Zoo news

Credit: RSPCA

Locals in the English town of Borwick, Lancashire, were baffled when a seal turned up in a grassy roadside verge — more than 6 kilometres inland and some 1.5 kilometres from the nearest river. Despite its apparently heroic overland journey, the disorientated trekker, now nicknamed Sid, bore not a scratch.

On the Record

“Maybe we'll find out that spaceflight turned out to be a historical aberration, like Zeppelins.”

John Pike, director of scientific monitoring group GlobalSecurity.org, on whether projects such as the International Space Station might lose impetus.

“Given... the risks of a pandemic originating from the Hajj, mandatory influenza vaccination for all pilgrims should be considered.

An editorial in the BMJ ponders the flu risks of the annual gathering of some 2 million Muslims in Mecca.

Number crunch

25% is the cut in cod quotas to be imposed for 2007 by the European Commission after commissioners said that independent experts did not provide “clear quantitative scientific advice”.

0 is the unequivocal amount of cod the International Council for Exploration of the Sea (ICES) advises should be taken from European waters in 2007 to best preserve stocks.

5 is the number of years that the ICES has been advising that the quantity of cod caught in European waters should be zero, without being heeded by the European Commission.

Sources: The Guardian, BMJ, Environment News Service