A missing cat has been reunited with its owners in time for Christmas - four years after disappearing.
Colin the black cat disappeared shortly after Peter and Maria O'Neill moved from Middlesbrough to Garstang, Lancashire, in August 2006.
Despite attempts to locate the missing moggy the couple eventually gave up hope and moved back to Middlesbrough.
Colin was found in a garden in Garstang and taken to charity Cats Protection, which arranged a microchip scan.
The O'Neills, who originally found Colin as a feral kitten roaming around the Corus steelworks, had updated the charity with their new address in Ingleby Barwick, Middlesbrough.
He was found by a woman in Garstang earlier this month.
Mrs O'Neill said: "I couldn't believe it when I got a call to say Colin had been found. It was really the best Christmas present I could have hoped for.
"When I went to pick Colin up, he was quite nervous and cowering in the corner of a pen. I simply said his name and he instantly recognised me.
"He bounded up to me and stuck his head under my arm. It was just a magical moment and it left me close to tears."
'Made' Christmas
Jeanette Greaves, publicity volunteer at the charity's Preston branch, said: "Everyone at the branch is so thrilled that we were able to reunite Colin with his owners after all this time.
"It has really made our Christmas.
"This case certainly highlights the importance of microchipping and keeping details up to date, as it greatly increases the chances of a happy reunion should a cat ever go missing from his home."
Cats Protection helps about 215,000 unwanted cats through a national network of 256 volunteer-run branches and 30 adoption centres.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-12076415
Sunday, 26 December 2010
Crocodile eats Kayaker
GRANTS PASS, Ore. - For weeks, three kayakers exploring a series of rivers through the heart of Africa came together in a close formation designed to ward off hippo and crocodile attacks whenever they paddled the quiet green glides between thundering stretches of whitewater.
The boaters - two Americans and a South African - traveled some 1,000 miles of river this way, through some of the densest concentrations of man-killing wildlife in the world. They were on a quiet stretch of the Lukuga River in Congo, paddling just 4 or 5 feet apart, when a crocodile slipped up from behind and ripped trip leader Hendri Coetzee from his red plastic boat.
With no time to do anything but say "Oh, my God!" Coetzee was gone, hauled beneath the green water never to be seen again.
"The crocodile just pulled him right underwater," Chris Korbulic told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday from Reno, Nev., where he was visiting his brother. "I think we both were just in complete shock and disbelief, and absolutely horrified at what had just happened."
Ben Stookesberry, 32, of Mount Shasta, Calif., and Korbulic, 24, of Rogue River, Ore., are world-class kayakers who have gone where no boat has gone before to navigate the melting snows of the Himalayas in Northern Pakistan and India, towering waterfalls in Brazil, and boulder-stewn creeks in Costa Rica, California and British Columbia.
With primary sponsorship from Eddie Bauer Inc.'s First Ascent line of outdoor gear, they had partnered with Coetzee, a top whitewater guide based in Uganda, to document the whitewater of the White Nile and Congo, and be the first to boat the whitewater of the Lukuga River. They also hoped to bring attention to the crisis of millions of people dying from poor water quality in a region overflowing with water.
Though they knew Coetzee's giant reputation in the tiny world of extreme kayaking, and spent months planning their expedition together, Korbulic and Stookesberry didn't meet Coetzee until they flew into Entebbe, Uganda, in October. From his base in Jinja, he started showing them the ropes of African kayaking.
"He wanted to take us from the snowcapped peaks into the deepest, darkest, steamiest jungle," said Stookesberry. "He wanted to prove to us that in this place considered by Western media as one of the most dangerous places on Earth, we would find some of the nicest, most hospitable people we ever met."
For two days Coetzee took them down the Murchison Falls section of the White Nile. He taught them to tap their boats to make noise, stay out of the eddies where hippos might attack them, and keep clear of the banks where crocodiles sunned themselves.
Stookesberry and Korbulic were used to whitewater that could kill them, but the idea that something unseen and alive in the water could kill or eat them was new.
By the time they got to the Lukuga, they were comfortable with their skills.
The day Coetzee was attacked - Dec. 7 - they saw three little crocodiles on the water, just 3 feet long. It had been raining for two days, so hard they didn't try to cook a meal. They had just finished more than 30 miles of whitewater. And they faced 200 miles of flat water, winding through rolling elephant grass-covered hills, before their final takeout.
They were in the middle of a stretch about 100 feet wide, paddling so close their blades would touch if they got out of synch. Coetzee was in the center, Stookesberry a little in front on the left, and Korbulic a little
behind on the right.
"I glanced over to measure that we were not paddling towards or away from each other. And just in my periphery I saw the crocodile come out of the water, and he got onto Hendri's left side - just the left shoulder with its mouth," Korbulic said.
Talking to villagers later, they figured the crocodile was at least 15 feet long and weighed up to 2 tons.
Stookesberry and Korbulic watched the overturned boat shaking for about 20 seconds as the crocodile pulled Coetzee from the tight-fitting cockpit. Realizing they could do nothing, they paddled as fast as they could less than a mile downstream to a village, where they caught Coetzee's boat as it floated by, without even a scratch to tell how he had disappeared.
Coetzee's body has never been found, and he is presumed dead.
Appearing first on NBC's "Today" show, Stookesberry and Korbulic said they will never again paddle the Lukuga, out of respect for Coetzee.
"His goal was never to gain that notoriety," Korbulic told the AP. "He was just really loving how he was living his life - and the adventure it was taking him on."
http://www.startribune.com/nation/112250804.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciaec8O7EyUsl
The boaters - two Americans and a South African - traveled some 1,000 miles of river this way, through some of the densest concentrations of man-killing wildlife in the world. They were on a quiet stretch of the Lukuga River in Congo, paddling just 4 or 5 feet apart, when a crocodile slipped up from behind and ripped trip leader Hendri Coetzee from his red plastic boat.
With no time to do anything but say "Oh, my God!" Coetzee was gone, hauled beneath the green water never to be seen again.
"The crocodile just pulled him right underwater," Chris Korbulic told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday from Reno, Nev., where he was visiting his brother. "I think we both were just in complete shock and disbelief, and absolutely horrified at what had just happened."
Ben Stookesberry, 32, of Mount Shasta, Calif., and Korbulic, 24, of Rogue River, Ore., are world-class kayakers who have gone where no boat has gone before to navigate the melting snows of the Himalayas in Northern Pakistan and India, towering waterfalls in Brazil, and boulder-stewn creeks in Costa Rica, California and British Columbia.
With primary sponsorship from Eddie Bauer Inc.'s First Ascent line of outdoor gear, they had partnered with Coetzee, a top whitewater guide based in Uganda, to document the whitewater of the White Nile and Congo, and be the first to boat the whitewater of the Lukuga River. They also hoped to bring attention to the crisis of millions of people dying from poor water quality in a region overflowing with water.
Though they knew Coetzee's giant reputation in the tiny world of extreme kayaking, and spent months planning their expedition together, Korbulic and Stookesberry didn't meet Coetzee until they flew into Entebbe, Uganda, in October. From his base in Jinja, he started showing them the ropes of African kayaking.
"He wanted to take us from the snowcapped peaks into the deepest, darkest, steamiest jungle," said Stookesberry. "He wanted to prove to us that in this place considered by Western media as one of the most dangerous places on Earth, we would find some of the nicest, most hospitable people we ever met."
For two days Coetzee took them down the Murchison Falls section of the White Nile. He taught them to tap their boats to make noise, stay out of the eddies where hippos might attack them, and keep clear of the banks where crocodiles sunned themselves.
Stookesberry and Korbulic were used to whitewater that could kill them, but the idea that something unseen and alive in the water could kill or eat them was new.
By the time they got to the Lukuga, they were comfortable with their skills.
The day Coetzee was attacked - Dec. 7 - they saw three little crocodiles on the water, just 3 feet long. It had been raining for two days, so hard they didn't try to cook a meal. They had just finished more than 30 miles of whitewater. And they faced 200 miles of flat water, winding through rolling elephant grass-covered hills, before their final takeout.
They were in the middle of a stretch about 100 feet wide, paddling so close their blades would touch if they got out of synch. Coetzee was in the center, Stookesberry a little in front on the left, and Korbulic a little
behind on the right.
"I glanced over to measure that we were not paddling towards or away from each other. And just in my periphery I saw the crocodile come out of the water, and he got onto Hendri's left side - just the left shoulder with its mouth," Korbulic said.
Talking to villagers later, they figured the crocodile was at least 15 feet long and weighed up to 2 tons.
Stookesberry and Korbulic watched the overturned boat shaking for about 20 seconds as the crocodile pulled Coetzee from the tight-fitting cockpit. Realizing they could do nothing, they paddled as fast as they could less than a mile downstream to a village, where they caught Coetzee's boat as it floated by, without even a scratch to tell how he had disappeared.
Coetzee's body has never been found, and he is presumed dead.
Appearing first on NBC's "Today" show, Stookesberry and Korbulic said they will never again paddle the Lukuga, out of respect for Coetzee.
"His goal was never to gain that notoriety," Korbulic told the AP. "He was just really loving how he was living his life - and the adventure it was taking him on."
http://www.startribune.com/nation/112250804.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUnciaec8O7EyUsl
Friday, 24 December 2010
Warmer seas to hit reef fish badly
Warmer seas triggered by the 1997-98 El Niño led to a dramatic drop in the number of reef fish around French Polynesia, scientists have found.
The fish may have starved, because higher water temperatures killed off tiny marine creatures called plankton, which the fish feed on when they're young.
During the El Niño – the second strongest on record – ocean temperatures shot up to 3.5°C above average. El Niño is the name given to the change in the temperature of the eastern Pacific Ocean which can bring huge changes in the world climate.
Scientists are predicting that warmer waters like those typified by an El Niño event will be the norm under climate change. If they're right, this could spell disaster for around 500 million people who rely on coral reef fish either for their food or for tourism.
'This is the same event that wiped out more than half of the Seychelles reefs. It was a substantial El Niño,' says Dr Steve Simpson from the University of Bristol, one of the authors of the study, published in Global Change Biology.
Although climate change is predicted to bring much warmer seas, it's difficult to be sure how this will affect ecosystems.
In this latest study, Simpson and an international team of experts managed to get hold of data on the numbers of coral reef fish in French Polynesia spanning four years – with the 1997-98 El Niño bang in the middle.
'This meant we could look at the effects of the warming and compare that to fish numbers before El Niño warmed the seas,' says Simpson.
Not just that, but the effects of an El Niño are far-reaching, with higher water temperatures happening over thousands of kilometres, and over relatively long periods. So the team realised that combined with the fish data, this was probably the best opportunity they were going to get to find out how reef fish cope with warmer-than-average water.
Simpson and his colleagues analysed satellite data on water temperatures, ocean currents and the amount of chlorophyll in the water from January 1996 to March 2000. Many plankton use chlorophyll to photosynthesize in the same way that plants do, so chlorophyll tells scientists how much plankton is in the water.
They found during the 1997-98 El Niño, water temperatures rose, concentrations of chlorophyll dropped and the direction in which the ocean currents flowed changed around French Polynesia.
But warmer waters didn't just hit young fish badly; lack of plankton may have meant adult fish couldn't produce as many offspring as usual. The team found that once plankton had recovered, it took three to four months before the numbers of young fish started to climb.
'Even after the current switched with El Niño, we still saw young fish on the reef, so the current didn't seem to be the problem. We're fairly sure this is all down to food availability,' says Simpson.
Young reef fish don't grow up on the reef. Instead, after the adults have laid eggs, they drift out to sea, where they feed on plankton until they're developed enough to come back to the reef. The numbers of predators around coral reefs are much higher than out at sea, so the young fish can grow up in relative safety.
Fisheries managers often monitor the numbers of young fish returning to the reef to get some idea of the likely numbers of fish the following season. It was this data that Simpson and his colleagues analysed.
While reef fish could be badly hit by climate change, Simpson is finding that other species, in the northern Atlantic for example, aren't doing quite as badly.
'There's bound to be winners and losers. Some species will find it easy to move north or south as temperatures rise; those that are more mobile. But reef fish are tied to the reef, so they won't be able to move so easily,' adds Simpson. 'It's not a simple story.'
by Tamera Jones
http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/news/story.aspx?id=896
The fish may have starved, because higher water temperatures killed off tiny marine creatures called plankton, which the fish feed on when they're young.
During the El Niño – the second strongest on record – ocean temperatures shot up to 3.5°C above average. El Niño is the name given to the change in the temperature of the eastern Pacific Ocean which can bring huge changes in the world climate.
Scientists are predicting that warmer waters like those typified by an El Niño event will be the norm under climate change. If they're right, this could spell disaster for around 500 million people who rely on coral reef fish either for their food or for tourism.
'This is the same event that wiped out more than half of the Seychelles reefs. It was a substantial El Niño,' says Dr Steve Simpson from the University of Bristol, one of the authors of the study, published in Global Change Biology.
Although climate change is predicted to bring much warmer seas, it's difficult to be sure how this will affect ecosystems.
In this latest study, Simpson and an international team of experts managed to get hold of data on the numbers of coral reef fish in French Polynesia spanning four years – with the 1997-98 El Niño bang in the middle.
'This meant we could look at the effects of the warming and compare that to fish numbers before El Niño warmed the seas,' says Simpson.
Not just that, but the effects of an El Niño are far-reaching, with higher water temperatures happening over thousands of kilometres, and over relatively long periods. So the team realised that combined with the fish data, this was probably the best opportunity they were going to get to find out how reef fish cope with warmer-than-average water.
Simpson and his colleagues analysed satellite data on water temperatures, ocean currents and the amount of chlorophyll in the water from January 1996 to March 2000. Many plankton use chlorophyll to photosynthesize in the same way that plants do, so chlorophyll tells scientists how much plankton is in the water.
They found during the 1997-98 El Niño, water temperatures rose, concentrations of chlorophyll dropped and the direction in which the ocean currents flowed changed around French Polynesia.
But warmer waters didn't just hit young fish badly; lack of plankton may have meant adult fish couldn't produce as many offspring as usual. The team found that once plankton had recovered, it took three to four months before the numbers of young fish started to climb.
'Even after the current switched with El Niño, we still saw young fish on the reef, so the current didn't seem to be the problem. We're fairly sure this is all down to food availability,' says Simpson.
Young reef fish don't grow up on the reef. Instead, after the adults have laid eggs, they drift out to sea, where they feed on plankton until they're developed enough to come back to the reef. The numbers of predators around coral reefs are much higher than out at sea, so the young fish can grow up in relative safety.
Fisheries managers often monitor the numbers of young fish returning to the reef to get some idea of the likely numbers of fish the following season. It was this data that Simpson and his colleagues analysed.
While reef fish could be badly hit by climate change, Simpson is finding that other species, in the northern Atlantic for example, aren't doing quite as badly.
'There's bound to be winners and losers. Some species will find it easy to move north or south as temperatures rise; those that are more mobile. But reef fish are tied to the reef, so they won't be able to move so easily,' adds Simpson. 'It's not a simple story.'
by Tamera Jones
http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/news/story.aspx?id=896
First recorded Tinsel fish makes timely visit to Irish waters
The fish – so named because of its longitudinal scales and translucent flesh – was netted by Rossaveal trawler Maria Magdalena III , owned by two Aran islanders, on the Porcupine Bank.
Skipper Davie O’Neill and crew Ray Healy, Philip and John Rolston knew the specimen was unusual and contacted Siúbhán Ní Churraidhín, officer with the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA).
She referred it to SFPA colleagues and rare fish experts Kevin Flannery and Declan Quigley, who was able to confirm its identity.
The Tinsel fish is “circumglobal”, in that it can be found off Japan, New Zealand and Australia Also know as deepscale dory (Grammicolepis branchiusculus), it is “bathypelagic”, inhabiting deep water between 400m and 1km below the sea surface.
Mr Flannery has identified many rare fish caught off his native Co Kerry, but has never come across one in these waters before.
“It is just extraordinary that it was caught within days of December 25th,” he said.
“Not only is it the first recorded off Ireland, but it is also only the second in northwest Europe,” his colleague Mr Quigley said. “One was recorded off Scotland in 2004, and five other records are all south of the Bay of Biscay.”
The fish is currently in the SFPA freezer in Rossaveal, according to Ms Ní Churraidhín, who shares a keen interest in unusual marine species.
“It may find a home in the Natural History Museum,” she said. “I publish a calendar of strange catches every year for the Galway Hospice, so this will be in for 2012.”
Other records this year in Rossaveal have included a 17kg wreckfish (Polyprion americanus), which was caught by Aran islander Cliona Conneely. She auctioned it to Stephane Griesbach of Gannet Fishmongers in aid of Galway Hospice, and it raised €160.
The current weather pattern may be challenging for those employed on land but the relatively windless conditions have proved ideal for those working at sea.
However, the Maria Magdalena III is among a number of whitefish vessels which will be affected by a 3 per cent cut in next year’s EU quota for prawns.
The Irish Fishermen’s Organisation (IFO) says that the cut comes on top of a 7 per cent reduction in prawns this past year. The recently concluded €223 million deal for Irish fishermen, negotiated in Brussels, will be of most benefit to fewer, larger vessels working on mackerel, herring and the newly targeted species, boarfish, the IFO said yesterday.
In an end-of-year statement, the IFO also pointed out that international fleets were allocated an estimated €1.18 billion worth of catches from Irish waters this past year, compared to an estimated €0.19 billion for the Irish fleet.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/1223/1224286166313.html
Skipper Davie O’Neill and crew Ray Healy, Philip and John Rolston knew the specimen was unusual and contacted Siúbhán Ní Churraidhín, officer with the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA).
She referred it to SFPA colleagues and rare fish experts Kevin Flannery and Declan Quigley, who was able to confirm its identity.
The Tinsel fish is “circumglobal”, in that it can be found off Japan, New Zealand and Australia Also know as deepscale dory (Grammicolepis branchiusculus), it is “bathypelagic”, inhabiting deep water between 400m and 1km below the sea surface.
Mr Flannery has identified many rare fish caught off his native Co Kerry, but has never come across one in these waters before.
“It is just extraordinary that it was caught within days of December 25th,” he said.
“Not only is it the first recorded off Ireland, but it is also only the second in northwest Europe,” his colleague Mr Quigley said. “One was recorded off Scotland in 2004, and five other records are all south of the Bay of Biscay.”
The fish is currently in the SFPA freezer in Rossaveal, according to Ms Ní Churraidhín, who shares a keen interest in unusual marine species.
“It may find a home in the Natural History Museum,” she said. “I publish a calendar of strange catches every year for the Galway Hospice, so this will be in for 2012.”
Other records this year in Rossaveal have included a 17kg wreckfish (Polyprion americanus), which was caught by Aran islander Cliona Conneely. She auctioned it to Stephane Griesbach of Gannet Fishmongers in aid of Galway Hospice, and it raised €160.
The current weather pattern may be challenging for those employed on land but the relatively windless conditions have proved ideal for those working at sea.
However, the Maria Magdalena III is among a number of whitefish vessels which will be affected by a 3 per cent cut in next year’s EU quota for prawns.
The Irish Fishermen’s Organisation (IFO) says that the cut comes on top of a 7 per cent reduction in prawns this past year. The recently concluded €223 million deal for Irish fishermen, negotiated in Brussels, will be of most benefit to fewer, larger vessels working on mackerel, herring and the newly targeted species, boarfish, the IFO said yesterday.
In an end-of-year statement, the IFO also pointed out that international fleets were allocated an estimated €1.18 billion worth of catches from Irish waters this past year, compared to an estimated €0.19 billion for the Irish fleet.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/1223/1224286166313.html
Red kites collecting odds and ends for their nests
Old habits die hard for popular bird of prey
December 2010. The red kite has a long history of taking an interest in human belongings. Now several centuries later, it appears that this unusual practice shows no sign of stopping.
Teddy bear and socks in nests
In recent years, RSPB Scotland has found a number of weird and wonderful items hiding in the nests of some of Scotland's red kites. Amongst the traditional nest-building materials of dead twigs, grass and a lining of sheep's wool, staff have discovered coloured string and paper, as well as socks, underwear, a small child's glove, a teddy bear and, very aptly for this time of year, a Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer toy.
Magpies
Kites are well known across their European range to adorn their nests with bits of plastic and cloth which they might pick up in their breeding territory. Other bird species may exhibit similar behaviour, for example, magpies are known to like shiny items.
Shakespeare
Shakespeare was amongst the first to document the red kites penchant for stealing human possessions, when he warned ‘when the kite builds, look to lesser linen,' in The Winter's Tale (Act 4, scene 3). In Shakespeare's day, the Elizabethan era of the 1600s, the red kite was known to be an extremely common species, present even in many of our towns and cities. The red kite benefitted from poor sanitary conditions and presumably associated large rodent populations, indeed the species was protected by Royal decree as a street cleaner.
Brian Etheridge of RSPB Scotland said: "Over the years we've found many strange and interesting things in the nest of red kites. The birds use these items, many of which are discarded by humans when out in the countryside, to line their nests. However, cuddly toys are probably taken as they are mistaken for food. We often find them later with bits of stuffing pulled out. That's bound to cause a surprise, not least to a nestful of hungry chicks!"
Red kites were once completely exterminated in Scotland due to continued human persecution. However, thanks to a successful reintroduction project, led by RSPB Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage in the 1980s, these birds are making a slow and steady recovery across many of their former ranges. Red kites are primarily a scavenger, feeding on dead animals that they find in the countryside.
December 2010. The red kite has a long history of taking an interest in human belongings. Now several centuries later, it appears that this unusual practice shows no sign of stopping.
Teddy bear and socks in nests
In recent years, RSPB Scotland has found a number of weird and wonderful items hiding in the nests of some of Scotland's red kites. Amongst the traditional nest-building materials of dead twigs, grass and a lining of sheep's wool, staff have discovered coloured string and paper, as well as socks, underwear, a small child's glove, a teddy bear and, very aptly for this time of year, a Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer toy.
Magpies
Kites are well known across their European range to adorn their nests with bits of plastic and cloth which they might pick up in their breeding territory. Other bird species may exhibit similar behaviour, for example, magpies are known to like shiny items.
Shakespeare
Shakespeare was amongst the first to document the red kites penchant for stealing human possessions, when he warned ‘when the kite builds, look to lesser linen,' in The Winter's Tale (Act 4, scene 3). In Shakespeare's day, the Elizabethan era of the 1600s, the red kite was known to be an extremely common species, present even in many of our towns and cities. The red kite benefitted from poor sanitary conditions and presumably associated large rodent populations, indeed the species was protected by Royal decree as a street cleaner.
Brian Etheridge of RSPB Scotland said: "Over the years we've found many strange and interesting things in the nest of red kites. The birds use these items, many of which are discarded by humans when out in the countryside, to line their nests. However, cuddly toys are probably taken as they are mistaken for food. We often find them later with bits of stuffing pulled out. That's bound to cause a surprise, not least to a nestful of hungry chicks!"
Red kites were once completely exterminated in Scotland due to continued human persecution. However, thanks to a successful reintroduction project, led by RSPB Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage in the 1980s, these birds are making a slow and steady recovery across many of their former ranges. Red kites are primarily a scavenger, feeding on dead animals that they find in the countryside.
Some unusual items found in Red kite nests in Scotland. Credit RSPB Scotland
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