NEW ORLEANS— As the one-year anniversary of the Gulf of Mexico oil-spill disaster approaches, the Center for Biological Diversity today released a report tallying the full impacts of the disaster on the region’s birds, sea turtles, dolphins and other wildlife.
The report, titled A Deadly Toll: The Gulf Oil Spill and the Unfolding Wildlife Disaster, compiles federal data, scientific papers and media accounts to estimate the number of animals hurt by the spill so far. Using multipliers to calculate the true cost of the damage to wildlife species, the Center estimates that approximately:
6,000 sea turtles,
26,000 dolphins and whales,
82,000 birds,
and countless fish and invertebrates may have been harmed by the disaster.
Based on the documented, ongoing effects of previous oil spills, pollution from the 2010 BP spill will continue to affect Gulf wildlife for decades.
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Showing posts with label wildlife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wildlife. Show all posts
Interspecies love : A deer & a goose
BUFFALO, N.Y.—An unusual springtime friendship between a deer and a nesting goose appears to have blossomed inside a cemetery in Buffalo, N.Y. For the past week or so, the deer has been standing near an urn where the goose has taken up residence, positioning itself between the urn and any passing car or foot traffic.There is no mate around the goose and and it seems that the deer has taken over the job of protecting the nest.
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AP Photo/David Duprey
Animal seen for first time in 100 years
A fisher, a fearsome member of the weasel family, was found on Route 19 south of the village of Brockport, NY, on Saturday by town resident Bill Yox, 51, an award-winning taxidermist.Yox and his son, Emil, 15, were headed home around 9:30 p.m. when Bill's trained eye spotted a dark form on the side of the road.
"Son of pup, it's a fisher," said Yox, an expert on wildlife by trade. "Big paws, a big tail, and blaze on its chest. He was 40 inches long nose to tail, a great big male."
Actually, when measured later, the fisher was 45 inches long with a 16-inch tail and was estimated to weigh 15 pounds. Other characteristics that confirmed a fisher: Its wide feet, sharp claws, five toes and webbing, making it an excellent swimmer, tree climber and hunter.
An omnivore, a fisher is one of the few natural enemies of a porcupine. While intimidating to come upon, experts said fishers are more likely to run off than confront a human.
"This is the farthest north and west that we've had one that is confirmed (for Region 8)," said Scott Smith, DEC wildlife biologist.
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Woman on boat in Florida Keys hit by Eagle Ray
An eagle ray weighing as much as 300 pounds landed on top of a woman on a boat in the Florida Keys last week, throwing her to the deck and pinning her underneath it.The woman, Jenny Hausch, was on the chartered boat Friday with her husband and three children, taking pictures of a group of eagle rays as they flew out of the water.
"One of the rays jumped in the air and she gets this perfect shot," the captain said, adding that rays always jump twice.
On the second jump, one ray hit her in the chest and she fell down, hitting her head.
"It keeps slamming and slamming on top of her, trying to swim away," the captain said.
Hausch's husband and children watched in horror.
Two Florida Fish and Wildlife officers who happened to be on a nearby boat heard the screaming and came to help pull the ray off of Hausch. Everyone thought that Hausch was dead, but when she was freed she didn't have a scratch on her.
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Have you ever seen a kakapo?
Once common throughout the three main islands of New Zealand, there are now approximately 62 kakapo left.The kakapo is one of the rarest parrots in the world. It’s flightless, it’s the world’s heaviest parrot, it's possibly the oldest living bird and it has a subsonic mating boom that can travel several kilometers. It looks like an owl, hops like a sparrow, growls like a dog and has a very unique smell.
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Bird is mom again, at 60
The oldest known wild bird in the U.S. is a new mother.Wisdom, a Laysan albatross, is at least 60 years old. As part of the North American Bird Banding Program, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist first banded Wisdom as she incubated an egg in 1956. She was estimated to be at least 5 years old at the time. The albatross has since worn out five bird bands.
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The cutest bats in the world
The tiny White Bats of Honduras are among the cutest rodents on Earth.
The Honduran white bat is the smallest fruit-eating bat in the New World, and is found from eastern Honduras to western Panama. This species commonly roosts in tents made by biting along the large, central midrib of Heliconia or banana plant leaves. The wing membrane between the second and third fingers is translucent, so that the bats can fold their wings over their body and still watch for predators.
The natural tent protects the White Bats from rain and predators and they only take flight when their home is no longer safe.
The small bats live in colonies of up to six individuals, one male and his harem of females.
Photo credit: #1 #2
Please dont pet the cassowary
Australians trying to rebuild in the wake of Cyclone Yasi have been warned to stay away from cassowaries – huge flightless birds with claws that can disembowel a human – on the hunt for food after their habitat was destroyed by the storm.Residents of communities around Mission Beach, on the north Queensland coast, which was almost flattened by the category five cyclone earlier this month, have been advised to beware of the 6ft tall birds, which are known to attack if they feel threatened.
In 2007 cassowaries were named the most dangerous birds in the world by the Guinness Book of Records.
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Photo credit: Robert South
Stray cats take over KY town
TAYLORSVILLE, KY - People in Taylorsville say they are fed up with unwanted stray cats, but it seems they have no choice for now but to welcome the group. Meanwhile, the mayor says the city is doing everything they can to control the problem.
There are cats running around downtown, at gas stations, and even roaming around people's homes - and cars.
"They're all over the cars," one resident said. "You go up there and look at the cat crap on the hood and stuff."
Mayor Pay says the cats have been a growing problem for several years, but thinks they're making progress in tackling it. Pay says they've spayed and neutered at least 100 cats and still have about 200-300 to go. He believes those efforts will eventually help lower the stray cat population.
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There are cats running around downtown, at gas stations, and even roaming around people's homes - and cars."They're all over the cars," one resident said. "You go up there and look at the cat crap on the hood and stuff."
Mayor Pay says the cats have been a growing problem for several years, but thinks they're making progress in tackling it. Pay says they've spayed and neutered at least 100 cats and still have about 200-300 to go. He believes those efforts will eventually help lower the stray cat population.
Source
Tug-of-War!
A six-and-a-half-ft long African rock python became the unwilling 'rope' in the game, after being captured by a female leopard in the long grass.But as she dragged it, still wriggling, along behind her, she was ambushed by her over-zealous son who wanted to land the kill for himself.
The young male snatched the end of the enormous snake in his powerful jaws, and tried to tug it away from his mother.
The two big cats fought ferociously over their prey for half an hour, in front of stunned guests at the MalaMala game reserve, South Africa.
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The Penguin Bath House
Brothers and photographers Will and Matt Burrard-Lucas traveled from London to Saunders Island in the Falkland Islands to take pictures of albatrosses, but quickly became distracted by the irresistible antics of an amusing troop of Rockhopper penguins.
The Rockhopper Penguins form colonies of up to 100,000 in the Antarctic summer when they come ashore to lay eggs and raise their chicks.
"Along the main route between the penguin colony and the sea is this fresh water spring with a small waterfall," said Will.
This was an irresistible attraction for the penguins and throughout the day it was busy with squawking, squabbling, splashing birds.
For more of Will & Matt’s photographs from the Falkland Islands, please visit: www.burrard-lucas.com/falklands/
The Rockhopper Penguins form colonies of up to 100,000 in the Antarctic summer when they come ashore to lay eggs and raise their chicks.
"Along the main route between the penguin colony and the sea is this fresh water spring with a small waterfall," said Will.
This was an irresistible attraction for the penguins and throughout the day it was busy with squawking, squabbling, splashing birds.
For more of Will & Matt’s photographs from the Falkland Islands, please visit: www.burrard-lucas.com/falklands/
Chimpanzees mourn their dead just like humans
According to a report by scientists from the respected Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, chimpanzees appear to mourn their dead infants just like humans.
The scientists have filmed how one chimpanzee mother, whose 16-month-old infant died, apparently begins the grieving process. The ape continues to carry the body of her baby for more than 24 hours before tenderly laying it on the ground. Then from a short distance she watches over her child.
Periodically she returns to the body and touches the face and neck with her fingers to establish it is dead. She then takes the body to other chimpanzees in the troop to get a second opinion.
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The scientists have filmed how one chimpanzee mother, whose 16-month-old infant died, apparently begins the grieving process. The ape continues to carry the body of her baby for more than 24 hours before tenderly laying it on the ground. Then from a short distance she watches over her child.
Periodically she returns to the body and touches the face and neck with her fingers to establish it is dead. She then takes the body to other chimpanzees in the troop to get a second opinion.
Source
Giant new crayfish species
A new species of giant crayfish, Barbicambarus simmonsi, has been found in Tennessee. At about 5in (12 cm) long, the huge crayfish is twice the size of other species. Its 'bearded' setae on the antennae, bright red highlights and aquamarine tail fins add to its distinctiveness.Photograph: Courtesy of Carl Williams
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Bad hair day
These wild haired primates prove that being a real life gorilla in the mist can wreak havoc with your hairdo.
Looking in desperate need of some frizz-ease, the grizzled gorillas have the local weather to thank for their curly look.
Aren't they cute?
Source
Looking in desperate need of some frizz-ease, the grizzled gorillas have the local weather to thank for their curly look.
Aren't they cute?
Source
Orphaned bat epidemic in Australia
Torrential rain has brought chaos to Australia, and not just to the humans who live there.Australian Bat Clinic and Wildlife Trauma Centre director Trish Wimberley and her carers have helped save 130 orphaned bats on the Gold Coast in past weeks.
They saved 350 young bats during the 2008 storm season but this year think there's more going on than just wild weather.
Carers have visited several bat 'camps' on the coast in recent weeks to find four-week-old babies on the ground covered in maggots and fly eggs.
Trish said: 'They're coming down to feed on the ground. That makes them vulnerable. It's not a natural occurrence and shows there is trouble in the environment.
'Bats are a barometer to what is going on in the environment. They're our canaries down the coal mine'.
Source
What's new?
New species discovered in 2010
From invisible squids to bald parrots to deep-sea fish with teeth on their tongues, guardian.co.uk picks the best of of 2010's newly discovered animals.
This image provided by NOAA shows a deep-sea chimaera. Chimaeras are most closely related to sharks, although their evolutionary lineage branched off from sharks nearly 400m years ago, and they have remained an isolated group ever since.
From invisible squids to bald parrots to deep-sea fish with teeth on their tongues, guardian.co.uk picks the best of of 2010's newly discovered animals.
This image provided by NOAA shows a deep-sea chimaera. Chimaeras are most closely related to sharks, although their evolutionary lineage branched off from sharks nearly 400m years ago, and they have remained an isolated group ever since.
Koala Bears - cute & endangered
Most of us, by now, know that koala are not really "bears."But did you also know that koalas are social animals and can communicate with each other over long distances? But the most important fact about koalas is that the impact of intense urbanization has resulted in the destruction of their habitat, while the attacks of other animals, like domestic dogs and foxes, and traffic accidents, are causing the koala population to decline.
Source: Environmental Graffiti
Mom to the rescue
This incredible scene was captured minutes after a herd of buffalo tried to drive a lioness and her babies from their den.The watchful lioness carefully nestled each one-day-old cub between her jaws and padded to a nearby bush for safety in Okavago, Botswana.
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