[TimeStar] Animals "sixth sensed" tsunami? -

Fri Dec 31 13:16:15 EST 2004

This is no surprise.  During the San Francisco quake of 1989 I was living on the northern Oregon coast.  During the 24 hour period BEFORE the quake, all kinds of unusual sea birds began showing up on our beach - pelicans of different colors than we were used to - gulls, terns - masses of strange-looking birds congregated on our beaches and just stood there, relatively motionless.  After the quake it took 2-3 days for them to disperse, presumably back to the quake area.  I wrote an article about it for a local paper, and a neighbor took pictures.  Otherwise, I never heard any more about it.

Angelyn
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  From: TimeStar 
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  Sent: Friday, December 31, 2004 12:12 AM
  Subject: [TimeStar] Animals "sixth sensed" tsunami? -

  This article indicates that wild animals had managed to avoid the tsunami that produced a death toll of at least 118,000 with the count still rising.  Jooske sent an article on this earlier.  It's tough being human sometimes, cut off from true animal instincts, not yet synthesizing true higher mind and getting blindsided by guys like G.W. Bush.  Krsanna
  Did animals' 'sixth sense' save them from tsunami?
  Thursday, December 30, 2004 Posted: 4:49 PM EST (2149 GMT) 

  WILD LIFE OFFICIALS FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF LARGE-SCALE ANIMAL DEATHS FROM MASSIVE TSUNAMI AT YALA SAFARI GAME LODGE...

  JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- Wild animals seem to have escaped the Indian Ocean tsunami, adding weight to notions they possess a "sixth sense" for disasters, experts said on Thursday.

  Sri Lankan wildlife officials have said the giant waves that killed over 24,000 people along the Indian Ocean island's coast seemingly missed wild beasts, with no dead animals found.
  "No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit. I think animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening," H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of Sri Lanka's Wildlife Department, said on Wednesday.
  The waves washed floodwaters up to 3 km (2 miles) inland at Yala National Park in the ravaged southeast, Sri Lanka's biggest wildlife reserve and home to hundreds of wild elephants and several leopards. "There has been a lot of anecdotal evidence about dogs barking or birds migrating before volcanic eruptions or earthquakes. But it has not been proven," said Matthew van Lierop, an animal behaviour specialist at Johannesburg Zoo.

  "There have been no specific studies because you can't really test it in a lab or field setting," he told Reuters.

  Other authorities concurred with this assessment.
  "Wildlife seem to be able to pick up certain phenomenon, especially birds ... there are many reports of birds detecting impending disasters," said Clive Walker, who has written several books on African wildlife.

  Animals certainly rely on the known senses such as smell or hearing to avoid danger such as predators.

  The notion of an animal "sixth sense" -- or some other mythical power -- is an enduring one which the evidence on Sri Lanka's battered coast is likely to add to.

  The Romans saw owls as omens of impending disaster and many ancient cultures viewed elephants as sacred animals endowed with special powers or attributes.

  The tsunami was triggered by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean on Sunday. It killed tens of thousands of people in Asia and East Africa.

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