April 14, 2014 - EARTH - The following constitutes the latest incidents of mass animal, fish, bird and bees die-offs across the Earth:
6 Dolphins, 1 Shark, 1 Whale And Multiple Turtles Wash Up Dead In Florida, United States
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| Dead dolphin washes ashore. Ashley Hollander |
here's something fishy going on in our local waters. No pun intended. According to The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission: six dolphins, a shark, a humpback whale and multiple manatees/sea turtles have washed up in the last two weeks.
"We know the dolphins are related," marine biologist Nadia Gordon said. "As far as the shark and see turtles, I can't answer that."
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| Dead bird washes ashore along our local beaches. Ashley Hollander |
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| Dead turtle washes ashore along our local beaches. Ashley Hollander |
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| Dead shark washes ashore. Ashley Hollander |
The morbillivirus is believed to be the cause of the dolphin deaths. The disease has claimed the lives of 80 in Northeast Florida since July 2013. On a bigger scale, 1200 dolphins have been found dead from New York to Florida since July- up from the average 180 a year.
Biologists still have work to do, but they're hoping they get a lead soon.
"We're hoping it will die off soon and we won't have to worry about it anymore," Gordon said. -
WTEV47.
112,000 Chickens Culled Due To Avian Flu In Kumamoto, Japan
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| Workers wearing protective suits cull chickens at a poultry farm in Taragi, Kumamoto Prefecture. KYODO |
The agriculture ministry announced Sunday a suspected outbreak of bird flu that killed at least 1,100 chickens at a farm in Taragi, Kumamoto Prefecture, prompting the prefectural government to order the culling of 112,000 chickens kept there and at another nearby farm run by the same operator.
The ministry also ordered a ban on the shipping or moving of chickens and their eggs within a the 3-km radius of the two farms, and requested that reporters not approach the farms to prevent further spread of the suspected H5-type avian influenza outbreak.
In an apparent bid to ease public concerns, government officials noted in a statement that no cases of bird-to-human bird flu infection through eating chicken meat or eggs have been found in Japan.
According to the Kumamoto prefecutral government, the farmer, whose name is being withheld, first discovered 70 chickens dead on Friday, and another 200 on Saturday.
The farmer then reported the events to a local office of the prefectural government, which conducted a preliminary bird flu test Saturday on five live chickens and another five dead ones that found one live chicken and five dead chickens were positive for the H5-type of bird flu.
The prefectural government also conducted a DNA test Sunday on those samples that found two of the five dead birds positive for the same strain of the virus, prompting the central government to hold a Cabinet meeting and issue a warning to the public.
If confirmed, this would be the first bird flu outbreak in the country since one in the city of Chiba in March 2011, and the first-ever case at a chicken farm in Kumamoto Prefecture. -
Japan Times.
20,000 Fish Dead Due To Pollution In A River In Yuscaran, Honduras
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| The need to extract gold searching the river stones Avocados forces many to risk their lives just to be able to eat. |
A plague pollution left over 20 thousand fish floating due to liquid waste flowing into the river Avocados, for a month in riparian areas Yuscarán Township, Paradise.
The communities most affected are those basin below, as The Teñidero, El Rodeo, and Agua Fria Agua Viva where pollution has affected the entire aquatic system instead.
The unfortunate thing is that at the bottom are the poorest communities, where the population is dedicated to fish to eat and sell them.
In addition, others are dedicated to mine gold, but I almost do not get to the river for fear of the water causes them some skin disease.
The Environmental Unit encardado that jurisdiction, Gustavo Enrique Pavón, said the complaint with the Office of Environment and introduced himself and also Tegucigalpa sent water samples for tests and associated analyzes are made to carry out an investigation.
FUNGI IN SKIN
Residents are alarmed that are leaving them skin fungus, is also reported that cattle and calving is wrong to abort because they are taking contaminated water, reported Pavon.
Many people that they got to get the fish to eat and can not because the stench of death leagues feel about the high level of contamination, said.
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| Small alarmed because their cattle ranchers are aborting. |
For the summer season always presents problems especially at Easter,
are several years has been reported but so far no one does anything, he
deplored.
Over 20 thousand fish, the species known as
catfish, escarpments, shiners or bubuchas seen floating on the river
banks where the buzzards a delicacy food are given.
POISONED
One
of those affected, Rosa Carmina Cortes, said "the river water is
poisoned, even the fruit trees are affected, such as mango, avocado and
coconut, because it is too much pollution."
"We are alarmed because previous years dead fish were observed this season, but in 2014 this is an exaggeration.
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| The need to extract gold searching the river stones. Avocados forces many to risk their lives just to be able to eat. |
Da regret that the most affected are low-income people, who are
engaged in agriculture, fishing and gold mining, but now suffer from
skin diseases and diarrhea.
Also, we now comes a
difficult time because the source of drinking water is drying us, before
we had the river where we were to bathe or stock up on water, but now
God forbid if we take our children is only for the envenenemos.
DROUGHT
Each
day the water lasts us less, sometimes lasting an hour and other hour
and a half so we have to run to fill the stack, barrels and bottles,
Cortes said.
"We need an in-depth investigation by the Ministry of Natural Resources
and Environment (Serna), and we suspect that liquid wastes come from
distilling companies that are in the center of town.
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| Several blocks feels pestilence and the dirty water is observed dead fish of all sizes. |
"We ask that they are required to install their own wells oxidation, not further damaging us, and we will not be able to try nor chacalines because until foam and dirty as wicks mop floating in the river, that's scary" he added.
Meanwhile, the municipal councilor of Yuscarán, Nelson Enrique Rodriguez, said the new corporation quoted one of the owners of companies and there was no positive response. "They have no desire to contribute to the population, who complains and no longer bear the abuse, because they are playing with the health of all" he said. -
La Tribuna. [Translated]
Thousands Of Dead Fish Due To Algae In Devils Lake In Oregon, United States
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Clear to anybody who visited Devils Lake this week was the unnatural
color created by an unprecedented
algae bloom that has gripped the
waterway since mid-January. (Photo by Rick Beasley) |
A day after 8,400 trout were stocked in Devils Lake, the man that grew them shook his head and leveled his camera at a shoreline littered with dead fish.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said David Welch, manager of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Salmon River Hatchery. “I’m shocked, and I don’t know what we can do about it. It makes you feel helpless.” -
Newport News Times.
2 TONS Of Dead Fish Found Floating In The Piracicaba River In Brazil
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| Group that participated in boat tour caught fish mortality (Photo: Priscila Molinari Garcia) |
The dead fish found in last Monday (7) by a group that walked boat in Rio Piracicaba may have been caused by low oxygen levels in the water, according to a statement on Wednesday (9) by the State Environmental Company of São Paulo (Cetesb). The deaths occurred on a stretch near the rural Tanquan neighborhood in Piracicaba (SP).
According estimated the Riverside Institute on Monday, two tonnes of dead fish species piaparas, piavas, catfish and even a painted were found.
According to Cetesb technicians were sent to the scene to investigate the case. "The team did not find a situation of killings, and recorded the presence of some individuals, who would have died, probably on the weekend," says the note from the company. Tests to verify the content of dissolved oxygen (DO) in water indicated indices between 2.2 milligrams per liter to 3.5 milligrams per liter.
"The level of dissolved oxygen ideal for fish survival is 5 milligrams per liter up," says the official statement Cetesb. Also according to the company, no changes that could indicate the release of pollutants capable of killing the species were observed. -
Globo. [Translated]
3 MILLION Bees Die Suddenly In Donghai County, China
The spring season is the best time to spend chasing beekeeper's honey. Lianyungang Donghai County beekeeper Yang let his wife came with 180 boxes of bees Huaian Lianshui Fang Feng Xu Jixiang territory. Let him not think that just arrived Fangfeng place the next morning, he died mysteriously 110 boxes of bees, and even the queen could not escape unharmed. The police have been involved in the investigation.
Yesterday afternoon, on the way to the interview, the reporter saw a lot of beekeepers in the field set within Lianshui Xu Fang Feng. When a reporter asked whether the death of their bees phenomenon, these beekeepers told reporters, bee death is normal, but not a large area of death. Xu set to spend time on the open space in front of the village authorities, the reporter saw the owner of 110 boxes of bees mysteriously died, 43-year-old beekeeper from Lianyungang Donghai County, Yang let.
"This year can be said to lose everything!" Wearing a beekeeper's hat peculiar let Yang told reporters that he and his wife had in Hubei Fang Feng, Xu set by a local friend, he and his wife the night at 5 at noon to catch motorists to come here. Two o'clock in the afternoon, he and his wife duo will lift off 180 boxes of bees. In this process, a village cadres, let them come here Fangfeng, after a friend coordination, which eventually agreed to cadres. "Because some people are afraid of bees, so please outsiders to help lift poor beehive." Yang lets say, the couple will settle all the hives after lift off, have begun to carry out their duties: honey bees out that his wife set up tents, while he himself began to dig in the hive box jelly, has been dug up at 10 o'clock, the couple will be too tired to rest in a temporary tent structures themselves. At night, he heard his own tent tethered dog kept barking, getting up with a flashlight to look around, I did not see suspicious circumstances. At 6:00 on the 6th and more, before he came to get hives and found the situation right.
"Usually an open beehive, always hear the familiar 'buzzing' sound can be opened that day, and what sound did not, I felt quite right, out of the nest box to look, I was petrified: The original should be packed lying In the above bees, even Para Para fell down! I put the beehive nest boxes are taken out, the bees have died of shabu to fall down, "20 years of beekeeping experience, let Yang told reporters He called his wife rushed to see other hives together, the result, a total of 180 beehives have 110 are the same situation. Carton around 30,000 bees, 110 boxes have more than 300 million bees have died, this scenario so that his wife suddenly collapsed to the ground. -
DBW. [Translated]
More Dead Fish in Ogeechee River, Georgia, United States
Just one year after the largest fish kill in Georgia history, more fish have been found dead along the Ogeechee River banks--prompting a swimming and fishing advisory in Bulloch and Effingham counties.
Nearly forty thousand fish died in the Ogeechee River last year. A textiles company -- King America Finishing -- was found to be at least partly to blame.
Here is the breakdown:
King America was fined one million dollars for illegal dumping of several chemicals not allowed in its permit.
Those include formaldehyde and ammonia.
The dumping had been going on for five years.
Just after our story aired this Monday on news three at six a viewer called and said he had seen more dead fish at 301 landing.
The Ogeechee Riverkeeper spent most of yesterday searching the river, and found more.
Then Thursday, the DNR was out at Oliver Bridge near Statesboro collecting even more dead fish.
So far at least four species of fish, plus some crawfish, are dying. They say this raises concern because, whatever is causing it, it's affecting many different kinds of life in the river.
DNR says there are a few things that could be causing this.
First, water levels are even lower than they were this time last year.
Combine that with warmer water temperatures and the lack of rain -- and it makes the perfect breeding ground for bacteria.
The Environmental Protection Division determined that the fish last year died of Columnaris, a bacterial disease caused by environmental stressors.
This of course comes as bad news for the Ogeechee Riverkeeper. Director, Dianna Wedincamp says she is not surprised.
"We've been saying over and over that this is going to happen. My prediction is that they will probably come up with the same old same old. They will say it's the Columnaris Disease or whatever, as long as they are not saying that it's coming from that discharge pipe. We will continue to tell the public that there is unpermitted discharge and we don't think is safe for the public to swim in."
DNR will continue to study the river up and downstream from that King America Finishing discharge pipe. They will have crews working all day tomorrow and through the weekend, and the Riverkeeper plans to be out there as well.
Again, it's worth repeating -- and pass this along to your family and friends -- the Bulloch County Public Safety Division is issuing a swimming and fishing advisory.
Effingham County Emergency Management has also posted an advisory.
We contacted the EPD in Atlanta on Monday, and here is what it had to tell us:
Regular testing by King America Finishing and the company's contractor shows the river meets water quality standards, and there are no areas of concern.
-The EPD says it did its own special sampling on March 28, and found ammonia both upstream and downstream of the plant, but at low concentrations.
It says formaldehyde was not detected.
Meanwhile, for the first time since 2000, King America Finishing is up for a new permit. A public hearing on that is set for Tuesday, June 12 at 7 pm at the Effingham County High School. -
WSAV.
Hundreds Of Dead Fish Appear In A Lagoon Near Cali, Colombia
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| Still appear dead fish in lagoon of Charco Azul |
A new fish kill occurs for three days in the lagoon of Charco Azul, east of Cali. Hundreds of bream, those marks, tilapia and shrimp were found dead, without explanation.
"Tuesday was a critical day. Fish peered to the surface, as if looking for oxygen," says Rubén DarÃo Obando, security guard of the lagoon.
Meanwhile, Albeiro Murillo, Attorney environmental facilitators of the lagoon, warns that "should not be falling housing sewage lagoon, this could cause the death of fish."
The director Wastewater Emcali Jose Ceron, said "these fish did not die on Tuesday. Environmental facilitators when cleaned the filter and removed the trash that taponaba, removed these fish already dead."
Ceron added that "monthly clean the filter and the tube facing the lagoon, but obstructs the community. Lack Les environmental culture". Amanda Manrique, fisher and resident of the sector for 35 years, said that "this is going on for six months and nobody does anything."
Moreover, John Preciado, a resident of Charco Azul, says that "in the evening you can see a green cream and where it appears, no dead fish."
Given this, Camilo Velez, head of water resources of Dangma hopes "that this week the CVC deliver the results of the biopsy of the dead and the fish pond sediment, to clarify what happens in this wetland." -
Entorno Inteligente.
9 Blue Whales Found Dead Off The Coast Of Newfoundland, Canada
As many as nine blue whale carcasses are in heavy ice off Newfoundland's southwest coast, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans has confirmed.
Blue whales are the largest animals in the world, each measuring the length of three school buses.
DFO researcher Jack Lawson said the deaths are a serious blow to an endangered population of about 250 animals.
"It's horrible and it's so disappointing for us, because the department is working hard to develop a recovery plan for the species," he told CBC.
"We are trying to monitor man-made threats like seismic or vessel strikes and that kind of thing, and then to have a natural event like this happen, you really have no control over it and it's pretty shocking."
WATCH: Blue whales dead in ice.
On Tuesday, CBC reported that a dead sperm whale washed ashore near Trepassey, on the island's Avalon Peninsula.
Lawson said if the wind changes direction, the whales can be left in the ice with nowhere to turn.
"It's like putting a lid back on a cup — it just traps the animals in there, and if it keeps pushing it can kill them."
Last week, Lawson flew over the dead whales. He hopes to get a closer look at them later in the spring season.
Lawson said there have been reports of whales trapped and dying in sea ice in the area dating back to the mid-19th century. -
CBC.
Mass Die-Off Of Bees Due To "Mystery Illness" In Ariege, France
What harm mysterious since this winter hit hives Ariege, causing the loss of about 20 % of the colonies , some operators ? Russier for Nicole Bertrand and Théry , a couple of beekeepers installed since 1980 in the valley of the Barguillère , above Foix, this massacre recalls another : that occurred in 2008-2009. They then lost half of their hives . For them, no doubt , residues treatments administered to the animals by farmers to fight against bluetongue were then responsible for the mortality of pollinators.
"This year , we have a sense of reliving the same kind of disaster, they testify . That to start late November and early December 2013. There were carpets of dead bees . This is an incredible massacre in some places where there were forty beehives, there remains more than one. "
Cold valleys were particularly touch ...
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Le Monde. [Translated]
Humpback Whale Washes Up Dead In Ponte Vedra, Florida, United States
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| Dead humpback whale beached at Ponte Vedra Beach. FWC |
A humpback whale has washed ashore in Ponte Vedra Beach near Mickler's Landing.
According to Nadia Gordon with the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission (FWC), the humpback whale is 31-feet long and
badly decomposed.
A crew from FWC was collecting samples from the body Saturday afternoon,
and plans to anchor the whale overnight in order to complete the
autopsy Sunday.
Gordon said humpback whales wash ashore in northeast Florida about once every 1-2 years, so it is somewhat rare.
Friday in Jacksonville beach a
dead dolphin washed ashore in Jacksonville Beach. -
First Coast News.
Snowy Owls Dying And Having Trouble Migrating North Due To Prolonged Cold Weather
It is time for many bird species to begin their spring migrations and
Snowy Owls are among the many species that migrate. Although most birds
migrate without any trouble it seems that more and more snowy owls are being found dead along their migration paths. While most ornithologists believe the recently reported
Snowy Owls deaths are not related and only accidents, many are still studying the
dead birds to be sure.
When a Snowy Owl wearing a GPS tracking device was found dead near
Martha's Vineyard, many people became concerned and wanted to know why
this bird and so many others were dying. Tufts University veterinary
center and Norman Smith, who is an expert on Snowy Owls, decided to find
out what caused the bird's death. They named the bird Sandy Neck.
The team examined the bird and released a report with their findings. The report said,
"The necropsy at Tufts showed no trauma except for a minor deep bruise
in her left pectoral, no food in the proventriculus (stomach) or
gizzard, and no signs of disease or unusual parasites. As Gus (Ben
David) noted, she was in otherwise excellent condition - great muscle
mass and fat deposits. Nor was there any water in the respiratory
system. Mark Pokras (a veterinarian and professor at Tufts) said if he
had to guess, she got swamped, swam to shore and went down from
hypothermia - but also couldn't rule out drowning."
"Interestingly, the tracking data shows she was
hunkered down for many hours Friday afternoon along the beach between
Sengekontacket Pond and the ocean, then around 5 a.m. Saturday headed
north over the bay. It looks like by 5:40 a.m. she was in the water, and
I assume the movement after that - south a bit, up and around the top
of the Island and then back - reflects tide and current, not the owl.
So she might not have drowned, but simply died of hypothermia in the
water. Looks like she came ashore about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday." And was
found the next day,"
said Smith.
In many states, the cold is lingering longer than usual and although
there have been several warm spells in the last few weeks, it could
still be dangerous for migratory birds to make long flights. If they get
caught in cold weather during their migration, they may not know what
to do to survive sudden cold spells. Smith and other experts believe this could be the reason so many Snowy Owls are dying during their migrations this year.
What do you think could be the cause?
-
Web Pro News.
Dead Juvenile Pilot Whale Found ON Searsport Beach, Maine, United States
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Volunteer firefighters worked to move a dead
juvenile pilot whale Friday morning. The whale, which weighed about 500
pounds and did not show signs of propeller damage, will be studied by
researchers at Allied Whale in Bar Harbor.Wayne Hamilton |
Several Searsport volunteer firefighters responded to a plea Friday morning for a lift assist down at the town dock.
What they didn't know was that they'd be lifting a whale - a 500-pound dead pilot whale, to be precise.
"[They had] not a clue," Officer Mike Larrivee of the Searsport Police
Department said. "They all showed up and said 'oh boy, what are we doing
here?'"
The dead whale, believed to be a female, had been found Thursday at the
beach at the end of Lobster Lane, just east of Moose Point State Park. A
man walking his dogs found the animal and called to report it. Larrivee
then got in touch with Allied Whale, the marine mammal research arm of
the College of the Atlantic, which helps Searsport with seals or other
marine mammals. But this was something different, he said.
"This is the first whale I've ever seen here, other
than the ones on Bar Harbor whale watching trips," Larrivee said.
On Friday morning, Searsport harbor master Wayne Hamilton and Larrivee
took a boat to the beach, and towed the whale very slowly by the tail
fin back to the town dock, where they met Tom Fernald of Allied Whale.
He brought a student with him to pick up the pilot whale, but they found
they needed some help to get it onto the stretcher.
Enter the volunteer firefighters.
"The volunteer fire department was kind enough to help us pick up the
animal," Fernald said later that afternoon. "They were just so helpful.
This was a very fresh animal, in very good condition. It was terrible to
see the animal dead, because it was in such good condition."
He said that it was unclear why the immature whale died. It did not
appear to have propeller damage or other signs of human or boat
interaction, Fernald said, and his students will do a necropsy on Monday
to look for the cause of death.
"This will be an educational opportunity for us," he said.
Pilot whales are an offshore species of toothed whale common to the Gulf
of Maine. They tend to live in large social groups and dine on mostly
fish and squid. It's unusual to find one inshore in early spring, he
said.
"Nobody's common this time of year. We don't see any cetaceans this time of year," Fernald said.
As part of the necropsy of the whale, his students will open up the
animal to see whether they can find the cause of its death. Then they
will flense its flesh down to the skeleton and bury that in a compost
pile. Then, after a few months, the skeleton should be cleaned and ready
to display or otherwise use.
"It's sad that it died," Larrivee said. "But it's great that the kids get to see this firsthand and learn from it."
-
Bangor Daily News.
Dead Humpback Whale In Albany, Australia
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| The carcass of a one-year-old humpback whale is removed from Middleton Beach. Stan Shaw |
Authorities have warned beachgoers in Albany, on Western Australia's
south coast, to exercise caution after sharks were attracted to the area
by a whale carcass.
Middleton Beach was closed after the five-metre carcass, suspected to be
a one-year-old humpback whale, was discovered this morning.
Heavy machinery was brought in to remove the dead whale from the popular swimming area.
Authorities believe it came ashore overnight whilst still alive, but died a few hours later.
Deon Utber from the Department of Parks and Wildlife said tissue samples from the whale would be taken for analysis.
"It was probably a calf returning from last season, it was obviously very malnourished," he said.
"A pod of humpback whales was seen out here this morning so this whale was probably from that pod.
"When this species becomes sick, they do come into the shore to die.
"The animal is taken off the beach, we take some samples and some measurements and it's then disposed of."
Multiple sharks spotted in popular swimming area
Multiple shark sightings and fears the whale carcass would attract more of the predators led to the closure of the beach.
One great white shark that had been tagged by the State Government's
shark-monitoring network was detected in the area nine times in less
than four hours.
The network, set up in 2009, involves the use of satellite-linked
technology to track sharks fitted with acoustic transmitters off Perth
and WA's south coast.
Signals are detected when a shark swims within 500 metres of an acoustic
receiver and are tweeted by authorities to warn beachgoers.
Fisheries advise: tagged White shark detected at Ellen Cove, Albany receiver at 09:31:00 AM on 12-Apr-2014
- Surf Life Saving WA (@SLSWA) April 12, 2014
The program, due to expire in 2015, aims to gain a better understanding of when and why sharks visit particular locations.
Authorities have warned people to be cautious if they want to swim off the Albany coast for the next 48 hours. -
ABC Australia.
Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin Death Toll Tops 1,200 Since July 2013
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| Dead bottlenose dolphins at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, New Bolton Center. University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, New Bolton Center |
The bottlenose dolphin die-off in the mid-Atlantic isn't over, a stranding expert told me this afternoon.
"It's still ongoing," said Blair Mase, NOAA Southeast region marine mammal stranding coordinator, who is based in Miami.
The migratory stock of dolphins is starting to move north and "we still
have dolphins stranding at above-average rates" in South Carolina, North
Carolina and Georgia, she said.
In the Florida area, the strandings are "slowing down a little bit, which is good," she said.
According to NOAA Fisheries, the toll of dead bottlenose dolphins from
New York to Florida has risen to 1,204 from July 1 to April 6.
That's preliminary data. And the death toll is 62 percent higher than during the last major die-off in 1987-88 and 6.7 times higher than the 2007 to 2012 norm for July 1 to April 6, according to calculations.
In the 1980s, it seemed like most of the dolphin
strandings started to come to an end in the April-May time-frame, "so
we're hoping that's going to be happening in this case but we don't know
for sure" and surveillance will continue over the next few months, Mase
said.
As the dolphins move north, experts have to "keep a close eye on North
Carolina and Virginia to see what's going on there," she said. The last
dolphin that tested positive in Florida was found in February, she said.
No dead bottlenose dolphins have been found in New Jersey lately, as far
as she knows, NOAA Fisheries spokesman Maggie Mooney-Seus said in an
email.
Mase said morbillivirus is still believed to be the main cause of the outbreak.
Cetacean morbillivirus is a measles-like illness, according to NOAA
Fisheries. The investigation is ongoing and other factors that may have
contributed to the die-off include other pathogens, biotoxins and
expansion of the dolphins' range.
-
APP.
Recently Filmed Giant Oarfish Washes Up Dead On Mexican Beach
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| Rare: The giant Oarfish |
The elusive 15ft oarfish was spotted swimming in shallow waters in the Sea of Cortez in Mexico.
A giant underwater creature which inspired stories of sea monsters has
been filmed by a tourist - but sadly came to a fishy end.
The elusive 15ft oarfish was spotted swimming in shallow waters in the Sea of Cortez in Mexico.
Tour guides from Un-Cruise Adventures, who organised the expedition, were thrilled to get up close to the mysterious creature.
However, after briefly delighting onlookers with its appearance, the
oarfish beached itself on nearby Isla San Francisco and died.
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Oar might: Man lies next to giant fish
|
Lia Stamatiou, expedition leader for Un-Cruise Adventures said: "I
learned about the oarfish as one of those fish you study but never see.
"Seeing it swim up to us on the beach I was completely stunned.
"It was one of the most surprising and beautiful
animals I had ever seen, with fantastic iridescent blue skin and a
vibrant red dorsal fin.
"The fish resisted attempts by our crew to orient and push it off the beach.
"Eventually it raked itself on the sand to the point of exhaustion, and the birds descended to finish the job." -
Mirror.
