Record number of whales slaughtered in the Faroe Islands

More than 1,000 so far this year

November 2010: A total of 1,115 pilot whales have been brutally slaughtered in the Faroe Islands so far this year, making it the largest kill of any whale species in the world.

Environmental and animal welfare organisations are deeply concerned about the escalation of these hunts, as more whales have been killed in 2010 than in any year since 1996 - and even more may be killed before the end of the year. The average annual catch for the past ten years has been 627 pilot whales.

Despite Government claims to the contrary, Faroese TV footage clearly shows that the brutal methods used to kill the whales have not improved and are likely to inflict appalling suffering on the whales - and as these shocking stills show, the slaughter is literally turning the sea red.

'Killing these intelligent, social whales results in shocking cruelty'
Joanna Toole, Marine Mammals Programmes Manager for the World Society for the Protection of Animals, said: ‘The chaos of killing large groups of these intelligent, social whales inevitably results in shocking cruelty. A highly modern community killing more than 1,100 whales in this way is completely unacceptable.'

The Faroese authorities have given no indication as to why so many whales have been killed this year.

During the past two decades, extensive research, led by Dr Pál Weihe of the Faroese Department of Public and Occupational Health, has been undertaken into the impact on the health of Faroese consumers of contaminants including mercury and PCBs which are found in pilot whale meat and blubber.


In August 2008, Dr Weihe and Faroese chief medical officer Dr Høgni Debes Joensen issued a statement recommending that pilot whale no longer be used for human consumption due to the significant threat it poses.

The Faroese Government has said it is in the process of evaluating these findings, but in the meantime has recommended that consumers be guided by dietary advice it issued in 1998 - that only one or two pilot whale meals a month should be consumed, and women who are or may become pregnant, or are breast-feeding, should refrain from eating any pilot whale at all.

The equivalent of 11kg meat for every islander
Jennifer Lonsdale, Director of the Environmental Investigation Agency, said: ‘Hunts in 2010 have produced about 550 tonnes of pilot meat and blubber for the 49,000 islanders. This equates to 11kg for every islander, including babies - almost 1kg per month per person. This is about five times 1998's supposedly safe consumption recommendations, and it completely ignores the more recent warning not to eat pilot whale at all.'

Since many people, including infants and some mothers, do not consume pilot whale meat and many others are unable to obtain it, some people will inevitably be consuming much higher amounts.

By allowing these hunts to continue, the Faroese Government is callously ignoring both this proven threat to the health of its citizens and the unchecked cruelty inflicted on the whales

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/faroes-whales.html

Dinosaur Die-Off Cleared Way for Gigantic Mammals (Courtesy of Ken House)

*Lauran Neergaard*

WASHINGTON http://www.aolnews.com/tag/washington
(Nov. 25) - They just needed some leg room:
New research shows the great dinosaur die-off made way for mammals to explode in size - some more massive than several elephants put together.

The largest land mammal ever: A rhinoceros-like creature, minus the horn, that stood 18 feet tall, weighed roughly 17 tons and grazed in forests in what is now Eurasia. It makes the better known woolly mammoth
seem a bit puny.

Tracking such prehistoric giants is more than a curiosity: It sheds new light on the evolution of mammals as they diversified to fill habitats left vacant by the dinosaurs.

Within 25 million years of the dinosaurs' extinction - fast, in geologic terms - overall land mammals had reached a maximum size and then leveled off, an international team of scientists reports Friday in the journal
Science http://www.aolnews.com/category/science. And while different species on different continents reached their peaks at different points in time, that pattern of evolution was remarkably similar worldwide.

"Evolution can happen very quickly when ecology permits," said paleoecologist Felisa Smith of the University of New Mexico http://www.aolnews.com/tag/new-mexico/, who led the research. "This is really coming down to ecology allowing this to happen."

Anyone who frequents natural history museums knows that the end of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago ushered in the age of mammals, and that some of them were gigantic. But the new study is the first comprehensive mapping of these giants in a way that helps explain how and why their size evolved.

"We didn't have a clear idea of how the story went after the extinction of the dinosaurs," explained Nick Pyenson, a curator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, who wasn't involved
with the new research.

Previous theories suggested that species diversity drove increases in size, but the new study didn't find that connection.

New 'dog only' beer hits shelves

Ever sat in a bar and thought ‘I wish just once my dog could join me in a casual beer?’ Us neither, but clearly it’s a problem for someone as a Dutch brewer has started producing beer for the as yet untapped pooch market.

Dog Beer is made from a special blend of beef extracts and malt, giving dogs that clean, crisp lager taste while adding some meaty goodness.

A spokesman for the brewers said: ‘It is a beer for your best friend.

‘For large dogs we would recommend one bottle a day and for things like a Chihuahua... well, they prefer shorts.’

The brew is of course, non-alcoholic.

Dog owner Wiktor Piotrowski was among one of the first to buy the product when it was released on Poland this week.

After enjoying some frosty suds with his pet he said: ‘My dog loves it. Now when we go for a walk we can both go to the pub

 http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/848399-new-dog-only-beer-hits-shelves#ixzz16JOu8Kw9

Novice angler catches monster halibut worth £25,000

Hansel took more than two hours to reel in the 2.5m (8ft 2in) monster of the deep off Bolungarvik, in Iceland’s Western Fjords, where it took five men to eventually haul the 970-portion fish on board.

‘This is the fish I have been fishing for all my life,’ said the 70-year-old German.

He used a 30lb line and a plastic lure to snare the halibut. Once he got it alongside their boat, a rope was tied around its tail so it could be hoisted on to the deck.

Herbert Loechel, managing director of the fishing tour operator, said: ‘After the bite, we had to worry that Gunther would land the fish. It took him 135 minutes.

‘But the boat’s crew helped hoist the giant fish, with more anglers on board to help, on to the boat.

‘Back at port, the giant fish was celebrated vigorously.’

The mighty fish has broken all records – beating the previous best by 8.2kg (18lb). The earlier record was held by anglers Bosse Carlsson and Hans-Olov Nilsson, weighing 210kg (464lb), caught off Norway in July 2009.

Atlantic halibut are native to the northern Atlantic ocean, from Greenland to the Barents Sea and as far south as the Bay of Biscay.

They can reach up to 5m (15ft) in length, weigh up to 320kg (700lb) and can live for 50 years.


Commercial fishing of the Atlantic variety has largely collapsed since overfishing led to it being registered as endangered in 1996


http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/848168-novice-angler-catches-monster-halibut-worth-25-000



Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/848168-novice-angler-catches-monster-halibut-worth-25-000#ixzz16JOSCa9g

24' crocodile lurks in river in Normanton, pastor says

Pastor reveals crocodile paw prints

Tipped to belong to 8m monster croc "Pretty much the biggest they've ever seen"

Krys the Crocodile at Normanton is purportedly a life-size model of Australia's biggest-known crocodile, which was killed in the 1950s and reportedly measured 8.6m / AAP Source: AAP

A footprint being measured at 25cm (10 inches) on the Norman River at Normanton, Queensland / AAP Source: AAP

A footprint being measured at 25cm (10 inches) on the Norman River at Normanton, Queensland / AAP Source: AAP

A PASTOR says he has evidence that an 8m croc lurks in a river in Queensland's Gulf country.

Pastor Elton Thompson said he took pictures of slide marks from the crocodile last Wednesday on the Norman River at Normanton.

"I haven't actually seen the crocodile but it was the slide marks that was left behind,'' Pastor Thompson said.

He said he took his measuring tape down to the bank.

It's paw imprint spanned 25cm, and some claw marks went into the mud 2.5cm deep.

It measured 1m between its two back feet.

"We're predicting the croc is 1.5m to 2m across its girth,'' he said.

"There's a possibility that the croc is 8m.''

Normanton is famous for its love affair with crocs.

An 8.64m alleged replica of a croc shot in the area in the 1950s sits proudly on the town's main street.

Pastor Thompson said the latest find is just as big.

"It's a big croc,'' he said.

"A few people have seen it in water. They're all saying it's about that size, if not bigger. It's pretty much the biggest croc they've ever seen.''

Crocodiles are regularly seen in the Gulf country and Pastor Thompson said locals aren't spooked.

"It doesn't bother anyone. There are crocs in the rivers up here everywhere. It is part of the country.''