TOP STORIES
Sellafield swallows contaminated by radioactivity: Birds nesting by the nuclear power plant have traces of radioactivity in their droppings
Swallows nesting at the Sellafield nuclear complex in Cumbria have been contaminated with low levels of radioactivity from the site, according to the Environment Agency.
Monitoring by the site's operator, Sellafield Limited, has found traces of radioactivity in the birds' droppings. This is thought to come from the insects they have consumed around the storage ponds for radioactive waste.
The Guardian - www.guardian.co.uk
08 Jun 2012
R Edwards
Location: Cumbria, England
Honeybee virus: Varroa mite spreads lethal disease
A parasitic mite has helped a virus wipe out billions of honeybees throughout the globe, say scientists.
A team studying honeybees in Hawaii found that the Varroa mite helped spread a particularly nasty strain of a disease called deformed wing virus.
The mites act as tiny incubators of one deadly form of the disease, and inject it directly into the bees' blood.
This has led to "one of the most widely-distributed and contagious insect viruses on the planet".
BBC Nature News - www.bbc.co.uk
07 Jun 2012
V Gill
Florida Bat Survey Tests for White-Nose Syndrome and Bat Health
Well into the wee hours of night, for five successive evenings, teams of scientists from across the southeastern United States waited and watched as bats in the Apalachicola National Forest swooped down to feed on their insect prey only to be captured in sheer mist nets.
The scientific teams and U.S. Forest Service wildlife biologists were conducting bat surveys to test for white-nose syndrome and general bat healthiness throughout the region.
USDA Blog - blogs.usda.gov
08 Jun 2012
S Blake
Location: Florida, USA
OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo courtesy of The Guardian feature, Week in Wildlife
- Georgia Environment Protection Division says latest Ogeechee River fish kill caused by drought [Ogeechee River, Georgia, USA - Map It
]
- [Uncertain causes of death of the whale] [Translated article][La Pared Beach - Map It ]
- [A marine mammal is stranded on a beach] [Translated article][St-Pair-sur-Mer Beach, France - Map It ]
- Environment Agency warning as toxic ‘Blue-Green Algae’ is discovered in Fenland drain [Fenland, England]
- Swimming warning over algae at Plymouth's Hoe Foreshore [Plymouth, England]
White-Nose Syndrome
Huh?! That's Interesting!
- Biodiversity helps sustain human life, scientists say [New report in the journal Nature attempts to measure the impact biodiversity has on human health and well-being]
- [Police uses vultures to find bodies] [Translated article]
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