Bees kill 60 penguins by stinging them in the eyes

An unusual incident occurred outside Cape Town, South Africa, where penguins were found dead.

The flightless birds were repeatedly stung on their eyes by a swarm of bees, the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds said. Tests found that the 63 African penguins had no injuries other than the stings, while a number of bees also died.

The protected birds on a prominent ‘red list’ for endangered animals were from a colony at Simon’s Town, a small town near Cape Town. The area boasts a national park, with the Cape honey bees part of the ecosystem there.

In a statement, The South African National Parks said: ‘There were no external physical injuries found on any of the birds.’ The post-mortems showed all the penguins had multiple bee stings.

Frankenstein first edition sells for a record

A first edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein set a new world record for a printed work by a woman when it was auctioned for $1.17 million.

The three-volume copy of Frankenstein, which still bears its original boards from its 1818 printing, had been projected to sell for $200,000 to $300,000 by auction house Christie’s, but the sale closed with a top bid many times that estimate.

The sum was reported by Fine Books Magazine to be a new world record for the highest price fetched by a printed work by a woman. The edition was one of only 500 printed in Frankenstein’s first run, and the copy sold was the first to be offered for auction since 1985.

820-foot pedestrian bridge earns Guinness World Record

An 820-foot bridge suspended over an Ontario highway was awarded a Guinness World Record as the world’s longest enclosed pedestrian bridge.

The Pickering pedestrian bridge, which was built by Metrolinx over Highway 401, was verified by Guinness after it was officially measured at 820 feet long.

The bridge was completed in September 2018 and the transit agency decided to apply for the Guinness World Record in 2020. The bridge, which connects the Pickering Go Train station to the Pickering Town Centre, stretches over 14 lanes of highway, six railway tracks and a city road.

Boat stuck in the air in Channel Islands

The motor cruiser collided with the rocks underwater, and then the tide went out, leaving it 10 feet in the air. Unfortunately, the crew were unable to get it unstuck before this point, and they had to be rescued by the coast guards at the Ecrehous mini islands, off the coast of Jersey.

It took around 12 hours to rescue those on board, who suffered minor injuries from the impact.

The photographs of the boat caused a stir locally, with several people joking “Good bit of parking that” and “You can’t park there”.

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 2nd, 2021