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TreeHugger.com on killer whale deaths at the hands of mosquitos. Not a happy story, to be sure, but pretty extraordinary that little tiny bugs caused the death of SeaWorld's mighty killer whales. According to Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, two killer whales kicked the bucket because of a mosquito-born illness from West Nile and St. Louis encephalitis. "I think it is safe to say that no one would have thought of the risks that mosquitoes might pose to orcas in captivity," Courtney Vail at WDCS says. "But considering the amount of time they unnaturally spend at the surface in shallow pools at these facilities, it is yet another deadly and unfortunate consequence of the inadequate conditions inherent to captivity.” [TreeHugger]
The AP on an environmentalist martyr. In a sad reminder of how speaking out can get you killed, the AP reports today that a Cambodian police officer killed a well-known environmentalist and then took his own life. "Chut Wutty had been taking photographs on Wednesday in a forest where a Chinese company is building a hydropower dam," the AP reports. "He refused to stop when an officer called In Ratana asked him to, military police spokesman Kheng Tito said." According to the spokesman, "When he learned that Chut Wutty died, he killed himself with his own weapon." [AP]