Noticias en ‘Dangerous animals’
February 29th, 2008
Scientists have warned of a new plague of jellyfish to hit Spain this summer. The Guardian here reports that scientists were “alarmed to detect large numbers of the Pelagia noctiluca, commonly known as the “mauve stinger”, growing in the winter”.
..A study has revealed that jellyfish proliferate throughout the year, not just in the summer. Between November and January, scientists discovered 30 colonies, or blooms, ranging in size from four to 10 jellyfish per cubic metre of water, all along the Catalan coast. “The problem seen on the beaches is not the main concern for scientists….Jelly expert Professor Gili, noted “For us the major worry is the global disequilibrium in the sea caused by over-fishing.” In 2006, the Red Cross treated 21,000 people who had been stung on the beaches of Catalonia, while on a single day in August, 400 bathers were treated at a beach in Málaga. One cause of the problem is the decrease in leatherback turtles, a principal predator, which have been driven to the point of extinction because the beaches where they lay eggs have been used for tourism.
Dangerous animals, On Spain, Spanish seas | Tags: jellyfish, mauve stinger, Pelagia noctiluca|
Several beaches in La Manga, Murica, have been closed after bathers spotted a shark - apparantly shortfin mako shark (marrajo, Isurus oxyrinchus). This is despite calls for calm from Murcian shark experts who note that the mako is not dangerous (La Verdad). Let us hope this does not have the same lamentable ending as this month’s shark in Valencia. The mako is now considered endangered as it is a favourite catch among commercial and recreational fishermen. See also sharks in Spain
Dangerous animals, Iberian seas, Murcia, Spanish Mediterranean, Spanish coast, Spanish seas, fish | |
The Junta del Castilla y León have confirmed 42 new cases of tularemia (also known as rabbit fever) among the population, in all probability trasmitted directly and indirectly by common voles after the explosion of their population in the region. So far in 2007, a total of 200 people have caught the disease, endemic to the region, though last year there was only one case. El Pais See also Explosion of common vole population in Castilla
Wikipedia notes on tularemia “The disease has a very rapid onset, with headache, fatigue, dizziness, muscle pains, loss of appetite and nausea. Face and eyes redden and become inflamed. Inflammation spreads to the lymph nodes, which enlarge and may suppurate (mimicking bubonic plague). Lymph node involvement is accompanied by a high fever. Death may result”
Note: with antibiotics tularemia is not usually life-threatening though the recovery period takes time.
Castilla y León, Dangerous animals, Spanish rodents, geography of disease | |
A hiker has survived a viper bite in La Pedriza, Madrid, which would make it a Lataste’s viper or snub-nosed viper. 3-4 people probably die a year from viper bites in Spain, although this figure may now be lower due to the expansion in rural health facilities and the fact that there aren’t as many people working in the countryside. Sobrevivir a una víbora El Pais
Photo of a Lataste’s viper or snub-nosed viper
Venemous snakes in Spain + Bites and stings from animals in Spain Iberianature
Dangerous animals, Madrid, reptiles & amphibians | |
My Tortosí friends have been complaining about these for several years now. The images of the bites I’ve seen on TV are nasty. We’re actually dealing with two species from Africa Simulium intermedium and Simulium ornatum On occasions, farmers with orchards along the River Ebro have had great difficulty harvesting their crops
Black flies in Catalonia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_fly
Spain hit by plague of blood-sucking black flies
Dale Fuchs in Madrid Monday June 25, 2007 The Guardian
A plague of black flies has prompted authorities in north-eastern Spain to issue warnings on TV and fliers advising people to cover up and avoid riverside areas in the early morning and dusk.
The insect has been quickly breeding - and sucking blood - along the rivers and reservoirs of Catalonia and Aragon, causing alarm in small towns.
Only two to three millimetres long, the fly is much smaller and harder to spot than most mosquitoes, but its voracious bite sent more than 2,000 people to hospital last year in Catalonia alone. Its vigorous jaw, which releases a cocktail of chemicals, can produce allergic reactions.
“If the mosquito is a neurosurgeon that bites with a probe, the black fly is a butcher that scratches the skin and makes you bleed,” Raul Escosa, member of an Ebro river environmental board, told El Pais.
“We had to take my 18-year-old daughter to the dermatologist and the allergist because she had a dozen swellings of eight to 10 centimetres,” said Jesus Llop, a town council member in the town of Mequinenza.
The black fly, an umbrella term for several Simulium species, was first detected in the region in 1997, and it has been making its annoying presence increasingly felt. Unlike the mosquito, it breeds in clean river water. Regional experts believe the current outbreak stems from improvements in water quality and new irrigation channels, which created a new habitat.
The insect injects an anaesthetic, an anti-clotting agent and a vasodilator into the skin of its host, who belatedly notices the damage after the fly has moved on. In Switzerland an attacking swarm reportedly killed a calf.
Catalonia, Dangerous animals, Iberian rivers, Invertebrates, invasive species | |
A Great White Shark was washed up injured and later died at Tossa de Mar in 1992. It seems there was an attempt by the local authorities to cover up the incident through fear of upsetting the tourist trade. Juan Rodri from Tossa de Mar, whom I met on wolf-watching trip kindly sent me this photo and press clipping of the incident. Read Sharks in Spain
Catalonia, Dangerous animals, Iberian seas, Spanish Mediterranean, Spanish seas, fish | |
