Week in wildlife: a hippo with a hitchhiker, a wallaby jailbreak and a fly on the wall
Goats in Essaouira, Morocco climb an argan tree in search of its fruit, which has been described as 'sweet-smelling but unpleasantly flavoured' Photograph: Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP
The strongshank redemption … a wallaby in Wattrelos (near Lille), northern France, was captured on camera after escaping from its Belgian enclosure. It ran free for several days before French firefighters managed to catch it. Another fugitive wallaby that escaped along with it has yet to be found Photograph: SDIS 59/AFP/Getty Images
Three rescued bharals, a type of wild sheep, at a wildlife rescue centre in Qilian Mountain national park, China Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock
Volunteer divers in Dorset, UK, are reporting a surge in the number of seahorses. After efforts to make conditions better for the elusive creatures in Studland Bay, sightings are greatly increasing. Over the last two decades, conservationists have worked hard to make conditions better for the seagrass – and thus the seahorses – including introducing almost 100 'eco moorings' that do not harm the habitat Photograph: Neil Garrick-Maidment/The Seahorse Trust
A humpback whale breaches in Guanabara Bay, near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The whales are following their migratory route toward the Abrolhos archipelago, where they gather to mate Photograph: Andre Coelho/EPA
A hawksbill sea turtle swims among bioluminescence, defined as the biological light emission of marine life, in the Red Sea. The photo was taken using a 'fisheye' lens – not the ordinary kind, but special imaging technology that allows underwater photographers to record bioluminescence from the perspective of the fish Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
A gosling searches for food near the Main River in Frankfurt, Germany Photograph: Matías Basualdo/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
An ant on a flower at the Parc Floral in eastern Paris, France Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
An anhinga opens wide for dinner in Lake Eola park, Orlando, Florida, US. The water bird is a darter that dives and spears fish with its sharp beak Photograph: Ronen Tivony/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
A pair of Britain's rarest breeding birds have successfully reared chicks at a secret location protected by conservationists and the farmer whose land they nested on. The Montagu's harrier has not successfully bred in the UK since 2019, but this year a pair of the migratory birds of prey have managed to raise four healthy youngsters to fledging. Their nest is fenced off for protection Photograph: RSPB/PA
One of the world's rarest sharks has been filmed off the Welsh coast, offering a fleeting glimpse into the life of a species teetering on the brink of extinction. Dramatic footage shows a critically endangered angel shark swimming through the waters of Cardigan Bay – the first time it has been recorded on film in the area since 2021 Photograph: Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre
A spotted lanternfly, an invasive insect from China that is spreading across the north-eastern United States, watches a tennis match in Washington DC, US. The fly is no danger to humans, but it can devastate crops and trees Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA
A meadow brown butterfly rests on a bramble leaf in Dunsden, Oxfordshire, UK. Some spotters have seen an increase in butterflies this year Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Shutterstock
A bull moose near Tupper Lake, upstate New York, has decided to spend its summer holiday on an Adirondack mountain trail. State wildlife officials have been forced to keep hikers away as they keep watch and wonder why the majestic animal is not moving on Photograph: AP
A vervet monkey carries its baby at the Bandia wildlife reserve near Dakar, Senegal Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Buffaloes wade in the retreating water of the drought-stricken Chibayish marshes in Iraq, on the Euphrates. Iraq's 46 million people face rising temperatures, chronic water shortages and year-on-year droughts, in a country hard hit by the effects of climate change Photograph: Asaad Niazi/AFP/Getty Images
Steller sea lions swim during a tsunami approaching the shore of Antsiferov Island, a small, uninhabited island in the northern Kuril chain that runs between Russia and Japan Photograph: Nikita Sinchinov/AP
A hamerkop bird hitches a ride on a hippo before being shaken off by the grumpy beast in Kenya's Masai Mara. The bird, named after its hammer-shaped head, climbed on board as the hippo plodded through a pond full of green water hyacinth
Photograph: Ann Aveyard/Animal News Agency
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The Independent
17 hours ago
- The Independent
Scientists believe they have solved the mystery of what killed more than 5 billion sea stars
Scientists have finally unravelled the decade-long mystery behind the devastating epidemic that has killed more than five billion sea stars off the Pacific coast of North America. The breakthrough identifies a specific bacterium as the culprit, offering a crucial step towards saving the iconic marine creatures. Since 2013, a mysterious sea star wasting disease has caused a mass die-off from Mexico to Alaska, affecting over 20 species and continuing its destructive path today. The sunflower sea star was particularly hard hit, losing approximately 90 per cent of its population within the first five years of the outbreak. "It's really quite gruesome," said marine disease ecologist Alyssa Gehman at the Hakai Institute in British Columbia, Canada, who contributed to pinpointing the cause. She described how healthy sea stars typically have "puffy arms sticking straight out," but the disease causes them to develop lesions before "their arms actually fall off." The long-sought answer, published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, points to a bacterium that has also been found to infect shellfish. The findings "solve a long-standing question about a very serious disease in the ocean," commented Rebecca Vega Thurber, a marine microbiologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who was not involved in the study. Identifying the cause proved to be a complex, decade-long endeavour, fraught with false leads. Early research mistakenly focused on a densovirus, which was later found to be a normal resident within healthy sea stars, not linked to the disease, according to Melanie Prentice of the Hakai Institute, a co-author of the new study. Previous attempts also failed because researchers studied tissue samples from dead sea stars that no longer contained the vital bodily fluid surrounding their organs. The latest study, however, meticulously analysed this fluid, known as coelomic fluid, where the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida was ultimately discovered. Microbiologist Blake Ushijima of the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, who was not involved in the research, praised the team's "really smart and significant" detective work, noting the immense difficulty in tracing environmental disease sources, especially underwater. Scientists say they have solved the mystery of what killed more than 5 billion sea stars Show all 5 With the cause now identified, scientists are better positioned to intervene. Ms Prentice suggested that researchers could now test the remaining sea stars for health, considering relocation or captive breeding programmes to reintroduce them to areas where sunflower sea stars have been decimated. They may also investigate if certain populations possess natural immunity or if treatments like probiotics could boost resistance to the disease. The recovery of sea star populations is not merely about saving a single species; it is vital for the entire Pacific ecosystem. Healthy sea stars play a crucial role in controlling sea urchin populations. "They're voracious eaters," Ms Gehman explained about the Sunflower sea stars, despite their seemingly innocent appearance, as they consume almost everything on the ocean floor. The dramatic decline in sea stars led to an explosion in sea urchin numbers, which in turn devoured approximately 95 per cent of Northern California 's kelp forests within a decade. These kelp forests are critical habitats, providing food and shelter for a diverse array of marine life, including fish, sea otters, and seals. Researchers are hopeful that these new findings will enable them to restore sea star populations and, consequently, regrow the kelp forests that Ms Thurber aptly compares to "the rainforests of the ocean." ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The Independent
21 hours ago
- The Independent
Scientists say they have solved the mystery of what killed more than 5 billion sea stars
Scientists say they have at last solved the mystery of what killed more than 5 billion sea stars off the Pacific coast of North America in a decade-long epidemic. Sea stars – often known as starfish – typically have five arms and some species sport up to 24 arms. They range in color from solid orange to tapestries of orange, purple, brown and green. Starting in 2013, a mysterious sea star wasting disease sparked a mass die-off from Mexico to Alaska. The epidemic has devastated more than 20 species and continues today. Worst hit was a species called the sunflower sea star, which lost around 90% of its population in the outbreak's first five years. 'It's really quite gruesome,' said marine disease ecologist Alyssa Gehman at the Hakai Institute in British Columbia, Canada, who helped pinpoint the cause. Healthy sea stars have 'puffy arms sticking straight out,' she said. But the wasting disease causes them to grow lesions and 'then their arms actually fall off.' The culprit? Bacteria that has also infected shellfish, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution. The findings 'solve a long-standing question about a very serious disease in the ocean," said Rebecca Vega Thurber, a marine microbiologist at University of California, Santa Barbara, who was not involved in the study. It took more than a decade for researchers to identify the cause of the disease, with many false leads and twists and turns along the way. Early research hinted the cause might be a virus, but it turned out the densovirus that scientists initially focused on was actually a normal resident inside healthy sea stars and not associated with disease, said Melanie Prentice of the Hakai Institute, co-author of the new study. Other efforts missed the real killer because researchers studied tissue samples of dead sea stars that no longer contained the bodily fluid that surrounds the organs. But the latest study includes detailed analysis of this fluid, called coelomic fluid, where the bacteria Vibrio pectenicida were found. 'It's incredibly difficult to trace the source of so many environmental diseases, especially underwater,' said microbiologist Blake Ushijima of the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, who was not involved in the research. He said the detective work by this team was 'really smart and significant.' Now that scientists know the cause, they have a better shot at intervening to help sea stars. Prentice said that scientists could potentially now test which of the remaining sea stars are still healthy — and consider whether to relocate them, or breed them in captivity to later transplant them to areas that have lost almost all their sunflower sea stars. Scientists may also test if some populations have natural immunity, and if treatments like probiotics may help boost immunity to the disease. Such recovery work is not only important for sea stars, but for entire Pacific ecosystems because healthy starfish gobble up excess sea urchins, researchers say. Sunflower sea stars 'look sort of innocent when you see them, but they eat almost everything that lives on the bottom of the ocean,' said Gehman. 'They're voracious eaters.' With many fewer sea stars, the sea urchins that they usually munch on exploded in population – and in turn gobbled up around 95% of the kelp forest s in Northern California within a decade. These kelp forests provide food and habitat for a wide variety of animals including fish, sea otters and seals. Researchers hope the new findings will allow them to restore sea star populations -- and regrow the kelp forests that Thurber compares to 'the rainforests of the ocean.' ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- The Guardian
Week in wildlife: a hippo with a hitchhiker, a wallaby jailbreak and a fly on the wall
Going loopy … a pair of flamingos in Río Lagartos, Mexico, form a mirror image as they twist their heads backwards and upside down Photograph: Zeren Gu/Solent News & Photo Agency Goats in Essaouira, Morocco climb an argan tree in search of its fruit, which has been described as 'sweet-smelling but unpleasantly flavoured' Photograph: Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP The strongshank redemption … a wallaby in Wattrelos (near Lille), northern France, was captured on camera after escaping from its Belgian enclosure. It ran free for several days before French firefighters managed to catch it. Another fugitive wallaby that escaped along with it has yet to be found Photograph: SDIS 59/AFP/Getty Images Three rescued bharals, a type of wild sheep, at a wildlife rescue centre in Qilian Mountain national park, China Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock Volunteer divers in Dorset, UK, are reporting a surge in the number of seahorses. After efforts to make conditions better for the elusive creatures in Studland Bay, sightings are greatly increasing. Over the last two decades, conservationists have worked hard to make conditions better for the seagrass – and thus the seahorses – including introducing almost 100 'eco moorings' that do not harm the habitat Photograph: Neil Garrick-Maidment/The Seahorse Trust A humpback whale breaches in Guanabara Bay, near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The whales are following their migratory route toward the Abrolhos archipelago, where they gather to mate Photograph: Andre Coelho/EPA A hawksbill sea turtle swims among bioluminescence, defined as the biological light emission of marine life, in the Red Sea. The photo was taken using a 'fisheye' lens – not the ordinary kind, but special imaging technology that allows underwater photographers to record bioluminescence from the perspective of the fish Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images A gosling searches for food near the Main River in Frankfurt, Germany Photograph: Matías Basualdo/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock An ant on a flower at the Parc Floral in eastern Paris, France Photograph: AFP/Getty Images An anhinga opens wide for dinner in Lake Eola park, Orlando, Florida, US. The water bird is a darter that dives and spears fish with its sharp beak Photograph: Ronen Tivony/NurPhoto/Shutterstock A pair of Britain's rarest breeding birds have successfully reared chicks at a secret location protected by conservationists and the farmer whose land they nested on. The Montagu's harrier has not successfully bred in the UK since 2019, but this year a pair of the migratory birds of prey have managed to raise four healthy youngsters to fledging. Their nest is fenced off for protection Photograph: RSPB/PA One of the world's rarest sharks has been filmed off the Welsh coast, offering a fleeting glimpse into the life of a species teetering on the brink of extinction. Dramatic footage shows a critically endangered angel shark swimming through the waters of Cardigan Bay – the first time it has been recorded on film in the area since 2021 Photograph: Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre A spotted lanternfly, an invasive insect from China that is spreading across the north-eastern United States, watches a tennis match in Washington DC, US. The fly is no danger to humans, but it can devastate crops and trees Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA A meadow brown butterfly rests on a bramble leaf in Dunsden, Oxfordshire, UK. Some spotters have seen an increase in butterflies this year Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Shutterstock A bull moose near Tupper Lake, upstate New York, has decided to spend its summer holiday on an Adirondack mountain trail. State wildlife officials have been forced to keep hikers away as they keep watch and wonder why the majestic animal is not moving on Photograph: AP A vervet monkey carries its baby at the Bandia wildlife reserve near Dakar, Senegal Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images Buffaloes wade in the retreating water of the drought-stricken Chibayish marshes in Iraq, on the Euphrates. Iraq's 46 million people face rising temperatures, chronic water shortages and year-on-year droughts, in a country hard hit by the effects of climate change Photograph: Asaad Niazi/AFP/Getty Images Steller sea lions swim during a tsunami approaching the shore of Antsiferov Island, a small, uninhabited island in the northern Kuril chain that runs between Russia and Japan Photograph: Nikita Sinchinov/AP A hamerkop bird hitches a ride on a hippo before being shaken off by the grumpy beast in Kenya's Masai Mara. The bird, named after its hammer-shaped head, climbed on board as the hippo plodded through a pond full of green water hyacinth Photograph: Ann Aveyard/Animal News Agency
