UPDATE: 4-29-2013
Mystery as record number of seal pups continue to wash up on California coast just hours from death
PUBLISHED: 22:31 EST, 28 April 2013
Marine biologists on the West Coast are struggling to understand the reason why an alarming number of sea lion pups are turning up near death along Southern California's coastline.
Some 1,400 young California sea lions were admitted to rehabilitation centers throughout the state since the beginning of the year, Sarah Wilkin of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told Fox News.
That number is five times the normal rate of beached pups that typically appear between January and April, Wilkin said.
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Sea lion mystery: Marine biologists on the West Coast are struggling to understand the reason why an alarming number of sea lion pups are turning up near death along Southern California's coastline
Rising number: Some 1,400 young California sea lions were admitted to rehabilitation centers throughout the state since the beginning of the year
‘Nobody was quite prepared for the scope of this,’ she told Fox News. ‘The major common factor for all these stranded pups is that they're coming in emaciated, dehydrated, basically starving. They have been unable to find enough food to sustain themselves.’
Wilkin and other marine biologists have yet to figure out why the pups are not getting enough of the fish they need for both nutrition and hydration is still unclear.
What is known is that the epidemic only affects the young as most of the sick sea lions arriving on the shore were born last summer.
‘The pups can't dive as deep,’ said Wilkin. ‘They can't travel as far so they might be more impacted in even just a slight change in the distribution of prey.’
'Unusual mortality event': NOAA has labeled the bizarre and upsetting phenomena an 'unusual mortality event' with hopes that the organization will receive additional funding for rehabilitation and research
Unprecedented: David Bard with the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro said his facility usually receives between 50 and 80 animals in the first quarter of the year, while in 2013 it has treated more than 400 already
NOAA has labeled the bizarre and upsetting phenomena an ‘unusual mortality event’ with hopes that the organization will receive additional funding for rehabilitation and research.
‘The numbers speak for themselves,’ David Bard with the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro told Fox News. ‘As far as the underlying causes, anything that I can tell you would be a guess.’
Bard said his facility usually receives between 50 and 80 animals in the first quarter of the year, while in 2013 it has treated more than 400 already.
‘What we started seeing since January is animals coming in at roughly half the weight that they should be,’ said Bard. ‘You can see their shoulder blades, you can see their spines.’
Wilkin says the NOAA is working with fishery scientists and oceanographers to pinpoint the exact cause, including possible food shortages, exposure to biotoxins, disease and human pollutants.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2316375/Mystery-record-number-seal-pups-continue-wash-California-coast-just-hours-death.html#ixzz2RpcgFPPV
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--------------------END UPDATE--------------------------
note: sorry in advance because as you read down this post, it overlaps at a point and things don't line up. I tried to adjust the code to make it work and finally, after a couple of hours, I gave up on it so it is what it is. There is definitely plenty of information, however, that will give you an idea about how bad the mass animal death quantity has become. Here you go...
Published on Apr 12, 2013
4 ,14 days 100′s of bees came 2 die at the front door of my apt, I still ask myself why? This is happening without logical reason..still they’re coming to die but by 40′s or 60′s everyday
HERE IS THE ANSWER TO THE MASS BEE DEATHS...
Colony collapse disorder
Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is a phenomenon in which worker bees from abeehive or European honey beecolony abruptly disappear. While such disappearances have occurred throughout the history of apiculture, and were known by various names (disappearing disease, spring dwindle,May disease,autumn collapse, andfall dwindle disease),[1] the syndrome was renamedcolony collapse disorder in late 2006[2]in conjunction with a drastic rise in the number of disappearances of Westernhoneybeecolonies inNorth America at that time.[3] European beekeepers observed similar phenomena in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain,[4] and initial reports have also come in from Switzerland and Germany, albeit to a lesser degree[5]while the Northern Ireland Assembly received reports of a decline greater than 50%.[6]
The growth of neonicotinoids msuch as clothianidin and imidacloprid,some of the most widely-used pesticides in the world, has roughly tracked rising bee deaths since 2005.[7] In 2012, several peer reviewed independent studies were published showing that neonicotinoids had previously undetected routes of exposure affecting bees including through dust, pollen, and nectar;[8] that sub-nanogram toxicity resulted in failure to return to the hive without immediate lethality,[9] the primary symptom of CCD;[10] and indicating environmental persistence of neonicotinoid in irrigation channels and soil.[11] These studies prompted a formal 2013 peer review by the European Food Safety Authority that said neonicotinoids pose an unacceptably high risk to bees, and that the industry-sponsored science upon which regulatory agencies' claims of safety have relied is flawed.[12] CCD is probably compounded by a combination of factors.[13][14][15][16] In 2007, some authorities attributed the problem to biotic factors such as Varroa mites,[17] Nosema apis parasites,and Israel acute paralysis virus.[18][19] Other contributing factors may include environmental change-related stress,[20] malnutrition, and migratory beekeeping.
Colony collapse is significant economically because many agricultural crops worldwide are pollinated by European honey bees. Shortages in the US have increased the cost to farmers, renting bees for pollination services, up to 20% at times.[7]
More than 12,000 birds crashed in Utah’s west desert Monday
| The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published Apr 17 2013 04:27 pm • Last Updated Apr 17 2013 10:50 pm
The number of eared grebes rescued — and killed — after their Monday crash-landings at the U.S. Army’s Dugway Proving Ground was far higher than originally estimated.
Wildlife biologists and volunteers spent Monday and Tuesday gathering 12,800 water birds, carrying the 7,828 surviving birds by pickup trucks to ponds in the region.
The birds were migrating back to the Great Salt Lake for the summer, but apparently became disoriented by snow and fog and mistook wet roads and parking lots for water. Built for water, with legs far to the back of their bodies, they can lift off from the ground only with great difficulty.
An estimated 100 birds were taken to rehabilitation facilities, Dugway spokeswoman Paula Thomas said.
Biologists working under a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were burning and burying the birds that died or were so seriously injured they had to be euthanized.
The Salt Lake Tribune
Shock as 150 dead animals found on North Yorkshire farm
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
MEMBERS of a small rural community have spoken of their shock after scores of animals were found dead or dying on a North Yorkshire farm.
About 150 sheep and lambs, three cows and three horses were found dead at a farm in West Layton, between and Barnard Castle, after a concerned member of the public contacted the RSPCA.
North Yorkshire Police and a vet went with RSPCA officers to the farm on Monday, March 28.
It is not known how the animals died, but the animal rescue charity reassured other local farmers that it was not because of disease that could be transmitted to other livestock.
A further 50 sheep and one cow had to be put down on a vet’s advice, and 16 horses and a dog were taken into the care of the RSPCA.
About 800 more sheep had been saved, with half being sold along with 20 cows, and the welfare of the rest of the flock is currently being overseen by a stockman brought in to the farm by the charity.
Leanne Plumbtree, a spokesperson for the RSPCA, said: “”The owner of the farm has been interviewed by the RSPCA with a view to bringing a private prosecution.
“No further information is available at this time.”
Dozens of birds slam dead into downtown Minnesota city buildings
Bohemian waxwings
April 24, 2013
By: Johnny Kelly
Dozens of birds have been found dead after slamming into downtown buildings in one Minnesota city.
The reported Wednesday (April 24) that at least 30 Bohemian waxwing birds were killed and three others were injured after flying into buildings in
Duluthon Monday and Tuesday.
A majority of the Bohemian waxwings were found dead in the plaza area adjacent to the Minnesota Power building in downtown Duluth, said Amy Rutledge, manager of corporate communications for Minnesota Power.
The birds apparently flew into tinted glass partitions adjacent to the building as they were flying up to trees.
“We’re on a major migration route,” said Peggy Farr, a Wildwoods rehabilitator and board member. “This is a good time of year to close the blinds so the birds don’t get faked out by the windows.”
Rutledge said Minnesota Power plans to put stickers on the glass panels that the waxwings hit so birds will be more likely to see the panels.
Bohemian waxwings, just smaller than robins, often move and feed in large flocks. In the Duluth area, these birds frequently feed on berries of mountain ash or crabapple trees.
It is believed that the birds may have become disoriented after eating the berries due to the fact that some are fermented or contain some small amounts of alcohol.
Duluth birder and birding guide Erik Bruhnke said that sometimes happens.
I know that waxwings become intoxicated because of alcohol when the berries are fermented,” Bruhnke said.
“I have seen, a couple times, where the whole flock will sit on the ground in a slight daze after eating large amounts of fermented berries and fruits,” he added.
READ MORE ATexaminer.com
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MY PERSONAL OPINION ON BIRDS FLYING INTO BUILDINGS IN MASS, OR FLYING STRAIGHT DOWN INSTEAD OF STAYING IN THE AIR IS THAT THE MAGNETIC FIELD THAT THEY USE TO GUIDE BIRDS AND OTHER ANIMALS IN THEIR MIGRATION IS CHANGING AND THERE ARE HOLES WHICH CAN CAUSE ISSUES. ADDITIONALLY, MINNESOTA LIKELY GETS SOME OF THE SOLAR WIND BECAUSE THEY DO SEE AURORAS AND THE SOLAR WIND IS EXTREMELY HIGH RIGHT NOW AND HAS BEEN FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS.
BIG SUNSPOT, CHANCE OF FLARES:Sunspot AR1726 is turning away from Earth, but the threat of flares is not subsiding. The sunspot has a delta-class magnetic field that harbors energy for powerful eruptions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of
M-classflares and a 15% chance of
X-flareson April 25th.
Solar flare alerts: text,
voice.
Amateur astronomer Alan Friedman photographed the sunspot on April 23rd. His H-alpha telescope, tuned to the red glow of solar hydrogen, revealed a seething active region spanning more than 125,000 km (10 Earth diameters) wide:
"The
full-sized imagereminds me of a Clementine orange," notes Friedman. "I captured the fruity shot through a turbulent jet stream on a beautiful spring day in Buffalo, NY."
The sheer size of the sunspot makes it an easy target for backyard solar telescopes.
source:
http://spaceweather.com/
60,000 ducks killed in Quake
Shanghai Daily
April 25, 2013
Troops wearing protective clothing move dead ducks from a poultry farm in Lushan County in earthquake-hit Ya’an City in southwest China yesterday. About 60,000 ducks were safely disposed of to prevent disease. The troops also treated carcasses at sites where mass deaths of animals occurred. As of yesterday afternoon, the 7.0-magnitude had killed 196 people and left another 21 missing. School classes are expected to resume on Saturday in the quake-hit region, according to the provincial education department, with this year’s college entrance exam fast approaching. Meanwhile, after being slighted by donors, China’s Red Cross is to reopen an investigation into the Guo Meimei affair that eroded its credibility.
SOURCE:english.peopledaily.com.cn
Fungal pneumonia blamed for dolphin and fish deaths, Australia
Algae and pneumonia blamed for marine deaths
Testing on dead dolphins and fish which washed up on South Australian beaches recently showed fungal pneumonia and naturally-occurring algal blooms were to blame.
Satellite imagery from the CSIRO showed high levels of algae in the water during March, which led to gill irritation and effectively suffocated the fish.
Diagnostic testing of fish samples ruled out infectious fish diseases for the mass kill.
Autopsies are still being done on 26 dead dolphins, but initial testing has indicated theydied of fungal pneumonia.
The SA Museum said the affected dolphins were mostly juveniles or young adults, which meant they were more susceptible than others to catching infections.
Scientists think the worst of the marine problems has now passed.
The South Australian Government said it was clear from the early findings the new Adelaide desalination plant was in no way to blame for the marine deaths.
Worry over marsh horses ‘dropping dead like flies’
Saturday, April 20, 2013
By RICHARD YOULE
HORSES have been “dropping like flies” on the Loughor Estuary, according to a lifeboatman.
John Edwards said horses have congregated at the marsh near Loughor inshore lifeboat station for years, and knew how to steer clear of the incoming tide, but that a high number of the animals had got stuck in the mud or perished.
The Post has been emailed photographs which are too shocking to print of horse carcasses on the marsh.
The RSPCA is investigating. Swansea Council said the dead animals were on the Carmarthenshire side of the estuary, while Carmarthenshire Council said the area was “a bit of a no-man’s land”.
Loughor inshore lifeboat station secretary Mr Edwards said: “I don’t know what is going on. We have never had these problems before. All of a sudden they are dropping like flies.”
Mr Edwards said the lifeboat had launched to help mud-trapped horses, but had to be careful not to scare the animals and make the situation worse.
“Unless they are actually in danger we won’t respond,” he said.
“People say it’s the owners’ responsibility, but a lot of them are wild horses. Our concern is that if the animals are left to rot they (their remains) will go back into the water.”
Mr Edwards said there were around 40 horses opposite the lifeboat station, and that an elderly man often used to pop along with bread for them. “When the tide comes in they go onto the bank and huddle together,” he said.
The anonymous photographer described seeing 24 dead horses — or remains of. “For any person that feels these horses are at home on these marshes and estuary, may they think again,” she said.
The Welsh Government is holding a consultation on fly-grazing and horse abandonment which ends on April 29.
The RSPCA meanwhile said it had removed three live horses this week from the Gower marshes which are now in the charity’s care.
An RSPCA spokesman added: “Police and Natural Resources Wales have removed all the animal carcasses that were on the site. An RSPCA investigation is ongoing.”
101 dolphins wash up on Italian coast
By Sam Adams
PUBLISHED:
22 April 2013
Scientists believe that more than 100 dolphins washed up dead along the Italian coast were struck down by a killer strain of measles.
A total of 101 dolphin carcasses have been counted on the west coast of Italy since the beginning of the year.
All are the same species – striped dolphins which have a distinctive blue and white pattern and grow to about eight feet long. They usually live for 50 or 60 years.
Concerns: More than 100 striped dolphins have washed up on the west coast of Italy during the last three months
The bodies have appeared on beaches spanning more than half the western coastline of Italy, from Tuscany to Calabria, as well as the island of Sicily – which suggests that the problem is not caused by humans pollutants such as oil.
Instead the deaths are being attributed to a possible outbreak of Morbillivirus, the virus that causes measles in humans, which scientists believe created a gateway for other illnesses among the animals.
Thirty-five per cent of the corpses tested positive for dolphin measles, Italy’s Ministry for the Environment said.
A statement from the ministry read: ‘At the moment the suspected cause of the mass cetacean deaths is measles (morbillivirus delphini) and the bacterium Photobacterium damselae.
‘The deaths could be caused by food shortages which weaken the animal making them more easily exposed to diseases and parasites.’ A similar epidemic decimated Spanish dolphin populations between 2006 and 2008.
The current strain has mostly affected young dolphins between the age of 15 and 20, who have not come across the disease before.
Animals born after a 1990-92 epidemic are devoid of the antibodies needed to defend them against the disease, scientists said.
None of the dead dolphins had food in their stomachs, which suggests that they may have starved to death because the virus left them weakened.
Overfishing which has left the Mediterranean with sparse reserves of dolphin prey could also be a factor, the government agency said.
Striped dolphins feed on small prey including hake, cuttlefish, squid, mackerel and sole, all species subject to intensive fishing.
The species is found in all the world’s tropical oceans. They are very sociable, travelling in large pods which can include hundreds of dolphins and are among the most acrobatic breeds. There are thought to be around two million striped dolphins in the world.
HERE IS A MASS ANIMAL DEATH LIST
18th April 2013 – 20,000+ Livestock dead from snowfall in
Northern Ireland.
Link
17th April 2013 – Thousands of Birds drop dead from sky at Army base in Utah,
America.
Link
17th April 2013 – Hundreds of Pigs, Dogs and other domestic animals dead in Henan Province,
China.
Link
16th April 2013 –
MILLIONS of Oysters wiped out by disease in Port Stephens,
Australia.
Link
16th April 2013 – 7,000 Fish found dead in the Vasse estuary at Wonnerup,
Australia.
Link
15th April 2013 – 400 Turtles wash up dead so far this year in Tamil Nadu,
India.
Link
12th April 2013 – 200,000 Salmon killed in Elwha River, Washington State,
America.
Link
13th April 2013 – Thousands of Fish dying at the Big Eau Pleine Reservoir, Wisconsin,
America.
Link
12th April 2013 – 5,000 Swifts dead from Bird Flu in Hanoi,
Vietnam.
Link
10th April 2013 – 13,000+ Fish found dead in a river in Shizuoka Prefecture,
Japan.
Link
9th April 2013 – 190 Vultures drop out of sky dead and dying in Chaguaramas,
Trinidad.
Link
9th April 2013 – 8,393 Livestock dead from snowfall in
Northern Ireland.
Link
9th April 2013 – 13,000 Chickens killed due to Bird Flu in
Cambodia.
Link
8th April 2013 – Tonnes of dead Fish found on Dannemore lake in
Sweden.
Link
8th April 2013 – Thousands of Sea Birds wash up dead on North East coast in
EnglandLink
SOURCE:
http://icwatch.wordpress.com/mass-animal-deaths-march-april-2013/
For the fifth time in ten years, a synthetic rubber dumped into the ocean is causing massive seabird die-offs.
By Joanna M. Foster
April 24, 2013
Staff at the RSPCA West Hatch Wildlife Centre wash a guillemot bird on February 4, 2013 near Taunton, England. (Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty)
There’s no scarcity of beachcombers on the Southwest coast of England this time of year. Usually, they’re on the lookout for jewel-like shards of sea glass washed smooth by the ocean, or beautifully knotted bits of driftwood.
This spring, however, the beach’s treasures are obscured by thousands of dead birds. In just the last ten days, over 1,500 dead seabirds glazed in a sticky, clear film have washed ashore in Southwest England
“Sometimes the birds are just so covered in the stuff you have to pry their little emaciated bodies off the rocks,” said Marc Smith, Marine Warden of Dorset Wildlife Trust. “And then you have dead birds stuck to your gloves.”
The culprit? Polyisobutylene, or PIB, a kind of synthetic rubber developed in the 1940s. It is used in the manufacturing of chewing gum, adhesive tape, and sealants.
It is currently perfectly legal for ships to dump between 75 and 350 litres of PIB into the ocean when they wash their tanks or clear ballast water. When PIB hits seawater it turns into a waxy, glue-like slick, floating just beneath the surface,
>
“Bacteria have a hard time breaking this stuff down,” said Smith. “So it just floats there. We think it might attract bits of seaweed and other natural ocean debris, which in turn attract fish and then the fish attract the sea birds. They dive right in, their wings essentially get glued to their bodies. They can’t move, they can’t eat, they freeze or starve to death out at sea and their bodies wash up on the beach.”
READ MORE AT
takepart.com
Hundreds of Hizbullah terrorists are now said to be in Syria, stationed in the many Shi'ite villages in bordering Syria. The terrorists act as "security guards" for the government, tamping down incidents of anti-Assad activity, and joining fighting in battles that take place in the area. Many terrorists have been killed in these battles, reports said...
Russell has not been named as a suspect in the April 15 bombing, which killed three and injured more than 200. A home health aide, she reportedly worked up to 80 hours per week and did not know her radical Muslim husband's plans to carry out a terror plot allegedly with his younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is in a federal medical facility for prisoners. The widow has kept a low profile since the attack, and is believed to have been living with her parents in West Kingston, R.I., since her husband was exposed as a terrorist and then killed in a police shootout.
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