Anti-Social Humpback Whales Spotted Gathering Strangely by the Hundreds

Humpback whales are known to be loners. The gigantic creatures are usually spotted by themselves, in a pair or very small groups that more often than not split up after a while.

In a paper published in the journal Plos One, researchers analyzed the strange and intriguing behavioral shift of these wild creatures. As Gísli Vikingsson, head of whale research at the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute in Iceland, said in a report from New Scientist, it's unusual to find massive groups of humpback whales.

So it came as a surprise to scientists when large gatherings of the creature were discovered in separate occasions in 2011, 2014 and 2015. There have also been several public observation from aircraft.

These super-groups were found feeding together by the south-western coast of South Africa. Even the location is a deviation from their regular behavior, since humpback whales typically feed thousands of miles away in the Antarctic, where they spend summer months gourging on krill.

Although scientists are not certain about the reason for the whales' change in behavior, there are several suggestions. One could simply be the availability of prey in the regions.

It could also be their natural behavior, and their recent population spike could have allowed them to once again indulge in very large gatherings -- and be visible to humans.

"I've never seen anything like this," Ken Findlay, lead author of the study from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in South Africa, said. "It's possible that the behaviour was occurring but just not where it was visible. Because there were so few of them, we may not have seen it."

The humpback whales have experienced a rebound in population, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Nine out of 14 identified population segments are no longer in danger of extinction or endangerment in the near future, while the West Indies and East Australia populations are experiencing a steady growth rate of respectively 3.1 percent and nearly 11 percent annually.

This Loyal Penguin Swims Every Year to Visit the Man Who Saved His Life

Meet the loyal penguin who swims miles every year to visit the man who once saved his life.

According to CBS News, Dindim, a Magellanic South American penguin was found by Joao Pereira de Souza, a 71-year-old retired bricklayer, in a poor situation in 2011. Dindim was covered in oil on the rocks of an island village just outside of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His inability to move and fend for himself could've lead to his death. Fortunately, Souza was kind-hearted enough to get Dindim out of that situation.

Souza took him home and nursed him for weeks, cleaning his feathers and feeding him with fish. One Green Planet reported that they spent 11 months together, and once Dindim got back on his feet, Souza decided to return him back in his natural habitat.

Souza thought that was the last time he'd see his friend. But to his and everyone's surprise, Dindim came back few months later.

Read Also: Happy Feet! A Million Penguins Flock to Argentina to Eat [VIDEO] 

The species of Dindim normally breeds on the Patagonia coasts of Argentina and Chile which is three to five thousand miles away from where the retired fisherman lives, New York Post reported.

However, Biologist Joao Paulo Krajewski, who documented the special case of Dindim said Dindim unlikely travels to Patagonia.

"This is because Dindim stays in Ilha Grande (where Proveta Beach is located) at the same time all other Magellanic penguins are breeding in Patagonia and other islands down South," Krajewski told CNN.

Souza said Dindim has never failed to visit Souza every year, usually arriving in June and leaving by February.

"I love the penguin like it's my own child and I believe the penguin loves me," said Souza in an interview with Globo TV.

"No one else is allowed to touch him. He pecks them if they do. He lays on my lap, lets me give him showers, allows me to feed him sardines and to pick him up," he added.

Krajewski told The Independent: "I have never seen anything like this before. I think the penguin believes Joao is part of his family and probably a penguin as well. When he sees him he wags his tail like a dog and honks with delight."

Read Also: Gay Penguin Couple Celebrates 10th Anniversary 

Creepy Fact: Spiders All Around the World Devour Up to 800 Million Tons of Prey Annually

A new study by zoologists from the University of Basel and Lund University in Sweden revealed that spiders play a crucial role in maintaining ecological balance by munching astronomical number of insects on a global scale.

The study, published in the journal the Science of Nature, showed that spiders remain of the most important predators of insects, killing up to 800 million tons of preys every year.

"Our calculations let us quantify for the first time on a global scale that spiders are major natural enemies of insects. In concert with other insectivorous animals such as ants and birds, they help to reduce the population densities of insects significantly," said lead author Martin Nyffeler, from the University of Basel, in a press release. "Spiders thus make an essential contribution to maintaining the ecological balance of nature,"

For the study, the researchers used two calculations based on different models. Their calculations consistently showed that the global spider population, weighing about 25 million tons, consumes around 400 to 800 million tons of prey each year.

Among the astronomical amount of prey, insects and springtails remain the top snack for the spiders, accounting for over 90 percent of their annual prey consumption, Other spiders, especially large tropical spiders, sometimes feast on small vertebrates, such as snakes, frogs, lizards, bats and fishes.

The researchers also found that spiders living forest and grassland kill more insects than their counterparts in desert regions, Arctic tundra and agricultural areas.

The eating habits of spiders can be compared to that of humans that consumes around 400 million tons of fish and meat every year On the other hand, whales in the world's oceans devour about 280 to 500 million tons of prey annually,

Spiders are considered to be one of the world's most species-rich and widespread groups of predators. At present, there are over 45,000 species of spiders. These eight-legged creeps have a population density of up to 1,000 individuals per square meter.

Study: Horses, Other Mammals Are Shrinking as Climate Heats Up

It's heating up all over the world and global warming comes with far-reaching consequences on life. One of the effects of rising climate is making certain animals considerably smaller -- and scientists are keeping an eye out for evidence of it happening in the coming future.

According to a report from Phys Org, the study noted two other times in the Earth's history when a naturally occurring temperature spike led to warm-blooded creatures shrinking in size.

In the wake of today's well-documented global warming, lead author and University of New Hampshire researcher Abigail D'Ambrosia cautioned that animals could be facing the same fate now. In fact, the man-induced warming could cause the animals to change size even faster than natural environmental changes did.

Read Also: This Mammal Became Venomous About 100 Million Years Before Snakes Did 

It was 54 million years ago when the temperature dramatically rose and shrunk three known species including an early horse and a lemur-like animal that's the earliest known primate.

An analysis of fossil teeth from the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming estimated that horse became 14 percent smaller, going from 7.7 kilograms to 6.6 kilograms. D'Ambrosia described it from being the size of a dog to the size of a cat. Meanwhile, the primate shrunk by about 4 percent, a significant decrease in size considering the animal was usually recorded to be getting bigger over millions of years.

An earlier warming 56 million years ago also recorded a similar shrinking of animals including a different early horse ancestor.

"Dwarfing appears to be a common evolutionary response of some mammals during past global warming events, and the extent of dwarfing seems related to the magnitude of the event," D'Ambrosia explained in a report from Telegraph.

Some of the factors that led to the shrinking of the animals may have been nutrient availability, which may have been caused by rising temperatures and drought.

She added, "Drought conditions have been known to lead to smaller offspring."

The researchers published their findings in the journal Science Advances.

Read Also: Consequences of Global Warming: Ocean Temperature Higher Than Previously Thought

Ousted South Korean President Faces Uproar After Abandoning 9 Dogs Since Impeachment

From being a highly regarded top executive of South Korea, former President Park Geun-Hye is now being ridiculed. Not only due to the allegations that led to her ouster, but also because she reportedly abandoned her dogs after the impeachment.

Park used to care for nine dogs at her presidential residence. However, she allegedly left her canine fleet after her impeachment. An animal rights group formally filed a complaint against Park Geun-Hye, citing a grave violation of the Animal Protection Law of South Korea.

"Leaving behind nine Jindo dogs, a human returned home alone," People's Party Chairman Park Jie-won, said in a statement. "Some people cannot hold a candle to dogs in regards to fidelity."

Reports of Park Guen-Hye's abandonment of her dogs surfaced when one Cheong Wa Dae official revealed that the former leader did not take all her dogs with her when she left. Meanwhile, volunteers are now in custody of the dogs providing for their needs until all of the nine dogs found their forever homes.

Another animal rights group Care said it is willing to look after the dogs until they find new families. "If her pets are sent to animal shelters, this will cause another problem," the group said in a release.

They dogs, known as Jindo dog family were once regarded as the "First Dogs". The former president was affectionate to the dogs including Hope and Saerom Jindo dogs were given to her last 2013, according to a report. The dogs then had litters, which Park named Peace, Unification, Geumgang, Halla and Baekdu.

Jindo dog is an indigenous hunting dog breed from Korea. Unlike their owner, this type of dogs is known for their "unmatched loyalty". For the nine abandoned dogs, they are now up for adoption to find another loving home.

The former president also pronounced herself as an animal lover, something animal rights activists in South Korea highly doubt today.