Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts

Friday, 26 June 2015

Royal Navy bomb explosions caused mass whale deaths, report concludes

Noise from underwater bombs caused 19 pilot whales to beach and die off the coast of Scotland in 2011, say government scientists


Wednesday 24 June 2015 14.09 BSTLast modified on Wednesday 24 June 201514.12 BST

Four large bombs exploded underwater by the Royal Navy were to blame for a mass stranding which killed 19 pilot whales on the north coast of Scotland in 2011, government scientists have concluded.

A long-delayed report released on Wednesday by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs says that the noise from the explosions could have damaged the hearing and navigational abilities of the whales, causing them to beach and die.

On 22 July 2011, 70 long-finned pilot whales swam into the Kyle of Durness, a shallow tidal inlet east of Cape Wrath, Europe’s largest live bombing range. Despite attempts to herd them back out to sea, 39 were left stranded by the tide.

Concerted efforts by expert teams and local people managed to refloat 20, but 19 ended up dead. It was one of the largest mass strandings in recent years, and it prompted a government-funded investigation by 12 scientists from laboratories across the UK.

Wednesday, 27 March 2013

Scientists Confirm First Two-Headed Bull Shark


Mar. 25, 2013 — Scientists have confirmed the discovery of the first-ever, two-headed bull shark.The study, led by Michigan State University and appearing in the Journal of Fish Biology, confirmed the specimen, found in the Gulf of Mexico April 7, 2011, was a single shark with two heads, rather than conjoined twins.

There have been other species of sharks, such as blue sharks and tope sharks, born with two heads. This is the first record of dicephalia in a bull shark, said Michael Wagner, MSU assistant professor of fisheries and wildlife, who confirmed the discovery with colleagues at the Florida Keys Community College.

"This is certainly one of those interesting and rarely detected phenomena," Wagner said. "It's good that we have this documented as part of the world's natural history, but we'd certainly have to find many more before we could draw any conclusions about what caused this."

The difficulty of finding such oddities is due, in part, to creatures with abnormalities dying shortly after birth. In this instance, a fisherman found the two-headed shark when he opened the uterus of an adult shark. The two-headed shark died shortly thereafter and had little, if any, chance to survive in the wild, Wagner added.


Thursday, 27 December 2012

126 new species identified in Mekong region in 2011 – Including Beelzebub bat


Extraordinary new species discoveries in the Greater Mekong
December 2012. A new bat named after its devilish appearance, a subterranean blind fish, a ruby-eyed pit viper, and a frog that sings like a bird are among the 126 species newly identified by scientists in the Greater Mekong region in 2011, and described in a new WWF report, Extra Terrestrial.

Bats
Among the ten species highlighted in the report is the aptly named Beelzebub's tube-nosed bat, a diminutive but demonic-looking creature known only from Vietnam. Beelzebub's bat, like two other tube-nosed bats discovered in 2011, depends on tropical forest for its survival and is especially vulnerable to deforestation. In just four decades, 30 per cent of the Greater Mekong's forests have disappeared.

"While the 2011 discoveries affirm the Mekong as a region of astonishing biodiversity, many new species are already struggling to survive in shrinking habitats," said Nick Cox, Manager of WWF-Greater Mekong's Species Programme. "Only by investing in nature conservation, especially protected areas, and developing greener economies, will we see these new species protected and keep alive the hope of finding other intriguing species in years to come."

Walking fish
A new ‘walking' catfish species (Clarias gracilentus), discovered in freshwater streams on the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc, can move across land using its pectoral fins to stay upright while it wiggles forward with snake-like movements. And a dazzling miniature fish (Boraras naevus), just 2cm in length, was found in southern Thailand and named after the large dark blotch on its golden body (naevus is Latin for blemish).


Monday, 15 October 2012

Japan Earthquake Caused Long-Lasting Stress in Dogs


Family dogs caught up in the Japan earthquake of 2011 and subsequent nuclear disaster at Fukushima showed signs of stress not inconsistent with PTSD long after the events, a new study finds.

The research compared abandoned dogs rescued from Fukushima with non-disaster affected dogs abandoned in 2009 and 2010, before the earthquake. The dogs that lived through the disaster had stress hormone levels five to 10 times higher than the dogs that were simply abandoned or found as strays.

"Long-term care and concern regarding the psychological impact of disasters appears necessary in humans and companion animals," the researchers wrote today (Oct. 11) in the journal Scientific Reports.

Tuesday, 24 July 2012

BP Oil Spill May Have Contributed to Dolphin Deaths, Study Finds


The 2010 BP oil spill contributed to an unusually high death rate for dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico, a new study suggests.

Between January and April 2011, 186 dead bottlenose dolphins washed ashore between Louisiana and western Florida. Most alarmingly, nearly half of these casualties were calves, which is more than double the usual proportion of young to old dolphins found dead. Scientists now blame both natural factors and human catastrophe for the unusual die-off.

"Unfortunately, it was a 'perfect storm' that led to the dolphin deaths," study researcher Graham Worthy, a biologist at the University of Central Florida, said in a statement. "The oil spill and cold water of 2010 had already put significant stress on their food resources. … It appears the high volumes of cold freshwater coming from snowmelt water that pushed through Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound in 2011 was the final blow." 

Saturday, 2 June 2012

Butterfly survey – 2011 numbers 22% down

Small tortoiseshell slide continues
May 2012. Butterfly numbers in the UK countryside fell by almost a quarter last summer, according to a new scientific study.
22% fewer butterflies in 2011
The Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey (WCBS) revealed that butterflies suffered a disappointing 2011 compared to 2010 with recorders seeing 22% fewer butterflies on average. Last year's record-breaking cold summer and the ongoing deterioration of suitable butterfly habitat across the countryside are seen as causes for the fall in numbers.
Small tortoiseshell - Big decline
Garden favourite the Small tortoiseshell was one of the species badly affected, with less than one seen per kilometre walked on average in the countryside. Such low numbers are a cause for concern given that less than a decade ago the butterfly was likely to be seen in almost every garden and flowery place through the summer months.
The drop in Small tortoiseshell sightings from the WCBS mirrors an alarming and ongoing decline for this once ubiquitous species. This is the first time that a comprehensive survey has shown how few are now found across the countryside as a whole.
Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey
The WCBS involves counting butterflies in more than 700 randomly generated 1km-squares across the UK countryside. The scheme helps assess the health of butterfly populations across the wider countryside, rather than specially managed hotspots such as nature reserves.
In 2011, recorders saw on average 47 butterflies from seven species per-survey made over July and August. This represents a 22% reduction in numbers from 2010 and an alarming 41% reduction from 2009 when recorders saw an average of 80 butterflies and eight species. There were 43 visits where were recorders saw no butterflies at all - double the 2010 figure.
Common Blue & Wall declining
The Common Blue also struggled in 2011; the butterfly was present in only one-third of squares compared to over half in 2010. The Wall declined in distribution for the third consecutive year with this once common species now largely absent from central England.

Wall butterfly 
Meadow brown most numerous
The Meadow Brown was the most widespread and abundant species, being found in more than 80% of squares.
WCBS co-ordinator Dr Zoë Randle said: "The new survey is proving vital in getting better information on how our common butterflies are faring across the countryside as a whole. The gloomy results show we need to step up efforts to rebuild a better countryside for butterflies."
Kate Risely, Breeding Bird Survey Organiser at the BTO added: "It is important to carefully monitor the numbers of our wider countryside butterfly species in order to detect potential threats to their populations.
"Results from the upcoming 2012 survey and in years to come will show whether these declines are sustained. We're very pleased that bird surveyors can contribute to butterfly recording, highlighting the value of dedicated naturalists in our society."
The WCBS is run by Butterfly Conservation, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) as part of the United Kingdom Butterfly Monitoring scheme (UKBMS).


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