Archive | June 21, 2015
MAGNITUDE 6.0 FIJI REGION
http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=447683
Subject To Change
Depth: 563 km
Distances: 342 km W of Nuku‘alofa, Tonga / pop: 22,400 / local time: 10:28:16.3 2015-06-22
417 km SE of Suva, Fiji / pop: 77,366 / local time: 09:28:16.3 2015-06-22
1014 km SW of Apia, Samoa / pop: 40,407 / local time: 10:28:16.3 2015-06-22
Hundreds of spring Chinook Salmon turning up dead in Oregon rivers, USA
Hundreds of spring Chinook salmon have been found dead in Oregon rivers over the past week, in a sign that abnormally high water temperatures are taking a toll on the threatened species, wildlife officials said on Friday.
Low snowpack linked to a historic drought has prevented icy-cold runoff from entering rivers as normal this year, according to federal hydrologists.
Temperatures in the Willamette River, a tributary of the Columbia River, have risen from 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 Celsius) to 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 Celsius) over the past week, about 12 degrees F (6.5 Celsius) higher than it was the year prior, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Rick Swart said.
“Anything above 70 degrees, the fish are really stressed,” Swart said.
Overall, Swart said it would take several more years of warm rivers to create a significant long-term setback for Chinook salmon populations, which have been returning to the Willamette River at levels not seen for decades.
As of June 14, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife officials had counted more than 51,000 Chinook passing through a fish-counting station on the river, far above the 50-year average of 41,000.
A majority of the fish found dead so far also were hatchery raised, rather than the wild fish designated as “threatened” under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, Swart said. He added that a biologist’s spot-check showed at least 11 wild Chinook had died on the Clackamas in recent days.
While spring Chinook typically die in the fall after spawning and it is not unusual for some to die every spring and summer, pre-spawning deaths this year are both more numerous and earlier in the season than is typical, Swart said.
To cope with the conditions, some salmon have pushed into tributaries of the Willamette, where temperatures, while higher than normal, are below the 70 degree threshold (21 Celsius), he said.
Some 50 fish that attempted to make the journey from the Willamette to the Clackamas were found dead this week in that tributary.
Warm waters could ultimately also challenge fish hatcheries, but at present these government-overseen breeders do not expect an impact this year, he said.
Courtesy of reuters.com
Massive die off of fish ‘due to heat’ in Ifugao, Philippines
Extreme heat is killing fish in the province
Provincial Agriculturist Avelino Lunag Jr. said heat in the province has affected 200 hectares of commercial fishponds in lowland areas of the province where fish are known to thrive.
Lunag said the areas of Lagawe, Lamut, Alfonso Lista, Aguinaldo and Mayaoyao are 100 percent affected by the fishkill signifying a 40 percent loss to date.
“This is the first time we had a fishkill here,” he reported.
Lunag said the extreme heat has penetrated the fishponds, leading to the death of fully-grown and fingerling fishes and losses to farmers.
Ifugao is Cordillera’s number one producer of fish, specifically, tilapia, which are propagated in various fishponds across the province.
Among the major economic sectors, the primary sector, particularly agriculture, fisheries and livestock absorbed 70 percent of the total employed persons.
Lunag said temperature in the province capital is known to soar to a high of 39 degrees.
“But Cagayan is nearby and the area is known to hit 42 degrees, we may have hit that already,” he surmised.
Lunag said the fishkill is due to lack of oxygen in the fishpond and organic matter in the water composition, which produces carbon.
Provincial agriculture records show fishery is a very significant economic activity in Ifugao due to the presence of, and access by the local population to several fishing grounds like rivers, lakes, reservoirs, freshwater fishponds, fish cages and fish pens. Practically all municipalities are traversed by rivers, creeks, streams and brooks.
In 2009, data reported a total area of about 192.54 hectares of fish ponds and 27.48 hectares of fish cages, 70 percent of which are located in Aguinaldo and Alfonso Lista while the remaining 30 percent is in Lamut.
In the four-year period (2006-2009), Ifugao consistently increased its fish production volume to 2,286.90 metric tons in 2009 from 2,043.40 metric tons in 2006 and managed to grow by 3.82 percent annually.
There are 235 fish cage operators in Aguinaldo and Alfonso Lista while 1,280 fish pond operators in Lamut. A total of 233 fishing boats were used in fishing activities. More than three fourth (85.41 percent) of this number are non-motorized while the rest are motorized. The highest number of both motorized and non-motorized fishing boats came from barangay Halag of Aguinaldo.
The fishkill has been plaguing the province since May.
Lunag said in a square meter there are three fishes, which thrive explaining the 200 hectares affect immeasurable farms with fingerling and fully-grown fishes.
The provincial agriculturist said technicians are now crafting remedies to the phenomenon with experts adding anti biotics to the feeds given to fish and turning to aeration technology to spur oxygenation in ponds.
There are 1,280 fishpond operators in the province, farmgate prices of Tilapia is pegged at P80 to P85 per kilo with five to six pieces of fish in a kilo.
Tilapia in the province is being made into an array of products by smoking, drying, pickling and various processed frozen food variations.
Courtesy of sunstar.com.ph
9+ endangered whales found dead during the past few weeks in Alaska, USA
The first of several dead fin whales, later named FW01, floats outside Marmot Bay near Kodiak Island on May 23.
M/V Kennicott crew / NOAA
At least nine fin whales have been found dead in recent weeks in southern Alaska waters, and researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and University of Alaska Fairbanks are attempting to find out what killed them.
“We rarely see more than one fin whale carcass every couple of years,” said Kate Wynne, a UAF professor and Alaska Sea Grant marine mammal specialist, and the recent rash of dead whale discoveries is “mysterious.”
According to a release from UAF, the first of the whales was reportedly spotted on May 23 by crew members aboard the state ferry Kennicott, which travels between Bellingham, Washington, and ports in Southeast and Southcentral Alaska.
Over the next two weeks, boaters, fishermen and pilots reported other dead whales in the floating in the area, the UAF release said. Those reports, and the photos submitted with them, led Wynne and her NOAA colleagues to conclude that “at least nine fin whales died in a relatively small area,” the release said.
For now, the “go-to answer” to questions about the deaths is a harmful algal bloom, said Bree Witteveen, a UAF Sea Grant marine mammal specialist working with Wynne on the investigation.
“It’s definitely a suspect,” she said in a telephone interview. But pinpointing cause of death for the marine mammals could be difficult, “even if we have evidence of a harmful algal bloom,” she said.
“We honestly don’t know,” she said. “We probably won’t ever get a definitive answer.”
Fin whales are massive, growing to more than 70 feet long as adults and weighing 45 tons, making them the second-largest whale species, according to NOAA. They migrate every summer to Alaska waters, including the Gulf of Alaska, Prince William Sound and the Chukchi Sea, and filter the tiny fish they eat through the baleen in their mouths.
They travel and feed in tight groups, behavior that supports the idea that the whales encountered something toxic at the same time in May, the UAF release said.
The whales were reportedly discovered from Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska to Unimak Pass, which is located near the eastern end of the Aleutian Islands and western tip of the Alaska Peninsula.
A couple of the dead whales wound up on beaches, Witteveen said. She and Wynne were able to get samples from one of those whales, she said, but another beached carcass was carried away by the night’s tide before samples could be retrieved.
The single whale that they were able to examine had no obvious injuries and had a thick layer of blubber, a sign of good body condition, Witteveen said.
“It was a really healthy animal; there weren’t any obvious signs of cause of death,” she said.
The samples were sent to a lab for analysis, and Witteveen said she expects results within a couple of weeks.
Fin whales are endangered, and little is known about the details of their migration patterns or even their total numbers, Witteveen said.
The loss of nine whales is probably not significant from a population standpoint, “but it is enough to raise a concern that something unusual, something out of the ordinary is happening,” she said.
The researchers are planning to fly over the eastern side of the Kodiak Archipelago, where most of the dead whales have been found, to look for additional carcasses or signs of algal blooms and to take water samples, Witteveen said.
Warmer-than-normal waters are among the factors that scientists have linked to harmful algal blooms.
Sea-surface temperatures in the Gulf of Alaska are running 0.9 to 3.6 degrees above average, said Jason Ahsenmacher of the National Weather Service in Anchorage.
Meanwhile, several dead walruses and hundreds of dead seabirds have been discovered in an Alaska Peninsula region about 300 miles southwest of Kodiak Island, federal officials report.
About 25 walrus carcasses were found near Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, an unexpected occurrence in an area where walrus tramplings are rare, said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Andrea Medeiros.
“You don’t usually see large mortality events in that area,” she said.
Law enforcement agents with Fish and Wildlife are investigating the walrus deaths to determine whether they might have been human-caused, Medeiros said.
In the same general area, carcasses of hundreds of seabirds and a dead whale were also found, she said. “I don’t know if there’s a connection or not,” she said.
A dead humpback whale was found in the same area as the fin whales, but was determined to have been killed by an orca, Witteveen said.
Officials are asking members of the public to report and photograph any other dead animals that may seem unusual.
Courtesy of adn.com
Thousands of dead fish line the banks of a dam in Jaguaribara, Brazil
A scene disturbing, sad and shocking at the same time. The pictures are on the internet and show the large amount of dead fish thrown into land near the Castanhão dam, in the city of Jaguaribara, in the region of Vale do Jaguaribe.
With the drop in the water level of the reservoir, lack of oxygen and the fish start dying. The phenomenon is repeated in the Castanhão dam and represents losses to creators. According to them, the estimated damage could reach $ 300 thousand dollars.
The creators say the fall of the water level of the dam is not because of the small rainy season Court that struck the State of Ceará, for them, the fact occurred due to an increased release of water from the reservoir by water management (Cogerh). The company denies that.
Since last year, with the worsening water crisis, some producers begin to transfer cages for other shells. The shortage of rains generated problems for the supply of the population in Ceará, lack of water and, in many cities, part of the production of bean and became lost. The Castanhão dam is the largest water reservoir of Ceará, is able to accumulate 6.8 billion meters of water, but currently has less than 25% of this capacity. The Castanhão has as one of the major veins of the power Dam Orós, with 1.8 billion cubic meters. The Orós was the reservoir more accumulated water in the current rainy season Court, but also got the least amount of water than their ability.
Courtesy of cearaagora.com.br
Hundreds of fish dying every day in the Pahang River, Malaysia
Nor Hazirol show hundreds of dead fish cages every day as a result of water too turbid River Pahang
TEMERLOH-cage fish farming Industry continues to be affected by the State of Pahang river water too turbid to cause hundreds of fish seed is put in the cage die every day.
Breeders Nor Hazirol Abd Aziz says he’s new venture into fish farming cage was so impressed with the State of Pahang river water too turbid to cause hundreds of birds dead fish seeds per day.
According to him, the turbidity of the River became a contributor to the death when nearly all dead fish has thick mud to stick on the insang.
“If the State of Pahang river water is constant here, not only was I involved with new fish breeding cages will be affected, sooner or later all farmers will lose.
“And if there is no control and enforcement against intrusion activities, forest, mining and related of course fish breeding industry in this cage will be extinct,” he said at the time found in his possession fish cages in Bangau Drains today.
Nor Hazirol said the Government should enforce laws against the mining industry with more strict for being the cause of water pollution of the river.
Nor the new one year Hazirol involved in the industry of fish cage said, the river water is too cloudy water problem is not a new story because she heard about rintihan fish before.
“Now I’ve been engage in this cage fish industry and experience it yourself, not a little capital we invest to get involved with fish farming cages.
“The Government should have sustainable development seimbangkan so that existing development does not affect the ecosystem and fish cages.
“Mining, timber, etc. it’s all will give the results of course it should be done but how about our revenue? Do we not need to find their own results, “he asks.
Nor Hazirol say, the base of the tree to the present problem was weak enforcement against miners and forest exploration activities as well as inhale the sand River.
“If everything is responsible for the nature of course problems like this does not happen, we are busy chasing to achieve developed country but thought far behind,” he said.
Nor Hazirol hope the State Fisheries Department could suggest to the State Government so that tougher enforcement against River pollutants so as to not affect the fish cage industry.
“The Fisheries Department also needs to see firsthand the problems that occur now and give assistance to those who are really hard,” he said.
Courtesy of sinarharian.com.my
Thousands of fish dead due to flooding in Grayson County, Texas, USA
By: Daniella Rivera
Recent flooding in Grayson County trapped thousands of fish, which then died, collecting near the State Highway 91 bridge at Shawnee Creek. The odd sight has gone viral on Facebook.
“Haha, who expected it? I think it’s kind of crazy,” said Kit Staton after one of his Facebook posts went viral, with more than 800 shares.
Staton is a car salesman, and in his spare time, he’s an avid fisherman. He usually posts pictures of his catches on Facebook, but it’s his photos of dead fish that are going viral.
“I guess it falls in with all the flooding and everything and it’s kind of drawing a lot of attention right now because it’s an unusual event that’s going on here in Texoma,” he said.
“In the last few weeks, Lake Texoma hit a new record elevation, and water flowed over the Spillway for only the fourth time in history. That water washed out the bridge on State Highway 91 at Shawnee Creek, but when it receded, thousands of fish were trapped in a pool of water.
“So they swam around and did alright for a while, but pretty soon, so many fish take all the dissolved oxygen out of the water and they finally just suffocate,” said Texas Parks and Wildlife district fishery biologist Bruce Hysmith.
More rain from Tropical Depression Bill is now moving those dead fish down stream.
“And along with that washed away some of that smell!” said Staton.
One photo in particular, has social media users talking.
“It’s an endangered species,” said Hysmith. “It’s a spoonbill catfish. They’re endangered, and they’re kind of semi-rare.”
While the unusual sight has gained a lot of attention, Hysmith reminds us it’s part of life, “Well yeah, you don’t want to see it but hey, that’s nature.”
The rising creek will fall again, and like it has many times at Lake Texoma, history will repeat itself. When the most recent flood waters recede, Texomans can expect to see more trapped fish.
Courtesy of kxii.com
200,000 Chickens to be killed due to another outbreak of avian flu in Nebraska, USA
Bird flu has been confirmed at a northeast Nebraska farm that was already voluntarily slaughtering its 200,000 chickens.
The Nebraska Department of Agriculture said Tuesday that bird flu has now been confirmed on four farms in the state, up from three.
The new test result doesn’t change the agency’s plan to kill nearly 5 million chickens and quarantine all nearby farms to limit the disease’s spread.
The Dixon County farm where the disease was found recently is one of two where all birds are being slaughtered as a precaution. The company that owns those farms also owns several farms where the disease has been confirmed.
Workers continue to slaughter chickens on the affected farms and have begun sanitizing the facilities.
Courtesy of 1011now.com
16,000 pigs dead, due to flooding in Guangxi, China
Guangxi farms were flooded, more than 16,000 dead pigs foaming water. Flood a vast ocean, sent off a terrible odor on the number of dead pigs floating in the water. Shocking picture could not bear to look directly at, now that the hot weather, if the bodies of dead pigs do not speed up the processing might cause pollution to the local water resources, even an outbreak of disease.
It is imperative to prevent foot and mouth disease, the highly pathogenic avian influenza, highly pathogenic blue-ear pig disease, Streptococcus suis, a variety of animal disease incidence and prevalence. Harmless treatment of pigs of death is “plays”.
It is learnt that the Guangxi “6.14” flood, a new round of heavy rain floods cause the dahua Yao autonomous county of Guangxi six rural farms were flooded, 16,000 pigs drowned.
Currently, emergency measures are being taken on the ground, looking for deep, dead pigs as soon as possible for treatment, but treatment is difficult.
Dahua Yao autonomous county of Guangxi this more serious round of heavy rainfall in the affected counties, Liu Xiang is dahua hardest-hit towns, local 20 390 mm of rainfall within an hour, this was the most rain since dahua County.
Courtesy of finance.gucheng.com
13,000 sheep die on long distance boat journey without food or water, from Romania to Jordan
During a long distance journey from Romania to Jordan around 13,000 sheep died without food and water. The ship on which the animals are, was not allowed to invest in Jordan, since there were already dead sheep on board at this time. Now the ship controls to a port in Somalia African.
The animal rights organization “Four Paws” has uncovered the agonizing deaths of thousands of sheep over a long distance journey. After a journey by truck 13,000 sheep were loaded at the port Midia in Romania on a ship to the country of destination Jordan. According to Jordanian media around 5,200 sheep died on the ship after eight days without food and water. The head of Romanian Farmers’ Association have informed, according to the animal welfare organization that the number of dead animals even amounts to 11,000, so the club in a press release.
Sheep without earmarks
The “Four Paws” have also found that some of the sheep were sick or dead and no earmarks wore while they were still in the truck at the port gate.
According to research by the animal rights activists dead sheep Holder Trade should include. This company based in Romania will export 12,000 sheep and 4,000 cattle a year to Western Europe, Africa and the Middle East and recorded an annual turnover of six million euros. By law, every farm animal would shortly receive an ear chip after birth, so its origin can be detected.
“We have found that this company collect animals from around the country for export, so that they arrive already exhausted at the harbor,” says “Four Paws” Gabriel Paun -Campaigner in the press release.
Authorities require the disposal of dead animals
This incident occurred a few weeks occurred after the Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture had lifted an eight-month ban on imports of livestock from Romania after it had been reported there in 2014 about an outbreak of bluetongue. Now called for the Jordanian authorities that the ship dead animals disposed of before approving the healthy entry to Jordan.
“A disgusting, but common practice among carriers is the animals simply to topple into the sea. They can spread disease and damage to the marine ecosystem. It has often dead livestock were washed away by the waves on the beach. In April, we received the information of a dead cow lay on the beach of Tel Aviv after 32 cows had died during transport from Romania to Israel, “said Gabriel Paun continued.
Courtesy of topagrar.at
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