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A porpoise found stranded on a Swedish beach in June died of bird flu, the first time the virus has been detected in a porpoise, Sweden's National Veterinary Institute said Wednesday. "As far as we know this is the first confirmed case in the world of bird flu in a porpoise," veterinarian Elina Thorsson said in a statement. "It is likely that the porpoise somehow came into contact with infected birds," she said. The young male was found stranded, alive, on a beach in western Sweden in late June. Despite efforts from the public to get it to swim out...

A three-week archaeological dig in the English Channel took a bizarre, inexplicable turn, after researchers chanced upon a carefully cut grave hidden in the soil – the contents of which were definitely not human.The discovery, made on the small island of Chapelle Dom Hue off the coast of Guernsey in September 2017, revealed the ancient remains of a medieval porpoise buried in the earth, and archaeologists were at a loss to explain the story behind this mysterious animal tomb."It's very peculiar, I don't know what to make of it," archaeologist Philip de Jersey from Oxford University in the UK told...

A team of scientists has identified a new dolphin species - the first for at least 30 years - off north Australia. The mammals - named snubfin dolphins - were initially thought to be members of the Irrawaddy species, also found in Australian waters. But one researcher found the snubfins were coloured differently and had different skull, fin and flipper measurements to the Irrawaddys. DNA tests confirmed that they were two distinct species. The researcher, Isabel Beasley of James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland, said that because they live in shallow waters, both types face the same threats to their...

SEATTLE - "This is very severe hemorrhaging." Ken Balcomb says new pictures of the brain of a harbor porpoise that died in Puget Sound last May are very telling. The pictures show signs of severe trauma. "This is another smoking gun for me that we've got a consistent trauma here," says whale researcher Balcomb. Balcomb says the evidence convinces him that Navy sonar killed the porpoises. Government scientists examined 11 porpoises that washed ashore. But they won't release any evidence until all the lab results are in. They tell KOMO 4 News that will take at least two more months....