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Today's Paper | October 05, 2024

Published 04 Mar, 2017 06:17am

The weekly weird

Whale dies with plastic bags stuck in its stomach

Throwing plastic bags and other rubbish in the sea can be lethal to the innocent marine life. And recently, a dying whale was discovered off the coast of western Norway with more than 30 plastic bags in its stomach.

Researchers were horrified when they found the poor mammal suffering off the island of Sotra, after beaching in shallow water, and wardens were forced to put it down.

When scientists opened up and analysed the whale’s stomach, they found it full of plastic waste. The beaked whale was also emaciated and had very little blubber — suggesting that it was badly malnourished.

Researchers from the University of Bergen said that although the whale’s death was tragic, it was unsurprising given the amount of plastic waste being dumped in the sea.

A zoologist who studied the whale added that the whale’s intestines were likely blocked up by the build-up of the plastic, which would have caused severe pain.


Hummingbird egg stops upgrades to a bridge

A tiny unborn hummingbird is getting in the way of a big bridge project in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The discovery of a nest with an egg in a tree is stalling the start of upgrades on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge about 30 miles north of San Francisco, officials said. The species, Anna’s Hummingbird, is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that forbids the removal of the egg and offers other protections to birds.

The nest, about half the size of a fist, was discovered when work was set to begin. It was found on the Richmond side of the $70 million bridge project, in one of about two dozen trees that were to be removed to widen the freeway, officials said.


Largest burger merchandise collection

A Florida man has the world’s largest collection of hamburger merchandise totalling more than 3,000 items.

Harry ‘Hamburger Harry’ Sperl holds the Guinness World Record for ‘Largest collection of hamburger related items’ with 3,724 items in his Daytona Beach home.

In addition to a burger shaped motorcycle, his massive collection also contains a $3,500 cheeseburger waterbed, happy meal cheeseburger toys and burger posters.

Sperl’s hamburger obsession began 26 years ago when he bought five fake hamburgers for a photo he intended to use to sell a vintage car tray used at drive-in food establishments. Sperl now hopes to construct a burger-shaped museum to share his collection with the world.


Bride wears T-rex costume

A bride dressed as a T-rex surprised the groom at their North Carolina wedding photo shoot and the moment was captured on video by their photographer.

Photographer Jon Murray posted a video to Facebook showing the moment groom Tom Gardner was supposed to have his ‘first look’ at his soon-to-be-wife, Beth, in her wedding gown.

Beth had other plans, however, and Tom instead turned around to find his betrothed dressed as a Tyrannosaurus.

“I was totally floored when I turned around and saw her in this,” Tom wrote in a Facebook comment.

“It just warms my heart to see that so many people got a giggle out of this too,” Beth wrote.

Published in Dawn, Young World March 4th, 2017

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