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Wed, 27 Oct 2021
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Attention

Humpback whale carcass removed away from beach in Cape Town, South Africa

Whale carcass
The City of Cape Town on Monday towed a humpback whale carcass away from one of its popular beaches to a nearby harbour for disposal.

The City said in a statement that it was alerted to the 15 ton carcass found floating approximately 1.6km off Llandudno Beach on Monday morning and immediately implemented its Stranded Whale Protocol.

"This morning, the Western Cape Government's Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEADP) alerted the City's Environmental Management Department to the carcass of a humpback whale which was floating approximately 1.6 km off Llandudno Beach.

Snowflake

Algerian villagers stunned as snow falls in Sahara for first time in over 30 years

Snow in Algeria
This might not be the first place you'd expect to find a festive snowy scene, but incredible images show the Sahara desert looking particularly chilly.

It is just the second time in living memory that snow has fallen, with the last occasion being in February 1979.

The pictures were taken by amateur photographer Karim Bouchetata in the small Saharan desert town of Ain Sefra, Algeria, yesterday afternoon. He captured the amazing moment snow fell on the red sand dunes in the world's largest hot desert.

This time the snow stayed for a day in the town, which is around 1,000 metres above sea level and surrounded by the Atlas Mountains


Attention

Two volcanoes erupt on South Sandwich Islands

A plume originating from Mount Curry on Zavodovski Island is drifting then dispersing to the south-southwest.
© Terra/MODIS/NASA.
A plume originating from Mount Curry on Zavodovski Island is drifting then dispersing to the south-southwest.
On 17th December 2016, two plumes appear in satellite images. One originating from Zavodovski Island, and the other from Saunders Island.

In the image of Zavodovski Island, a white plume originating from the summit crater of Mount Curry is seen drifting in a south-southwesterly direction before dispersing. It's more likely to be a gas plume although I wouldn't rule out the possibility of some slight ash content.

In the image of Saunders Island, a greyish plume originating from the summit crater of Mount Michael is seen drifting towards the northeast. A thermal anomaly was also detected on the summit area of Mount Michael. This indicates that it's likely to be an eruption occurring on Mount Michael Volcano.

What is likely to be an ash plume from Mount Michael on Saunders Island.
© Aqua/MODIS/NASA.
What is likely to be an ash plume from Mount Michael on Saunders Island.

Arrow Up

Outgassing? More reports of noxious odors around Southern California beaches

Huntingdon Beach odors
© JEFF GRITCHEN
Some residents in Huntington Beach and Seal Beach have been complaining about chemical-like odors. Authorities over the years have offered residents several unsubstantiated theories including offshore vessels and oilfields.
Periodically and unpredictably, mysterious chemical-like fumes drift into Rhonda Wainwright's home not far from Huntington Beach Central Park.

The noxious odors have induced headaches, burning of the eyes and throat, nosebleeds and vomiting, she says. Even her dog and two cats have retched during the malodorous episodes that "about knocks you on your knees," Wainwright said.

Roughly 10 miles away in coastal Seal Beach, resident Susan Perrell reports suffering similar foul odors. Perrell, an environmental adviser to an oil and gas company, also describes a petroleum-like stench that can be intense enough to "knock you over."

Their experiences are far from isolated.

Last month, air-quality regulators saw a spike in such complaints in the Huntington Beach and Seal Beach area. Over several consecutive days, the South Coast Air Quality Management District fielded dozens of calls involving "a nasty egg odor (or a) petroleum odor," said agency spokesman Sam Atwood.


Comment: Hydrogen sulfide is a colorless gas with the characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs; it is heavier than air, very poisonous, corrosive, flammable, and explosive. Exposure can lead to various health problems, and may be fatal. It is also being linked with psychological and neurological problems in humans.


Residents also have lodged complaints with fire officials, the gas company and others, seeking help in pinpointing the source of the smells, which many say have increased in frequency and intensity over the past two years.

But no one has identified a definitive cause or culprit.

Comment: Unprecedented marine heatwaves could be attributed to increased quantities of CO2, methane, hydrogen sulfide outgassing and heat coming up from below, i.e. passing up through the oceans from within the planet, heating and acidifying the planet's oceans.

Such activity may be a significant contributory factor to the increasing number of bizarre, odd (perhaps even mutated species), previously unknown and mysterious creatures being discovered recently, together with increases in abnormal animal and marine behavior. All over the world such 'strange' and 'unusual' incidents are quickly becoming the norm, as are mass fish die offs.

Some related reports from the Huntington beach area in recent times include:


Seismograph

6.7 magnitude earthquake hits off Solomon Islands, no tsunami threat

The 6.7-magnitude earthquake that struck off Solomon Islands on Tuesday (Dec 20) is the second powerful tremor to hit the islands to Australia's north in two weeks
© USGS
The 6.7-magnitude earthquake that struck off Solomon Islands on Tuesday (Dec 20) is the second powerful tremor to hit the islands to Australia's north in two weeks
An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 struck off the Solomon Islands on Tuesday (Dec 20) according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the second powerful tremor in the islands to Australia's north in less than two weeks .

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) said the quake, which was centred some 120 km (70 miles) northwest of Kira Kira at a depth of s 44 km, had not triggered any tsunami threat.


Comment: See also: 6.9 magnitude earthquake strikes off Solomon Islands


Ice Cube

At minus 2 degrees, Chicago, Illinois is colder than Mars

Commuters in Chicago
© Getty Images
Commuters brave the cold and make their way to work across the Madison Street Bridge on Monday in Chicago.
Brutal cold has many Chicagoans thinking about getting away to some place warmer.

How about Mars?

Chicago is currently one of the coldest spots on the planet and is even colder than Mars
. According to NASA, the current temperature on Mars is minus 2 degrees. Chicago was minus 6 degrees with a wind chill of minus 20 degrees as of 9 a.m. Monday.

The city nearly beat a record for low temperatures, but fell 1 degree shy of the 1983 record when a temperature of minus 13 was recorded at O'Hare International Airport overnight Monday, according to the Tribune.

That means that it was colder overnight in Chicago than in the South Pole, Antarctica, which was at minus 12 degrees at the local time of 3:57 a.m.

There are a few spots on Earth more chilly than Chicago. The North Pole is at minus 18 degrees, and Siberia, home of the coldest town in the world, is currently at minus 31 degrees.

A wind chill advisory will remain in effect until 10 a.m. Monday.

Bizarro Earth

'Big boom' heard from 3.0 earthquake in southwest Nova Scotia

Digby, Nova Scotia
© Natural Resources Canada
A 3.0 magnitude earthquake was recorded about 42 kilometres soutwest of Digby on Tuesday at 10:40 a.m.
If you were in southwest Nova Scotia on Tuesday you may have felt the earth move.

At 10:40 a.m., a 3.0-magnitude earthquake was recorded about 42 kilometres southwest of Digby, according to Natural Resources Canada. The centre of the quake was about 18 kilometres below the earth's surface.

Brenda Small of Weymouth North felt it.

"I heard a very loud bang, just a big boom and then it was over," she said of the "shiver" she felt in her house.

"It wasn't anything to be a afraid of or think, 'Oh my, it's the end of the world,' nothing like that. It was just a big boom and then it was over."

Donna Gaudet was at her cousin's basement in Little Brook, N.S., a few kilometres from the epicentre, enjoying a coffee.

"We went flying up the stairs. If it wasn't an earthquake, we thought maybe a plane crashed. It was loud, it was louder than thunder," she said. "It wasn't really that exciting once the initial impact happened."

Seismograph

At least two killed by 5.8 magnitude earthquake off coast of Ecuador

Two people were killed during the earthquake
© EPA
Two people were killed during the earthquake
A 5.8-magnitude earthquake has shaken Ecuador's Pacific coast early, killing at least two people, injuring 15 others and halting production at the Esmeraldas oil refinery, officials said.

The country's geological institute recorded the quake off the coast of Atacames in Esmeraldas province, northwest of Quito, the capital. The quake was followed by 15 lesser-magnitude aftershocks.

President Rafael Correa was meeting with local officials in the area, which earlier this year was devastated by a 7.8-magnitude quake that killed about 670 people, displaced thousands and caused millions of dollars in damage.

Attention

Paddler survives shark attack in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa

Shark attacks
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) in Plettenberg Bay is urging the public, paddlers and bathers, to be cautious by swimming close to lifeguards in the area, who are on alert following what it has described as an "out of the ordinary shark incident".

News24 reports a paddler was knocked off his surf ski after a shark apparently breached and took a bite out of the lightweight vessel near the breaker line at Keurbooms Lagoon in Plettenberg Bay.

Local NSRI station commander Marc Rodgers says Ben Swart, 55, had been in the water with two friends when he felt a "hard bump" shortly after 07:00 - read the full report here.

Rodgers told Traveller24 they have spoken to a resident shark expert who is currently investigating the bite marks to determine the size and type of shark.

The shark took a fair bite out of Swart’s surf-ski.

The shark took a fair bite out of Swart’s surf-ski.

Attention

Rhino kills woman in Nepal

Charging rhino
© Dhritiman Mukherjee
Indian rhino
A woman died in a rhino attack incident near the Chitwan National Park on Monday.

The victim has been identified as Motimaya Tamang (69) of Chitwan district.

The sexagenarian was attacked by the wild animal on the bank of Rapti River in Sauraha, Ratnanagar Municipality-19.

The District Police Office said she had been to the river area to quench the thirst of her cattle.

The woman had died on the spot.

Further investigation is underway.

Source: Rastriya Samachar Samiti