Earth ChangesS


Eye 1

Dead whale washes up in Virginia Beach


FOX 43
Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:53 UTC
dead whale

Virgina Beach, Virginia - A dead whale, approximately 35-40 feet in length, was found washed up on the beach in Sandbridge Sunday morning.

The Virginia Aquarium's Stranding Response Team responded to the scene to secure the animal to the beach so it didn't get washed back into the ocean, said Virginia Aquarium spokesperson Joan Barns.

Barns told WAVY.com that the whale is known as a Sei (say) whale and is not very common for the area, although they do show up from time to time in local waters.

The Virginia Aquarium will conduct a necropsy (animal autopsy) on the whale tomorrow morning at low tide to determine a cause of death. Samples will be taken from the animal and sent to various institutions for general research purposes as well, said Barns.

Arrangements have been made by the Virginia Aquarium with the City of Virginia Beach to remove the whale from the beach on Monday.

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Fish

Dead fish litter beach at Alabama pier

Paige Malone
WALA
Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:38 UTC
Gulf Shores, Alabama - Laura Pfizenmayer walks the beach in Gulf Shores every morning. On Saturday, she was shocked with what she found.


"When we came down we saw dead fish. They were everywhere. I mean you don't have to find them. You can turn around and see them. They were everywhere," said Pfizenmayer.

Charles Kelly with the Gulf State Pier said they are spadefish and only spadefish. This causes him to worry
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Bizarro Earth

India: Yellow Rain in Hebri Causes Curiosity and Concern


Mangalorean
Mon, 28 Mar 2011 01:55 UTC
Yellow rain
© Mangalorean.com

Karkala - A rare phenomenon of yellow rainfall has occurred in and around Hebri here on Sunday, March 27 at about 6-15 in the evening.

It was concentrated in Ikkodlu, Bandimath and Jatkal villages near Hebri, said the residents, adding that it happened only within an extent of five kilometres, which included two kilometres of forest area. They also said it had a foul smell. Drops landing on vehicles and foliage have left yellow patches. It created not only curiosity but caution among the public, who wondered if it was not acid rain.

A farm belonging to Praveen Shetty of Sitanadi village provided clear evidence of the yellow rainfall. A car parked in front of his house and plants and trees around bear yellow patches.

Perhaps because it was an unexpected and brief happening, no one could make an attempt to collect any sample for analysis. Some experts say such colour in rain is caused by contamination by nitrates from sources like fertilizers. It could have been sourced from either atmosphere or some heavy industry. It is difficult to arrive at a firm conclusion without a proper laboratory analysis, they further say.
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Heart - Black

US: The New England Aquarium reports 6 dead dolphins found in a week


NECN.com
Sun, 27 Mar 2011 21:22 UTC
dead dolphin
© Unknown

Boston - The New England Aquarium says six dolphins have turned up dead on Massachusetts beaches.

The most recent was as 4-foot long, dark grey harbor porpoise that washed up with the overnight high tide on Revere Beach Saturday The aquarium says its rescue biologists handled seven harbor porpoises in a week on the Massachusetts coast.

One was found alive and is doing well at the University of New England's Marine Animal Rescue Center in Biddeford, Maine.

Despite the number of dead porpoises found in the short time, Aquarium officials say it appears to be seasonal. The harbor porpoises that were found were yearlings that were underweight and probably were only recently weaned from their mothers in the early winter.

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Bizarro Earth

Japan Hit by 6.5 Quake, Prompting Tsunami Warning

Michael Kitchen
Market Watch
Sun, 27 Mar 2011 18:00 UTC
Image
© USGS
A 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck Japan on Monday morning, prompting a tsunami warning, according to reports from the region. The quake hit near Miyagi prefecture, which suffered extensive damage in the catastrophic March 11 temblor, at 7:24 a.m. (6:24 p.m. U.S. Eastern time), according to Kyodo News.

Dow Jones Newswires said the quake was centered off the coast.

No injuries or damage were immediately reported.

A tsunami warning was issued shortly after the quake, however the resulting wave was expected to be relatively small in size, according to CNBC.
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Bizarro Earth

Peru: Earthquake Magnitude 4.8 - Central Peru


USGS
Sun, 27 Mar 2011 13:55 UTC
Image
© USGS
Date-Time:
Sunday, March 27, 2011 at 13:26:36 UTC

Sunday, March 27, 2011 at 08:26:36 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
8.680°S, 74.599°W

Depth:
125.6 km (78.0 miles)

Region:
CENTRAL PERU

Distances:
41 km (25 miles) SSW of Pucallpa, Peru

218 km (135 miles) NE of Huanuco, Peru

255 km (158 miles) WSW of Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brazil

456 km (283 miles) NE of LIMA, Peru
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Cloud Lightning

US: Heavy rains have California farmers more concerned

Maggie Creamer
Lodi News
Sat, 26 Mar 2011 11:00 UTC
Image
© Maggie Creamer/News-SentinelTom Gotelli, plant manager with O-G Packing, holds cherry blossoms in an orchard Friday, March 25, 2011. With the rain and wind during the past weeks, Gotelli is worried bees will not pollinate some of the blossoms and other plants could suffer from blossom rot.
In the past week, Lodi has received three times more rain than normal, causing everyone to pull out their rain coats and farmers to worry about how some of their crops are faring.

From March 18 through 4 p.m. Friday, the Stockton area received 1.8 inches of rain, said John Feerick, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather.com, a private forecasting service. The average precipitation for that week is usually 0.55 inches.

According to News-Sentinel records, Lodi received even more rain - 3.30 inches during that time period.

Below is a summary of how this is affecting the Lodi area.
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Umbrella

US: Huntsville area due day-long rain and possible severe weather

Lee Roop
Al News
Sat, 26 Mar 2011 05:15 UTC
Alabama - It's a good day to clean the closets, watch basketball or shop for a new raincoat, because the wet stuff will fall all day.

It'll fall tonight, too, if that affects your plans.

Having a radio, TV or smart phone nearby is also a good idea, because the National Weather Service says high winds, hail and even tornadoes are possible this afternoon.

The dangerous weather isn't a sure thing, meteorologist Dan Dixon said Friday, but prolonged rain is certain. Look for 1 to 2 inches in most areas and more in some places before the rain ends overnight or early Sunday morning.

"We're not looking for widespread flooding," Dixon said, "but could see some nuisance flooding." Translation: If the road near your house floods when it pours, it may flood today. Be prepared.
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Bizarro Earth

Tsunami of Sand Tortures Kuwait

Awad Al-Farhan & Mohammad Al-Enezi
Arab Times
Sat, 26 Mar 2011 15:26 UTC
Sandstorm
© Yasser Iqbal AhmedA wall of dust seen rising in the distance before it hit Mangaf coastal area Friday evening.
Kuwait City: A menacing black dust storm hit the country at a speed of over 50 kms per hour Friday evening, plunging the country into complete darkness before sunset. The storm reduced visibility to almost zero in some areas of the country and disrupted mobile phone services for almost 30 minutes as panicked citizens and residents tried to call to check the safety of their loved ones.

The Operations Room of the Interior Ministry received more than 200 calls for assistance; the most urgent among them was from a boat stranded in mid-sea. Nearly 100 female students were onboard and were on their way to Failaka Island when the storm came threatening. Security forces and Coast Guard members sprung into action and managed to bring the boat safely to shore.

To add to all the panic, rumors about an enormous fire near the beach spread like wild fire and subsided only when it became evident that the black cloud was a dust blanket and not smoke from a fire.

The dust storm first entered Jahra and moved towards the Capital area and then to the rest of the areas. Meteorologist at the Weather Forecast Department of the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Issa Ramadan said northwesterly winds blowing at a speed of more than 50 kms per hour caused the dust storm. He and astronomer Saleh Al-Ojairi confirmed that there was almost zero visibility in some areas of the country.
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Blackbox

Australia: Man injured as beetles swarm Gold Coast

Jessica Johnson
News.com.au
Sat, 26 Mar 2011 05:59 UTC
Image
© seablue5
Thousands of beetles invading the Gold Coast have claimed their first victim.

Ken Tomkins, 61, was hospitalized after skidding his bicycle into a mound of dead bugs and shattering his hip, collarbone and ribs, the Gold Coast Bulletin reports.

Tomkins said he noticed the slick as he rode along The Esplanade at Surfers Paradise, but initially thought it was water or leaves.

He will be bedridden for six weeks after hitting the bugs, which were piled to the edge of the road by a council street sweeper, at about 25kph.

The water beetle invasion is a never-before-seen phenomenon that has stumped local scientists.
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