Sad news, a northern bottlenose whale (nicknamed Gilbert) that had been spotted along the south coast of England near Bournemouth, has been found washed up on the beach near Alum Chine.
The female whale had been delighting watchers every morning with tail flapping and water breaching, but experts had voiced their concerns as it was very unusual for such a whale to be found along the south coast.
There has been lots of whale sighting in the past, but they are usually spotted passing up or down the English Channel and very rarely stay in one place for long.
The dead whale was discovered around 9pm yesterday (21 September 2009) and is now being examined by conservationists to try to determine its cause of death.
One theory is that Gilbert became caught in a rope as a deep mark around her beak had been found and several cuts are clearly visible on its belly, which is believed to have been caused as she thrashed around in an attempt to free herself.
The Negros Interior Biodiversity Expedition (NIBE) has confirmed that it had found evidence of two groups of the Visayan Spotted Deer alive and well in the North Negros Natural Park (NNNP) in the Philippines.
The team of experts recently returned (July 2009) from the first scientific exploration of the park interior where they recorded the presence of many endangered and endemic species, with several new species records for the NNNP.
The Visayan Spotted Deer (Cervus alfredi) is endemic to the Visayan islands of the central Philippines, formerly reported on only seven islands (Cebu, Guimaras, Leyte, Masbate, Negros, Panay, and Samar), but now thought to remain only on the islands of Panay and Negros. It is a small deer found only in tropical rainforests up to about 1500 metres and has been hunted from 95% of its range. The population within the NNNP was believed to be one of the few viable breeding groups left in world with possibly no more than a couple of hundred individuals surviving. Heavy hunting pressure has led to the deer not being recorded in the NNNP for many years until the NIBE team found fresh deer droppings in several locations, deer tracks and significant evidence of feeding activity.
Newborn Panda Twins at the China Giant Panda Breading and Research Centre.
This photo of two newborn panda cubs was taken Monday at the China Giant Panda Breading and Research Centre in Chengdu
Their mother, an 8-year-old giant panda named Huamei, was born in the United States. She has now given birth to three sets of twins since she returned to China in 2004.
Newborn Panda Twins (Cute?)
I kind of want to say how cute they look, but I’m not sure ‘cute’ is the right work? Still it’s a fantastic achievement to give birth to three sets of twins!
Video of the Basking Shark that washed up on a Long Island beach on the 14th July 2009.
The now 20-foot-long (orginaly thought to be 24-foot) basking shark that washed ashore on a beach on New York’s Long Island on Tuesday appears to have died from some kind of illness.
New York State Parks official George Gorman said researchers will examine the basking shark to determine a cause of death. After that, it will be buried in nearby sand dunes on the beach.
After examining the basking shark, Tracy Marcus of Cornell University’s Long Island-based Sport Fishing Education Center said the shark weighs about a ton. She said it is unusual for an ailing basking shark to come ashore. Usually they die in the ocean.
The cause of the Long Island shark’s beaching may remain a mystery—as is where the giant creatures come from.
It may look like a stick - but Oscar's find is one of earth's oldest creatures
An ancient blood-sucking fish has been found in the Thames by a 13-year-old boy.
The sea lamprey, an eel-like creature with a sucker-shaped mouth surrounded by teeth, predates the dinosaurs.
But they only venture into fresh water to breed if it is very clean, which is why experts said Oscar Bridge’s find is significant.
In the 1960s the Thames was so polluted scientists declared it “biologically extinct” after a survey.
Oscar was taking part in a sponsored clear-up of a riverbank near Fulham’s Craven Cottage stadium when he made the discovery.
He said: “All of a sudden I saw this thing and thought, ‘what’s that?’ – “I picked it up and it looked like an eel,” he said. “I did get a shock when I saw the mouth.”
He added: “I really like animals – especially creepy ones like that.”
What Oscar had found proved to be a 15.5in (40cm) long sea lamprey, one of the most ancient creatures on earth.
Like the shark and the crocodile, sea lampreys have barely changed over thousands of millennia.
The Lamprey was dead when found, but this is not necessarily a bad thing – as they usually die immediately after spawning – which would suggest they are breading again in the Thames.
The European Commission plans to take France to Europe’s highest court for failing to protect the great hamster of Alsace (Belgium), a species threatened with extinction, an official said Thursday.
The official, who is linked to the proceedings and declined to be named, said that French authorities had refused all approaches by the commission to protect the small mammal, also known as the European hamster.
According to the EU’s executive body, the rodent requires around 240,000 hectares ( 600,000 acres) of protected land to thrive, but the species has been shoe-horned into under 3,500 hectares in eastern France, reducing its food supply.
Once considered a pest by farmers in the Alsace region, where about 80 percent of the land is used to grow corn, the hamster has been protected since 1993 and is considered one of the most threatened mammals in Europe.
European black-bellied Hamster
Its numbers have plummeted from over 1,000 in 2001 to fewer than 200 in 2007, and have continued to decline over the last two years.
The commission is taking the action at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, the official said, to force France to take action to save the hamster, which is also under threat from increasing urbanisation in the region.
The European Hamster, Cricetus cricetus, also known as the Black-bellied Hamster, is a species of hamster native to Europe. It is typically found in low-lying farmland, although it may also inhabit meadows, gardens and hedges. It is widely considered a farmland pest, and has also been trapped for its fur.
European hamsters are much larger than the Syrian hamsters or dwarf hamsters commonly kept as pets, being around 10-15 cm longer than guinea pigs. In captivity, the European hamster has an unusually long life span, living up to eight years. They are very rarely kept as pets and have been known to attack large dogs if they feel threatened.
