With the coronavirus pandemic leaving Russia's cities quiet and deserted, its wild animals have decided to check things out.
A dead minke whale with a broken jaw washed up on a Belgian beach on Friday.
On Sunday night, a plump ringed seal pup was spotted on the ice in front of Breaker’s Bar on Nome’s Front Street. UAF Alaska Sea Grant agent Gay Sheffield was called and moved the pup to a more secluded beach. The ice had likely gone out too fast and the mother finished up the normal weaning process on the ice chunks in front of Nome.
Estonian ship pilot Indrek Sulla on Tuesday morning sighted two dolphins who had likely wandered into Kopli Bay from the Atlantic.
A sperm whale beached itself in the northwest Iceland region of Skaga, the Northwest Iceland Nature Agency reports.
John Ahkvaluk , 56, a polar bear guard revealed that this is not a good sign for the village. It’s the first time in several years that bears come at this time of the year. “It’s a warning that they got no food out there and they came looking for it here,” he said. After the incident, Luchie Manlangit, the school principal, and I invited John Ahkvaluk to talk to the kids and to share some protocols if polar bear will come around again.
Sixteen gray and humpback whales have been reported stranded off Washington and Oregon since April 3, the largest number in nearly two decades.
Officials are warning residents in Roddickton, Newfoundland to keep their distance from seals that have wandered into town. According to resident Brendon Fitzpatrick, some have crawled 6 to 8 km away from the ocean.
Like its old-growth trees, the Northwest’s big, old chinook salmon are largely gone, a new study finds, with implications for Puget Sound’s critically endangered southern resident killer whales.
The community of Gambell fought a distemper outbreak among its dog population this spring and managed to squash the epidemic in its early onset. Distemper is a deadly disease that can afflict dogs and wildlife alike and also has been documented in the North Atlantic to jump from dogs to marine mammals like seals.
This comes just days after other reports of about 60 dead ice seals found from Kotlik to Kotzebue and Kivalina to Point Hope.
The appearance of walrus on the ice off Nome added some excitement to the onset of spring.
Walruses were found washed up on the beaches from Cape Espenberg to Shishmaref and further west. Samples taken from the intestines of four walrus all had moderate to high levels of saxitoxin.
Verified reports of deaths and circumstantial evidence animals trapped in ‘bycatch’
The open ocean off Utqiagvik in fall and early winter is evidence of climate change. Remarkably, bowhead whales appear to be thriving, although there are new challenges. Kidney-worm infections have been detected in bowheads, possibly brought by other species of whales coming north. And then there are the killer whales, a natural predators of bowheads now venturing north.
Scientists worry for the pup's survival. Due to the pup’s albinism, it not only has bad eyesight, but could also be ostracized by the colony due to its unique characteristics.
Recent heavy snowfall and large drifts have created ideal conditions for the dens where the endangered Saimaa ringed seal raise their young, and a record number of pups may be born this year. The freshwater Saimaa ringed seal is one of the most endangered seal species in the world.
Scientists are waiting for water samples analysis that could hold skin cells for possible DNA testing. . Read more at straitstimes.com.
Alaska Sea Grant agent Gay Sheffield from Nome responded to report of a dead bowhead and a dead grey whale northeast of Shishmaref near Cape Espenburg.
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