500 Dead Sea Lions Mysteriously Found on Peruvian Beach

This doesn’t seem like a coincidence; more like something killed these sea lions, amongst others, either from a disease we are not aware of; or from the waste products that get thrown back into the sea; i.e poisons! I can’t see 500 sea lions at the same time dying from plastic waste, or entangled in nets! It seems more logical to me that they died of some sort of man-made waste product going into the ocean…like oil etc. But nobody is going to own up to that…are they??

By Jenna Iacurci Nov 24, 2014 11:39 AM EST

A hoard of 500 dead sea lions was mysteriously found recently on a Peruvian beach, leaving scientists puzzled.
(Photo : Reuters/Mariana Bazo)

A hoard of 500 dead sea lions was mysteriously found recently on a Peruvian beach, leaving scientists puzzled.

Bodies of adults as well as young juveniles were scattered across Anconcillo beach in the Santa Province, Ancash region, located just 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital, Lima, BBC News reports.

Environmental experts told local news agency Andina that they suspect fishermen of poisoning the sea mammals, which usually come close to the shore looking for food. However, Peruvian police are looking into other possible causes of these rotting corpses as well, including disease, entanglement in fishing nets and the accidental ingestion of plastic.

Due to a possible public health hazard, city workers quickly hauled away the bodies and took them to a local dump.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first incident of dead sea lions to occur in Peru. According the Agence France-Presse, earlier this month in the Piura region farther north, the bodies of nearly 200 sea lions, along with four dead dolphins, sea turtles and dozens of pelicans, washed ashore.

Officials are still investigating the causes of those mysterious deaths. Given the similarity between these two recent cases, it’s possible the same rational can explain them both.

Not to mention, BBC notes, that in 2012 hundreds of dolphins were found dead along a stretch of Peruvian coastline.

While the environmental group named Orca blamed the deaths on the noise and pressure waves caused by ongoing oil exploration in the area, a government report said otherwise.

The Sea Institute of Peru (IMARPE) at the time ruled out oil exploration as a possible explanation, as well as infection by a bacteria or virus for these puzzling fatalities, and instead blamed natural causes.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, sea lions are vulnerable to the effects of climate change on ocean currents, which impacts the number of feed they rely on for food. They are also victims of bycatch in fisheries and subject to diseases spread by other species, such as dogs.

News Link:–http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/10595/20141124/500-dead-sea-lions-mysteriously-found-on-peruvian-beach.htm

Paraguay bans wild animals in circuses

ADI applauds Paraguay for becoming the latest country to ban the use of wild animals in circuses under Resolution 2002/12 passed this week by the Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment (Secretaría del Medio Ambiente).

Since ADI launched a major undercover investigation of animals in circuses in South America in 2007, a series of bans have swept across the continent as Governments have acted decisively to end the suffering of these animals. Bans are in place in Bolivia, Peru and now Paraguay. Legislation for the ban passed its second reading in Colombia earlier this year and legislation for a ban is well advanced in Brazil.

Jan Creamer, President of Animal Defenders International: “We congratulate the Paraguayan Government for taking this progressive stand and everyone who has worked to secure this ban. This confirms how people all over the world are realising that it is no longer acceptable to confine, deprive and abuse animals in the name of entertainment.”

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Video – Circus controversy: Should elephants be allowed? Vote

See Link Below for Video

The circus is in town this long weekend, and as preparations for the show get underway, what’s going on underneath the big top isn’t without controversy.

The treatment of animals in circuses has long been a controversial topic.

However, organizers with the Royal Canadian Circus, which is touring parts of Alberta this week, says they exceed standards when it comes to how they treat their animals.

The Royal Canadian says they care for all the animals, and don’t believe they should be hurt during any form of training, further insisting the elephants enjoy the social atmosphere of entertaining.

“What we ask our animals to do is nothing they wouldn’t do in the wild. There isn’t one trick you’ll ever see that is something not their nature to do. We just teach them to do it on cue, and complimentary to the performance,” says Larry Solheim, Royal Canadian Circus.

However, there are those who don’t agree with the use of animals in circuses.

Animal Defenders International has successfully stopped the use of animals in circuses in Bolivia and Peru, but say it’s been challenging here in Canada, calling our animal welfare laws ‘pitiful’.

“These elephants are trying to get onto this little tub, then she had them on a tiny rotating stool with one leg. Elephants don’t do that,” says Carol Tracey, Animal Defenders International.

The people with the Royal Canadian Circus say they shouldn’t be judged based on what other circuses do.

The circus runs this weekend in the parking lot at the Crossroads Furniture Market

Do you elephants belong in the circus?

No, there should be a ban on all exotic animals.  86.27%

Yes, as long as they are cared for appropriately.  13.73% 

Please vote at the link below  – Stats. at time of posting!
Read it on Global News: Global Calgary | Circus controversy: Should elephants be allowed?

Click here to wach Video & News Link:-

http://www.globaltvcalgary.com/circus+controversy+should+elephants+be+allowed/6442644387/story.html

Thousands of dolphins may have died in Peru’s massive die-off; cause could remain mystery

LIMA, Peru — When a retired fisherman called to report that about 1,500dolphins had washed up dead on Peru’s northern coast, veterinarian Carlos Yaipén’s first reaction was, “That’s impossible.”

But when Yaipén traveled up the coast last week, he counted 615 deaddolphins along a 135-kilometer stretch of coastline.

Now, the death toll could be as high as 2,800, based on volunteers’ counts. Peru’s massive dolphin die-off is among the largest ever reported worldwide.

The strandings, which began in January, are a marine mystery that may never be unraveled. Experts say the causes could be acoustic impact from testing for oil or perhaps an unknown virus or other pathogen. Little marine research takes place in Peru, and even in the United States, of 55 marine mammal strandings since 1991, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has classified 29 as “undetermined.”

All of the 20 or so animals Yaipén has examined showed middle-ear hemorrhage and fracture of the ear’s periotic bone, lung lesions and bubbles in the blood. To him, that suggests that a major acoustic impact caused injury, but not immediate death. Most of the dolphins apparently were alive when they beached, or had died very recently.

“The animal would become disoriented, would have intense pain, and would have to make a great effort to breathe,” he said of the injuries.

Other experts say there is not enough evidence to draw a conclusion

Veterinarian Carlos Yaipén examines a dead dolphin calf.

Stress or toxic contaminants can make marine mammals more vulnerable to pathogens such as viruses, according to Peter Ross, a research scientist at Canada’s Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, British Columbia.

In a mass die-off, “there might be a smoking gun, but often we find that it’s two or three or four factors,” said Ross, who is one of the world’s leading experts on the effects of toxic contaminants in marine mammals.

Persistent organic pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs, the pesticide DDT, dioxins and flame-retardants accumulate in fish, and the concentrations are magnified as they move up the food web to top predators such as dolphins, seals and sea lions.

Laboratory studies of rodents and cells harvested from marine mammals show that PCBs and dioxins “are very immunotoxic,” Ross said. “The immune system is exquisitely sensitive to exposure to environmental contaminants.”

Animals with weaker immune systems could be more vulnerable to stress from noise or climate change, or to diseases such as leptospirosis, brucellosis or distemper, Ross said.

Click here to read more:- Environmental Health News