Archive for the 'Seals' Category
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
Authorities say a monk seal attacked a swimmer off Kauai Monday afternoon. The 28-year-old woman from Washington state was snorkeling at Mahaulepu Beach when she drifted into an area where several monk seals were swimming.
A full-grown female seal who was with her pup apparently felt threatened by the snorkeler and attacked. The woman was bitten on her face, head, hand and elbow. She made it back to shore and was later taken to Wilcox Memorial Hospital.
[source]
Monday, March 16th, 2009
Spanish animal rights group EquAnimal staged an nudie protest for the International Day of Action Against the Canadian Seal Hunt with about 100 activists stripping down for the cause.
Apparently, the sprawling mass of nude bodies splattered in red paint caused quite a stir in Madrid. If you want to help the seals, it’s not too late (and no nudity is required). Click here for a few ways to help the cause.
[source] [more pics]
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008
A surfer was chased by a huge seal in Cornwall. Seals may not be sharks but they’ve got razor sharp teeth and this one looks bigger than the surfer!
Locals call them Krays, and they’ve been known to bite surfers who get too close.
Luckily, this man got away uninjured. The seal soon lost interest when a fishing boat came into the harbor.
[source]
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
In the first four months of 2008, four fatal shark attacks along with numerous non-fatal attacks worldwide.
The increasing numbers have alarmed beachgoers, and scientists and shark experts are looking for the reason behind the attacks.
Some theorize the cause may be global warming. Warmer waters could mean sharks will turn up in places they haven’t before. Al Gore never warned me about this. I’ll definitely be more diligent about my recycling now!
“As long as we have an increase in human hours in the water, we will have an increase in shark bites,†says George Burgess, who maintains the International Shark Attack File.
Other factors, such as overfishing, may also be at play. If the sharks’ food supply is reduced, they’ll go looking elsewhere for food.
Do your part.
[source]
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Sammy the seal could face a death sentence for biting the hands that feeds him. The public has ignored pleas to stop feeding him and Sammy’s bitten several people at Stony Point, on Mornington Peninsula, AU.
Wildlife officer Glenn Sharp said the seal’s fate lay in the hands of those who continue to feed him bait and fish scraps.
Department of Sustainability and Environment said euthanasia would be considered as a “last resort”.
The DSE threat to put Sammy down angered RSPCA president Hugh Wirth, who said the seal should not be punished for human stupidity.
They’ve tried to relocate the year-old seal to a seal colony at Sorrento, but Sammy swims 44 miles back to Stony Point every time.
[source]
Thursday, January 31st, 2008
A female seal was found beached in Ship Bottom on about a month ago, and an injured male turned up in
Toms River four days later. Then another seal was discovered on Wednesday… all with shark bite wounds.
Experts say warmer weather this winter may be driving the hungry sharks toward the coastline, and toward the seals (and swimmers).
The seals are being nursed back to health and will hopefully be released back into the wild over the next few months.
[source]
Wednesday, October 17th, 2007
It wasn’t a good weekend for two mammals on the northern Oregon coast – a seal and a sea lion both washed up with what appear to be major shark bites from a great white.
On Friday, a dead harbor seal drifted onto the beach at Seaside with a two-foot chunk taken out of its back. Apparently, the entire backbone is gone. Ew.
Meanwhile, an extremely unhappy California Sea Lion has been resting on a beach since Saturday with a foot-wide shark bite in it’s lower back.
[source]
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
Signs have been posted on beaches near the mouth of northern California’s Russian River warning people to stay way from a stretch of the river where a rogue elephant seal has gone on a rampage in the past month, biting a surfer and a dog and killing several harbor seals.
The seal, nicknamed Nibbles, is an adolescent male who apparently lunges at its victims like a crocodile. Officials are cautioning people not to swim or wade in the area.
Male elephant seals are customarily aggressive, but this one’s behavior goes far beyond what is typical. It has crushed the skulls of female harbor seals and disemboweled male harbor seals. Dang!
[source]
Tuesday, April 17th, 2007
Watch the video and sign the petition.
Sunday, December 24th, 2006
A rare albino seal pup is being cared for at a Lincolnshire seal sanctuary after being washed up on the beach. The seal, named Whitebeam by the staff at the Natureland Seal Sanctuary, was found exhausted, laying on the beach near Sutton-on-Sea in the UK. The seal was suffering from lungworm – which affects the pup’s ability to dive underwater to catch fish – and had damaged flippers. Whitebeam is now on the road to recovery and will be released in 2007.
[source]
