Humpback Whale Found In Amazon
The Interwebs were a-swirl with a news story regarding a dead humpback whale that was “found in the Amazon”.
The visual of the picture and accompanying video (the video is here) is compelling as there is certainly a dead whale in what seems to be the jungle.
However, most of the news reports on this story indicate that the whale was found in the mainland Amazon. The whale was actually found about 50 feet offshore on Marajo Island off the coast of Brazil.
50 feet offshore isn’t exactly Manaus.
All indications are that the whale died at sea and its body washed ashore during strong tides. Not quite as sexy as finding the whale “in the middle of the Amazon”.
Still, it’s a cool tale and it drives wildlife headlines. Yay!
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Horrifying Nightmare-Fuel Giant Spider Eats Opossum
Yup, it is as the title as the title explained. Here is a pic:
This picture was taken in the jungles of Northern Peru. The picture depicts some form of mygalomorph spider (tarantulas and funnel-web spiders) eating an opossum.
An opossum!
Sure, they are marsupials and all, but they are still mammals. A friggin’ monster spider ate one!
If the thought of that doesn’t give you nightmares then I have good news: there is video of it here.
Sleep well tonight!
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Extinct Formosan Clouded Leopard Is Reportedly Not So Extinct
In potentially incredible news, the “extinct” Formosan clouded leopard of Taiwan has reportedly been seen in the wild for the first time in 30 years.
The Taiwan News reported that the endemic cloud leopard was spotted by rangers from the Alangyi village (I assume this village is Paiwan, which are indigenous Taiwanese). It was just a sighting with no additional evidence.
Here are my thoughts on the credibility of this sighting:
- If anyone is going to see one of these creatures it will be the natives that live in their habitat. That seems credible.
- However, without a picture, scat, fur, paw print, dead body, or live animal there is no real confirmation.
At worst this “sighting” raises money for research and hopefully assists in protecting habitat where the animal was allegedly spotted. At best an animal long since thought to be extinct lives again. I cannot wait to see how this story plays out.
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