Month / March 2015

by mondaymorgue

Thailand: Long-Tailed Macaque Found Dead on Buddha Mountain

30th March 2015;

March 29,2015; at 2.00 p.m., the journalists of Pattaya city were informed that there was an accident involving a big Long-tailed Macaque (Macaca fascicularis) which had been killed by a car in front of Chalerm Phra Kiat King Bhumibol Forestry Plantation on Khao Chee Chan – 331 road, Tambon Na Jom Tian, Amphur Sattahip, Chon Buri province, so they rushed to inspect at scene.

At the scene on a steep hill in the middle of the road they found the body of a male Long-tailed Macaque aged approximately 5-6 years old. The journalists assumed that it had been dead for half an hour therefore the journalists and some local people buried it in the woods next to the road.

Upon questioning Mr. Surasak Anumethangkul (Head of the Training Centre of the Forest Conservation Department) revealed that there are approximately 1,000 Long-tailed Macaques that live in the 2 forests between the Chalerm Phra Kiat King Bhumibol Forestry Plantation and Non-Hunting Area of Khao Chee On. He also said that the monkeys like to cross the road and many had been killed in the past by cars so they had put ladders up in the air which were suspended from the trees which they used to cross the road without putting themselves in danger. But the problem is that people are still feeding the monkeys so they come down to the side of the road and sometimes get hit by speeding cars so he would like to ask people not to feed them and also to reduce their speed whilst passing through the area so not to put the monkeys in any further danger.

Source: Pattaya Daily News

Thailand: Long-Tailed Macaque Found Dead on Buddha Mountain

by mondaymorgue

Thailand: Appeal to reduce Monkey Deaths close to Pattaya Silverlake
30th March 2015;

An appeal has begun to increase awareness of the many monkey deaths which are occurring close to the Silverlake area, on the outskirts of Pattaya, where over 1,000 Monkeys are thought to live in forested areas.

On Sunday Afternoon we visited the area and spotted a dead monkey on the side of Highway 331 in Kow Chi Chan close to Silverlake in the Na-Jomtien area. It was clear that the monkey had just died and appeared to be feeding at the time of its demise.

Local Authorities are appealing for motorists and members of the public not to feed the monkeys close to the roads as it teaches them that food is available close to the highway which can lead to accidents as monkeys go in search of their next meal.

Compounding the problem is the release of unwanted pet monkeys in the area which are not used to living in the wild and are generally not accepted by groups of wild monkeys, forcing them to search for food away from the forested areas.

Source: Pattaya One

by mondaymorgue

An approximately 4.5m dead False Killer Whale (Pseudorca crassidens) stranded in Tarragona, Davao Oriental yesterday.

Source: Birador Ng Bayan Facebook, via Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines Facebook

by mondaymorgue

Thailand: Dead turtle washes up on the shores of Koh Samui
30th March 2015;

On the 29th of March 2015 the Samui Rescue team were called to the stretch of beach in front of the Samui Orchid Resort Moo 2 Maret after a tourist informed them of a large dead turtle they had come across on the beach.

The female turtle was 87cm long and 81 cm wide aged approximately 30 years old weighing around 100kg. A representative of the fisheries department estimated she had been dead for around ten days. A wound was found where the shell meets the body, a biopsy was taken of the matter protruding from the wound to be sent to the Marine Coastal Conservation Centre to try to establish the cause of death. Turtles are a protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act of 2535. It is thought the remains of the turtle will be buried.

Source: Samui Times

by mondaymorgue

Black Eeltail Catfish (Plotosus canius)
Pasir Ris, 22nd February 2015

This Black Eeltail Catfish was one of the many casualties of yet another fish mass mortality event that was triggered by a harmful algal bloom.

by mondaymorgue

Malaysia: 4.25kg of plastics in pilot whale

By Jenne Lajiun, 28th March 2015;

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) provided their heart-wrenching reason as to what killed the pilot whale that was found stranded at Likas Bay – 4.25 kilograms of plastic materials were found inside its stomach.

“After seven days under our care at BMRI, the whale died. Our post-mortem finding was very sad and disappointing. We hope something will be done about it,” said UMS Borneo Marine Research Institute (BMRI) director Associate Professor Rossita Haji Shapawi said during a press conference.

“We were surprised to find mainly debris comprising of plastic materials which weighed 4.25 kilograms. There were altogether 44 pieces of plastic materials,” she said.

She added that further checks indicated that the pilot whale probably died from chronic starvation since its stomach did not contain any food as no food could pass through.

Due to the sad find, she and her colleagues felt that it was high time something was done to highlight the impact of plastics on the environment and that people needed to seriously consider utilising recycled materials.

She also said they had no idea as to where the plastics that were inside the pilot whale’s stomach were from.

One of the plastics swallowed [a yellow detergent bag] was manufactured in China.

On the carcass, Rossita said it had been disposed of back to the sea.

The 3.36 meter-long male mammal, now believed to be a Short-finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) and not a Risso’s Dolphin (Grampus griseus) as was reported earlier, was found stranded at Kampung Teluk Layang around 6.30am by Abdul Nelsan Mikin on March 19 and was brought to BMRI on the same day.

It was transferred to a 20-ton tank at the BMRI hatchery the next day where supportive treatment continued to be administered. It was also forced fed by the Wildlife Rescue Unit (WRU) team.

Unfortunately, despite the efforts, the pilot whale died at 11am on March 25.

“A post-mortem was done by the WRU team and the marine mammal stranding research team at UMS revealed a stomach filled with 4.25 kilograms of plastic materials, which is most likely the cause of stranding for the whale. The gastric mucosa was severely impaired from impaction of the domestic rubbish,” said Sabah Wildlife Department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan, who was also present at the press conference.

He said the plastics prevented the digestion of food, leading to severe malnutrition and eventually compromised the respiration of the pilot whale, which caused its death.

The reasons why this pilot whale ingested these plastics was most likely because pilot whales feed on squids (sometimes fish) and so the pilot whale could have mistaken the plastics for squids due to similar textural or visual similarity of the plastics to squids, he said.

“Similar reports on squid-eating whales and dolphins have been found with plastic bags in their stomachs,” he said.

Source: The Borneo Post

Malaysia: 4.25kg of plastics in pilot whale

by mondaymorgue

1. Alarming find: More than 4kg of plastic were found in the stomach of the pilot whale that died on Wednesday.
2. Latest casualty: Marine researchers getting ready to conduct the post-mortem on the pilot whale assisted by UMS staff.

Malaysia: Marine creatures most at risk
By Ruben Sario, 28th March 2015;

Marine researchers are once again raising the alarm about the dumping of plastic material in the sea following the death of a Short-finned Pilot Whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) that was found to have ingested 4.25kg of plastic bags.

A post-mortem on the 310kg male pilot whale found that the three compartments of its stomach were filled with 14 pieces of large plastic bags, 11 small plastic bags, 11 plastic sheets and 6m of caution tape, among others.

Also discovered in the confines of its stomach was a yellow detergent bag manufactured in Guangzhou, China, said Universiti Malaysia Sabah Borneo Marine Research Institute (BMRI) director Assoc Prof Dr Rossita Shapawi.

“After the pilot whale ingested these plastic bags, its stomach was blocked and it could not consume anything else. It starved to death due to the plastic,” she added.

She said it was likely that the pilot whale had mistaken the plastic bags for food.

Giving details to the press about the death of the whale that was estimated to be between two and three years old, she said the pilot whale was the latest casualty of the tonnes of plastic waste in the ocean.

“It is very possible that we will see more marine creatures washed ashore, given the amount of plastic out there,” she said.

She said the pilot whale, initially thought to be a Risso’s Dolphin (Grampus griseus), was discovered by a villager at Likas Bay on March 19 and subsequently taken to the BMRI where it was given round-the-clock care.

Sabah Wildlife Department assistant director Dr Sen Nathan said the condition of the pilot whale appeared to have improved after it was given antibiotics, painkillers, anti-­parasitic drugs, appetite stimulants, gastric protectants, multivitamins and fluid therapy.

“However, its condition suddenly deteriorated. The pilot whale vomited and died on March 25,” he said.

Sen said wildlife rangers discovered a Pantropical Spotted Dolphin (Stenella attenuata) in waters off the northern Kudat district in September last year that died due to plastic ingestion.

He said Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas) were the most common creatures to die in Sabah waters for that same reason.

UMS lecturer for water quality for aqua­culture and marine pollution Dr Abentin Estim said a study last year of several beaches along the state’s west coast found 11,000 pieces of plastic bags per 100m stretch.

“The prevalence of plastic in our sea is a ­serious problem which needs to be tackled,” he said.

Source: The Star