Wildlife Disease News Digest

TOP STORIES

Do wind farms threaten marine life?
Radio Netherlands Worldwide - www.radionetherlands.nl
TW Van Eerten
18 Nov 2008
Area: Netherlands, EU

Professor Han Lindeboom of the Imares Maritime Research Institute based on the Dutch island of Texel has been looking into the issue of wind farms and their impact. The professor is worried by the 200 decibels of noise generated by hammering the foundations' 4-metre-diameter concrete piles into the seabed. Construction work is set to continue for decades even if wind farms end up providing just one-fifth of the Netherlands' energy needs. Humans suffer permanent damage to their hearing when subjected to just 80 decibels. What does Professor Lindeboom think the effects of 200 decibels will be on marine animals such as seals and porpoises?

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Wayward Dolphin Found Dead In N.J. River
WCBSTV News 2 - wcbstv.com
15 Nov 2008
Area: Monmouth County, New Jersey, USA - Map It

A dolphin found dead in the Shrewsbury River was not part of a pod of wayward dolphins who have called the river home since June. According to Bob Schoelkopf, co-director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, the dolphin found dead Friday is a common dolphin; the 15 that have been swimming in the Shrewsbury and Navesink rivers are bottlenose dolphins. Two of those bottlenose dolphins have died in recent months. Schoelkopf said the remaining dolphins now have company.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Related News
>>>Sick dolphin in Shrewsbury River euthanized - Monmouth County, New Jersey, USA - Map It

>>>NOAA announces new strategy for marine strandings

Bird killings 'deeply troubling'
BBC News - news.bbc.co.uk
18 Nov 2008
Area: Scotland, United Kingdom

The number of birds of prey killed illegally in Scotland is "deeply troubling", a conservation group has said. Crimes against the birds remain at "worryingly high" levels, according to the latest report from RSPB Scotland. It comes days after it emerged that a white-tailed eagle was found poisoned near the Glenogil estate in Angus in May. The charity said such crimes were damaging Scotland's raptor populations.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Related News
>>>Poacher with over 300 birds convicted [Gilroy, CA]

For Tasmanian Devils, Hope Against a Wily Cancer
New York Times - www.nytimes.com
17 Nov 2008
E Rex
Image courtesy of GM Woods
Area: Tasmania, Australia

They’re inky black, pointy-eared, furry and, in a fierce sort of way, cute. And in May of this year, they were added to Australia’s endangered species list. Ordinarily solitary, Tasmanian devils commune only to feast on carrion and to mate in short-lived passionate couplings during which they tear each other to ribbons. Their spine-decalcifying caterwauls — a sequence of whuffings, snarlings and growlings — have evoked satanic visions since the first European settlers arrived on the island of Tasmania over a century ago.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

Continents of garbage adrift in oceans
Canada.com - www.canada.com
17 Nov 2008
A Roslin
Image courtesy of Reuters

Scientists are growing alarmed about massive floating dumps that are believed to be building up in centres of nearly all of the world's oceans. The best-known patch, known by some as the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch, consists of an estimated 100 million tonnes of plastic debris that has accumulated inside a circular vortex of currents known as the North Pacific gyre. Environmentalists call it the Pacific Trash Vortex. It is estimated to be anywhere from 700,000 square kilometres -- an area larger than Alberta -- up to 15 million square kilometres (the size of two Australias), depending on how it is measured. Plastic from the vortex is increasingly washing up on Hawaiian atolls and being found in the guts of seabirds and fish.

>>>FULL ARTICLE

OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Image courtesy of National Geographic News - news.nationalgeographic.com