Whales back to within 50 miles of ocean

POSTED: 1101 GMT (1901 HKT), May 28, 2007

The two whales are now moving towards the ocean again, they are now 50 miles within the ocean. But the rescuers are concerned about the whales getting closer to the San Francisco Bay, because they will encounter large ships there. The mother humpback whale and her calf made it down the Sacramento River and Honker Bay on Sunday. They are also at risk of taking a wrong turn and the risk of getting stuck in shallow mudflats. Rescuers will position their boats to prevent the whales from taking a wrong turn. Their long exposure to fresh water has made their wounds worsen. Veterinarians used sponges attached to a pole to take skin cells from their wounds, the bumps on their skin resembles blisters. "We really need to try to get them back into a more appropriate environment so they can start healing," said Trevor Spradlin. The bumps could be an infection from bacteria, virus or fungus. Researchers have injected the whales with antibiotics, and this will slow down the damage.

This is good news because after trying a lot of different methods, the rescuers finally got the whales to move to the right direction. Now they are 50 miles within the ocean and hopefully in the next few days they will make it to the ocean. The biggest concern has to be the wounds they have. We have to get them back in the ocean as soon as possible, so that their wounds can heal. I am sure that the antibiotics injected into their skin will keep their wound heal.

Rescuers to turn fire hoses on whales

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/05/25/delta.whales.ap/index.html?eref=edition_us

POSTED: 7:03 a.m. EDT, May 25, 2007

Scientists have tried different methods such as sounds of other whales and clanging pipes to get the whales back to the ocean. But none of them seems to work. So now scientist plans to spray water near the whales from above and underwater, so that they can herd the whales back to the ocean."No one has done this before," said Frances Gulland, "At this point, we don't know if it will be a deterrent or an attractant." The physical condition of the whales had not changed much, but their wounds seemed to have worshen. Rescuers are now planning to inject the whales with antibiotics, so that it can help the wound heal fast. They are still developing the drug and they will likely use a syringe attached to a pole to insert it. The U.S. Coast Guard would keep a 500 yard buffer zone to keep the boats away from the whales.

Man with 700 snakes arrested at airport

POSTED: 11:21 a.m. EDT, May 24, 2007

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/24/egypt.snakes.ap/index.html

The Officers at Cairo's Airport asked a passenger, to open his carry-on bag. The passenger identified as Yahia Rahim Tulba, told the officers that the bag contained lived snakes. Yahia Rahim Tulba tried to smuggle in 700 snakes on the plane to Saudi Arabia, so that he could sell it. Among the various snakes in the bag, there were two poisonous cobras. Police confiscated the snakes and turned Yahia Rahim Tulba over to the prosecutors office. According to the officers, the snakes are wanted by Saudis who displayed them in glass jars, have them as pets and sell them to researchers.

Orca sounds used to frighten whales back to sea

http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/2007/US/05/24/delta.whales.ap/index.html

POSTED: 8:02 a.m. EDT, May 24, 2007

The two Humpback Whales apparently took a wrong turn during their migration back to the feeding grounds of Northern Pacific. They traveled 90 miles into the inlands of Sacramento. They turned around until they reached the Sacramento River Bridge, and began swimming in circles. Scientists hope that the sound of Orcas will threaten the whales back into the ocean. They also acknowledge that the whales were spotted slapping their tails on the water, which shows that they are in distress. Their deep cuts appeared worsening, and the cuts were probably from propellers. A 3-4 foot cut on the whales appeared to have pierce through the blubber layer. The freshwater environment have made the normal, smooth skin of the whale rough and pitted. But what concerns the scientist the most is the whales slapping their tails on the water. Because this is abnormal and scientists now need to drive the whales back into the ocean without causing the whales to have more stress.

I think scientists should try to get the whales back into the ocean because the whales have spent more than a week in fresh water and they are not physically able to live in fresh water. Their cuts have appeared worsening and they appear to have a lot of stress. So hopefully the two whales will be able to return back to the ocean in the next couple of days and make it to their migration to the feeding grounds.

Wayward whales take another wrong turn

http://robots.cnn.com/2007/US/05/22/delta.whales.ap/index.html

POSTED: 8:21 p.m. EDT, May 21, 2007

The Humpbacks nicknamed Delta and Dawn had traveled around 20 miles south of the port of Sacramento, and swimming toward the state capital. They turned around again this afternoon after scientist positioned dozen of boats in front of them. "They're at this point lost. We don't think they have any clue," said Rod McInnis of the National Marine Fisheries Service. Their current route will lead them to muddy deltas that could trap these whales. To get back to the Ocean, the two of them must make it to the San Francisco Bay, and swim under the Golden Gate Bridge to make it back to the Ocean. The whales were swimming toward the Pacific at 3:30 pm Sunday. They swam as far as the Rio Vista Bridge before turning around. Scientists believed that the vibrations from the traffic startled the two whales. The goal is to "make as much noise to be as obnoxious to the whales as possible" to get them to move back toward the ocean, said Ed Sweeney, a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Zoo hatches endangered Asian turtle

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/05/01/turtle.birth.ap/index.html

POSTED: 3:12 a.m. EDT, May 2, 2007

An Arakan forest turtle in Zoo Atlanta was hatched. This is the fourth of the Arakan forest turtle to be born there. Zoo Atlanta is the only facility in the world to successfully breed these turtles. They were believed to be extinct for close to a century, but were later rediscovered in an Asian foodmarket in the mid 1990s. The Arakan forest turtle is endangered due to the fact that many people use it for cooking and medical uses. The turtle, native of Arakan hills has a horrible survival rate, and the turtle only mates once a year. The turtle eggs take 100 days to hatch. Zoo Atlanta has a pair of mating turtles since 2001, they manage to buy the two turtles from a Chinese Food Market. There are only 12 of the turtles living in captivity in the U.S; Zoo Atlanta, the St. Louis Zoo, the Miami Metro Zoo and River Banks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina.

I think we should try to have more facilities in the world to help breed Arakan forest turtle. Because there is only one facility in the world that can successfully breed them. Arakan forest turtles are extremely rare and its sad to see that people are not recognizing this, and are continuing to kill them for food and medical use.

'Shocking' Legoland coaster death

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/04/30/lego.death.ap/index.html

POSTED: 8:37 a.m. EDT, April 30, 2007

A 21 year old employee of Legoland amusement park was killed in a roller coaster accident. The employee, who was not identified, died immediately on Sunday after being hit by a roller coaster car. Apparently she jumped over the security fence to pick up a wallet for one of the passengers. Than the rollercoaster car came and the accident happened. Legoland manager Henrik Hoehrman, was shocked by this accident and said that nothing like this has ever happened before. The accident took place at the Legoland amusement park 240 kilometers west of Copenhagen. The Danish Legoland opened in 1968.

This is extremely shocking because the employee was just trying to help the passenger find the wallet. And it’s unfair for the employee, because she was only trying to help and unluckily a roller coaster came and hit her.