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Rare fin whale calf found dead on Stinson Beach in Northern California


ABC News
Thu, 22 Aug 2013 15:19 UTC
Image
© Scripps MediaA fin whale like this one died Monday.
A rare fin whale that washed ashore has died despite attempts from marine mammal experts to save it, and now the beach has been closed after a shark sighting.

Stinson Beach fire officials said Tuesday that the Marin County beach will be closed to the public for five days after several Monday sightings of the 10-15 foot white shark.

Also Monday, the 42-foot whale calf died a day after it was discovered alive with bloody scratches on its underside.

Once large whales beach, they have trouble breathing due to organ compression.

Whale experts tell the San Francisco Chronicle that the cause of its stranding could be fishing gear entanglement, a boat strike or separation from its mother.
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Bizarro Earth

Deformed calf 'pretty unusual'

Helen Harvey
Stuff.co.nz
Wed, 21 Aug 2013 14:35 UTC
Deformed Calf
© Robert Charles/Fairfax NZALL MESSED UP: A deformed calf still-born on Neil Davy's Urenui farm had one head, four ears, 2 torsos and 8 legs.
A stillborn calf is not something that usually sparks much comment - unless it has one head, two bodies, four ears and eight legs.

When Urenui sharemilker Neil Davy went to help one of his cows having problems calving on Monday night, he quickly realised something was not quite right.

"All I could see was two feet, so I put my hand in and felt a short nose. Then I realised the head was the wrong size compared to the rest of the body."

He pulled out an extra leg, but thinking it was twins he tried to push it back in, he said.
"It was hard going. I was up to my elbows in lube and calf goo, sweat coming off my forehead. It's not nice to see a cow in distress."

If he hadn't been there, the cow would have died.
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Arrow Down

Incredible moment Louisiana sinkhole swallows 40ft high trees in a swamp

Daniel Miller
The Daily Mail, UK
Thu, 22 Aug 2013 13:27 UTC
  • Sinkhole opened up last August after locals noticed gas bubbling on the surface and a strong smell of diesel
  • It is now at least 28 acres, the size of around 21 football fields, and is continuing to grow
This is the incredible moment a sinkhole swallows up a large cluster of 40ft high trees in one big gulp.


Footage taken in a Louisiana swamp, shows the huge trees leaning slightly before plunging below the surface in a matter of seconds.

The sinkhole near Bayou Corne in Assumption Parish first opened up last August after locals noticed gas bubbling on the surface and a strong smell of diesel.
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Info

U.S. Dolphin deaths rise to 300; Cause still a mystery

Christine Dell'Amore
National Geographic
Wed, 21 Aug 2013 12:51 UTC
Image
© Dorothy EdwardsTrained responders examine a dead male dolphin on Ocean View Beach in Norfolk, Virginia, on August 1.
The spike in bottlenose dolphin deaths this summer is showing no signs of stopping: Nearly 300 of the marine mammals have died along the East Coast as of August 20, according to the federal government. (Related: "Why Are Dolphins Dying on East Coast? Experts Alarmed.")

The high death toll, covering an area that stretches from New York to Virginia, has been labeled an "unusual mortality event," and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has experts scrambling to figure out what's going on.

Based on the rapid increase in dead bodies washing ashore, and the broad geographic reach, "an infectious pathogen is at the top of the list of potential causes," according to NOAA's website.

"We realize that people are very concerned and anxious to learn what we know about the dolphin deaths that have been occurring along the mid-Atlantic coast over the past few weeks," Maggie Mooney-Seus, a spokesperson for NOAA Fisheries, told National Geographic by email.
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Cloud Lightning

Amazing and rare lightning show: Around 15,000 lightning strikes in the San Francisco Bay area


strangesounds.org
Wed, 21 Aug 2013 11:11 UTC
Image
© Jon Passantino
If you are still awake and live in the SF Bay Area, run to your porch and you may witness an amazing a very rare atmospheric phenomenon: A lightning show. In the night of Monday to Tuesday, over 15'000 Lightnings stroke all over the Californian Bay. And if you missed the light show over the Bay Area Monday night presented in the following videos, you may get another chance to see it Today's night.

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Evil Rays

Neighbors keep hearing mysterious 'boom' near Carytown

Chelsea Rarrick
WTVR
Tue, 20 Aug 2013 07:03 UTC
Some people living on Grayland Avenue near Carytown told CBS 6 they have heard a mysterious boom sound for the past few months.


"It's like a boom that has an echo to it," said Thomas Daniel who lives near Grayland Avenue and S. Sheppard Street.

Daniel told CBS 6 news reporter Chelsea Rarrick that he hears the mystery sound periodically, sometimes even a few times a week. He said he first heard it while sitting on his front porch around 2 a.m.

"You think sometimes it's like a train backing into another train," said Daniel

Sarah Barrow also lives on Grayland Ave. and heard a boom for the first time this week around 10 or 11 p.m.
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Galaxy

Ultra-powerful "black hole" whirlpools seen for the first time in the South Atlantic

Chris Hall
Yahoo! News
Wed, 21 Aug 2013 04:40 UTC
ocean whirlpool
© Rex FeaturesTwo mysterious 'black hole' whirlpools have been spotted in the South Atlantic ocean
Satellites have shown two mysterious 'black hole' whirlpools in the South Atlantic ocean - ultra powerful "vortexes" which suck water down into the depths.

The whirpools - never witnessed before - would suck down ships, debris and even living creatures, moving 1.3 million cubic metres of water per second.

Two of the black holes - or "maelstroms" - have been sighted in three months by physicists from Zurich and Miami.

The powerful vortices of current have been described as 'maelstroms' and are 'mathematical analogues' for black holes - which is to say they do exactly the same with water that black holes do with light.
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Bizarro Earth

Sinkhole empties small lake in Ocala, Florida

Dana Jay
WOGX FOX 51
Wed, 21 Aug 2013 21:57 UTC

Ocala - A row of duplexes and some office buildings appear to be on stable ground after an apparent sinkhole swallowed up a pond Tuesday, according to the property manager for the Woodland Villages neighborhood.

Wes Herren said Wednesday a surveyor checked things out and two others have been called to assess the situation and for now all seems to be okay.

Neighbors began noticing water draining from five-acre pond Tuesday morning.

Comment: Here's a video from a year ago, where you can see small whirlpools forming in the pond!



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Bizarro Earth

Wolves kill 176 sheep near Victor, greatest loss recorded in Idaho


KTVB
Wed, 21 Aug 2013 10:48 UTC
Dead Sheep
© Idaho Wildlife Services
Idaho Falls -- A southeastern Idaho ranch lost 176 sheep as the animals ran in fear from two wolves that chased through a herd of about 2,400 animals south of Victor.

Sheepherders for the Siddoway Sheep Co. heard the wolves at about 1 a.m. Saturday, but didn't know the extent of the damage until they saw the sheep piled up on each other at daybreak.

J.C. Siddoway of Terreton says almost all of the sheep died from asphyxiation. About 10 died of bite wounds and one was partially consumed.

Idaho Wildlife Services State Director Todd Grimm says it's the greatest loss by wolves ever recorded in one instance in the state. About nine years ago, wolves killed 105 sheep on one night.

Grimm says a dozen wolves have been removed from the Pine Creek area this year.

Source: Associated Press
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Cloud Precipitation

Tropical storm Trami and monsoon rains causing flooding in the Philippines

Rob Gutro
NASA
Tue, 20 Aug 2013 15:50 UTC
Image
© NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response TeamAt 10:45 p.m. EDT on Aug. 20, NASA's Terra satellite passed over Typhoon Trami on its approach to China and Taiwan.
Tropical Storm Trami may not be making landfall in the Philippines, but it was close enough to bring heavy rainfall when combined with monsoon rains. NASA's Aqua satellite captured those extensive rains in an infrared image when it passed overhead from space.

Tropical Storm Trami enhanced rainfall from the monsoon, and caused flooding in the northern Philippines, including Manila, the capital city. The northern Philippines were hit with two nights of heavy rainfall, but Trami is now moving to the northwest and away from the northern Philippines. According to reports from the Associated Press, many roadways were flooded. A report from Malaysia's Star on-line noted that three people were killed and two were missing as a result of the flooding.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument known as AIRS that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of Tropical Storm Trami's cold clouds combined with rainfall from the monsoon on Aug. 20 at 05:05 UTC/1:05 a.m. EDT. Clouds and showers from the combination blanketed the northern half of the Philippines and dropped heavy rainfall.
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