Assorted news – 2

1. Yesterday I drove to Cape Cod to see whales. As of 5:30 AM, there were still a few North Atlantic right whales just off Race Point Beach. I didn’t even have to launch my kayak – just snorkeled a bit out (in a semi-dry suit) and was immediately approached by a right whale. I then swam about 100 m offshore, where the visibility was a bit better, and got underwater views of a pod of long-finned pilot whales. There were also humpbacks farther out. A guy who’d been watching them all week said the numbers have dropped but there should still be some next weekend.
2. An interesting paper about using various types of traps for small mammals (rodents and opossums) in interior Brazil. They found that bait type wasn’t important, but pitfalls caught more species, and a lot of those didn’t show up in Shermans at all. They used 60-l buckets.
3. As long as we are talking about Brazil, here‘s a change in Oligoryzomys taxonomy.
4. There is a paper under review claiming an entirely new species of cat from S Colombia and N Ecuador. Local experts are a bit skeptical, but let’s wait until the paper is published.
5. I am considering going on June 4-5 pelagic trip with these guys (scroll down for details) – anyone interested?
   Vladimir