to laboratories for testing.

Sources

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/01/mexico-baffled-death-f...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-29011056

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mexico-sees-massive-f...

3 Mass Bird Deaths in Pennsylvania (Jul 27)

Hundreds of dead birds were found in eastern Lancaster County on July 28.

“It appears they were literally blown into the tree branches, the ground — even into each other,” says Greg Graham, the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s wildlife conservation officer for northeastern Lancaster County.

“It doesn’t happen often.”

Since then, two Amish publications reported two other large bird kills on the same night. Graham was unaware of the incidents until contacted by a reporter.

Die Botschaff, a weekly newspaper based in Millersburg, noted that 270 birds, mostly blackbirds, were picked up in a church parking lot in the Gordonville area.

The Diary, a monthly Amish publication out of Gordonville, similarly reported that 130 dead sparrows were found at a location in Bird-in-Hand.

The initial incident caused widespread speculation about what killed the birds. Some theories by Graham and residents included a lightning strike, hail, poison left for nuisance birds on a farm, hypothermia, drinking from a pond tainted by antifreeze and a toxic chemical trail left by a jet.

All the birds had died of traumatic injuries. The cause, veterinarians at the Georgia lab concluded, was a meteorological oddity.

Source

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/mystery-solved-unusual-microb...

Rare Ocean Sunfish Found on Washington Coast (Aug 27)

A 7-foot ocean sunfish rarely seen in Washington waters recently washed ashore on a beach at Cape Disappointment State Park near the mouth of the Columbia River.

It was found dead on the beach at low tide Aug. 27 by children after a campfire program, said June Mohler, a biological technician from Troutdale, Oregon, working this summer as an interpretive assistant at the park.

"It's really an odd-looking fish," she said Friday. It was taller - 82 inches from fin to fin - than its 70-inch length.

Mohler estimated it weighed close to 300 pounds.

There was no obvious cause of death. A few days later, it had washed back into the ocean, Mohler said.

Source

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20140905_ap_6072cb29...

‘Extremely rare’ wahoo fish caught

DANA POINT, Calif. — A deep-sea fisherman made an “extremely rare” catch 12 miles off the coast of Dana Point, Calif., according to KCAL.

Angler Eric Kim became the first in California waters to catch a wahoo fish, the Balboa Angling Club announced on Facebook last week.

Scientists believe it might be the first wahoo ever caught off the United States’ Pacific Coast.

The fish weighed in at 50.1 pounds and was 60 inches long.

Wahoo are often known to frequent tropical and sub-tropical seas, from Cabo San Lucas and south to the equator, but are not common off the United States’ Pacific Coast.

Source: http://myfox8.com/2014/09/08/extremely-rare-wahoo-fish-caught/

http://www.arabnews.com/featured/news/629021

Flood of dead fish along coast surprises Qatif, Saudi Arabia

Three-eyed Cow Hailed as the God Shiva in India (Sept 16)

A three-eyed cow is being hailed as the incarnation of the Hindu god Shiva in India.

Cows are considered sacred in Hindu culture -- but a three-eyed cow represents another level of worship.

In the Kolathur village of Tamil Nadu, the animal is being called a "miracle". Its third eye is drawing comparisons to the Lord Shiva, one of the primary Hindu gods, who also had a third eye.

The cow's owners believe the calf is an incarnation of the god and was sent to bring good luck to the village.

Crowds have flocked to visit the calf, who seems to be unaffected by his new-found fame.

Sources

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/three-eyed-cow-haile...

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/140916/nation-current-affairs/articl...

ZetaTalk Newsletter: December 15, 2013

In India the myths surrounding Shiva point to Nibiru, as the god Shiva represents that planet and its destructive power, and Kali, his bride, is the Earth’s Dark Twin. Does this relay the dance of the planets better than astrophysics? Analogies are often used in mythology.

Shiva Legends
http://www.iloveindia.com/spirituality/gods/shiva/legends.html

Shiva is considered as the destroyer of the universe, in Hinduism. Shiva is a complex god, in terms of nature and represents contradictory qualities, being the destroyer and the restorer simultaneously.

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/thousands-of-fish-found-myste...

Mystery death: thousands of fish were found floating in Harrow Lodge Park, east London (Picture: Lorraine Moss)

An investigation is underway after thousands of dead fish were found floating in an east London park lake.

The grim discovery was made by volunteers in Harrow Lodge Park, Havering, over the weekend.

Havering Council has launched an environmental health investigation to find out what caused the mass death.

Councillor Melvin Wallace said: “We’re still trying to determine the exact cause of the incident.

“We believe it’s either due to an extensive amount of un-oxygenated water that entered the lake due to the heavy rainfall over the weekend, or a possible pollutant

Investigation: the fish on the banks of the lake in Harrow Lodge Park, east London (Picture: Lorraine Moss)“The Environment Agency has tested the water and we’re currently waiting for the results.”

Council staff have since removed the fish from the lake.

New Jersey hiker mauled by black bear, body found in woods with animal nearby

A Rutgers University student hiking in the woods of northern New Jersey was mauled to death Sunday by a 300-pound black bear in what authorities said was a highly unusual attack.
Darsh Patel, 22, a senior majoring in information technology and informatics, was killed in a heavily wooded area known as the Apshawa Preserve after becoming separated from a group of four friends with whom he was hiking, West Milford Township Police Chief Timothy Storbeck said in a statement.
"The group of five hikers encountered a black bear in the woods that began to follow them, they became frightened and attempted to flee the area," the statement said. "During the confusion, the group became separated as they ran in different directions."
Four of the young men later found one another and contacted police. Patel's body was later discovered in the woods, with the bear still about 30 to 40 yards away.
"Evidence at the scene indicated that the victim had been attacked by a bear," said the statement, adding that the bear was "euthanized" at the scene.
Black bears, which are common in New Jersey, have been seen in all of the state's 21 counties. But encounters with human as well as attacks are unusual, said LawrenceHajna, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.
"It's an unfortunate and tragic accident," Hajna said. "It's a rare situation."
The 4-year-old male bear, which wasn't tagged, was being examined to determine why it went after the hikers.
Hajna advised people who encounter bears to remain calm and do not run. Make sure the bear has an escape route. Avoid direct eye contact, back up slowly and speak with a low but assertive voice. "It's easier said than done," he said.

source- http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/23/us/new-jersey-bear-attack/

http://www.wect.com/story/26647986/dozens-of-dead-sharks-wash-ashor...

Dozens of dead sharks found washed ashore on Oak Island

Posted: Sep 28, 2014 4:38 PM EDT

OAK ISLAND, NC (WECT) -

The NC Division of Marine Fisheries is investigating after dozens of dead sharks were found washed ashore on a popular beach strand in Brunswick County on Sunday morning.

Michael Boswell, a local resident, was walking on the beach when he spotted "approximately 50 dead sharks" on the sand near Southeast 64th Street in Oak Island.

The unidentified sharks range in size from approximately 1'-5'.

Boswell said he reported the discovery to police in Oak Island. Since the initial report, the sharks have been picked up and removed from the beach strand.

However, since the sharks were found below the tide line, this issue is under the jurisdiction of the NC Division of Marine Fisheries.

The exact cause of death for the sharks is still undetermined. According to Patricia Smith, a public information officer with that agency, crews are on their way to Oak Island to investigate the matter.

35,000 Walruses Are All Crowded Together In One Spot — And It Signals Something Ominous

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/35-000-walruses-crowded-together-1514...

AP Some 35,000 walruses gather on shore near Point Lay, Alaska. Pacific walruses looking for places to rest in the absence of sea ice are coming to shore in record numbers on Alaska's northwest coast. Thousands of walruses are gathered together on one of the last places they have to rest in Alaska — the shore. As the ice they typically rely on for respite between hunts has all but disappeared, the giant animals are clambering to the coast in record numbers.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) photographed a gathering of 35,000 of the mammals five miles north of Point Lay, an Inupiat Eskimo village 700 miles northwest of Anchorage.

The retreat of the Alaskan sea ice north into Arctic Ocean water has accelerated in recent years. It's bad news for the Pacific walruses, which rely on it for everything from giving birth to diving down to reach the food below.

The huge mammals have been seen gathering in large groups on the Russian side of the Chukchi Sea since 2007 . The walruses came back again in 2009, and again in 2011, when scientists counted some 30,000 of the animals along a half-mile stretch of beach near Point Lay.

“It’s another remarkable sign of the dramatic environmental conditions changing as the result of sea ice loss,” Margaret Williams, managing director of the World Wildlife Fund's Arctic program, told The Guardian.

At least 1,500 walruses gathered in recent weeks on the northwest coast of Alaska.

Pacific walruses also gathered in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska.

Thousands of walruses hauled out of the sea on a remote barrier island in the Chukchi Sea near Point Lay. The Pacific walruses have gone ashore on Alaska's northwest coast and are bunched along a beach near the village of Point Lay. Early on Sept. 12, the National Marine Fisheries Service counted 1,500 to 4,000 walruses. Nearly 10,000 had assembled by the end of the day.

Iceland's Seabird Colonies Are Vanishing, With "Massive" Chick Deaths

Climate and ocean changes blamed for huge losses of puffins, kittiwakes, and terns.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140827-seabird-puff...

FLATEY ISLAND, Iceland—When the days grew long, seabirds flocked to this hamlet on the edge of the Arctic to rear their chicks under the midnight sun.

"Kria," shrieked the terns, calling summer up from the slumbering ground. Black cliffs were transformed into snowbanks of white kittiwakes. Puffins whirred between land and sea. Murres plied the shoreline; fulmars patrolled the skies. Everywhere sounded their vibrant chorus.

These days, a few stubborn holdovers streak the sky and paddle the bay, but the legions are gone. The chicks have perished, and their bereft parents have returned to the sea.

Half of Iceland's seabirds nest on this low-lying volcanic outcropping and its neighboring islands in the deep west coast gash called Breidafjordur Bay. Flatey Island used to be covered with chicks snuggled inside rocky hillside burrows, under tall meadow grass, in nests strewn across headlands and shores.

"There were thousands! You could hear them," says Olina Jonsdottir, who has lived on this island with her husband, Hafsteinn Gudmundsson, nearly 50 years. She looks out her living room window, past the sheep grazing on knuckles of grass-covered lava, past the black basalt beach, to the few birds drifting over the water beyond. "You can't do that anymore. Now there are so few."

Iceland, circled by the food-rich currents of Atlantic, Arctic, and polar waters, is the Serengeti for fish-eating birds. Its rocky coast, hillocky fields, and jutting sea cliffs are breeding grounds for 23 species of Atlantic seabirds, hosting an indispensable share of Atlantic puffins, black murres, razorbills, great skuas, northern fulmars, and black-legged kittiwakes.

But the nests have gone empty in the past few years, and colonies throughout the North Atlantic are shrinking.

Birds Fall Dead From the Sky in Western India (Oct 18) 

It's a sight that would send shivers down most people's spines -- dead birds plummeting from above for no apparent reason. Nearly 50 crows and eagles were found dead around Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Bapunagar on Friday morning. When they first realised what had happened, residents in the areas were left baffled. They said it was like something out of a horror film.

Source

http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/ahmedabad/others/Birds-fall-dead-fro...

Dead fish on banks of Neuse river.

http://www.nanoexpressnews.com/dead-fish-banks-neuse-river-cause-al...

Deadly Japanese Pufferfish found washed up on Dorset beach UK

The 12 ins long  specimen was found by Richard Fabbri, from Weymouth Watersports, who spotted the  fish swept up on Chesil Beach in Dorset - the first time the species has been  seen in the area for 30 years.

But had any beach  forager picked up the silver fish and taken it home for their dinner they would  have come in for a nasty shock.

All pufferfish are  poisonous and carry a toxin in their internal organs that has no known  antidote.

Oceanic pufferfish - Lagocephalus lagocephalus in  Latin - are a delicacy in Japan but rarely enter British water, because it is  usually too cold for them.

Only a very small  number have been recorded before, all off the south west coast.

Most pufferfish are found in sub-tropical and  tropical waters in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2821243/Deadly-Japanese-puf...

http://fukushima-diary.com/2014/11/numerous-sardines-washed-ashore-...

Numerous sardines washed ashore in Pacific coastal area of Hokkaido – Photos

 November 4, 2014

On 11/3/2014, numerous sardines were found washed ashore in Pacific coastal area of Hokkaido. A fisherman found it around 6AM of the day.

The location was Mukawa-cho in Hokkaido. The dead sardines were approx. 15 ~ 20cm long, which have grown up. They were found washed ashore for 4km along the coast.

The local fishermen state they have been fishing there for 60 years but haven’t seen such a thing.

Hokkaido  experiment station comment it might be due to the storm one night before, but the exact cause is not identified.

On the other hand, local citizen commented on Twitter that that kind of storm was nothing rare, can happen quite often.

Brazilian Beach Covered with 20 Tons of Dead Fish (Nov 7) 

For reasons as yet unknown, huge numbers of fish from the same species have been dying on the tourist beaches of Ganabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil over the past month, an unprecedented situation that is scaring the population.

The municipal cleaning service have found 20 tons of shads, a particular species of fish similar to sardines and herrings.

Surprisingly, “the tests proved that it is not a matter of chemical or toxic contamination of water,” declared the oceanograph David Zee to AFP, from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ).

Five specimens of shads have been sent for examination on Tuesday to the department of biology of the UFRJ, and the results should be known within the next week.

Source

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Brazilian-Tourist-Beach-Myste...

http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/environment/2014/11/07...

Indian River Lagoon fish are dying in droves

5:22 p.m. EST November 7, 2014

Dead fish fouled Merritt Island canals this week, adding new casualties to a die-off that's already been claiming hardhead catfish from Satellite Beach to Fort Pierce over the past month.

State wildlife officials received dozens of reports this week about the hundreds of dead fish floating in canals surrounding Sykes Creek, Newfound Harbor and the Banana River.

Species included catfish, flounder, mullet, sailor's choice, pinfish, red drum, sheepshead and trout.

A water test on Merritt Island this week found no evidence of a harmful algae bloom or raw sewage, said Brandon Basino, a spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg. But that was only one sample, he said, and state biologists continue to monitor the fish kills.

They don't know whether the hardhead catfish die-off and other species of dead fish are linked.

Deep Ocean Sunfish Washes Up in Scotland (Nov 7) 

A deep water fish that lives 2000 feet below the surface washed up on a beach in North Queensferry.

The sunfish was discovered by a member of the public at East Bay beach who contacted the nearby aquarium.

Aquarists retrieved the stranded fish, which was around a metre long, however, it later died.

Deep Sea World's Chris Smith said: "This is the first sunfish stranding I have seen in the local area."

He added: "Sunfish spend their lives in the deep ocean so for it to end up stranded on a beach indicated it was in a very bad way."

Sources 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-29960050

http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2014/11/07/rare-fish-washes-up-on-sco...

Dozens of stranded pilot whales die in New Zealand

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-29911181

About 36 pilot whales that had become stranded in the Eastern Bay of Plenty in New Zealand have died.

Two whale pods beached themselves in the Ohiwa harbour on the north-east coast on Monday.

Wildlife conservationists launched a rescue operation and helped one pod to be refloated on Tuesday, while 21 more whales were successfully herded out to sea on Wednesday.

The reasons for mass pilot whale strandings are not well understood.

Pilot whales are particularly prone to stranding behaviour. The largest known pilot whale stranding involved an estimated 1,000 whales at the Chatham Islands in 1918, according to the DOC.

Steve Brightwell from the DOC said the whales came into Ohiwa harbour after one of them was unwell and beached itself, reported Radio New Zealand.

Eleven of the whales were euthanized on welfare grounds on Tuesday, the Department of Conservation (DOC) said. About 25 pilot whales were found dead early Wednesday morning.

'Great effort'

At about 05:00 local time on Wednesday (16:00 GMT Tuesday) volunteer medics from Project Jonah, a non-profit organisation, along with the DOC began an operation to guide those whales that were still alive back out to sea.

"We did it! All 22 whales were shepherded through the mouth of the harbour to the ocean and were last seen heading towards deeper water," Project Jonah said on Facebook.

New Zealand on average has more whales stranding themselves than any other country in the world, Daren Grover, general manager of Project Jonah told the BBC.

"It's something we have lived with and we are quite geared up to respond to," he said. "Today was a great effort - all those that were alive were refloated."

Millions of Ladybugs Descend on Romanian Town (Nov 10) 

The bugs seemingly came out of nowhere, invading the community of Lipova overnight.

Residents had to border up their homes to stop the swarms of bugs from getting inside. City Hall has tried to contain the insects with pesticides, but they just keep coming.

"I swept up tens of thousands of them with a broom and shovel and took them outside but more and more arrive all the time," one resident told reporters.

"I had my window open for a few minutes and when I closed it they were like a living carpet," said another.

Sources

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/rain-warm-weather-ca...

http://abcnews.go.com/International/swarming-lady-bugs-towns-reside...

More than 180 sea lions found dead on the coast of Peru

http://peru21.pe/actualidad/piura-hallan-187-lobos-marinos-muertos-...

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

Less than a week after approximately one hundred sea lions washed up dead in the Illescas Reserve, in the province of Sechura (Piura), dead sea creatures were found once again in the area.

This time, a total of 187 lifeless sea lions were found between the beaches of San Pedro and San Pablo, and in La Tortuga inlet.

This was confirmed by sources inside the National Service of Protected Regional Areas (Sernanp). However, they admitted that they were not aware of the cause for these sea lion deaths.

Dozens of Large Whales found on Australian Beaches from Sept to Nov

September 15, 2014 http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale-watch/beached-whales-point-...

Two dead humpback whales have washed up on NSW beaches in recent days

September 17, 2014  http://whalesandmarinefauna.wordpress.com/2014/09/17/dead-fin-whale...

16-metre-long dead whale has washed up on an isolated beach near Warrnambool, in Victoria’s south-west.

September 19, 2014  https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/25053561/whale-washes-up-at-...

A 12m humpback whale washed up on a popular Kalbarri beach on Wednesday night, bringing with it a school of sharks and a steady stream of onlookers.

16 September 2014  http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/254708/whale-washes-up-near-...

Onlookers have flocked to a beach at Titahi Bay, north of Wellington, to see a dead 6m-long whale which washed up overnight.

October 7, 2014  http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/museum-scientists-dissect...

A rare specimen of pygmy right whale's body found washed up on a remote Victorian beach has presented scientists worldwide with the unique opportunity to study the elusive species.

October 14, 2014  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-14/rare-whale-washes-up-on-a-new...

The three to four-metre-long animal was found dead on Redhead Beach, south of Newcastle, this morning.

October 23, 2014  http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-23/rare-beaked-whale-washes-up-o...

Marine experts will examine a rare deep sea whale that has washed up on a Queensland beach. The five-and-a-half metre beaked whale was found dead this morning at Wurtulla on the Sunshine Coast.

Oct 29, 2014  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=1...

A 10 metre-long humpback whale has washed up dead on Waikanae Beach early this morning.

October 26, 2014 http://www.smh.com.au/national/whale-washes-onto-rocks-in-batemans-...

An eight-metre dead whale has been washed onto rocks at the mouth of the Clyde River in Batemans Bay.

November 9, 2014  http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/whale-carcass-washes-up-...

Council workers are in the process of removing a whale carcass that washed up on a Gold Coast beach overnight.  The whale's remains were spotted on The Spit early on Sunday morning, near Philip Park.  Lifeguard Anthony Lunney said the dead whale appeared to be a juvenile humpback, which measured about 20 metres in length.

Massive whale beached in southern Nicaragua

http://news.yahoo.com/massive-whale-beached-southern-nicaragua-0642...

Managua (AFP) - A huge whale was stranded Friday on a white sand beach on Nicaragua's southern Pacific coast, despite efforts by dozens of tourists and residents to get it back to sea.

The whale, estimated at 18 meters (59 feet) long, beached itself Friday morning at Popoyo beach, in the town of Tola, some 111 kilometers (70 miles) south of the capital, according to the Environment Ministry's delegate in the region, Mario Rodriguez.

More than 50 people -- from Nicaragua and elsewhere -- spent the day trying to get the whale back into deeper waters, but gave up in exhaustion as the sun went down.

Police and officials from the environment ministry traveled to the scene to discuss strategies to try to save the massive marine mammal, which may be a humpback.

The Pacific region off Nicaragua's southern coast sees a lot of humpback whales and dolphins at this time of year.

Study: Polar bears disappearing from key region

http://news.yahoo.com/study-polar-bears-disappearing-key-region-201...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A key polar bear population fell nearly by half in the past decade, a new U.S.-Canada study found, with scientists seeing a dramatic increase in young cubs starving and dying.

Researchers chiefly blame shrinking sea ice from global warming.

Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and Environment Canada captured, tagged and released polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea from 2001 to 2010. The bear population shrank to about 900 in 2010, down from about 1,600 in 2004. That area is one of two main U.S. polar bear regions.

"These estimates suggest to me that the habitat is getting less stable for polar bears," said study lead author Jeff Bromaghin, a USGS statistician.

Wildlife biologist Steve Amstrup, who started the study for the USGS and left to become chief scientist at the conservation group Polar Bear International, said his early research in the 1980s found about 1,800 polar bears in the region.

"The habitat was profoundly different by the late 1990s, early 2000s," said Amstrup, a co-author of the study in the journal Ecological Applications. 

Bromaghin said only two of 80 polar bear cubs the team tracked between 2004 and 2007 survived. Normally about half of cubs live.

"We suspect that they are dying of starvation," Bromaghin said.

In this part of the Arctic, there used to be more sea ice in the summer; that's where seals lived, and seals are what bears ate. With limited access to the seals, the cubs probably starved, he said.

Arctic summer sea ice had been declining since the late 1970s but "we've seen over the past decade, decade-and-a-half, the rate of decline has really accelerated," said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado. And 2007 was "a wake-up call" for scientists because sea ice shrank to a low scientists had not expected or seen before. Sea ice levels dropped even lower in 2012 and have recovered a tad since.

"There is definitely a relationship here between what's happening to the bears and what's happening to the ice," said Serreze, who wasn't part of the study.

http://www.kitv.com/news/dead-fish-crabs-found-in-kapoho-tide-pools...

Dead fish, crabs found in Kapoho tide pools

Over the weekend, University of Hwaaii at Hilo biologists found dead crabs, sea cucumbers and other marine life in the ponds.

The scientists took water samples to check for oxygen, salinity levels and fecal matter.  The researchers noticed the oxygen levels were low as well as a brown tinge to the water.

"We do not know where this is coming from, but if that lingers on it's blocking the penetration of light.  That's going to stop anything from photosynthesis," said Dr. Misaki Takabayashi.  "If organisms are not allowed to photosynthesize, that provides energy for the whole ecosystem.  So, we worry about the effects of this brown water."

Just south of the Kapoho tide pools, researchers also found nearly 100 dead manini.  The Department of Land and Natural Resources, as well as the Department of Health, are looking into the matter.

http://www.betawired.com/500-sea-lions-found-dead-on-northern-coast...

500 sea lions found dead on northern coast of Peru

500 sea lions were found dead on the northern coast of Peru recently, prompting officials to launch a full-scale investigation into the massive mysterious die-off on Sunday.

Right now there’s precious little information that has been uncovered as to how or why the sea lions were killed. The only thing known at this point is that the bodies of the aquatic mammals were found in states of severe decomposition, indicating that several days or even weeks might have gone by between the event that led to their deaths and the discovery of the remains.

The Peruvian environmental police launched their investigation after a local governor leveled accusations at fishermen of poisoning the sea lions. The animals routinely come ashore to forage for food, though sea lions are also adept at catching prey in the water as well.

The bodies of both sea lion pups and adult sea lions were discovered in the Ancash region on Anoncillo beach, according to the Andina news agency of Peru. The carcasses were removed quickly as they were deemed to be a health hazard in such numbers, with authorities continuing their investigation throughout the cleanup process.

If poisoning is behind the massive die-off, this wouldn’t be the first time such an event occurred. News agency Andina reported last year that a group of around 50 dead sea lions were found to have been killed by poison, with the method traced back to fish laced with deadly pesticides that were provided to the animals. Meanwhile, another incident earlier in November saw the bodies of nearly 200 sea lions recovered alongside several sea turtles and dolphins; this previous incident is still under investigation, but similarities between the 2013 poisoning and both incidents this month have been drawn already, according to several anonymous sources.

Peru’s coastline has also been the scene of massive death tolls over the course of 2012, when around 900 dolphins and at least 5,000 birds were found washed up dead on the country’s shores, prompting environmental conservation groups to launch their own investigations into the matter independent of the Peruvian government.

Dead whale washes ashore on Pensacola Beach

http://www.pnj.com/story/news/local/pensacola/beaches/2014/11/24/de...

Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge has performed a necropsy on the beached Beaked Whale found Monday on Pensacola Beach.

According to Ed Cake, former adjunct professor at Southern Mississippi University and a former Federal Commissioner of the Gulf Islands National Seashore in Ocean Springs, Miss., the procedure begins with a gross exam, consisting of an overall exam of the whale's exterior in which they look for any injury or wounds.

They then perform an internal exam of the body, looking for any disease or injury not showing on the outside. They determine the sex of the whale, take tissue samples and look for parasites and any bone injuries.

The Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge began the necropsy 3:30 p.m. Monday at their facility in Fort Walton Beach, according to Holly Young, an animal care technician at the refuge. The necropsy procedure was finished around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday. It is unknown when the results will be determined.

Original story:

Beach visitors were caught off guard early Monday morning to find a deceased Beaked Whale on shore near Margaritaville Hotel on Pensacola Beach.

The 20-foot whale beached Sunday night, said Cassity Bromley, chief of science and resource stewardship for the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

"The whale had washed up and was half buried right where the tide was coming in," said Josh Bell, a hotel employee. "They brought a bulldozer-type thing and a big tractor, dug it out, tied it up around the tail area, picked it up and took it across the beach."

Bell said he works on the beach every day, and he has seen sharks and fish wash ashore but never anything like a whale.

Santa Rosa Island Authority used a backhoe loader to remove and transport the whale to the Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge in Fort Walton Beach, which is part of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network. The whale will undergo a necropsy to verify its species and the cause of death.

Bell and co-worker Belinda Radford were among those on the beach who watched Santa Rosa Island Authority load the whale for transport.

Radford was concerned about how the whale died, but was confident a cause would be determined and steps taken if necessary to prevent future deaths.

"It was crazy," she said. "It was beached and half buried, but they were out there real quick."

Stranded whales die on Rototai beach, New Zealand

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/63470850/stranded-whales-die-on-rot...

In what became a Golden Bay community event, hundreds of people turned up at Rototai beach to see and touch three dead sperm whales that had become stranded.

The whales, which ranged in length from 14 to 17 metres long were located about one kilometre out on tidal flats from the beach carpark.

Local iwi gathered to bless the three whales, which were towed by tug boat to Farewell Spit last night, once the tide was high enough to move them.

Department of Conservation biodiversity programme manager Hans Stoffregen said DOC had received a phone call from Rototai residents saying there were whales milling about at sea.

"This morning we got a call from residents saying they were stranded."

Golden Bay kaumatua John Ward-Holmes said iwi would later harvest the teeth and jawbone, which were regarded as "taonga". He said local iwi Ngati Tama, Te Ati Awa and Ngati Rarua were kaitiaki of the teeth and jawbone, and that iwi were working in partnership with DOC on the whale stranding.

While smaller pilot whales strand in Golden Bay every year, sperm whales, which are the largest of the toothed whales, aren't such a common sight in Golden Bay.

Stoffregen said the last sperm whale to be washed up in Golden Bay was "Tamati", who stranded at Puponga in 2007.

Rototai resident Gaya Brabant said she and her family noticed the whales offshore last night and called DOC. Initially she thought they were playing. She said her son saw six whales further out to sea.

She wondered if a large amount of blue bottles had played any role in attracting the whales to come into the shallow waters.

Large-scale die-off of small seabird along Sonoma  Coast,  California

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/3145997-181/large-scale-die-off-o...

Scientists up and down the West Coast are monitoring what appears to be a large-scale die-off of young Cassin’s auklets, small seabirds whose breeding grounds include a colony in the Farallon Islands west of San Francisco.

Emaciated, white-bellied birds have been washing ashore in Sonoma County and along a broad swath of California coastline since early November after a period of ocean warming in the Farallones region and disappearance of the tiny krill that provide their main source of food, researchers say.

Scientists are still collecting data, but the largest concentration of dead birds appears to be in northern Oregon, according to monitors in the Pacific Northwest. Birds have been washing up in Washington, as well.

Scientists say anyone who finds a dead bird should leave it alone so that monitors surveying the beaches can collect accurate records on the die-off.

Just what’s behind the phenomenon is far from clear, those involved in the research say.

One factor may in fact be the species’ recent breeding success, which means a particularly large number of inexperienced fledglings were introduced last summer to the harsh challenges of life at sea, they said.

But there’s concern, at least locally, about the drastic shift in ocean temperature and feeding conditions — from those that facilitated several very productive breeding seasons to those that prompted nesting pairs in the Farallones to abandon their second round of eggs in July — and the potential for linkage to climate change.

Jaime Jahncke, director of California Current at Point Blue Conservation Sciences, which has monitored the Cassin’s auklets in the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge for more than four decades, said mean sea surface temperatures recorded in July and August were the second-highest in 45 years, and rose substantially in September.

But “you can have ocean warming for different reasons,” he said.

An anomalous warming in 2005 and 2006 — though it was winter — resulted in a large die-off of birds, as well as a season in which the birds did not come to the Farallones to breed, Jahncke said. There was also a high mortality event in 1997 and ’98...

......In early November, beach monitors and others began spotting dying and, in most cases, dead Cassin’s auklets, both on the shoreline and in the water.

Members of the Gulf of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Beach Watch team recently saw more than 100 at Salmon Creek Beach, said program manager Jan Roletto, sanctuary research coordinator. Scientists say thousands, at least, have died, though the longevity of adult Cassin’s auklets, generally, means there should not be a huge impact on the overall population.

In California, the dead and dying birds have been concentrated in the Point Reyes/Sonoma Coast area, south to San Luis Obispo, said Laird Henkel, supervisor of the Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care & Research Center, Office of Spill Prevention and Response for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Humpback whale found dead on Nantucket Beach, MA

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/11/25/humpback-whale-found-d...

A 25-foot humpback whale was found dead on a Nantucket beach Massachusetts early Tuesday morning.

The whale was found on Miacomet Beach, said Maggie Mooney-Seus, spokeswoman for the Greater Atlantic Regional office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It had has no visible wounds, Mooney-Seus said. She speculated it could have died from disease or been hit by a boat.

Mooney-Seus said with a nor’easter expected to hit the region Wednesday, the whale might have to stay put for a while.

“They’re not anticipating being able to get in and move it at this point” because of the approaching storm, she said. It could also be a while until the carcass is removed because NOAA does not have staff who cover Nantucket and because marine officials’ focus is currently on the hundreds of sea turtles that have been washing up along the Cape with hypothermia.

“Right now, I guess we’re just monitoring the situation,” Mooney-Seus said.

Mooney-Seus said she did not know if a necropsy would be performed to determine the cause of death.

Mooney-Seus said people should stay away from the whale and keep their pets away, too.

The whale was found around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, Environmental Police spokeswoman Amy Mahler said in an e-mail.

Mohammedia: Thousands stranded fish

Last updated on 01/09/2014 at 12:33

Thousands of fish have washed up on Saturday at the mouth of Wadi Nfifekh Sablette located on the beach in Mohammedia, reports the website ecologie.ma . And to emphasize that environmental police traveled to the scene to investigate the ecological disaster that recalls the one at Oued Moulouya there a few years.

Of water and fish samples were taken for analysis.

Also according ecologie.ma "saw that the waters of the Oued Nfifekh show no traces of pollution, it is not excluded that the reason for this disaster is an organic material spill, whose decomposition would have suffocated the wadi ". Several "structures" in fact reject their waste directly into the Oued upstream from the beach.

by the way

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http://yamkin.wordpress.com/2014/11/29/thousands-of-dead-fish-wash-...

Thousands of dead fish wash up in Sinaloa, Mexico

November 29, 2014

https://yamkin.wordpress.com/2014/11/30/hundreds-of-dead-fish-found...

Hundreds of dead fish found floating along a canal in Pontedera, Italy

November 30, 2014

https://yamkin.wordpress.com/2014/11/30/thousands-of-dead-fish-foun...

Thousands of dead fish found ‘mysteriously’ floating in a lake in London, England

Tons of fish, shellfish and birds found dead in lake in Drava National Park, Hungary

https://yamkin.wordpress.com/2014/12/02/hundreds-of-dead-fish-found...

Hundreds of dead fish found floating in a river in Thessaly, Greece

Essex coast pilot whale died from starvation

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-30157922

The first long-finned pilot whale to beach in the southern North Sea for 22 years died from starvation, post-mortem tests have found.

The whale, among a 40-strong pod seen along the East Anglian coast, washed up near Goldhanger, Essex, on Thursday afternoon.

Marine experts successfully encouraged most of the whales from the shallow Blackwater Estuary into deeper waters.

But one - a 2.18m female - was found dead.

Rob Deaville, cetacean strandings programme manager at ZSL, said the whale was found on a beach with "partial rigor mortis".

"[This] indicates that the whale is likely to have died that morning, possibly around the time that the pod of whales was observed up the Blackwater River near Osea Island," he said.

"The whale had stranded alive before dying on the beach."

Tests showed the whale was in "very poor nutritional condition" with "no significant evidence of recent feeding".

He said: "The most likely cause of stranding and death at this stage is starvation, although we are waiting for the results from follow-up tests, including several to determine whether the animal had an underlying infection."

Some 12,000 cetacean strandings have been recorded in the UK since 1990.

Mr Deaville said: "In that time, only one long-finned pilot whale has been recorded stranded on the UK coast in the southern North Sea - a single individual in Norfolk in 1992 - indicating how unusual this event is."

The pod of whales has been off the Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex coastlines in recent weeks.

Whale found dead week after getting stranded on Anglesey beach, UK

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/look-whale-found-d...

Gwynedd Council worker Rhys Jones found the young pygmy sperm whale at Dinas Dinlle beach, a week after it had been refloated by rescuers.

A whale that was rescued and freed back into the sea last week has died.

The young pygmy sperm whale was spotted washed up on a beach at Dinas Dinlle today, opposite Newborough beach where it was originally found stranded and rescued, last Thursday, November 20.

It was discovered by Gwynedd council worker Rhys Jones.

A post-mortem will be carried out by the government’s Marine Environmental Monitoring body to try to find out what caused the animal’s death.

Dr Peter Evans, Director of the Seawatch Foundation, said it was not surprising that the whale had died.

He said: “The waters on the Menai Straits are very shallow. Pygmy sperm whales are more common in the warmer waters off west Africa.

“They have been found increasingly in European waters in the past few years because of climate change.

“It’s probably come across from deeper waters into shallower waters.

“It’s very sad news as it’s only the second strand in Wales of such a rare species.”

Last week, the Daily Post reported how volunteers from Sea Watch Foundation found the male mammal stranded at Newborough beach.

They were joined by members of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), coastguards and RSPCA who carried the male mammal from the sand and back into the sea.

There had been fears the whale would strand itself again.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2854155/Walkers-discover-hu...

Walkers discover huge 20ft-long Minke whale washed up on popular Cornish beach, UK

• Carcass of what is thought to be juvenile Minke whale washed up on beach
• Huge mammal was found at Pentewan Sands near Mevagissey in Cornwall  
• A local Coastguard team was dispatched to the popular holiday destination

This was the scene at a Cornish beauty spot this morning after walkers discovered a 20ft long whale washed up on a beach.

The decomposed carcass of the huge mammal was found at the popular holiday destination of Pentewan Sands near Mevagissey in Cornwall.

Stunned dog walkers could be seen stopping to take pictures of what is believed to be a dead juvenile Minke whale.

Although it was in an advanced state of decay, it was a rare opportunity to witness the size of the seagoing giants up close.

A spokesman from Falmouth Coastguard said it was alerted to the discovery about 3pm today.

Their colleagues at Mevagissey dispatched a team to the beach this afternoon to take measurements and a report is due to be sent to the Receiver of Wreck.

The spokesman said it was the responsibility of the owner of the beach to dispose of the carcass, adding that it was not yet clear what kind of whale had been washed up. 

Although it is relatively rare for them to be washed up on British beaches, Cornwall is no stranger to whale sightings.

Two years ago, a full size adult Fin whale weighing 65 tonnes washed up alive just along the coast at Carlyon Bay.

Sadly however, despite the efforts of volunteers the mammal had to be humanely destroyed.

According to the whaledolphintrust.co.uk, Minke are the smallest of the baleen whales found in UK waters, measuring between seven and ten metres when fully grown.

They can be found in seas across the Northern hemisphere, except in the Arctic Ocean, and are often seen off the coasts of Ireland and Scotland.

Black mussels cover a South African beach

Thousands of mollusks wash ashore

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/nature/post/black-mussels-cover-sout...

A stretch of Rodderg Beach in South Africa turned into “mussel beach” recently when hundreds of thousands of black mussels washed ashore in a mystery that has local officials searching for the reason why.

The beach in Plettenberg Bay was covered with the black mussels over a 325-yard section. Some believed it was caused by a red tide, a harmful algal bloom, but marine experts dismissed that possibility.

Dr. Mark Brown of Nature’s Valley Trust told The Herald of Port Elizabeth, South Africa, that the massive beaching is not linked “to red tide or anything sinister at this stage.”

Instead, Brown believes the black mussels were dislodged by heavy seas.

“A similar event happened in November last year in the same spot,” Brown told The Herald. “Essentially large swells and currents break beds of mussels off the reef and they wash up.”

Earth Touch has a video report showing the massive black mussel beaching:

Marine ecologist Kyle Smith of SA National Parks told The Herald that along with heavy swells, a large amount of sand movement might also have been a contributing factor.

“Most of the mussels were still alive when they washed up, which lowers the possibility that it is related to some form of toxin from either a red algal bloom or other source,” Smith said.

As a precautionary measure, officials warned people not to eat the black mussels, tempting as it might be.

http://yamkin.wordpress.com/2014/12/05/hundreds-of-dead-fish-found-...

Hundreds of dead fish found in a reservoir in Castilblanco, Spain

Cape Cod turtle deaths confound researchers

http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-animals/2014/12/slideshow-cape-co...

7 Sperm Whales Die In Rare, 'Horrific' Mass Beaching

Several sperm whales have been found dead near Ardrossan, Australia, in a rare mass beaching, according to reports.

Six were discovered on shore Monday, and a seventh was spotted several kilometers away. According to the Advertiser in Adelaide, an eighth whale was at risk of being stranded but was ushered into deeper waters by marine officials.

Dr. Deborah Kelly, an animal welfare manager on the case, called the beaching "rare" and "horrific," the outlet notes. She theorized that the whales either were feeding too close to shore and couldn't return out to sea or came to the aid of a sick whale in shallow water and got stuck there. "We'll probably never know," she said.

Sperm whales can measure between 49 and 59 feet long and weigh between 35 and 45 tons, according to National Geographic.

The spectacle of the leviathans on the sand attracted the curious -- and the larcenous. Some of the whales' valuable teeth were stolen overnight, prompting government officials to announce a fine of up to $100,000 for anyone coming within 50 meters of the carcasses, the Advertiser reported in a follow-up piece. Disease and the possibility of the carcasses exploding were also noted as reasons to keep onlookers away.

Authorities are pondering what to do with the whales before they badly decompose, the Australian Associated Press reports.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/09/sperm-whales-australia_n_6...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2871250/Taken-wrong-turn-Mi...

Taken a wrong turn somewhere? Migrating flamingos head north rather than south... and end up in SIBERIA 

• Four flamingos recently touched down in various parts of Siberia
• Fishermen rescued one that landed on an ice lake in the Tomsk region
• Scientists are baffled about what's causing the birds to veer off course

By TED THORNHILL FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 09:36 GMT, 12 December 2014 | UPDATED: 10:43 GMT, 12 December 2014

It could be a severe case of bird-bird, or strange  patterns causing confusion, but at the moment scientists remain baffled about instances of flamingos flying north to bitterly cold Siberia for the winter, instead of south.

Four flamingos recently touched down in various parts of Siberia, to the astonishment of locals, in temperatures as low as -30C.

One landed in the Evenkia district of vast Krasnoyarsk region, which is just 310 miles south of the Arctic circle.

Chilly: One flamingo was spotted ambling along the snowy bank of the Usa River in Mezhdurechensk, Kemerovo region

Four flamingos recently touched down in various parts of Siberia, at the locations indicated on the map, to the astonishment of locals

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/thousands-fish-dead-popular-mar...

Thousands of fish dead in popular Marion County lake - See more at: 

MARION COUNTY, Fla. — 

Experts baffled at huge number of seals washing up dead in Cornwall, UK

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/11655155.Experts_baffled_at_hu...

Huge numbers of dead seals have been found stranded on Cornish beaches recently, and wildlife experts admit they are baffled. 

 Cornwall Wildlife Trust says it has attended almost twice as many strandings of seals as would normally be expected for this time of year adding that, throughout October and November, 35 dead seals have washed up along the Cornish coastline, and over the same period a further 37 seals have been rescued alive from Cornish beaches by British Divers Marine Life Rescue.

Caz Waddell, from Cornwall Wildlife Trust said: “While bad weather will undoubtedly have been the cause of some of these strandings, the sheer number of cases has left us slightly baffled. We don’t yet have any answers as to why this is happening, but it shows just how important it is for people to tell us about any stranded marine animal they see. The more animals we can study, the more we can try to get to the bottom of what might be going on.”

 “Although it would be easy to assume that large numbers of stranded seals might mean we have large populations of seals in our waters, this is simply not the case. Many people don’t realise that grey seals are actually an endangered species worldwide, and we are incredibly lucky to have them around our shores. Britain currently has over a third of the entire world’s population, and this of course means that we have an international responsibility to help in their protection and conservation.”

Sue Sayer from the Cornwall Seal Group added that while surveys by the group have shown that overall seal numbers in Cornwall have been relatively stable over the last eight years, recent strandings have included young adults in their prime.

“If we are losing breeding age adults from the population the implications for future generations could be huge. Whilst it is sadly quite common to find dead pups at this time of year, deaths of adult seals are more serious and we are concerned about the numbers that are dying around our coast”, said Sue

 “Grey seals in Cornwall are highly mobile, moving internationally around the Celtic Seas. At least two individuals found dead in Cornwall were known to have been breeding seals from the island of Skomer in West Wales, an important Special Area of Conservation for seals. This highlights how important it is to remember the bigger picture. The large numbers of strandings occurring in Cornwall is of concern not just to us locally, but nationally as well.”

The Marine Strandings Network coordinates the investigation and recording of all dead stranded animals in Cornwall. Volunteers are sent to each animal in order to gather data about the individual, as well as the state of our marine environment such as incidents of pollution, entanglement in storm-damaged or discarded net, evidence of bycatch, and disease. Where possible animals are sent on to post-mortem to establish how they died.

Niki Clear from the Marine Strandings Network said that at the moment the spike in deaths remains a mystery.

“Further down the line these present trends may be nothing more than anomalies and the situation may return to normal. It’s only by gathering information about each case that we can build up a true picture of what is happening. We need to collect as much information as possible from these seals – and in fact from any dead marine animal we find”, said Niki.

“It’s not just seals that wash up dead along the Cornish coastline. The Marine Strandings Network has also attended over 80 strandings of dead dolphins, porpoises and whales, as well as three turtles, and one basking shark in the last year. In addition almost 2,000 stranded seabirds have been reported, plus thousands of fish and jellyfish.

https://yamkin.wordpress.com/2014/12/14/thousands-of-dead-fish-appe...

Thousands of dead fish appearing in various parts of Spain and Mexico

December 14 2014

Hundreds of fish found dead in Spain and Mexico – A strange phenomenon is common these days in Spain and Mexico. The presence of thousands of dead fish in Seville, Valencia and Veracruz. Were found in the last hours by residents in the area of the basin of La Marciega, Seville, in Lake La Devesa del Saler, in Valencia, Spain, and in the lagoon El Paraiso in Veracruz, Mexico, died in large numbers for reasons unexplained and stacked on the banks. according to experts at the origin of the death of so many fish in two different places of the world there may be a sudden change in climate, in this case a rapid change of temperature at which the fish would not be able to get used to and that would leave them without oxygen.

Another reason could be linked to the fact that the intense heat of the last days would have caused a high evaporation, leading to the death of many fish. In any case, the fish were removed from the three laghie will proceed to a thorough analysis of the water, to see if there have been poured potentially harmful substances. Also because, in the case of the lagoon of Veracruz in Mexico, is not the first time that such an episode occurs.

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/fish-deaths-a-smelly-shoc...

Fish deaths a smelly shock for Rockhampton resident

WHEN Alex Glover took his dog for an afternoon walk to the Rockhampton Ski Gardens on Wednesday, he stumbled upon something fishy.

Alex and his two friends saw what appeared to be hundreds of "white dots" floating on the waters of the Fitzroy River.

When they went closer to check it out, he realised those white dots were hundreds of dead fish.

Alex, 22, said the place smelt "a bit off" when he made his way towards water's edge but he never expected to see the river full of dead fish.

"When I walked towards the Ski Gardens I thought the bad smell was floodwater," he said.

"But when I got closer to the water I realised the white dots on the water were fish. I saw them all at once and instantly thought something in the water had poisoned them due to the amount of dead fish.

"I took some photos on my phone and posted them to Facebook. Heaps of people commented on the photos and said it might have been from the floodwater and from all of the rain."

A spokesperson from the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP) released a statement to the Bulletin yesterday.

The spokesperson said EHP had not received any reports of fish deaths in the vicinity of the Ski Gardens section of the Fitzroy River.

However, they had received a report of dead fish in Rockhampton's Yeppen Lagoon on Wednesday. EHP officers had inspected the area and took water samples for analysis.

"Initial results found low dissolved oxygen levels in the water," the spokesperson said.

"Other samples have been sent to a laboratory for further analysis. Recent high temperatures and a significantly increased in-flow to the lagoon may have contributed to the low oxygen levels.

"EHP will investigate the fish deaths in the vicinity of the Ski Gardens in the Fitzroy River."

Members of the public are encouraged to report further fish deaths to the department's pollution hotline on 1300 130 372.

Mystery as pigeons die in flocks

http://www.ekantipur.com/2014/12/21/national/mystery-as-pigeons-die...

DOLAKHA, DEC 21 - Mystery surrounds the death of thousands of pigeons on the Bhimeshwor temple premises in the past week.

According to the people in Dolakha Bazaar, dead pigeons are lying on the streets, rooftops, gardens and paddy fields. The stench from dead birds pollutes the atmosphere.

“Approximately 5,000 pigeons have died in a week,” said Bharat Shrestha, treasurer of the Bhimeshwor temple prayer and trust management committee.

Authorities are yet to respond to the situation. Vets said an unidentified virus may be responsible for the menace while the locals have got into a panic fearing a disease outbreak in humans.

“Such cases happened in the past but the damage this time is terrible,” said temple caretaker Kashi Narayan Shrestha. He added that rooftops and areas surrounding the temple had yet to be cleared of dead pigeons.

Seal found 20 miles inland near St Helens, UK

© Liverpool Echo

Seal washed up in a field in Newton-le-Willows near Warrington, Cheshire

A seal had to be rescued from a field more than 20 miles inland - after apparently getting "very, very lost".

The seal, which was discovered in Newton-le-Willows, near St Helens in Merseyside on Monday morning, was likely to have swum up to 50 miles away from its home before clambering into the fenced-off field from a nearby brook, experts said.

It was found in a "distressed" state by a dog-walker at about 9.45am, sparking a rescue operation involving the emergency services and the RSPCA as police warned locals to stay away from the "potentially dangerous" animal.

The creature, believed to be a juvenile male grey seal, was eventually coaxed into a trailer using mackerel as bait and taken to a wildlife centre for checks.

Farm owner Gary Watkinson, who owns the field where the seal was found, said: "We woke up this morning and found a seal in our field, which is quite unusual to say the least.

"We usually have a few ponies and a couple of sheep but never any seals. We're about 20 miles away from the coast.

"It's definitely come up from the brook near here. I tracked its movements and you can see the marks in the soil."

Rachael Fraser of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue, told the Liverpool Echo the seal seemed "very stressed" and "a little dehydrated".

"There's a grey seal colony near Hilbre Island and that's where we think he's come from - but he's got very, very lost," she said.

From Hilbre Island at the mouth of the Dee Estuary the seal would have had to swim an estimated 50 miles, around the Wirral into the Mersey Estuary and then up a series of brooks to reach the field.

© Mercury Press
A seal was spotted by a member of the public in a field outside the Red Bank Farm Shop

Nicola Watkinson, who works at the nearby Red Bank Farm Shop, said: "Someone rang up this morning and said there's a great big sea lion outside our shop.

"We've got traffic piled up with people looking at it, and there's lots of police here.

"They are trying to get near it but it's not very friendly."

A woman who lives nearby said she saw the seal when she opened her curtains - and assumed it was a pony which had collapsed.

She said: "I thought it must have been hurt. It was right up against next door's fence.

"The poor thing must be so scared."