A boat normally used to transport RNLI volunteer crew to and from a moored lifeboat has become a favourite sun-bathing spot for a bolshie bull seal.
The boarding boat at St Davids RNLI Lifeboat Station in Pembrokeshire is used to ferry crew to and from the Tamar class lifeboat Norah Wortley. But now the small boarding vessel has become a regular hang out spot for a local seal which has taken to hopping on board.
The bull seal, which is well known to the RNLI charity’s volunteer crew and local tourist boat owners, is between 7ft and 8ft long and was last snapped taking some sun on the inflatable.
Eyes a giveaway for predators
When it comes to telling apart prey and predator the eyes have it, new research has shown.
Prey species such as sheep and goats can be distinguished by their “letterbox” pupils while those of cats, crocodiles and other ambush predators look like vertical slits.
In both cases, evolution chose the arrangement for a good reason, say scientists. Tests showed that eyes with horizontal slit pupils had an expanded field of view. Placed on each side of a prey animal’s head, they provided a panoramic visual display that improved the chances of spotting approaching danger.
London now has own dragon
A dragon with razor-sharp teeth that preys on large mammals has moved to London.
Ganas, a 5ft 6in Komodo dragon, has taken up residence at ZSL London Zoo’s Land of the Giants exhibit after migrating from Denmark.
Komodo dragons are the heaviest lizards on the planet, weighing up to 300lb, and have survived for millions of years, but are now classified as endangered. They are native to Indonesia and are named after the island of Komodo.
No time team for two Koreas
North Korea is moving to distance itself from bitter rival South Korea by establishing its own time zone – pulling back its current standard time by 30 minutes.
Currently, local time in both Koreas and Japan is the same. It was set when the then single Korea was under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the establishment of “Pyongyang time” is aimed at rooting out the legacy of the Japanese colonial occupation period.
It says the new time zone will be effective from August 15, the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese rule at the end of the World War II. South Korean officials say the country uses the same time zone as Japan to conform to international practice.
Gravestone found in bus station
Police are trying to establish how a child’s gravestone ended up at a bus station in northern New Jersey.
An employee found the headstone at the NJ Transit Bus Terminal in Nutley, about 15 miles west of New York City. The headstone is engraved with the name Max Ferreira, date of birth June 16, 1990. The eight-year-old apparently died on September 29, 1998.
Police say they can only speculate that the headstone was removed from a grave, and are calling cemeteries, but it may not have been reported missing.
Wedding gift practice ended
Uganda’s top court has banned the practice of refunding “bride price” – which normally sees livestock given by the groom to his bride’s family – when a marriage ends in divorce.
The Supreme Court agreed with activists that the refunds undermined the dignity of women, but it upheld the practice of paying bride price in the first place, despite activists calling for the whole culture of giving gifts to be declared unconstitutional on the grounds that it reduces women to the status of property.