Bits and Bites from Around the World > Man and surfboard bitten in half by large shark off a Sydney beach

 

Surfer dies in Sydney shark attack

By Simon Corlett

   

A 57-year-old man has died after being bitten by what officials are calling a “large shark,” while surfing at Long Reef Beach north of Sydney, Australia, police confirmed Saturday. Photo by Dean Lewins/EPA-EFE

Sept. 6 (UPI) -- A man has died after being bitten by what officials are calling a "large shark," off a beach in Sydney, Australia, police confirmed Saturday.

The man's surfboard was bitten in two during the attack, which happened around 10 a.m. AEST at Long Reef Beach, a popular surfing location north of Sydney.

The man, identified by the Sydney Morning Herald as Mercury Psillakis, suffered critical injuries, losing both of his legs. Officials said he died at the scene.

Witnesses estimated the shark to be almost 20 feet in length and occurred some 320 feet from shore.

Related

• 8-year-old airlifted to a Miami hospital after shark bite
• Angler reels in first documented orange shark off Costa Rica
• Firefighters hoist heavy horse out of bog in England

"Officers attached to Northern Beaches Police Area Command have closed the beach and will liaise with experts from the Department of Primary Industries to determine the species of shark involved," the New South Wales Police said in a statement.

"Two sections of a surfboard have been recovered and taken for expert examination."

The beach was heavily populated with surfers at the time of the shark attack, which happened a day before Father's Day in Australia.

Psillakis was a father and well-known member of the local surfer community, local media reported.

Shark attacks are commonplace in Australia, with the country experiencing on average around 10 injuries and 2.8 deaths per year attributed to sharks over the last decade, according to data from the Taronga Conservation Society.

Over 90% of all shark bite incidents in Australia involve White Sharks, Bull Sharks, Tiger Sharks, Wobbegongs and other whaler sharks, according to the society.

Long Reef Beach falls under the New South Wales Shark Management Program, a collection of nets and drumlines, drones and other measures meant to keep the animals from attacking humans.

Bits and Bites from Around the World > Hiker killed by brown bear on Hokkaido

 

Hiker found dead after bear attack in mountain in Japan

The man and a friend were descending 5,450-foot-tall Mount Rausu on the Shiretoko Peninsula.

By Allen Cone

   

A young brown bear hunts on a river in Shiretoko on Japan's northeastern island of Hokkaido, on October 2, 2013. A hiker was found dead Friday after a bear attack on the island. File Photo by Kimimasa Mayama/EPA

Aug. 15 (UPI) -- A 26-year-old man was found dead on a mountain of Japan's northernmost island on Friday, one day after the hiker was reported missing in a brown bear attack.

The body was found in eastern Hokkaido, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Police said rescuers found his shirt with bloodstains earlier in the day. Hokkaido, which is bordered by the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean, is the second largest, but least developed, of Japan's four main islands.

The victim was identified as Sota Keisuke, a company employee from Tokyo's Sumida Ward, NHK reported.

The man and a friend, also in his 20s, were descending the 5,450-foot-tall Mount Rausu on the Shiretoko Peninsula, when a bear approached.

Related

• Man hospitalized following bear attack in B.C.
• Two likely dead, many missing after record rain floods southern Japan
• Woman loses arm in lion attack at Australian zoo

The friend said the man was walking ahead of him.

"He was trying to fend off the bear but was dragged into the forest," NHK quoted the man.

Fearing the bear dragged his friend away, he called the police.

Authorities then closed the trail.

Seventy-one people were airlifted out of the area.

A man's body was found on Friday morning, and his identity was confirmed at 3:20 p.m.

Hunters searching for the man shot and killed three brown bears at 1 p.m. Friday in the area where the body was later found.

On Sunday, another hiker was followed by a bear. A 68-year-old climber from Shikoku said he encountered the bear while hiking down the mountain. He said he was about 16 feet from an adult bear with two cubs.

He said he retreated with other hikers, but the bears returned to the trail and followed them uphill. When they reached the entrance to the Osawa area, they disappeared.

"It was the first time I encountered a bear on a hiking trail," said the man, who has climbed mountains in Japan and elsewhere, told The Asahi Shimbun. "Although they didn't show any signs of attacking, I felt tense."

Fifty-five people have been attacked by bears in Japan between April and July this year, according to the Environmental Ministry by the Japan Times.

Mount Rasau has a high population density of brown bears. The mountain was given World Heritage Status in 2005. The mountains straddle Rausu and Shari towns.

If people encounter a bear, the Hokkaido Prefectural Government advised them to slowly and quietly step backward.

"Don't throw rocks or shout and run way since it may provoke the bear," it said on its website.

On the other hand, if the bear is charging, you might consider jumping, shouting very loudly, picking up a good-sized rock, and if the bear is still charging try to hit him on the nose with the rock. And pray!

The Guardian reported that experts said attacks increased last year because of the scarcity of acorns and other staples. In addition, bears have traveled farther because of development.

But incidents dropped in March as food became more plentiful

In April, the government allowed bears to be shot in urban areas.

Bits and Bites from Around the World > Another Child Attacked by Cougar in Malibu

 

Child attacked by mountain lion that wandered into California neighbourhood

By Rachel Goodman  Global News

Posted August 11, 2025 12:56 pm

 2 min read

View image in full screen

A mountain lion approaching the camera while walking through blooming bushes. The scene is in Torres del Paine National Park, in Chile’s Patagonia region. Carlos A Carreno / Getty Images

An 11-year-old girl is recovering in hospital after being attacked by a mountain lion in California over the weekend.

According to NBC Los Angeles, the child was bitten on Sunday at about 5:40 p.m. outside a home in the Pacific Coast Highway and Encinal Canyon Road area of Malibu.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies told the outlet that the girl was bitten on the arm and transported to a hospital in Thousand Oaks with non-life-threatening injuries.

Wildlife experts later put down the mountain lion they believed was responsible for the attack, it added.

The Mountain Lion Foundation estimates that about 4,500 mountain lions inhabit vast ranges of landscape across California, and about 40 per cent of the state is considered suitable habitat for the species, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife says.

View image in full screen

A mountain lion sitting relaxed in Torres Del Paine, Patagonia, Chile. Getty Images

Mountain lions are a solitary and elusive species that tend to avoid human contact and are also referred to as cougars, panthers and pumas.

The department receives hundreds of mountain lion sighting reports every year, but few result in the animals posing an imminent threat to public safety, it told NBC Los Angeles.

Mountain lion attacks on humans are also rare. Since 1890, there have been six known fatal human attacks by mountain lions in California.

Its website says the state’s most recent fatal mountain lion attack was in March 2024, when a 21-year-old man was killed in a remote part of El Dorado County. Since 1986, there have been 23 non-fatal attacks.

Mountain lions eat mostly large animals, such as deer, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, wild pigs, feral horses and burros, the wildlife department says, and will adapt their hunting behaviour in response to a changing environment, prey availability and competition for food.

They may also hunt other animals, including poultry, small livestock or pets.

Last Thursday evening, a biker in the Alpine Capone area along Brohm Ridge, near Garibaldi Provincial Park in British Columbia, suffered minor injuries after being followed by a mountain lion.

Officials said the animal pursued the man and “made contact,” then followed him for another 20 minutes.

The man walked backward holding his bike, and eventually was able to get the big cat to disengage by throwing rocks at it.

Last year, a five-year-old boy survived a mountain lion attack in Malibu Creek State Park after he was targeted by the predator during a family picnic.

According to the Los Angeles news station KTLA, he was playing with several other children close to the family’s picnic site, where at least six adults were supervising, when a mountain lion picked up the child by his head and began to run away.

Witnesses said the child’s father chased the fleeing mountain lion and fought it until it dropped the boy from its mouth. The boy was airlifted to hospital, where he was treated for injuries, including to his eyes.

Bits and Bites from Around the World > Orca attacks on boats around the Iberian Peninsula

 

Sailors rescued after orca pod rams into yacht off Spain’s coast

Two sailors were rescued in Spain by the Spanish coast guard on Monday after a pod of orcas repeatedly rammed into their yacht.

The incident took place at 2 p.m. local time, two nautical miles from the Basque coastal town of Deba in northern Spain.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the coast guard rescued the two sailors after they sent out a mayday distress call. They were both taken “safe and sound” to the port of Getaria. The pair were said to be “shocked, but unharmed.”

Rescuers noted that such incidents are “uncommon” so far north in the Atlantic and said they had not been called to assist on an orca attack in the Basque Country before.

Orcas are more active farther south in the Strait of Gibraltar, which is also referred to as “orca alley.”

2:36

Cases of orcas attacking boats on the rise

Last August, a pod of orcas rammed a sailboat and bit off chunks of the ship’s rudder off the coast of northwestern Spain, prompting a bungled rescue mission that resulted in one of the boaters being seriously injured.

The attack occurred near the coast of Galicia, when two Belgian nationals sailing through the Bay of Biscay were approached by the orca pod. Similar to other attacks, the killer whales rammed the ship’s rudder, leaving the vessel immobilized.

The man and woman on board called the Spanish maritime rescue service for help and authorities deployed a rescue tugboat to their location, Reuters reported. During the towing manoeuvre, the woman seriously injured her hand and needed to be evacuated by helicopter to the hospital.

A few months prior to that incident, another pod of orcas rammed a yacht sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar until it began taking on water and sank.

The incident occurred in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain’s maritime rescue service told Reuters, where an unknown number of orcas began ramming a small, 15-metre sailing yacht.

Two people were on board the vessel, called the Alboran Cognac, and they radioed for help. The unnamed boaters reported feeling sudden blows to the hull and rudder of the ship before their vessel started taking on water.

A nearby oil tanker redirected to their location, picked up the two boaters and transported them to Gibraltar. The Alboran Cognac was left adrift and eventually sank, Reuters reports.

1:59

Orcas strike again: Yacht sinks in the Strait of Gibraltar

Since 2020, the Atlantic Orca Working Group has documented more than 700 interactions between orcas and boats around the Iberian Peninsula. Despite the surge in “disruptive” behaviour, its underlying cause remains a mystery to researchers.

According to the working group, orcas aren’t mistaking rudders for prey.

“Orcas don’t confuse the rudder with anything, they know what it is, how it moves and what effect it has when touching it. The speed of the ship and the resistance of the rudder cause it to persist in action,” researchers write.

If an orca starts interacting with your boat, the researchers recommend stopping the ship and its engine and letting go of the rudder. This can cause the orcas to “drop their interest, ceasing the interaction, in most cases.”

— With files from Global News

========================================================================================================================

Bits and Bites from Around the World > 1,400 tiny tarantulas found in smuggling bust in Germany

 

Over 1,400 tarantulas found hidden in cake boxes in German smuggling bust

Arachnophobes beware: Customs officials on Monday released photos from a seizure of roughly 1,500 young tarantulas found inside plastic containers that had been hidden in chocolate spongecake boxes shipped to an airport in western Germany.

“My colleagues at the airport are regularly surprised by the contents of prohibited packages from all over the world, but the fact that they found around 1,500 small plastic containers containing young tarantulas in this package left even the most experienced among them speechless,” Ahland said in a statement.

Ahland hailed an “extraordinary seizure,” but one that “saddens us to see what some people do to animals purely for profit.”

Many of the eight-legged creatures didn’t survive the trip, in a suspected violation of German animal-welfare rules, while survivors were given to the care of an expert handler, the office said. Reached by phone, Ahland said that the estimated value of the shipment was being assessed.

And now, what does the expert handler do with 1,400 growing tarantulas? I know what I would do with them, but it wouldn't comply with German animal-welfare rules.

Criminal proceedings are underway against the intended recipient in the Sauerland region, east of the airport, in part for alleged violations of failure to pay the proper import duties and make the proper customs declarations, the office said.

The tarantulas were discovered about three weeks ago, but the customs office only made the images public on Monday.

Bits and Bites and Bee Stings from Around the World > Another Bee attack delays a flight in India

 

Bee attack delays flight in India

A swarm obstructed the cargo door of a domestic flight, pushing back takeoff by an hour

IndiGo Airlines airplanes at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India, on April 24, 2024. © Getty Images

A swarm of bees encircled the luggage door of a flight in India, resulting in a delay of over an hour, media reports said on Tuesday.

Passengers who had boarded the Indigo flight at Surat International Airport in the western state of Gujarat were left waiting, while airport staff scrambled to resolve the issue as the bees confined themselves to one section by the door, reports said. 

Airport authorities first tried to drive the bees away using smoke, but this proved ineffective. They then brought in the fire brigade team, who used water to spray the area.

“We informed the airport’s fire team. They used a jet of water from a fire tender to remove the bees from the open shutter,” the Times of India quoted an airport official as saying. After the issue was addressed, the flight to Jaipur managed to take off after an hour’s delay, local media reports said. 

Sorry, video is faulty

Similar incidents were reported in 2019 and 2020 when swarms of bees delayed two separate Air India flights in Kolkata, according to a report by The Indian Express. While in 2019, the bees sat near the cockpit window of a Boeing 737, the following year, the insects gathered near the cargo hold of an aircraft, the report added.

India’s fast-growing aviation sector has faced a number of problems over the last few months. In June, a UK-bound Boeing 787 carrying 242 passengers and crew crashed into a medical college hostel just minutes after takeoff from Ahmedabad. 

On Tuesday, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau submitted its preliminary report on the crash to the Aviation Ministry, according to a report by news agency ANI. The findings and conclusions of the investigators remain undisclosed.