MYSTERY MARINE CREATURE WASHES UP ON BEACH

The mystery of a marine creature which washed up on a New Zealand beach and created an online stir appears to have been solved.

The creature was washed up on a Bay of Plenty beach and filmed by a group of quad bikers before being washed back out to sea, reports The Bay of Plenty Times.

Information posted below the video suggests the creature ‘has a huge head and teeth with rudimentary flippers … it seems about 9m in length but the lower part of the body is probably mainly entrails from an attack’. Full story and video at au.news.yahoo

Dead sea lions washing on shore in California appear to have died from radiation poisoning

California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus) seen in Santa Cruz, California. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(NaturalNews) An unusual surge of stranded dying and dead sea lions (seals) have littered Southern California beaches from Santa Barbara to San Diego since earlier this year. Most of the area newspapers and media outlets have been alarmingly reporting this unusual phenomenon.

It’s unusual because this is the season when sea lion pups flourish. Instead they’re struggling ashore in starved, emaciated conditions, if they’ve managed to stay alive. Scientists say almost half the sea lions born this past winter have died.

Californian shores witness mysterious mass stranding of sea lion pups

The Watchers - A worrying large number of dehydrated and emaciated sea lions are washing ashore Central and Southern Californian coastline from Santa Barbara to San Diego. Hundreds of these sick sea lions have been admitted to rescue centers so far and rescue groups are reporting substantial spike in number of these malnourished sea lions since January in comparison to previous years count during same period. Sharon Melin, a wildlife biologist with the National Fisheries Service told Wired,

Mystery Deepens – Now Over 13000 Pigs Found in China River

SHANGHAI (AFP) – The number of dead pigs found in a river running through Shanghai has reached more than 13,000, Chinese state media said, as mystery deepened over the hogs’ precise origin. Shanghai had pulled 9,460 pigs out of the Huangpu river, which supplies 22 percent of the city’s drinking water, since the infestation began earlier this month, the Shanghai Daily reported. Shanghai has blamed farmers in Jiaxing in neighbouring Zhejiang province for dumping pigs which died of disease into the river upstream, where the official Xinhua news agency said another 3,601 dead animals had been recovered so far. Full story au.new.yahoo

Related articles

• Hundreds more dead pigs found in Chinese river (guardian.co.uk)
• Are dead pigs a good sign? (smh.com.au)
• GRAPHIC PHOTOS: Over 12,500 Dead Pigs Retrieved From China’s Waters (huffingtonpost.com)

Herbicides for GMOs Driving Monarch Butterfly Populations to ‘Ominous’ Brink

The migratory population of the monarch butterfly has reached an “ominous” low, researchers in Mexico announced Wednesday. Scientists are attributing the decline of this essential pollinating population to the ongoing drought and the “explosive” increase in the use of genetically modified crops in the American corn belt. Released by the Mexican government along with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a recent survey found a 59% decrease in the area occupied by monarch colonies wintering in the forests of central Mexico, the Los Angeles Times reports. 

65 tons of DEAD FISH wash up at Rio de Janeiro Olympic rowing venue after oxygen levels plummet in torrential rain

More than 65 tonnes of dead fish washed up on Rio de Janeiro’s Olympic rowing venue after rotting plant life causes the oxygen level in the water to drop. The Brazilian authorities conducted a two-day emergency clean-up operation involving 100 municipal workers on the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon. Earlier in the week heavy rains had washed rotten algae into the lagoon, causing oxygen levels to deplete and killing thousands of yellowtail, catfish, tilapia and sea bass.

Chinese Farm Confesses To Dumping Thousands Of Dead Pigs Into A River

REUTERS/Stringer

Over the past few days, China has been pulling thousands of dead pigs out of Shanghai’s Huangpu river. Bloomberg reports that a farm in the Zhejiang province has finally claimed responsibility.The horrifying images were only made worse by the fact that the river is a source of drinking water for the locals.”One merchant claims that a crackdown on the sale of dead pigs forced pig farmers to dump them into the river,” said Bill Bishop in his Sinocism newsletter.  “So the good news may be that fewer dead pigs are getting into the food supply, but the bad news is that it used to be very common? Regardless, another reason, if you need one, to avoid processed pork in China.Source businessinsider

Related articles

• China river pig toll nears 6,000 (bbc.co.uk)
• China Pulls out 5,916 Pigs From Shanghai River (abcnews.go.com)
• China: Safety Fears As More Dead Pigs Found (vineoflife.net)
• Pigs Pollute Shanghai River Due to Corrupt Business Culture (theepochtimes.com)
• China: Safety Fears As More Dead Pigs Found (Sky News)
• A Chinese Farm Has Confessed To Dumping Thousands Of Dead Pigs Into A River (businessinsider.com)

Algae bloom kills record number of manatees

(CNN) – Florida’s endangered manatees have long suffered from human activity, but this year they face an especially deadly threat hidden in the waters where they swim.

An algae bloom off southwest Florida, called Florida red tide, has killed 174 manatees since January, the highest number to die from red tide in a calendar year, state wildlife officials said Monday.

A red tide is a higher than normal concentration of a microscopic algae that appears in the Gulf of Mexico. At high enough concentrations, the algae can turn the water red or brown, hence the name.

Red tides happen almost every year in southwest Florida and sometimes last just a few weeks, but this year the red tide has lingered and settled in an area of warm water where the manatees have migrated. Read More CNN

Related articles

• Algae bloom kills record number of manatees (cnn.com)
• Red tide kills record number of Florida manatees (miamiherald.com)
• ‘Catastrophic’: Lingering ‘Red Tide’ In Florida Killing Record Number Of Manatees (midnightwatcher.wordpress.com)
• “Red Tide” Killing Manatees In Record Numbers (miami.cbslocal.com)
• Record number of manatees dying from algae bloom (tbo.com)

Mystery ‘beast’ washes up on Wales coast

It’s the mystery beast of South Wales and it has washed up on a beach on the Pembrokeshire coast.

The creature which appears to have the face of a horse, the body of a pig and the claws of a bear was spotted by local Peter Bailey as he walked his dog last week.

Mr Bailey took a picture and sent it to the local paper, the Western Telegraph

He told the paper: “I was taking my dog for her evening walk across the south beach when she started acting out of character by howling and running round in circles.

“I ran up to her to see if she was ok and then I came across this hideous looking carcass. I could see it had little hair left on it’s decomposing body.Full story au.news.yahoo.com

Thousands of dolphins spotted off the coast of San Diego, US (Video)

Posted: 16 Feb 2013 12:09 AM PST

Thousands of dolphins were spotted on February 14, 2013 off the coast of San Diego, a boat captain told NBC 7 San Diego. Capt. Joe Dutra of Hornblower Cruises said he saw a “super mega-pod” of common dolphins while he was on his daily tour. According to him the pod was more than 7 miles long and 5 miles wide. Dutra said the boat tour followed the pod for more than an hour and said he’s never seen anything like it. Dutra estimated there were about 100,000 dolphins swimming in the area.

“They were coming from all directions, you could see them from as far as the eye can see. I’ve seen a lot of stuff out here… but this is the biggest I’ve ever seen, ever.” Capt. Joe Dutra.

Antonio Ramirez who was aboard a Hornblower Cruise on February 14, 2013 snapped this photo of the dolphins swimming in a “super mega-pod.” (Courtesy of Antonio Ramirez)

According to marine mammal expert Sarah Wilkin, the reason the large pod might be there is because there’s plenty of food in the area, including sardines, herring and squid. Though dolphins typically travel in groups of 200 or less, Wilkin said “super-pods” are not unheard of.

At the beginning of January 2013, a pod of about 1,000 common dolphins began a stampede, churning across the blue-gray waters off Dana Point at a rapid pace. Dave Anderson, the captain of Capt. Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Safari, said that in the decades he’s spent on the water and out among Southern California’s dense dolphin population, it’s a phenomenon he’s encountered only rarely. Bellow is the amazing video.

Southern California has the greatest density of dolphins per square mile than anywhere on earth. This includes nearly 450,000 common dolphins like the ones in this video. Dana Point is one of the best places in the world to see one of these large megapods that can number in herds of up to 10,000. Porpoising is their fastest mode of travel as there is less resistance in air than water.

Sources: NBCBayArea, FoxSanDiego

Featured image: Photo of the dolphins swimming in a “super mega-pod. (Courtesy of Antonio Ramirez)

Thousands of dolphins spotted off the coast of San Diego, US

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