A pleasant summer's day at Town Beach became an open-air science class on Tuesday afternoon, as a crew of researchers conducted a necropsy of a young whale that washed up near Gooseberry Island.
Nicholas Vidmar of Westport Animal Control said the dead humpback was spotted over the weekend in the water near Gooseberry Island, then washed ashore at one of the private properties along East Beach Road.
Earlier Tuesday the body was pulled by tugboat to Town Beach, where biologists and researchers from the International Fund for Animal Welfare attempted to determine how it died.
"They think it's no less than a year old," Vidmar said, adding that it was possibly female and about 20 to 25 feet long.
Severe thunderstorms in Europe appeared to set a continental hail record twice in the span of five days in Italy.
The most recent rash of severe weather on Monday included supercell thunderstorms that dumped giant hail from parts of northern Italy into neighboring Slovenia.
One massive oblong hailstone recovered Monday night in Azzano Decimo, about 35 miles northeast of Venice, Italy, was estimated to be 19 centimeters - almost 7.5 inches - long.
According to the European Severe Storms Laboratory (ESSL), this was the largest diameter hailstone of record anywhere in Europe.
Mt Hutt received 70 cm (28 inches) of snow in the last 24 hours.
After a slow start to the season in New Zealand, the Snow Gods have finally blessed the 'Land of the Long White Cloud' with a big snow dump. A classic cold front hit with wind, rain, and snow sweeping across both the North and South Island and bringing a much-needed snow dump to Mount Hutt Ski Resort.
So far, the south-west of both islands was hit by the highest precipitation, with the majority of snow falling on the South Island and only a trace of snow on the North Island. The storm is supposed to last until Wednesday and bring more snow to all ski areas before it clears. The low-pressure system is expected to stay in the area for the week.
Mt Hutt received the lion-share of this snow dump, with 70 cm (28 inches) of snow falling at the base area of this Canterbury region ski area. It is estimated that more than 1m (39 inches) fell at the summit, but the heavy snowfalls mean that avalanche danger is considerable, and the resort is closed today. Mt Hutt's mountain crew will be working throughout the day and night to get the resort ready to open tomorrow, Tuesday, July 25, 2023.
Typhoon Doksuri lashed northern Philippine provinces with ferocious wind and rain Wednesday, leaving at least six people dead and displacing thousands of others as it blew roofs off houses, flooded low-lying villages and triggered dozens of landslides, officials said.
One landslide buried a house in Buguias town in Benguet province, killing a mother, her child and two other children and injuring two other people. In the nearby resort city of Baguio, a 17-year-old person died when soil loosened by heavy rains buried his house, officials said.
In Isabela province, also in the north, a woman selling bread on a bicycle cart died when she was hit in the head by a falling coconut tree, a police report said.
Two people have died in a plane crash which saw an aircraft crash and burst into flames while fighting Greek wildfires on the island of Evia.
Footage managed to capture the moment the aircraft came down near Platanistos and Karystos, two villages in Evia.
An emergency response helicopter is en route to the crash site to assess the situation.
The Greek government said in a statement: "The loss of the lives of Air Force Officers and firefighting aircraft operators, in the line of duty and while attempting to protect the lives and property of citizens, as well as the environment of our country, is deeply saddening.
A 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit 83 kilometers (51 miles) east off the coast of Vanuatu on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued.
The US Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat for the islands of Guam, Rota, Tinian or Saipan from the offshore quake, which hit at a depth of 10 kilometers.
The nearest city, Port-Olry, was 95 kilometers away.
Officials are baffled by the remarkable behaviour of a large pod of pilot whales that grouped together in a heart shape before stranding themselves on a remote Western Australian beach.
Drone footage captured the moment the pod of almost 100 long-finned pilot whales moved tightly together before stranding themselves at Cheynes beach about 60km east of Albany on Tuesday evening.
By Wednesday morning, more than 50 whales lay dead on the shore, with volunteers, government workers and scientists fighting to save 46 more.
WA's environment minister, Reece Whitby, said researchers from across Australia were baffled by the never-before-seen behaviour of the whales in the hours leading up to the stranding.
Julia Schneemann SnowBrains Wed, 26 Jul 2023 12:55 UTC
Fresh snow at Marmolada, Dolomiti, Italy.
Marmolada, the highest ridge in the Dolomites, Italy, woke up this morning to a dusting of fresh snow. Marmolada is part of the Dolomiti Superski ski area, one of the largest ski areas in the world. The Dolomites are considered the most stunning mountains in the world and are a UNESCO World Heritage site. The ski area consists of 15 ski resorts that offer 1,200 km (750 miles) of groomed slopes serviced by 450 cutting-edge mountain lifts.
The Marmolada ridge sits at 3,265 m (10,712 ft) and is known as the 'Queen of the Dolomites' (in Italian "La Regina delle Dolomiti"). Punta Penia is the highest peak in the Marmolada range, stretching out to 3,342 m (10,964 ft). The video below and pictures above were taken at Punta Penia.
Dolomiti Superski is part of IKON Pass and IKON passholders get seven days of unrestricted access to any of the 15 resorts in the ski area. Base Pass and Base Pass Plus holders get five days of access without any blackout days.
Comment: Meanwhile at the same time came some images on social media of snowfall in the Alps:
Tourists exploring San Diego's famous La Jolla Cove came face to face with aggressive sea lions in a scary encounter over the weekend, as the animals charged at them unexpectedly.
The incident took place Sunday evening as summer crowds, mostly tourists, explored California's iconic beach taking pictures of the sea mammals and their newly weened pups, reported FOX5.
A video taken of the incident shows a sea lion jumping out of the water to charge people, who start screaming and running away. A few moments later, another sea lion leaps out of the water, joining his mate in chasing off the crowd.
Comment: On the same day: Floods hit Metro Manila, Philippines due to Typhoon Egay - 2nd flooding in 11 days