Extreme Heat Likely Cooked 2,000 Fish to Death in Malibu Lagoon

By Kimberly Hickok, Reference Editor | August 30, 2018 07:02am ET

Some fish just can't take the heat. And unfortunately, that's probably why an estimated 2,000 striped mullet (Mugil cephalus) suddenly died in Malibu Lagoon and Malibu Creek in Southern California last week.

There are several species of fish that live in the coastal inlet of Malibu Lagoon, including the Southern California steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus) and the tidewater goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi). But the striped mullet was the only species to go belly-up.

The precise cause of the mass fish mortality is still unclear, but California State Parks officials are working to find the answer. So far, the most plausible explanation is the higher-than-average water temperatures in the lagoon: 80 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit (27 to 28 degrees Celsius). [The 5 Most Mysterious Animal Die-Offs]

Those temperatures are thought to be the upper limit in which striped mullet can survive, California State Parks officials said in a statement. High water temperatures can also decrease the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water and may promote increased bacteria and algal growth. But striped mullet are generally tolerant of low oxygen levels, so that's probably not the culprit in this case.

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Hundreds of flying foxes die in searing Australian heat

More than 400 animals have died in one colony alone as temperatures soar above 47C, causing exhaustion and dehydration

Martin Belam

Tue 9 Jan ‘18 11.14 GMTLast modified on Tue 9 Jan ‘18 11.59 GMT

A colony of flying foxes has been nearly wiped out by extreme heat in the Campbelltown suburb of Sydney, according to environmentalists.

The Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown campaign posted a series of images to Facebook showing the corpses of the animals lying in the ground, apparently after they had died from dehydration in the soaring temperatures. The group say more than 400 of the animals were lost, many of them juveniles.

Volunteers have been working to save the animals, rehydrating them and taking them to places where they can be kept cool. Temperatures in Sydney reached a near 80-year record high of 47.3C on Sunday.

Cate Ryan, one of the first volunteers on the scene, told media in Australia that “it was unbelievable. I saw a lot of dead bats on the ground and others were close to the ground and dying. I have never seen anything like it before.”

Continued  

Hundreds of flying foxes die in searing Australian heat

More than 400 animals have died in one colony alone as temperatures soar above 47C, causing exhaustion and dehydration

Martin Belam

Tue 9 Jan ‘18 11.14 GMTLast modified on Tue 9 Jan ‘18 11.59 GMT

A colony of flying foxes has been nearly wiped out by extreme heat in the Campbelltown suburb of Sydney, according to environmentalists.

The Help Save the Wildlife and Bushlands in Campbelltown campaign posted a series of images to Facebook showing the corpses of the animals lying in the ground, apparently after they had died from dehydration in the soaring temperatures. The group say more than 400 of the animals were lost, many of them juveniles.

Volunteers have been working to save the animals, rehydrating them and taking them to places where they can be kept cool. Temperatures in Sydney reached a near 80-year record high of 47.3C on Sunday.

Cate Ryan, one of the first volunteers on the scene, told media in Australia that “it was unbelievable. I saw a lot of dead bats on the ground and others were close to the ground and dying. I have never seen anything like it before.”

Continued  

Tree Infesting Insects Love the City Heat (Op-Ed)

by LiveScience.com, staff | August 29, 2014 12:00am ET

This article was originally published at The Abstract. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

About a year ago, I found myself sitting ruefully in a patch of chiggery grass by the side of the road near the little town of Bahama, North Carolina, waiting for a tow truck. I had stuck the lab pickup firmly in a ditch. It was tilted at an embarrassing, sickening angle and had one wheel lodged against the mouth of a culvert. Helpful passers-by with chains and four-wheel drives kindly offered to pull me out, but really only made matters worse.

My memory is already fuzzy about the sequence of events, but somewhere in there—between slipping into the ditch, the failed rescue attempts, and the final arrival of the giant tow truck—I did actually hike into the woods and get what I came for: eight slender red maple branches, clipped from trees growing in NC State’s Hill Forest.

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Heat Could Be Stifling Turtles’ Swimming Abilities In Australia

Mar. 10, 2009 — It seems we're not the only ones struggling to adapt to the summer weather – University of Queensland researchers have found the increased temperatures may be affecting turtles too.

Zoologist Dr David Booth, from UQ's School of Biological Sciences, said green turtle hatchlings from Heron Island weren't swimming as well as usual.

“The 2008-2009 green turtle nesting season on Heron Island has seen the highest nest temperatures recorded at this site, with many nests having average temperatures above 31 degrees, and experiencing temperatures above 35 degrees during the last week of incubation,” Dr Booth said.

“Initial impressions are that hatchlings emerging from these hot nests are not as strong swimmers as hatchlings coming from cooler nests recorded in previous years.

“If climate change results in consistently high nest temperatures in the future, then the poorer swimming ability of hatchlings emerging from hot nests may have a negative impact on recruitment of hatchlings from coral cays because predation rate is thought to be related to swimming ability.”

Basing his research at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef at UQ's Heron Island Research Station, Dr Booth took advantage of the unique laboratory facilities that are within metres of a green turtle nesting beach.

“My research involves going out and collecting fresh eggs as they're being laid by the females, moving them into other nests that are not going to get dug up by other females and then coming back about five to six weeks later to sample the hatchlings to measure their swimming performance,” he said.

“As we all know, the temperature of the earth is changing and as things warm up the nests are going to warm up and I was interested to see if that might have an affect on the quality of the hatchlings.”

Dr Booth said nest temperature determined the sex of sea turtles, suggesting that a warmer climate may have other implications for the endangered species.

“When the eggs are laid they can be either males or females,” he said.

“If it's a relatively cool nest they turn out to be males and if it's a relatively warm nest they turn out to be females.”

Previous research conducted by Dr Booth at Heron Island, and published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, investigated how much energy the hatchlings needed to reach safe deep water.

Calculating the amount of energy the hatchlings consumed during an 18 hour swim, Dr Booth said the turtles carried almost 10 times as much energy in their yolk remnants as they needed to reach safety.

“So the youngsters aren't at risk of running out of energy before making it to safety,” he said.

“They can probably survive 14 days in the open ocean before finding food.”

Police broke into car to save toy dog

Two police officers smashed a car window to save a dog they feared was overheating - to find it was only a cuddly toy.

The PCs became concerned about the "sleeping" animal after being alerted by a member of the public.

When it would not be roused, they smashed the window of the Mercedes coupe fearing it would be harmed in the 18C temperatures.

It was only when they reached inside to rescue the pooch that they realised it was merely a stuffed cuddly toy worth £4.50.

Owner Gordon Williams, 80, has now told how he returned to his car to find the backseat covered in broken glass and an official note, reading: "Smashed your window re concern for animal on rear seat."

The police force has agreed to pay to the damage to allow the retired mining engineer to replace his window.

Mr Williams, from Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, told The Sun: "I guess they felt like idiots."

Nottinghamshire Police said: "The call was made in good faith by a passer-by.

"In this case officers believed a dog could be suffering due to the heat of the day and its life was potentially at risk, so felt there was no other option but to enter the vehicle.

"This is a perfect example of why drivers need to think about what they leave on view in their car, both in terms of other people's perception of the objects and in a bid to deter opportunist thieves."

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Police_broke_into_car_to_save_toy

Jellyfish swarms flourish in heat

The waters of the estuary in Dumfries and Galloway were full of a swarm of purple jellyfish at the weekend. Picture by Brian McMillan.

Marine experts have blamed hot summer weather for large numbers of jellyfish appearing in waters around Scotland.

It follows sightings of big swarms across the country - including the Fleet estuary in Dumfries and Galloway.

Marine Scotland said it had received several reports of significant numbers of the common moon jellyfish.

It said the settled, warm weather provided ideal growing conditions and the fish could be seen as a sign that the seas were "healthy and productive".

John McConchie, of Mossyard Caravan Park, said the jellyfish had appeared suddenly at the weekend in south west Scotland.

"Just all of a sudden there seemed to be hundreds of them," he said.

"There were just little jellyfish everywhere you looked - they were in the water and on the beach."

Brian McMillan, who was visiting the area from Glasgow, also witnessed their sudden spread.

"It is impossible to move in the sea without picking them up in canoe paddles or engine intakes," he said.

"Swimming is impossible as there is not a patch of sea that does not have this sort of quantity of jellyfish.

"The beaches are littered with the bodies of dead ones that have been washed up."

However, Steve Hay of Marine Scotland said it was not unusual to see large swarms of the jellyfish during July and August.

"We have had a number of reports of these jellyfish appearing in quite large numbers this year," he said.

He said that the hot and settled weather had provide good growing conditions for the sea creatures.

'Huge numbers'
"They are a nuisance when in large swarms like this but there is nothing much that can be done to stop them," he said.

"In some respects it is a sign that the seas are healthy and productive."

He added that as the summer wore on the adult fish would "die off and decompose".

"As they die off they can be swept around and ashore in huge numbers," said Mr Hay.

He stressed that their sting could only penetrate very soft tissue.

"However, there are a very few people who are very sensitive to jellyfish stings," he said.
"If any allergic reaction is shown they should avoid exposure and a strong reaction should be referred to a doctor immediately."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/8140880.stm