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Please help me identify this animal I believe to be a cougar. Pictures were caught in front of my house on my security camera at 3:39 am. I have video as well (see link below). I uploaded some prints of tracks in my yard but I am not an expert so I don't know if these are from this or another animal. These are only a couple of the pictures of tracks taken. I believe he was in my backyard as well as the front based on potential tracks as well as my dog's reaction to scents in the back yard in the morning. It looked like he walked down the driveway on hard ice but these prints could belong to him.

I have uploaded video to utube for viewing on this link: https://youtu.be/XxQEEh-49EM

Back when I was say, 9 or 10, me and my sister were playing the backyard on the swing set. Our Mother watched us as we swung. Suddenly, my Mother shouted out to us to get into the house. We were confused and scared, why the yelling? We quickly ran into the house and looked back to see a giant raccoon emerging from the shed. It was massive! It could totally take down boy me!

The raccoon walked up to the swing set, and was confronted by my Mom with a broom. She swiped at it. Me and my sister watched behind the bug screen, probably not the best idea. After a short while, the raccoon returned to the shed, and forever after that, we feared the shed.

The raccoon's presents was marked by one the shed's doors, which the raccoon had bent out of shape.

Flash forward to the summer of 2020, and we finally decide that we wanted our shed back. We hadn’t used if for years! On June 8, my Father came with a pool net and prepared to face the raccoon. The whole family waited with anticipation, what would we find? After some time, I heard a shout, I quickly turned my attention to the shed, it was the raccoon, but not how we expected. In the pool net lied the skeletal remains of the raccoon, was it all over?

My Father brought the skull and some other bones to our outdoor table. The years of fear finally at an end. The following week would see the further discovery of other body parts. A nest was also found, stained by bodily fluids and decomposition. I also found a dead rat, it still had fur but you could see its bones.

The raccoon skeleton remains in the backyard, and the shed is ours once again.

This week marks the second anniversary of this event.

This male mountain lion - a migrant from South Dakota - was infamously struck 41-miles east of Greenwich, CT. This was the first verifiable documentation of a cougar in Connecticut since the 1890s. The attributed location and time is from where it was struck by a car. There is no breeding population of cougars in New England, though they historically occupied every continental US state. More information on the "Connecticut Mountain Lion" can be found below.

Photos supplied with permission from Connecticut's Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP), Wildlife Division, courtesy of Cyndy Chanaca.
Individual photo credentials: Paul J. Fusco/ CT DEEP-Wildlife

(http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/fish-wildlife-plants/mammals/confirmed-reports-of-mountain-lions-in-massachusetts.html)
(http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?Q=483778)

BIDENS ANDICOLA H.B.K., Nov. Gen. et Sp. 4:237 (186). 1820; B. andicola H.B.K. vars. normalis and heterophylla O. Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 3^II^: I36. 1898; B. fruticulosa Mey. and Walp., Nov. Act. Nat. Cur. 19 Supplem. I. 271. 1843.

Descript. amplific.- Herba perennis, semi-procumbens vel etiam erecta, valde hispido-pubescens vel fere glabra, ramosa, 2-8 dm. alta, caulibus parce angulatis. Folia 1-7 cm. longa, valde polymorpha; nunc indivisa, ovata, serrata, sessilia vel alato-petiolata, ad apicem obtusa vel subacuta; nunc tripartite vel 1-3-pinnata foliolis ovatis vel lanceolatis vel linearibus et ad apicem sensim vel abrupte apiculatis. Capitula ramos terminantia, longe pedunculata, radiata; pansa ad anthesin 2-4 vel rarius etiam usque ad 5.5 cm. lata, 0.7-1.4 cm. alta. Involucrum perspicue hispidum, bracteis ex-terioribus 8-10, lanceolatis vel lineari-oblongis, ciliatis, supra saepe glabratis, apice plerumque obtusis, quam interioribus lanceolatis dense hispidis plerumque multo brevioribus. Flores ligulati saepius 8, lutei, ligula elliptico-oblanceolati, apice plerumque minute 3-denticulati, 1.2-2.5 cm. longi. Achaenia tenuiter linearia, inferne sensim attenuate, obcompresso-quadrangularia, sulcata, supra plus minusve erecto-hispida, fusco-nigra, corpore 0.7-1.4 cm. longa et 0.4-1 mm. lata et paleas demum superantia, apice bi- (vel pauca tri-) aristata, aristis tenuibus, brunneo-stramineis vel rubescentibus, re-trorsum hamosis, 1.7-3 mm. longis.

BIDENS ANDICOLA var. DECOMPOSITA O. Kuntze, I.c.; B. macrantha Griseb., Abhandl. Goett. I9:I38 I874; B. grandiflora Balb. var. breviloba 0. Kuntze, I.c.-Folia 2-3-pinnatisecta, usque ad I dm. longa, achaeniis superne valde attenuato-elongata.

For many years the identity of the South American Bidens andicola has been obscured for herbarium workers by the great multiplicity of foliage forms encountered. WEDDELL, as early as 1856 (Chloris And. 1870) described it as a polymorphous plant ("Plante polymorphe et très repande dans la chaine, mais presque exclusivement alpestre"). Later, OTTO KUNTZE, who like WEDDELL had collected in South America, commented upon the variability of the leaves ("Eine robuste Art mit einfach oder mehrfach ternatisecten Blättern, mittelgrossen gelben Strahlblüthen, ziemlich grossen Blüthenköpfen, äusseren zottig behaarten Involucralbracteen etc., aber in Bezug auf Blatttheilung wie manche andere Bidens-Art sehr variabel"; Rev. Gen. Pl. 3^II^: 136. 1898). In herbaria the numerous foliage forms are seen to simulate corresponding forms of B. triplinervia H.B.K. (B. humilis H.B.K., B. crithmifoliac H.B.K., etc.), and this has led often to confusion between the two species. Recently I was enabled, through the courtesy of OTTO BUCHTIEN (cf. SHEREFF, BOT. GAZ. 76: 151. 1923), to study a great number of specimens collected by him and displaying a wide range of variation. From these (all in Herb. Field. Mus.) and many others, totalling more than two hundred specimens, the preceding descriptions are drawn. It was found that sometimes, in poorly developed material, distinction from B. triplinervia is apparently impossible. In well developed material, however, the distinctions are usually very definite, B. andicola being coarser, its thicker heads having commonly about eight instead of commonly about five rays[4], etc. B. andicola has the paleae shorter than the mature achenes and this character separates it from the surprisingly similar aggregation of Mexican forms (Purpus 1547, 1548, 2637, 4135, 5089, 5620; Rose and Painter 6666, 7949; Pringle 4915; E. W. Nelson 3220, etc.) that in late years have passed erroneously under the name B. daucifolia DC. In the latter[5] the paleae are usually very blackish above and commonly surpass the mature achenes.

Occasionally a form of B. andicola is found with the leaves highly compound and the achenes strongly narrowed above, somewhat like those of Cosmos. If it were not for various connecting forms this would seem to be specifically distinct. KUNTZE, who himself collected specimens of it, referred at least one of them, a plant from Cochabamba, Bolivia (Herb. N.Y. Bot. Gard.) to B. andicola, naming it var. decomposita. In a careless moment he named a precisely identical form from between Cochabamba and Rio Juntas, Bolivia (Herb. N.Y. Bot. Gard.) B. grandiflora Balb. var. breviloba, although B. grandifjora is a Mexican species and is not known to occur in South America.

[4] Unfortunately, B. triplinervia produces at times an 8-rayed form. Discussion of this form must be deferred until a later date.

Sherff, E. E. (1926). Studies in the Genus Bidens. VII. Botanical Gazette, 81(1), 25-54.>>

Seal caught in net at the East Bay Sandbar. Department of Natural Resources and Marine Animal Response Society called and notified, but animal freed one fore flipper and returned to the water shortly after.

65 harbour seals on the ice along with 3 or 4 more popping up through holes in the ice. This was my first observation of the annual gathering of harbour seals in Baddeck Bay. It was a very amazing experience!

Many other people have seen this gathering including @maureen_c-m : https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/150505492 , https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/71800360 . @marianwhit : https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/116909024 .
and @dbmcc09 : https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/108840327 .

I can provide more zoomed in pictures of individuals if specified but they will not be great quality photos.

This is one of the 16 Atlantic white-sided dolphins that were beached in The Joggins in Digby,NS. They were subsequently rescued by members of the community, the volunteer fire department and Department of Fisheries and Oceans officers. This photo was taken after the blanket keeping the dolphin wet and protected was removed and rescuers were moving to shore as the tide approached. A few people stayed with the dolphins to help them get moving once they were floating again.

Sperm whale beaching at Wangerooge Eastern End on Jan. 8th 2016 / female whale 2 / background island "Minsener Oog"

see Flickr documentation of discovery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143115576@N02/albums/72157669456806047

Mature orca known to us as the d-male was sighted near the coast at Tors Cove, Newfoundland - just south of St. John's. Our first record of this animal is from Twillingate, Newfoundland in 1996 and it is one of region's most photographed and recognized animal. It is usually seen in the company of a female with a deep gash in her dorsal - possibly his mother.

Fuente: Parque Nacional Galápagos
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2390233767754324&id=336795426431512

Avistamiento de un elefante marino en Galápagos

Un elefante marino, de aproximadamente 3 metros de largo, fue reportado por ciudadanos de la isla Isabela, en la playa conocida como El Faro y posteriormente hallado por los guardaparques de la Dirección del Parque Nacional Galápagos en el sitio de visita Calera, cercano a la población local.

Este sería el segundo reporte de un elefante marino vivo en Galápagos. Posiblemente se trataría de una hembra adulta de la especie Mirounga leonina que se distingue claramente del macho porque no tiene la extensión de la naríz, que les da la apariencia de elefante. Esta especie está ampliamente distribuida en aguas del océano antártico.

Tienden a migrar durante la época que no se aparean. Los técnicos sugieren que el animal pudo haber sido transportado por las corrientes marinas hacia Galápagos, ya que al igual que los lobos marinos, nada miles de kilómetros tras sus presas.

El sitio de visita Calera, donde actualmente se encuentra el elefante marino, se mantiene con acceso restringido por seguridad de los visitantes. Para los técnicos, lo más probable es que se quede descansando en la zona por varios días y luego continuar su viaje de búsqueda de alimento. Durante su estancia se mantendrán monitoreos permanentes y control del área, con apoyo del personal de la Policía Ambiental y de la Armada Nacional.