A USGS map of seismic activity near the epicenter of Aug 25 quake in Napa Valley
Earth Changes
A USGS map of seismic activity near the epicenter of Aug 25 quake in Napa Valley
© James LaPlante
A blue lobster caught in Portland
A blue lobster caught in Portland
An almost unique sea creature made landfall earlier this week - a blue lobster.
Jay LaPlante and his 14-year-old daughter Meghan, were out at sea hauling traps off the coast, near Portland, Maine, when they unloaded a pot containing the spectacular two-pound azure lobster.
Meghan quickly christened the crustacean Skyler, presumably as she is the same shade as the sky.
Past 36 hours of earthquakes (up to 700pm CDT Aug. 24, 2014) shows a series of large events in South and North America. California having its first “destructive” earthquake in 25 years near San Francisco, Peru having a 7.0M event, and Chile having a 6.4M event.
Another large earthquake has struck the Pacific ring of fire.
On top of today's 6.0M in Central California, on top of yesterdays 6.7M earthquake in Chile, now we see a 6.8 magnitude (upgraded to 7.0M) event in Peru.
Overall, we are seeing a major uptick in earthquake activity occur. On top of Icelands large volcanic eruption, I would say now is a good time to have a plan and be prepared.
I'd still be watching near Vancouver Island. Salton Sea should show something soon as well. Notice the earthquakes stopped in Oklahoma temporarily.. the pressure has been "transferred" temporarily...
But to where? Where has the pressure transferred? Since we first saw the 6.7M yesterday in Chile.. now the 6.0M in California.. this makes me think its a NW pressure transfer which is occurring like all those deep asthenosphere earthquakes which were happening at the 350mile deep range.
Comment: Why is our Earth so seismically and volcanically active this summer? And don't forget that hundreds of methane plumes are erupting along the U.S. Atlantic coast! Things must be reaching a tipping point of sorts. Earth Changes and the Human Cosmic Connection has all the answers. A little spoiler: each one of us help create - or not - these conditions on our planet.
© Yonhap
Cars are afloat in a flooded area in Geumjeong, Busan, Monday. Heavy rain hit the southern part of the country, causing flash floods, landslides, and suspension of subway service in some areas.
Cars are afloat in a flooded area in Geumjeong, Busan, Monday. Heavy rain hit the southern part of the country, causing flash floods, landslides, and suspension of subway service in some areas.
Four women were killed in flash floods in Busan, while one woman was found dead in a public bus that had been swept into a flooded stream in Changwon.
The Changwon victim is believed to have been in her 30s or 40s. Police said at least five passengers had been aboard the bus, and that rescue operations were underway.
In Dongnae-gu, northern Busan, rescue workers found two women trapped in a submerged car. They were immediately taken to a hospital, but were later pronounced dead.
© Associated Press
The Wall Street Journal reports that heavy rainfall in India has resulted in huge numbers of the densely-populated country's population being left without access to safe shelter.
Via the WSJ:
Experts at the Flood Forecasting and Warning Center in Dhaka said two of Bangladesh's main rivers, the Meghna and the Brahmaputra, continue to rise, leaving people in 14 of Bangladesh's 64 districts either marooned or forced to seek shelter on higher ground.
"The main rivers continue to flow above danger levels due to heavy rainfall upstream in India," said Sazzad Hossain, an engineer at the flood forecasting center. "We expect the situation to worsen in the next 72 hours."
A humpback whale breaches while crossing the Cook Strait, New Zealand.
A team of Department of Conservation researchers and former whalers took part in the Cook Strait Whale Survey from 14 June to 12 July, to spot humpback whales migrating from Antarctic waters to breeding grounds in the South Pacific.
Project leader, Nadine Bott, said 92 humpback whales were spotted this year, slightly down from the record number of 106 in 2012.
Ms Bott said the whales behaviour was unusual compared with previous years.
"We had a lot of milling behaviour, a lot of surface activity behaviour, where the whales are jumping out of the water. Basically general mucking around kind of behaviour, which you don't typically see in a migrating population."
"They've normally always been on a very straight route from South to North through the strait, and if they do deviate from it they return quickly to the same bearing. This year they were all over the place" she said.
What is this? A red blob was found at Mudjimba this morning.
A spokeswoman for Queensland Museum said marine experts had taken a look at photos of the blob and said it was difficult to tell without examining it however they said they felt it was a sea slug.
"It's hard to pinpoint without examining it and knowing the size," she said.
"Their nearest guesses, based on colour and the side 'frills' is that it might be a Spanish Dancer sea slug."
Comment: Interestingly, on the very same day and about 15 kilometres away, this occurred: Australian students discover rare fish dead on beach
Also, back in June from the same general area: Rare purple jellyfish found on Ballina beach, Australia
© Fishes of Australia
Ling's Armour Gurnard, Satyrichthys lingi.
Ling's Armour Gurnard, Satyrichthys lingi.
The students found a Ling's armour gurnard (Satyrichthys lingi), a very rare fish native to Australian waters.
According to the Atlas of Living Australia, only seven Ling's armour gurnards have been reported found in Australia since 2000, and only two in the past four years.
"We were there to study the coastal dunes of Peregian Beach. Through data collection of different variables, including temperature, light intensity, pH of soils and wind strength, we analysed the adaptations of the coastal plants," teacher and head of department Paul Olsen said.
"Then, to find the Ling's armour gurnard was a real thrill, even though we were a little disappointed we found it deceased, washed up on shore. The Ling's Armour Gurnard lives on the sea floor, similar to a flathead fish. Most of the rare sightings are by divers and marine specialists, so we were very lucky to find it," he said.
A new record for the coldest August night was set on the night of 23rd/24th August for Northern Ireland.
The Met Office said temperatures plunged to a bone-chilling -1.9C (28.6F) at Katesbridge, Co Down, beating the previous record of -1.1C at Loughermore Forest in 1964.
Note: This wasn't just the coldest in Katesbridge, it was the coldest on record across all of Northern Ireland.
Thanks to Chris Beal, Sonya Porter, John McC and Caroline S for these links
Walkers found 'hundreds of thousands' of dead whitebait in the tidal pool at Devil's Point
It is the second time a shoal has been trapped in the same pool in less than two weeks.
Peter Wilkes and his fiance Carla Hosking were out enjoying a Sunday morning stroll with their 20-month-old son James when they thought they saw the pool at Firestone Bay looking as if it had "iced over".
On closer inspection, they found that it was the reflection of thousands of dead small dead fish which had become trapped in the shallow water.
"We saw the pond and it looked almost iced-over," said train-station worker Mr Wilkes.
Comment: Just a short distance away and around the same time as the above incident there came this report: Rare sei whale seen off Cornwall's coast in Penzance, UK
While across the Atlantic this happened: Rare 45-foot sei whale dies in Virginia river
In addition, another recent mass fish kill occurred back in the UK: Millions of dead herring wash up on Isle of Man coast, UK
One can't help but wonder if all these recent events are related and connected to this? Hundreds of methane plumes erupting along U.S. Atlantic coast
Comment: See also this report from last month: Rare blue-colored red king crab caught in Nome, Alaska