Earth Changes
Orca are considered nationally critical in New Zealand, and known threats include interactions with fisheries and boat strikes. The death is being investigated.
The orca was discovered on Whatipu Beach, 40km west of downtown Auckland, and reported to the Department of Conservation (DoC). Photos taken by rangers show possible blunt force trauma to the head.
A team from Massey University will today do a necropsy to establish cause of death, and also take biological sampling to assess diet and pollutant loads in the adult male whale.
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.0 hit Nicobar Islands region, India at 02:51 UTC on March 14, 2017. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). EMSC is reporting the same magnitude and depth. India's National Center for Seismology reports M5.9 at a depth of 10 km.
According to the USGS, the epicenter was located 316.1 km (196.4 miles) W of Lampuyang (population 0), 333.2 km (207 miles) W of Sabang (population 24 519) and 338.8 km (210.5 miles) W of Banda Aceh (population 250 747), Indonesia.
There are no people living within 100 km (62 miles).
This earthquake did not produce a tsunami.
A powerful storm grounded flights at St. John's International Airport on Saturday, March 11, 2017, wreaking havoc on travel plans as the airport measured winds of up to 158 km/h (98 mph), the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
"The airport incurred significant damage to its facilities as a result of the wind storm that affected the region over the last few days," airport officials said Sunday.
"An electrical component in the Airport's Terminal Electrical room was damaged, resulting in no electrical feed entering the Terminal Building. The Terminal Building is presently operating under back-up emergency power provided by two emergency generators as well as reduced normal power," they said.
An extreme situation is developing for portions of our area as a MAJOR COASTAL STORM interrupts our usual daily routines on Tuesday...
A very strong winter storm could be life threatening for those who do not pay attention to safety precautions Tuesday morning. Low pressure developing off the Carolina coast this evening will become an intense storm as it moves east of New Jersey midday Tuesday.
Swaths of excessive precipitation will develop along and west of the track of the storm. Near blizzard conditions are likely for a few hours in eastern Pennsylvania and portions of northern New Jersey where snowfall rates of 2 to 4 inches per hour are expected.
Including the cities of Newton, Washington, Morristown, Flemington, Somerville, Jim Thorpe, Stroudsburg, Reading, Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Honey Brook, Oxford, Collegeville,Pottstown, Chalfont, and Perkasie
Blizzard Warning In Effect From 8pm This Evening To 6pm EDT Tuesday
LOCATIONS...Eastern Pennsylvania and much of northern NewJersey.
HAZARD TYPES...Heavy snow and strong winds.
ACCUMULATIONS...Snow accumulation of 18 to 24 inches (45 to 60 cm.)
The United States Geological Survey reported the magnitude-2.3 earthquake struck at about 10:11 p.m. (The quake was first reported as 2.1-magnitude, but was later revised as is often the case.)
It was centered about three miles northeast of Goochland Courthouse and not far from Oilville.
Earthquakes with magnitudes less than 2.5 are often not felt, but will be picked up by seismograph.
People from Hanover and Powhatan counties, as well as folks in Short Pump and other nearby locations, reported feeling the quake.
"No reports of injuries or damages resulting from the earthquake have been reported as of 8:30 a.m. on Monday," Goochland Administrative Services Manager Paul Drumwright said. "Goochland County and VDEM request citizens check over their homes and property for any visual or hidden damages. Attention should be paid to foundations, chimneys, and sheetrock of homes and businesses.
An estimated 150-200 fledgling birds were found dead near the Waikaia gold mine and Waikaia River at the beginning of the year, where they had been nesting within the wider area of their colony.
Department of Conservation senior ranger Rosalind Cole said testing carried out by staff at Massey University revealed the probable cause of death as starvation.
Autopsies of the birds revealed they were in poor condition and their stomachs were empty, Cole said.
There just happened to be no food at the particular time that the birds fledged, she said.
Fledglings were leaving mum and dad and going out on their own to survive, she said

The snow leopard's remote habitat becomes a challenge in detecting its killers and in law enforcement
The revelation was made in a report compiled by TRAFFIC, an arm of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The large cat which is native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia has been listed as endangered on the IUCN red list of threatened species since 2003, when the size of its global wild population was estimated at 4,080 - 6,590 adults.
In India its estimated population varies from 200 to 600 animals, which are scattered over 90,000 sq km in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
Snow leopards sometimes attack livestock animals like cows and goats, leading farmers in Uttarakhand and Himachal to resort to retaliatory killing.
'But 60 per cent of non-targeted poaching incidents result in an attempt to sell their body parts in the black market,' the reports states.
Sources














Comment: See also: Strange sky sounds: Metallic, groaning, trumpet-like noises heard worldwide in 2016