BRITISH LADYBUGS (OR LADYBIRDS) THREATENED BY FOREIGN CANNIBAL SPECIES

Two Spot Ladybug - prey

British ladybirds are under threat from a cannibal species from Europe.  The harlequin ladybird, which is now the second most common in the UK, is eating other ladybirds - including the 2-spot and 10-spot - at such a rate, it has become one of the world’s fastest spreading insects.  Since the harlequin was spotted in the UK in 2004 it has bred with astonishing ferocity and there are currently more than a billion.   Hundreds of householders have reported plagues inside their homes. 

 

Harlequin Ladybug - Predator

A new study is the first to use DNA analysis to identify prey species in the guts of harlequins showing their ‘damaging effect on native species.’  Originally from East Asia, the harlequin is larger and more voracious than native British ladybirds that have become part of its diet.  Although mainly an aphid predator, it is believed to be responsible for the decline of some other ladybirds through competition and cannibalism.  In total, 177 larvae were collected from the wild in England, France, Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic before being tested.

 

Read more

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2666009/British-ladybirds-threat-CANNIBALS-DNA-analysis-shows-native-insects-devoured-foreign-cousins.html

 

Photos - Corbis, Daily Mail

 

***************************************************************************

 

HORSES LEFT TO DIE IN WEATHER BESIEGED BRITAIN - CAMPAIGN TO SAVE THEM

More than 21,000 join a Facebook campaign to save horses left to die in muddy field as experts warn of devastation to Britain's wildlife because of the floods

• Badly decomposed horse found in a field in Leicester while a second one with severe injuries was later put down
• Study warns that pesticides in floodwater pose a deadly threat to animals
• 140 oily seabirds washed up in south Devon in weather-related tragedy

LARGE NUMBERS OF WHALES, DOLPHINS AND OTHER MARINE LIFE KILLED AND INJURED BY U.S. SONAR AND WEAPONS TESTING

The United States reports these tests. There are many other nations that keep them secret.  So this massive attack on ocean life is much greater than reported.

 

ACTIVIST POST - Not only have whales been showing up dead with dozens of pounds of toxic, plastic waste inside their stomachs, the U.S Navy plans to raise the death toll by conducting underwater testing of explosive weapons and sonar devices. Tests will be and are taking place in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, including the Gulf of Mexico.

According to Greenpeace, government estimates are calculated at 138,500 whales and dolphins will be injured or killed. 

 

These events are set to commence and take place from 2014 through 2019. The title is not an exaggeration, depending on the vicinity of the animals, detonating these explosives underwatermwill kill whales and dolphins and injure many, according to two environmental impact statements released by the military.

Keep in mind, these events have been occurring for a number of years, and are responsible for the death of large amounts of marine life. The Navy is not denying these facts. They have admitted that most of the deaths would come from detonation of explosives, sonar testing or animals being hit by ships. Although I do not trust Navy estimates, according to their computer models this activity could kill hundreds of whales. The Navy said it developed the estimates by totaling the hours it will test and practice with sonar, torpedoes, missiles, explosives and other equipment for five years. This testing will be (and already has been) responsible for the death of thousands. 

Take action by sending an email to The Honorable Charles T. Hagel, U.S. Secretary of Defense. You can email him at charles.t.hagel.mil@mail.mil. Feel free to use this sample letter provided by PETA.

  

There are also corporate interests here, exploration companies are allowed to use dangerous blasts of noise to search for offshore oil and gas. The U.S. Department of the Interior is considering allowing geophysical companies that work for the oil and gas corporations to use these techniques in the Atlantic Ocean, from Delaware to Florida.

There are no noise-cancelling headphones to stop the U.S. Navy’s 235-decibel pressure waves of unbearable pinging and metallic shrieking. At 200Db, the vibrations can rupture your lungs, and above 210 Db, the lethal noise can bore straight through your brain until it hemorrhages that delicate tissue. If you’re not deaf after this devastating sonar blast, you’re dead. This is the real life of marine mammals destroyed by the U.S. Navy’s all-out acoustic war on the world’s oceans. The collateral damage of this high intensity military sonar is shocking. But because all these millions of dying whales or dolphins are too often out of human sight, they’re also out of mind. (8)

Just like Orca researcher Ken Balcomb calls it, this is “acoustic holocaust.”
 
Scientific American calls military sonar a brutal and inhumane death sentence.

Read more
http://www.activistpost.com/2014/02/us-navy-killing-marine-life-with-sonar.html

******************************************************************************

JAPANESE FISHERMEN AND THEIR BLOODY ORGY MURDERING DOLPHINS

Pod of captive dolphins killed one-by-one in Japanese bloodbath festival

A pod of captive dolphins are to be killed one-by-one in a traditional dolphin hunt in western Japan, where local fisherman corral the mammals into a secluded bay before killing many for meat.  At least 250 dolphins have been trapped in a cove, with the prettiest selected for sale to aquariums and the rest butchered for meat, was damaging the reputation of Japan.  Today the Japanese widow of John Lennon added her voice to pleas to dolphin fishermen that they stop their hunt, days after the US ambassador to Tokyo waded into the row.

Read more and see pictures of the poor animals -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2542611/Captive-dolphins-killed-one-one-Japanese-bloodbath-festival.html


More recent reports on this year's massacre -
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/01/another-massacre-of-dolphins-by.html


********************************************************************************

JAPAN ACCUSED OF CONTINUING TO KILL WHALES, INCLUDING THOSE IN SANCTUARY

 

Japanese whaling fleet kills minke whales in Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, Sea Shepherd says

 

ABC Australia - The Australian government is facing fresh calls to monitor whaling in the Southern Ocean after footage released by activists shows Japanese whalers have made a successful start to this season's hunt.

 

Anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd says its three boats found all five ships from the Japanese whaling fleet, one with four dead minke whales onboard.Sea Shepherd says the Japanese fleet was in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and that the activist group was working to drive the fleet from the area.

 

It is the first time the environmentalists and the whaling fleet have crossed paths this season.Environment Minister Greg Hunt last month said the Government would send a plane to monitor the fleet, despite promises before the election to send a ship.

Read more - http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-06/sea-shephard-says-japan-whaling-fleet-inside-sanctuary/5185942


PICTURES

Article and pictures of the Japanese ship where they process whales that are massacred inside a whale sanctuary

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2534478/Graphic-images-Japans-whaling-released-campaigners-Sea-Shepherd.html

RELATED

Japan continues to poison the oceans by with their Fukushima nuclear power plant highly radioactive discharge. 

Something is killing  all life in the Pacific Ocean - http://www.activistpost.com/2013/10/something-is-killing-life-all-over.html

Park in Japan where they can swim with dolphins and then eat dolphin meat for lunch
 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2455754/Japan-open-water-park-watch-EAT-dolphins.html

The yearly bloody massacre of dolphins in Japan at the cove.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23380-new-japanese-method-for-killing-dolphins-is-inhumane.html#.UsrBeWEWLMw

Movie The Cove exposing the massacre of dolphins by Japan, related by Matt Damon - 4 minute video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzuSULcqgxQ



******************************************************************************

A PENGUIN FAMILY STRUGGLES TO RAISE THEIR CHICKS IN ANTARCTICA

Photographer David Tipling charts the life of a King Penguin colony

He charts one pair of adults' journey to rear their young chick

The images were captured in Right Whale Bay, South Georgia Island

Penguin mothers and fathers are seen struggling to raise their offspring in the midst of harsh blizzards and freezing conditions.

 

This colony of King Penguins were captured huddling together during a storm in Right Whale Bay, South Georgia island -  a British overseas territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean.

 

In his new book Penguins: Close Encounters, photographer David Tipling documents a penguin parent's struggle against adversity to raise their chick.  The collection of 130 photographs showcases the birds in their natural habitat. Photos of each of the world's 17 types of penguins are included in the book.

 

The couple are pictured creating a heart shape, craning their heads over their offspring.  Meanwhile another shot captures a group of young penguins huddling together to protect themselves from the icy winds.  And a tiny baby seeks shelter on its parent's feet while another image shows a line of adults making the arduous march back to the sea for food.

 

Read more and see pictures -  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2532124/Photographer-captures-one-penguins-struggle-against-elements-raise-chick.html

 

 

RELATED

 

Threats to Penguins

http://www.penguins.cl/penguins-peril.htm

 

The world of Penguins - Read article and watch "Nature" online

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/the-world-of-penguins/protecting-penguins/1913/

 

******************************************************************************

 

 

SOMETHING IS STRIKING EAGLES IN UTAH

Wildlife experts cannot seem to figure out why so many bald eagles have been dying in Utah.

There have been 12 reported cases so far this month, with the latest coming this past weekend.

The only thing the experts know for sure is that all the eagles were experiencing the same symptoms.

“They were showing signs of body tremors, they would have seizures, they appeared to be paralyzed, and they had weakness in their feet and in their legs,” Erickson-Marthaler added to KSL.

The Division of Wildlife says this is the time of year eagles migrate from other states to Utah and are usually seen near the Great Salt Lake.

Read more - http://lasvegas.cbslocal.com/2013/12/23/wildlife-experts-perplexed-over-dozen-dead-bald-eagles/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More about eagles


December 5, 2013

Wind energy gets away with murder -

U.S. Administration says it's OK for wind farms to murder eagles.

Although under both the Bald and Gold Eagle Protection Acts and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the death of a single eagle is a felony

 

The Interior Department is close to finalizing a rule that would allow wind farms to kill eagles, National Journal reports.

The White House Office of Management and Budget signed off Wednesday on the heavily lobbied rule, which would boost the available permit period from five to 30 years, records show.  The rule, which has faced opposition from environmental groups, authorizes the non-intentional deaths of eagles but also contains conservation provisions, according to a summary of the plan on OMB’s website.  The summary touts provisions designed to “ensure the preservation of eagles.”

Supporters of the rule and the Obama administration say the 30-year permits will provide the wind industry with regulatory certainty.

Read more -

http://freebeacon.com/doi-die-eagles-die/

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/12/05/administration-close-to-finalizing-rule-to-allow-wind-farms-to-kill-eagles-for/

****************************************************************************

NOISE FROM WIND TURBINE CONSTRUCTION IS KILLING OCEAN MAMMALS

Wind turbine construction noise is killing ocean mammals such as porpoises, dolphins and whales, by damaging their hearing.  Without proper hearing abilities they can't hunt or conduct other life-sustaining activities. Up to 200 decibels have been registered during construction.

 

There are ways to create a bubble curtain around the worksite, so as to prevent noise propagation, but this technology is rendered useless by strong currents. 

Read more here:  http://www.thelocal.de/sci-tech/20130226-48201.html

**************************************************************************

BOUNTY ON ALASKAN OTTERS?

©http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/. Unauthorized duplication of this blog's material is prohibited.   Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full credit and link is given to Otters and Science News Blogspot.  Link to this post: http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/02/otter-news-bounty-on-alaskan-otters.html - Thank you for visiting my blog.

 

ALASKA SENATOR WANTS  TO PUT BOUNTY ON OTTERS

 TO PROTECT SEAFOOD INDUSTRY 

 

Even if the bill were to pass, it would be unenforceable under the federal law, said Bruce Woods, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. States cannot enforce laws or regulations related to the taking of any marine mammal under the law unless the Interior secretary transfers conservation and management authority to that state. That hasn't happened.

Read more -
http://www.adn.com/2013/02/21/2797134/alaska-state-senator-proposes.html

*****************************************************************************