For months now, orcas, also known as killer whales, have been assaulting boats — especially, it seems, yachts — off the coasts of Spain and Morocco, sending several to the bottom of the sea.
A Polish touring company, Morskie Mile, said that's exactly what happened to one of its yachts on October 31. In a Facebook post, a spokesperson for the company said that its vessel, the "Grazie Mamma II," was in the Strait of Gibraltar when a pod of orcas targeted it. The animals, which can grow to be up to 30 feet long, attacked the boat's steering fin "for 45 minutes," the post said, "causing major damage."
"The crew is safe," the post added, but the boat itself sank at the entrance to Tanger-Med, a Moroccan port.
Comment: More stunning images of the auroral activity can be found at the end of this comment, and, as you will read in the statements from the photographers, many of whom are seasoned observers, it was widely considered to be a record breaking evening, with exceptional and rare colours, intensity, at unusually low latitudes, and for longer periods of time.
This is notable because the current solar cycle activity has taken NOAA experts by surprise. It's now expected to peak much sooner, and stronger, than they had forecast. So much so that they've overhauled their reporting system and instead of making year-long predictions, they will instead be shifting to monthly reporting, in order to stay on top of the rapidly changing situation.
The speculation within mainstream science is that some of these changes are due to the approaching solar maximum, however not all of these changes were noted during the peak of solar cycle, 24.
Taken together, there appears to be a significant shift occurring on our planet:
- NOAA scientists finally admit their solar cycle 25 predictions are WRONG, peak is approaching faster than expected
- Powerful Solar storm has unusually strong impact on Earth, delays SpaceX rocket launch, stalls oil rigs in Canada
- Mysterious 'aurora disco blobs' seen across Europe during April geomagnetic storm explained
- "The Dunes": NEW type of aurora discovered, and the unexpected physics behind it
- Rare ELVE photographed during intense lightning storm over Italy
- Rare blue jet atmospheric phenomenon photographed over Texas, several sighted in one night
- Cosmic climate change: 'Space plasma hurricane' observed in ionosphere above North Pole!
- Our changing atmosphere: Stunning iridescent cloud over Mexico, complex solar halo over Russia and a triple rainbow over Norway
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