Two Blind Indus River Dolphins Found Dead

Tragic:

Two more blind dolphins were found dead in the Indus River here on Saturday, putting the number of dead dolphins found in Sukkur to 28 in six months.

The Wildlife Department shifted the two dead blind dolphins to Dolphin Research Institute for post- mortem. 

The wildlife and the fisheries departments have so far failed to find the possible cause of the deaths of the precious specie. Sources said that the higher authorities recently formed a probe committee, which had revealed that some fisherman threw poisonous substance into the river which is causing deaths of the endangered fish found only in two rivers Asia-Ganges and the Indus River.

I've seen those dolphins, or a closely related species, in the Ganges River. Just magical creatures, so elusive—I could only ever see them for a second as they curved up out of the water and down again quickly. Nobody else was seeing them—I thought I was seeing things. The imprint off their shape—especially the very long beak—seemed to be burned into my cornea.

Let's hope they figure out what the hell's going on.

"Dead 10m whale lures sharks to Newport Beach" [updts]

Update I: Got pics.

Just a few miles down the road. Going to see it right now. Yay! (Yay for possibly seeing sharks, I mean.)

"AUTHORITIES are considering cutting up the carcass of a 10m sperm whale, which is attracting sharks to Sydney's Newport Beach.

The body of the wedged amphibian has drawn schools of sharks to the popular surfing spot, forcing the beach to be closed.

Local residents are flocking to the scene, but not for long, as the smell of rotting flesh wafts throughout nearby Newport village."

Back now. Got some pics. There were about 50 people down there, an air of excitement. The whale is at the  end of the rock.

The young whale. They say it's about four years old, thirty feet long—weighs twelve tons.

No sharks in sight. Tomorrow at low tide they'll try to cut it up with chainsaws, load it in trucks and bury it somewhere.

Update II: As of Saturday the whale has been cut up with chainsaws and trucked away. The beach is still closed, as more sharks have been seen in the area, drawn in by the whale blood.

Japan to Stop Whaling [updtd]

Wow. What's the Sea Shepherd going to do now?

Makes you wonder if the terrible tragedy that was the earthquake, tsunami, and ongoing Fukishima nuclear disaster had anything to do with this.

Update: It obviously didn't mean all whaling.