Paloma Werner who was onboard with her partner Ralph Mothes said: “The southern right whale, a species known for poor eyesight, snapped the mast before sliding back into the water, and my partner and I had just seconds to take cover. It really was quite incredible but very scary. The whale was about the same size as the boat. We’d spotted it about 100 metres away and thought that was the end of it. Then suddenly it was right up beside us. I assumed it would go underneath the boat but instead it sprang out of the sea. We were very lucky to get through it, as the sheer weight of the thing was huge. There were bits of skin and blubber left behind, and the mast was wrecked. It brought down the rigging too. Thank goodness the hull was made of steel and not fiberglass or we could have been ruined.”

Although the couple was left shaken by the whole experience and their boat severely damaged, their engine still worked so they could get back to shore in Table Bay, after the incident there were reports that the whale had been harassed by pleasure craft before it leapt onto the Intrepid. An inflatable craft had been seen driving close to the animal moments before the incident. Experts have said regarding the incident, that the young whale was more likely inexperienced with human contact and didn’t know the yacht, which had its engine turned off, was there.

Scientist and manager of the Cape Town Mammal Research Institute at the University of Pretoria, Meredith Thornton said:”Whales don’t see much by way of their eyes but by sound in the water.”

Dr. Neil Clark Warren, founder and the voice of eHarmony said, “We’ve found that, like with humans, there are 99 dimensions of matchmaking among pets, for example, one of the compatibility factors among dogs is how long they sniff the butt of another dog when out on a walk. This is important. If they sniff for more than 20 seconds then it could be an indicator of possible addictive behaviour and that’s important in creating a compatible match. In this case, a perfect match would be a dog that likes to have its but sniffed for more than 20 seconds at a time by the same dog.”

The online dating website has developed the service to be tailored to each specific species, so they are all different. For example, cats have a “laser light on the screen” test to determine reflexes and ability to focus or concentrate on one item for an extended period of time. Founder Warren has said “Cats are a fun breed to match because of their character. Our motto for match catch is ’9 lives and 99 dimensions.”

The company came up with the idea after having some of their members emailing them asking them about matching their lonely pets too.

Picture courtesy of Zemlinki

When they arrived Thomas claimed the neighbour had been mistaken about what he saw however when police searched Edwards house they discovered extreme pornography which he claimed he had downloaded by accident, sentencing was adjourned until January  Edwards was working at the time of the incident at Chester Zoo but not with animals, he was hoping to go to college and to work with animals in the future.

Picture courtesy of Lapate

Circus World who put on the shows are still going ahead with the next event which will take place on the 15th December, with the 3 tigers still carrying on in the performances, Stefan Pagels who is the circus chief has said, “First of all, the tigers did nothing wrong. Secondly, we never punish our animals, we only ever reward them. Punishing them would serve no purpose and there is no reason to put them to sleep”.

Picture courtesy of intothelens4149

Residents of Docker River where the camels have descended first started noticing them a few weeks ago however there were then only about 30 or 40 seemingly looking for water after a continuing heat wave in the area saw many of their other water sources dry up, they began smashing local water storage tanks and carcasses have been found after stampedes which have been contaminating water supplies.

The Australian authorities are now planning a cull of the camels in the area as well as other parts of Australia where they are a problem allocating £10 million to do so. The camels will be rounded up out of town and shot humanely.

Picture courtesy of  me and the sysop