Sperm Whale Found on Florida Shore Euthanized

A 30-foot sperm whale was discovered early Thursday morning in shallow waters off the shore of Tampa, Fla.
Beachgoers contacted wildlife officials about the whale just after 7:00 a.m., WTSP reported. Before long, hundreds had gathered on Madeira Beach.
One woman, Shelly Crain of Clearwater, even took her daughter out of school to see the whale.

"It is really interesting and it's a once in a life time thing to see," she told WTSP.
Normally deep-water animals, sperm whales rarely venture so close to shore, indicating that something was very wrong, wildlife officials said.
"It's obviously very thin and sick, but I can't really speak to what's going on inside the whale," said Erin Fougeres, a NOAA Marine Mammal Biologist.
So sick, in fact, officials estimated it had just a handful of days to live -- an observation that prompted them to euthanize it.
That afternoon, the whale was given a sedative, after which a University of Florida veterinary used a six-foot needle to inject a drug into the animal's chest in order to stop its heart.
"Although it looks large and scary, it is a very humane thing to do," Fougeres said.
The carcass was towed to Fort DeSoto where officials said it would be buried, but not before a necropsy is carried out.
"Our goal is to not only make sure the animal no longer suffers but also find out as much as we can for future events and study things we can only find out from an animal like this," Mike Walsh, a researcher with the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, said, according to The Ledger. "Is it infectious; is it toxic? What actually made the animal get into this shape and come ashore to die?"
Sperm whales are found throughout the world's oceans, though they've struggled to rebound from massive whaling excursions during the 18th and 19th century. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, their numbers are down from an estimated pre-whaling population of 1.1 million to some 100,000 today.

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Seven Large Dolphins Die in Brazil, 30 Beach Themselves

A total of seven large dolphins died in Brazil over the weekend after they beached themselves in the northeastern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte, according to local media.
The country's Upanema beach, located about 330 km from Natal, the capital of Rio Grande do Norte, was the site where 30 dolphins were left stranded on Sunday, O Globo reports. Local fishermen and volunteers assisted in helping the large mammals back into the water and all but seven made it back out to sea. Six of them died on Upanema beach, while one animal died following an apparent shark attack after it was returned to the ocean.

The report emphasized that the dolphin was likely attacked in very deep waters and that area beachgoers needn't worry about shark attacks.
Local biologists have not given a reason as to why the dolphins beached but a common cause for this phenomenon is when the group's leader may strand itself due to illness or injury, swimming in close to shore to take refuge in shallow water. Since dolphins are highly social creatures that travel in communities called pods, such mass strandings may occur when healthy whales refuse to abandon a sick or injured pod member and follow them into shallow water.
Another hypothesis is that the dolphins were pursuing a school of fish and were trapped on Upanema's high sand banks.
According to the report, this was one of the largest collective beachings in Brazil in recent decades. In 1991, around 19 whales beached themselves on the sands of the nearby town of Sao Miguel do Gostoso.

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World Ocean Systems to Undergo Major Upheaval by 2100 Due to Climate Change

A holistic new study examining the full series of changes that have and will be triggered in the world's oceans through human-derived greenhouse gas emissions shows that no corner will escape the effects of climate change by 2100.

Previous analyses, the researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa argue, have failed to incorporate all relevant variables, focusing mainly on ocean warming and acidification. Published in the journal PLOS Biology, the report also looks at the depletion of dissolved oxygen in seawater and reduced productivity among the ocean's many ecosystems.

"When you look at the world ocean, there are few places that will be free of changes; most will suffer the simultaneous effects of warming, acidification, and reductions in oxygen and productivity," lead author Camilo Mora, assistant professor at the Department of Geography in the College of Social Sciences, said in a statement. "The consequences of these co-occurring changes are massive -- everything from species survival, to abundance, to range size, to body size, to species richness, to ecosystem functioning are affected by changes in ocean biogeochemistry."
According to the study, 470-870 million of the world's poorest rely on the ocean either for food or revenue, both of which could be comprised as food chains, fishing and tourism face major upheavals due to the changes outlined in the analysis.
Using the most recent models of projected climate change developed for the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the scientists quantified the overlapping of changes in temperature, pH, oxygen and primary productivity. They did this based on a business-as-usual scenario in which atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations reached 900 ppm by 2100, and one in which they only reached 550 due to mitigation efforts.
"Other studies have looked at small-scale impacts, but this is the first time that we've been able to look the entire world ocean and how co-occurring stressors will differentially impact the earth's diverse habitats and people," said co-author Andrew Thurber, a postdoctoral fellow at Oregon State University. "The real power is in the quantitative, predictive approach using IPCC climate models that allow us to see how much it will all change, and also how confident we can be in our estimates."
Co-author Andrew Sweetman, who helped to convene the original team of investigators, called the extent of the potential impacts "truly scary," noting they will "be felt from the ocean surface to the seafloor."

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Climate Change Linked with Higher Chemical Load in Polar Bear Diet

Polar bears are changing their diets to adapt to climate change, a new study has found. Researchers also found that a change in the diet has led to increase in toxic chemicals in the bears' bodies.

The study was conducted by researchers from the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Aarhus University (Denmark) and their colleagues. The team found that the diet of polar bears has changed over the past few decades and their tissue samples are showing high levels of contaminants.

Polar bears primarily feed on three species of seals; the high Arctic ringed seal and the two sub-Arctic species harp seal and hooded seal. The number of ringed seal in the wild declined dramatically in past 30 years, leading to the bears switching over to the sub-Arctic seals.

At first glance, it may look like polar bears are doing better now. But, their tissue samples show that they are accumulating unhealthy levels of contaminants.

"The problem is that the sub-Arctic seals that the polar bear has switched to, have a higher content of contaminants because they live closer to the industrialised world and are higher up in the food chain. Therefore, climate change undermines the improvements that you would otherwise have obtained owing to international regulations in the use of environmental use of persisten organic pollutants (POPs). We can see that the content of the POPs after year 2000 decreases slower in the polar bear than in, the ringed seal," Professor Rune Dietz, Aarhus University explained in a news release.

The study was based on adipose tissue taken from 310 polar bears hunted by East Greenland Inuits from the Scoresbysund area between the year 1984 and 2011. 

Previous study by researchers at the Carleton University and Aarhus University had found that at least eight brain regions of polar bears had significant amount of several PFASs including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) as well as several compounds of perfluorinated carboxylate (PFCAs).

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Australian Wild Pig Drinks 18 Beers, Gets in Fight with Cow

A feral pig ransacked a campsite and drank at least 18 cans cans of beer before getting into an altercation with a cow in Australia.
The incident, which happened in a remote area of Western Australia at the DeGray River rest area, prompted officials to warn campers to keep their food and alcohol secure.

The wild pig was seen around the campsite for several days last week, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported, citing officials who said the animal got into multiple six-packs of beer over the course of a few days.
Fionna Findley, from the government highway division Main Roads, told ABC that the people camping overnight at the rest area said that "the pig stole their beers, drank them and then afterwards proceeded to tear apart the bin liners."
"We just want to remind everyone when you do pull over, make sure [your food and alcohol] is securely stored because there are a lot of animals out there that are keen for a free feed."

One camper who reportedly spoke with the affected campers told ABC that the pig got into 18 beers, ransacked the campsite's garbage bins and got into a fight with a cow.
The camper, who was only identified as Merida, said "there was some other people camped right on the river and they saw him running around their vehicle being chased by a cow.

"It was going around and around and then it went into the river and swam across to the middle of the river."
Findley told ABC that that her crews are not equipped to deal with wild pigs, especially if they are drunk.
The pig was last seen lying beneath a tree, potentially nursing a hangover.
In the remote regions of Western Australia, feral pigs are seen an invasive pest because of the diseases they carry, which can infect livestock, The Guardian reported.

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Moose Die-off Mystifies Researchers

Moose populations across North America are plummeting, and no know knows why.
Minnesota's strongest population declined by 35 percent between 2012 to 2013, with the current 2,760 representing a 70 percent drop since 2006. New Hampshire's population has fallen from roughly 7,000 to closer to 4,600, and Jackson Hole, Wyo. is down to less than 1,000, in contrast to the state goal of 3,600 animals. Meanwhile, declines in Montana have led to a 40 percent reduction in available hunting tags between 1995 and 2010.

According to the Wildlife Management Institute, the only place that has shown a growing population of moose is Maine. A recent aerial study estimated more than 75,000 animals call the state home, the majority dwelling in the more isolated northern stretches of the state.
"There has definitely been a change. Something has been going on and we've seen it in the hunter success rates, the amount of effort required to fill a tag and in what hunters report seeing while in the field," said Justin Gude, Wildlife Research & Technical Services Bureau Chief with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "But the one thing that is very clear is that there is not enough information -- we don't have substantial evidence of a long term decline, but we need to figure out what is going on."
One possible culprit is an apparent rise in winter tick infestations. Ticks thrive in years with lower snowpack levels and early snow melt, with as many as 150,000 latching onto a single moose. Not only do moose become anemic when this happens, but they often are left with patchy, thinning coats as they rub against tree trunks and other surfaces in an effort to rid themselves of the pests.
Brain worm, a common parasite in white tailed deer, could also be contributing to the decline, according to Kris Rines, New Hampshire Fish and Game's moose project leader, noting that research suggests that areas with higher deer densities often are unable to support a moose population.
In the Rocky Mountains and Upper Midwest, some blame the moose's decline on the increase in wolf populations, while others throughout the United States suggest habitat changes likely play a role. In Maine where the moose is thriving, the spruce-fir forests that the animal prefers are managed for commercial timber harvest, allowing for plenty of forage, reports Lee Kantar, a deer and moose specialist from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries.
Regardless of the reason behind population declines, scientists all agree on one thing: more information is needed before any conclusions can be drawn.

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Young Bonobos Regulate Emotions Like Humans

Young bonobos share striking similarities in emotional development with human children, which suggests that the great apes regulate their emotions in a human-like way, according to new research published in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A team of researchers studied a troop of bonobos at a wildlife sanctuary near Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They suggest their research shows that the socio-emotional framework commonly applied to children works equally well for apes, which they say means emotional tests designed for humans may also be useful when studying the emotional character of apes.

The research was conducted by Zanna Clay and Frans de Waal, both of the Living Links Center at Emory University's Yerkes National Primate Research Center.
Clay and de Waal found bonobos that recovered quickly and easily from their own emotional upheavals, such as after losing a fight, were more likely to show greater empathy for their fellow great apes. Those bonobos were also observed comforting bonobos in distress by kissing, embracing or touching.
"If the way bonobos handle their own emotions predicts how they react to those of others, this hints at emotion regulation, such as the ability to temper strong emotions and avoid over-arousal. In children, emotion regulation is crucial for healthy social development. Socially competent children keep the ups and downs of their emotions within bounds. A stable parent-child bond is essential for this, which is why human orphans typically have trouble managing their emotions," the researchers wrote in a statement.
The bonobo -- as genetically similar to humans as the chimpanzee -- is widely considered to be the most emotional great ape.
"This makes the species an ideal candidate for psychological comparisons," says de Waal. "Any fundamental similarity between humans and bonobos probably traces back to their last common ancestor, which lived around six million years ago."
De Waal said the study of animal emotions has long been "scientifically taboo," but he contends emotional studies on animals can provide valuable information on humans and our society.
"By measuring the expression of distress and arousal in great apes, and how they cope, we were able to confirm that efficient emotion regulation is an essential part of empathy. Empathy allows great apes and humans to absorb the distress of others without getting overly distressed themselves,"

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Honeybee's Fear of Killer Hornets Keeps them away from Food Sources

A fear of dangerous predators keeps honeybees from going near the best food sources, according to new research published in the journal PLOS One.
University of California San Diego researchers found that the bees actively avoid situations where they could encounter the Asian giant hornet and a smaller, related hornet species, which has spread into Europe and threatens honeybees there.

Notably, the researchers also observed the colony of bees as a whole behaving more cautiously than individual bees.
"This strategy of colonies collectively exhibiting significantly more caution than the riskier individual foragers may help honey bees exploit all of the available food sources, with some intrepid foragers visiting more dangerous food while the colony judiciously decides how to best allocate its foraging," said James Nieh, a professor of biology at UC San Diego.
Lead research author Ken Tan said that the Asian giant hornets are dangerous, heavily armored predators.
"Bee colonies respond by forming balls of defending bees, encasing the hornet and, in some cases, cooking it to death with heat generated by the bees."
Asian giant hornets (Vespa tropica) are powerful enough to kill humans. In rural southern China, at least 41 people have died this year after being attacked by the hornets, which are as long as an adult's thumb. The insects are four times the size of the Vespa velutina, which has invaded Europe.
For their experiments, the researchers presented honeybees with various combinations of safe and dangerous feeders filled with different sucrose concoctions. Hornets were present in the dangerous feeder scenario.
"Bees avoided the dangerous feeders and preferred feeders that provided sweeter nectar," said Nieh. "However, predators are clever and can focus on sweeter food, ones which bees prefer. So we also tested how bees would respond when sweeter food was also more dangerous. What we found was that the individual bees were more risk-tolerant. They avoided the giant hornet at the best food, but continued to visit the lower quality food with the smaller hornet."

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New Species of Giant Fish Discovered in Brazil

A new species of arapaima, a heavily armored, man-sized fish in South America's rivers, has been identified for the first time 166 years.
The new species was recently identified by Donald Stewart a professor of environmental science and forestry at the State University of New York after being collected from the waters of the central Amazon River in Brazil in 2001. Stewart, who published his find in the journal Copiea, has effectively challenged long-held beliefs about the giant fish. He contends that his latest find is the fifth species of arapaima, several more than previous estimates.

In the mid-1800s, there were four recognized species of arapaima, but in 1868 the German scientist Albert Günther suggested that those four were all one species. Günther's option went on to become the prevailing view of the fish.
"Everybody for 160 years had been saying there's only one kind of arapaima," Stewart said, adding that until this year, "no taxonomist has questioned Günther's opinion about these iconic fishes.".
"But we know now there are various species, including some not previously recognized," he said. "Each of these unstudied giant fishes needs conservation assessment."
Stewart said his find highlights conservation assessments necessary along different regions of the Amazonian waters.
"If you're going to do conservation biology, you have to be sure about the taxonomy of the animals being studied," he said. "If each study area has a different species, then results from one area should not be applied to manage populations in the next area."
After studying scientific literature and the taxonomic records of the fish from the 19th century, Stewart concluded in a research paper published in Copiea earlier this year, all four of the original four species described were distinct.
The latest arapaima species, A. leptosoma, brings the total of distinct species to five. The fish is is distinguished among its brethren by the shape of sensory cavities on the head, a sheath that covers part of the dorsal fin and a distinctive color pattern. Its scientific name is a reference to its slender body.
"Failure to recognize that there are multiple species has consequences that are far reaching," Stewart said. "For example, there is a growing aquaculture industry for arapaima, so they are being moved about and stocked in ponds for rearing. Eventually pond-reared fishes escape and, once freed, the ecological effects are irreversible. A species that is endangered in its native habitat may become an invasive species in another habitat. The bottom line is that we shouldn't be moving these large, predatory fishes around until the species and their natural distributions are better known. Given the uncertainties, precaution is needed."

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