Strange Times for 7 November 2023

Of otters and orcas

Hi everyone. Thanks for joining me for this off-kilter stupid-time-change edition of my rundown of weird news. Today’s Strange Times is brought to you by the letter ‘O’ and the word “yacht” (which is darned hard to spell, offhand)

Otter attack

Is it just me or does it seem that otters of various types (river and sea) are kind of angry with people? This week we hear of another incident where a man swimming in a California lake was attacked and bitten by otters. He wants the wildlife officials to do something about it before someone gets killed! KILLED!

(Was this a movie plot? Had to be a movie! It WASN’T?!? I don’t believe this. There are movies about all kinds of kill water creature. There is even a movie about a murderous sloth! But no killer otter movie? I’m stunned; I expect one will appear soon.)

Otters are not nice but, in reality, attacks are rare, mostly by rabid river otters. You wouldn’t think it, though. We’ve heard of so many attacks this year - several in California, including a sea otter, one in Montana, and one in Florida. It’s likely this is just making the news because it’s clickbaity. Yet, humans are encroaching more and more on wildlife who may be desperate for food or protecting their areas. Keep very clear of otters. https://www.kcra.com/article/placer-county-serene-lakes-otters-attack/45729327

Orca attack

This isn’t over. (This one did have a movie.) It is true that orcas are targeting boats more than in the past. Killer whale encounters were headline news earlier this year as they rammed boats around Spain and Portugal, a behavior that spread to other areas. A yacht off the coast of Morocco sank on Oct. 31 after orcas pummeled it for almost an hour. The crew was able to get off the craft before it sunk while being towed. Recorded interactions between boats and these whales have tripled in the last few years, now over 200 in 2023. https://www.axios.com/2023/11/07/killer-whales-orcas-sink-yacht-attacks-boats

Bored ape burns my eyes

Several attendees of an event last week in Hong Kong experienced vision problems and sunburn-like symptoms related to UV lights used for display. About 15 people attending ApeFest, a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection event, (do not worry if you don’t understand what I just said) woke up with pain and burning eyes diagnosed as photokeratitis caused by unprotected exposure to ultraviolet radiation. There were some 2,250 people at the event on Saturday night. Bored Ape is becoming synonymous with chaos and bad press. https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/6/23948464/bored-ape-nft-event-eye-injury-sunburn-uv-exposure

Not news - Not Yeti hair

A new BBC podcast about seeking the Yeti revealed that a mysterious hair supplied by an unnamed source that underwent DNA analysis was… wait for it… from a horse. Why is this a ridiculously long article from LiveScience for that bit of not-news? It sounds like the best-you-can-do promotion of the BBC series that has nothing much else to show for it. BBC podcasts have recently had big hits with paranormal series that are entertaining but also just stories. https://www.livescience.com/human-behavior/conspiracies-paranormal/yeti-hair-found-in-himalayas-is-actually-from-a-horse-bbc-series-reveals

Human head found

Someone who knew what they found when they saw it reported a genuine human skull in a thrift store. An anthropologist noticed that this was not just another Halloween prop in a Florida shop and called the sheriff. The store owner said the item came from an abandoned storage locker. The find is not considered suspicious. The item was handed over to officials for examination. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/anthropologist-finds-human-skull-florida-thrift-stores-halloween-secti-rcna123774

Lonely sheep now a celebrity

A few weeks ago, I saw this story of a solitary sheep stranded between cliffs and the water in the Scottish Highlands. She had been separated from a herd for about 2 years and could not get back up the cliff wall. She had plenty to eat, but would appear to kayakers from her cave shelter as if she was asking to be rescued. I knew someone would try. It took a month, but they did it, using a winch to lift her out of the isolated area. Now Fiona the sheep, all sheared and cleaned up, is the center of a public fight about where the celebrity sheep should live. Animal welfare advocates do not want her to stay at the farm “park” where she was headed because they allege she’ll be overwhelmed and made “a spectacle”. The strange dispute is making her rescuers uncomfortable, and they put Fiona in hiding because they fear she’ll be stolen. It sounds like the activists won’t succeed in getting her moved. She’ll be with other sheep as she adjusts to farm life. I think she’s pretty happy. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-67326713

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