By JOHN ELDERNovember 15, 2009 THOUSANDS of muttonbirds – upon arriving in Australia to breed – have been found dead along the Victorian and NSW coasts in the past two weeks. The birds, properly known as short-tailed shearwaters, probably died from exhaustion and malnutrition following their migratory flight to Australia from the Arctic Pacific. The […]
By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.com, November 10, 2009 On Monday October 26th a three-year-old girl mistakenly ate the pesticide Furadan (also known as carbofuran) in western Kenya. Her father, a teacher at a primary school, said that he had no knowledge of how dangerous the pesticide was, which he had purchased to kill pests in his […]
Scientists call for new measures to protect the seabirds as experts warn one albatross drowns every five minutes after becoming entangled in fishing gear Press Association guardian.co.uk, Monday 9 November 2009 11.31 GMT Albatrosses and other birds are facing extinction as they become tangled in commercial fishing gear, conservation organisations warned today. Thirty-seven species of […]
By LINDSEY HOSHAWPublished: November 9, 2009 ABOARD THE ALGUITA, 1,000 miles northeast of Hawaii — In this remote patch of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from any national boundary, the detritus of human life is collecting in a swirling current so large that it defies precise measurement. Light bulbs, bottle caps, toothbrushes, Popsicle sticks […]
Gannets on the island of Malgas in South Africa are in a bit of a pinch. Usually they nest with one parent out fishing, while the other parent guards the chick. However, fewer fish to catch means both parents have to go hunting and leave the chick unguarded. This leaves an opportunity open for pelicans […]
PERTH, Australia, November 3, 2009 (ENS) – PTTEP Australasia today confirmed it has killed a leaking oil well and stopped the main fire at the Montara well head platform and surrounding the West Atlas drilling rig in the Timor Sea off Australia’s north west Kimberley coast. Now the focus turns to investigating the cause of […]
By James Morgan, BBC News, Kenya At the edges of Kenya’s Lake Nakuru, Paul Opiyo picks up a dead flamingo and warns some eager tourists not to touch it, just in case. He points down to his feet – the brown earth is speckled with brittle white feather shafts. “We should be underwater, standing here,” […]
An oil rig at the centre of a massive spill in the Timor Sea off the north-west coast of Australia has caught fire. The company which runs the well, PTTEP Australasia, said the fire broke out as it attempted to plug a leak deep underwater at the West Atlas rig. All workers are reported to […]
They call us a nation of animal lovers, yet attacks on creatures in their natural habitats have more than doubled in a year By Jonathan Owen Crimes against wildlife, including badger baiting with dogs, hare coursing, poisoning of protected birds and even trapping them to sell as caged pets have soared to unprecedented heights. New […]
An oil well at the centre of a massive spill in the Timor Sea off the north west coast of Australia is on fire. The company which runs the well, PTTEP Australasia, said the fire broke out as it made another attempt to plug a leak deep underwater at the West Atlas rig. Engineers have […]
