Earth ChangesS


Attention

Villagers find two pygmy sperm whales washed ashore in Borneo


The Borneo Post
Fri, 25 Dec 2015 19:52 UTC
Dead pygmy whale
Iqbal recording some data after checking the carcass of the whale which was washed ashore at Kampung Masjid, Kuala Baram.
Two whales of the Pygmy Sperm species were found washed ashore at Kampung Masjid, a fishing village in Kuala Baram, yesterday.

According to village head Yusree Zainuzzaman, a fisherman had earlier asked for help from the villagers around 1pm to rescue a whale which was still alive.

He said they immediately pulled the mammal, a protected species, back to the sea.

A few minutes later, he said they found another whale from the same species which was bigger than the first one some 500 metres from the spot where the first one was found.

However, the whale had died, he added.
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Attention

Baby humpback whale washes ashore in Malaysia


The Star (Malaysia)
Fri, 25 Dec 2015 19:31 UTC
baby whale
The baby whale that washed up dead on Kg Sg Labu shoreline Thursday morning.
A dead look-alike baby humpback whale was washed ashore near the Kg Sg Labu shoreline Thursday morning.

Officials estimated the almost 20-foot whale to be over a year-old and had been dead when it was found lying on the beach.

Labuan Fisheries Department director Anuar Salam Sulaiman told Bernama the cause of the death was not clear and a report had been submitted to the fisheries headquarter in Putrajaya for a thorough investigation.

There were no signs of trauma, such as propeller marks. But the team from our headquarters will carry out investigations to find the cause of death.

Whether it was caught or trapped in a fishing net or hit by trawler, he said.
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Attention

6.2-magnitude earthquake rattles northern Afghanistan; tremors felt in Pakistan, India


RT
Fri, 25 Dec 2015 19:46 UTC
Earthquake Afghanistan
© USGS
A 6.2 magnitude quake has hit northern Afghanistan, the US geological survey (USGS) reports. Strong jolts have been felt in neighboring Pakistan and northern India, according to reports on social media.

The epicenter fell 81km southeast of the Afghan city of Feyzabad, according to US seismological monitors.

Tremors were felt in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, and in India's capital, New Delhi.

No casualties have been reported.

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Christmas Tree

Giant lenticular cloud forms in Yalta, Crimea during sunset


Strange Sounds
Thu, 24 Dec 2015 17:18 UTC
This giant lenticular cloud appeared in the sunset sky of Yalta, Crimea on December 23, 2015.

A present of Mother Nature just before Christmas.
Yalta lenticular cloud
Lenticular cloud Yalta
Yalta lenticular cloud
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Camera

Scientists discover rare sea snakes, previously thought extinct, off Western Australia


ScienceDaily
Mon, 21 Dec 2015 00:01 UTC
short nosed sea snake
© Grant Griffin, W.A. Dept. Parks and WildlifeThis is a photograph of the rare short nosed sea snake discovered on Ningaloo reef, Western Australia.
Scientists from James Cook University have discovered two critically endangered species of sea snakes, previously thought to be extinct, off the coast of Western Australia.

It's the first time the snakes have been spotted alive and healthy since disappearing from their only known habitat on Ashmore Reef in the Timor Sea more than fifteen years ago.

"This discovery is really exciting, we get another chance to protect these two endemic Western Australian sea snake species," says study lead author Blanche D'Anastasi from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at JCU.

"But in order to succeed in protecting them, we will need to monitor populations as well as undertake research into understanding their biology and the threats they face."

The discovery of the critically endangered short nose sea snake was confirmed after a Western Australia Parks and Wildlife Officer, Grant Griffin, sent a photo of a pair of snakes taken on Ningaloo Reef to Ms D'Anastasi for identification.
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Attention

Murre (guillemot) die-off in the thousands in Kachemak Bay, Alaska

Daysha Eaton
Alaska Public Media
Wed, 23 Dec 2015 10:27 UTC
Dead bird
Common Murres, like the one held by Wildlife Biologist Leslie Slater on the beach along the Spit in Homer, are turning up along beaches all around the Kachemak Bay area.
Die-offs of common murres have been taking place across Alaska since summer and the latest report is from Kachemak Bay, according to biologists with the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge in Homer.

Wildlife biologist Leslie Slater says there have been two waves of mortality.

"This die-off started to be noticed around mid-July in certain parts of the state. And so it continued at some level — a fairly high, noticeable level — for a couple weeks and then it seemed to diminish and then there seemed to be resurgence again of the number of carcasses that we were seeing on beaches, and that happened in mid-November or so," Slater said.

There have been die-offs reported of the penguin-like sea birds in Cold Bay in July and in Kodiak in November. Slater says they've also had reports from Seward, Sitka and Prince William Sound. In November starving and dead murres turned up around the Mat-Su and Anchorage areas, farther inland than usual.

"It seems that then they would either be disoriented, which could be the result of ingesting a toxin or they could be very desperate in searching for food and just kept traveling up the inlet," Slater said.

Comment: See also these other reports for 2015: Common murre (guillemot) die-off along the waterfront in Seward, Alaska

High number of dying seabirds found in San Francisco Bay Area

Pacific seabirds dying in record numbers - 100,000 auklets

More dead seabirds found on Oregon beaches

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Fish

Thousands of dead fish found on beach in Western Australia


9news.com.au
Thu, 24 Dec 2015 10:13 UTC
Dead fish
© Department of FisheriesThe fish washed up in Wickham.
Western Australia's Department of Fisheries is investigating what caused thousands of dead bait fish to wash up on a beach in the Pilbara.

The department was made aware of the incident, which occurred at Wickham, around 50km east of Karratha, by a member of the public on Tuesday, the ABC reports.

A fisheries official visited the scene and estimated that at least 4000 fish of the same species were strewn across the beach.

The Department of Fisheries northern region manager Peter Godfrey said he could not recall such an incident ever occurring in the Karratha area.

"We do occasionally get reports of small fish kills, but certainly there has been nothing major in the area," he said.
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Cloud Precipitation

Floods force evacuation of over 70,000 in Paraguay


Daily Mail, UK
Thu, 24 Dec 2015 18:26 UTC
Paraguay River
© AP /Jorge SaenzVictor Ferreira, who is displaced by flooding, rows his boat through the streets of his Jukyty neighborhood in Asuncion, Paraguay, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015. The Paraguay River is at its highest level since 1984 and threatening the poor districts that surround the capital, forcing about 100,000 people to shelters.
Flooding caused by heavy rains has forced the evacuation of more than 70,000 people in Paraguay.

Authorities say the Paraguay River rose to nearly 24 feet (7.2 meters) Wednesday after weeks of torrential rains. That's near its highest level of 1983, when it reached 25.3 feet (7.72 meters).

Paraguay's National Emergency Secretariat says about 72,000 people have been forced out of their homes in the Paraguayan capital.

But many more are expected to be affected nationwide by the swelling of the Parana and other rivers.

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Snowflake

Snoqualmie Pass, Washington buried in snow; 85 inches on the ground

Cliff Mass
Cliff Mass Weather Blog
Thu, 24 Dec 2015 18:04 UTC
Sqnoqualmie Pass snow
© Cliff Mass Weather Blog
Last year, Snoqualmie Pass had very little snow and the ski areas remained shut for most of the winter.

This year Snoqualmie is being BURIED IN SNOW.

Every day at 6 AM, Washington Department of Transportation measures snow depth in the pass. Here are the latest numbers: 26 inches of snow between 6 AM Monday and 6 AM Tuesday, with 85 inches on the ground. An increase of 50 inches in 5 days. To quote Darth Vader: Impressive, Most Impressive.

The Wednesday report shows another 11 inches of new snow, but compaction resulted in only a 1 inch increase in depth.

Snoqualmie snow fall
© WSDOT
The pass has been closed several times during the past few days, with chains often required. So far this year over 12 feet of snow has fallen in Snoqualmie, eclipsing the total snowfall of the entire last year.

But it is not over. Last night, another frontal system moved through, bringing a surge of heavy snow. Here is the forecast of 72-hour snow total for the region (a circle indicates the location of Snoqualmie Pass). Another 2-3 feet!
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Cow Skull

Dead humpback whale washes ashore in Washington state

Brynn Grimley
The News Tribune
Wed, 23 Dec 2015 16:24 UTC
yearling humpback whale
© Peter HaleyA team from Highline College’s Marine Science and Technology Center prepares Wednesday to tow a yearling humpback whale off the beach just north of Gig Harbor.
A dead yearling humpback whale that washed ashore in Gig Harbor last week was hitched to the stern of a boat Wednesday and towed across the Tacoma Narrows to the Thea Foss Waterway.

Once in Tacoma, the 23-foot long whale was to be placed on a flatbed tow truck and carted back across the Tacoma Narrows — this time via the bridge — to a farm in Gig Harbor.

On Saturday, the Cascadia Research Collective will do a necropsy to determine the animal's cause of death. Then a crew of volunteers will help cut up the whale and bury it under a heap of horse manure on the farm to help it decompose.

By summer, the volunteers will return to exhume the whale and clean its skeleton before bringing it back to the Thea Foss Waterway.

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