TOP STORIES
Mother Nature News - mnn.com
09 Jun 2009
R McLendon
As authorities continued their search and recovery mission last week following the deadly crash of Air France flight 447, they thought they had finally begun finding pieces of wreckage from the jet. Various objects floating in the Atlantic Ocean near the crash site were examined closely for any evidence of what happened, until investigators suddenly realized what they were looking at. It wasn't part of the plane; it was just plain old ocean trash.
The mistake highlighted a worldwide problem: marine debris, most of it plastic, that begins in human hands but ends up in the ocean, often inside animals' stomachs or around their necks. Reports about these "garbage patches" have been trickling in for years, but they've picked up steam recently. While the Air France mix-up took place in the Atlantic — and these nebulous, tangled trash heaps are showing up all around the globe — the poster child for plastic pollution remains the sprawling Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the world's largest dump.
Related News
>>>Sea debris killing Phuket sea life: marine expert
Free Press - www.fpress.com
10 Jun 2009
E Sharp
Location: Lake St. Clair, St. Clair County, Michigan, USA - Map It
A fish kill on Lake St. Clair may have been caused by viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS), a disease that first showed up in the Great Lakes about five years ago. However, the cause of the fish kill won't be known until tissue samples are analyzed by a laboratory.
. . .most of the dead fish he saw were smallmouth bass, along with a few carp, northern pike and perch.
"The bass would be particularly susceptible now because of the stress of spawning and the catch-and-release fishing season," . . . .
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Whale meat makes sick: Whale meat as a health risk from contaminants and bacteria [Translated from German]Scinexx Das Wissensmagazin - http://www.scinexx.de
10 Jun 2009
Photo credit: NOAA
People who frequent whale and dolphin meat, more likely to suffer from memory impairment, Parkinson's disease and immune deficiencies. This shows a report by the Organization of Species Pro Wildlife at the International Whaling Conference presents. Inuit in Canada, Alaska and Greenland are particularly affected, but also the population of industrialized countries such as Japan and the Danish Faroe Islands. In whale are limits for mercury, PCBs or DDT at up to 5.000fache exceeded.
. . . An overview of the concentrations of toxic substance from the Arctic to Antarctica is the first time the report "Toxic Menu Pro Wildlife and the Swiss Agency Ocean Care". The result: Whether the Arctic and North Pacific - the pollutant levels in whales and dolphins are so high that their meat for consumption is not suitable. "Above all, the indigenous people still eat whale meat.
]>>> Pictured: Giant blue whale floats belly-up after being killed in a tragic collision with a ship
Reported Wildlife Mortality Events to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center UpdatedUSGS National Wildlife Health Center
10 Jun 2009
Area: United States
USGS and a network of partners across the country work on documenting wildlife mortality events in order to provide timely and accurate information on locations, species and causes of death. This information was updated on Jun 08, 2009 on the USGS National Wildlife Health Center web page, New and Ongoing Wildlife Mortality Events Nationwide. Quarterly Mortality Reports are also available from this page. These reports go back to 1995.
OTHER WILDLIFE HEALTH RELATED NEWS
Photo credit: BBC News
Afghans issue first wildlife list
- Can Idaho manage wild and domestic sheep together? [pneumonia]
- Artificial insemination leads to rare breeding of endangered Chinese crane
- Port admits to poisoning kids, birds [lead poisoning, Australia]
- Polar bears and dogs playing together
[great video footage]
- Loophole allows sale of tainted fish without warning [PCB's, Lake Huron]
