Bierschbach's Blog

Little Shark 54 was nearly eaten by Jesse, a much bigger shark, at the Underwater Adventures in the Mall of America Friday, reported the Pioneer Press.

Shark 54, a 4 1/2-foot white tip reef shark, may have brushed against Jesse, a 300-pound female sand shark, and triggered the bite reflex. After nearly 30 minutes of being chomped down on, a boy visiting the aquarium noticed the attack and notified a staff member.

Shark 54 has since recieved antiobiotic treatments for wounds Jesse inflicted to the tissue of her belly. "Everything went fine," said Reid Withrow, director of husbandry and life support. "She looks good. She ate after we handled her."

It is not uncommon for sand sharks to feed on smaller sharks in the wild, but it is still unknown what the exact cause of the attack was. Shark 54 is being kept in isolation for now until more is known about the attack. "She's eating and seems to be doing well," Withrow said. "She's not out of the woods yet."

Posted by bier0136 at 10:16 PM | Permalink

Elevated levels of a chemical formerly manufactured by 3M Co. have been found in nine lakes in the Twin Cities area, reported Kare 11 News.

The PFO's (perfluorooctane sulfonate) found in the lakes had been used for decades by the company in its production of Scotchguard and firefighting foams. The company ceased production in 2002, however, high levels of the chemical still remain in three Minneapolis lakes and six lakes in surrounding areas.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency released a lakes study Tuesday that began after the discovery last spring of considerably high levels of PFOS in bluegills from Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis. State health officials promise to evaluate the findings and determine whether more fish consumption advisories should be released.

Paul Hoff, the MPCA's supervisor of environmental reporting and special studies, said that these nine lakes contained high enough levels of PFO's to possibly be cause concern. The lakes study found that the contamination is due to stormwater runoff.

Kare 11 reports the lakes with elevated levels of PFO's are as follows: Lake Johanna (Arden Hills), Cedar (Minneapolis), Harriet, Hiawatha, Jane, Keller, Powers, Red Rock and Tanners.

Posted by bier0136 at 8:19 PM | Permalink

The Star Tribune reported that an arrest warrant for a U.S. Marine was set out by Mexican officials.

Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean, suspected of killing a pregnant colleague who accused him of rape, was last seen visiting his family in Guadalajara, Mexico this month. Laurean left without telling his family where he was going. The burnt body of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach was found earlier this month in a firepit in the backyard Laurean's home in Jacksonville, N.C.

An autopsy indicated that Lauterbach died from blut force trama to the back of her head, and was afterward burnt along with her fetus. Prosecutors believe Lauterbach was murdered on December 14. Laurean is being charged with first-degree murder and if caught will face the death penalty in Mexico.

Lauterbach's alleged harrassment occured at Camp Lejeune, a Marine base on the Atlantic coast where she and Laurean served as personel clerks. After Lauterbach reported the rape, she was encouraged to keep her distance from Laurean. Laurean denied the rape accusation.

The search for Lauren continues on Mexican soil, but it is unknown whether or not the U.S. will permit an arrest warrant.

Posted by bier0136 at 12:37 AM | Permalink

President Bush's final State of the Union address Monday night at Capitol Hill focused on the continuing war in Iraq, and a speedy passage of his tax rebate package, the New York Times reported.

A prevelant theme of the president's speech was future uncertainty. “As we meet tonight, our economy is undergoing a period of uncertainty,� Bush said, including that “at kitchen tables across the country, there is concern about our economic future," reported the New York Times.

Although the White House ensured that the speech would look ahead, the president's speech was more a summation of the past seven years. “We have faced hard decisions about peace and war, rising competition in the world economy, and the health and welfare of our citizens,� Bush said. “These issues call for vigorous debate, and I think it’s fair to say we’ve answered that call. Yet history will record that amid our differences, we acted with purpose.�

Bush mentioned little about forgein affairs, but made a strong push for signiture education bill, No Child Left Behind, and an agenda to provide low-income students with $300 million in scholarship money. He hopes that this plan will lower high school dropout rates, and aid struggling schools.

With 51 weeks left in his predidency, Bush indicates that he will move forward, but not drastically. It seems that the president plans on taking small steps towards change, and indicates that there will be both war and economic hardships in the future.

Posted by bier0136 at 3:49 AM | Permalink