Daily Archives: June 24, 2017

Block Island Wind Farm May Have Killed Young Humpback Whale

The carcass of a young humpback whale washed ashore Friday morning in Jamestown, Rhode Island, causing experts to think that a nearby offshore wind turbine may be to blame. Rescue workers and two veterinarians from a nearby aquarium collected samples from the dead whale, and suspect that the nearby Block Island offshore wind farm could be responsible for the whale’s death. Noise from the turbine allegedly hampers the sonar that whales use to navigate and communicate. “If necropsy shows that a perfectly healthy whale beached itself where offshore wind turbines do exist, they need to really check what kind of sound these things are putting out,” Bonnie Brady, director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association who regularly discusses the impacts of noise on marine mammals, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “There have been an unusual amount of strandings this year.” click here to read the story 18:17

Sharks have been a major disruption for fishermen off the Outer Banks this year

Sharks are chomping the catch of the day. Fishing off the Outer Banks has been great this year, especially with big hauls of tuna. But boat captains are losing from one or two to 20 fish a day to the opportunistic predators. Able to smell, hear or sense the struggling fish from miles away, sharks come like a pack of wolves. In some cases, anglers are reeling in nothing but the head. “You can’t even get a fish to the boat,” said Jack Graham, first mate on the Fintastic, a charter boat based at Oregon Inlet Fishing Center. “You get a bite and look back and there’s just a big cloud of blood.”Sharks are taking the catch along with thousands of dollars in fishing gear, he said. click here to read the story 16:00

Shanghai customs finds over 1 ton of cocaine hidden inside shipment of frozen mackerel

SHANGHAI: When a shipment of 20 tons of “Pacific mackerel” arrived in Shanghai last November, customs officers thought that they smelled something fishy. Packed in the container along with the frozen fish was more than 1.1 tons of cocaine stuffed inside 276 cartons. The bust, which was only announced recently, is the biggest cocaine smuggling haul found by Chinese customs officers in recent years, Shanghai Daily reports. The goods were on their way from South America to Cambodia, stopping in Shanghai to be transferred. In order to catch the criminals receiving this illicit shipment, authorities repackaged the cartons and allowed the mackerel to go on to Cambodia. Once it reached Phnom Penh, a Chinese unit cooperated with Cambodian police to arrest four suspects — two Vietnamese-Canadians and two Vietnamese. Three other suspects were able to escape and are on the run. link 14:19

Falmouth Lifeboat celebrates its 150th anniversary

Falmouth’s first lifeboat arrived 150 years ago and since then the town’s volunteer crews have been on more than 2,500 shouts saving 440 lives. This year Falmouth Lifeboat station celebrates its 150th anniversary with a whole host of events which look back at its history as well as looking at its future with a new fundraising appeal. To mark the occasion Simon Culliford, deputy lifeboat press officer, and David Barnicoat, master mariner, former lifeboat volunteer and retired pilot, have written a book about the lifeboat’s history, which has been used to put this article together. The book celebrates the people and the lifeboats that are part of the history of Falmouth Lifeboat Station. Falmouth is now one of 14 stations in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and has an inshore and all weather lifeboat – which can operate up to 100 miles out to sea. click here to read the story. Good story, great images! Happy Birthday!13:00

F/V Flyin Tiger catches fire in the Dillingham boat harbor

The drift boat Flyin Tiger caught fire at the Dillingham boat harbor late Thursday morning. The fire was put out quickly, and there were no injuries. Volunteer firefighter Ron Bowers was one of the first on the scene. “When we first pulled up, heavy smoke was coming out of the wheel house of the boat. A couple other boats were rafted in the neighborhood, and we were very concerned about that. We found a couple guys, crew members, that were trying to put it out. They’d inhaled a little smoke, so we got them taken care of,” says Bowers. click here to read the story, more images 10:35

DFO concerned by deaths of 5 endangered North Atlantic Right whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is working with marine mammal experts, scientists, and fishery officers from across Atlantic Canada to determine what has caused the recent deaths of several rare North Atlantic Right whales in eastern Canada. At least five dead Right whales have been seen recently in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This situation is very concerning. The cause of death is unknown at this time and DFO is committed to finding out what happened to these animals and to protecting this species. DFO is reaching out for assistance from a broad range of expertise from the Marine Animal Response Society, the Canadian Whale Institute and wildlife pathology veterinarians from the Atlantic Veterinary College and the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative to find answers. DFO is also working with partners including Transport Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, the USA’s National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (as this is a cross border issue) and commercial area fishermen. click here to read the press release 09:21

Fishermen, regulators disagree over cause of Brunswick fish kill

As a massive vacuum truck from Clean Harbors traveled along the shoreline near Simpsons Point midweek to clean up rotting pogies, local fishermen were battling what they say was a raft of misinformation put forth by the state about how and why those pogies were dumped from a local fishing vessel on June 6. On Tuesday, a day after residents of the Simpsons Point area asked town councilors to help pay for a professional cleanup of the fish, local lobsterman Steve Anderson posted a 10-minute video on YouTube, taking local media to task for only reporting part of the story and excoriating the Maine Department of Marine Resources for a quota system Anderson said simply doesn’t work.,,, But Jeff Nichols, spokesman for the DMR, said Friday that Anderson “got a lot of things wrong,” click here to read the story 08:35

Brunswick Maine fish kill. The Real Story, not that Fake News stuff.click here to watch the video