An extremely rare Spade-toothed Beaked Whale Mesoplodon traversii washed ashore in Otago, providing the first chance to dissect and study such a specimen, with DNA analysis underway to confirm its species.
A juvenile fin whale stranded at Moncks Bay in Christchurch, New Zealand, has died, with recovery operations underway. Last Sunday, a pod of false killer whales and bottlenose dolphins were euthanised after becoming stranded twice on a reef near Māhia.
The virus was first reported among brown skua on Bird Island, off South Georgia. Since then, researchers and observers have reported mass deaths of elephant seals, as well as increased deaths of fur seals, kelp gulls and brown skua at several other sites. Researchers warn of one of ‘largest ecological disasters of modern times’ if the highly contagious disease reaches penguin colonies.
Reports are coming in about hundreds of dead birds from Hammerfest in the west to Murmansk in the east. A zone with a radius of five kilometers is closed and guards are in place round-the-clock.
Stanley, Falkland Islands, establishes a temporary control zone following the confirmation of its first avian flu case.
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