West Australian wildlife authorities are investigating the deaths of at least three marine mammals found on a beach near Broome.
Three melon-headed whales were discovered lying on Mangalagun Crab Creek Beach, north-east of the tourist town, this morning by Broome resident Megan Spence, who regularly visits the area.
Her first thought was a shark or dolphin had washed ashore.
"It was very dark, almost black," Ms Spence said.
"Then I looked further up the beach and saw another one, then another 150 metres there was another.
A total of 10 melon-headed whales have now been found on a beach and in mangroves near Broome in Western Australia's far north, according to wildlife authorities.
The issue was first reported to Kimberley Parks and Wildlife Services on Monday after a local resident stumbled across three dead whales during her morning walk at Mangalagun Crab Creek Beach, north-east of the tourist town.
The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) confirmed a further seven were later found in mangroves and in creeks in the same area.
The DBCA said local Parks and Wildlife Service staff managed to remove seven of the mammals and dispose of them safely.
"Biological samples were taken from three of these carcasses for testing," a DBCA spokesperson said.
Three were unable to be removed and will be left to "decompose naturally".
Broome resident Thomas Howard was on a fishing trip with friends on Sunday — the afternoon before the whales were first reported.
He said he came across three of the mammals on the shoreline.
"I walked down a bit further, down into the creek, to go look for some crabs and whatnot, [and] I've seen a few more," he said.
"There was a few more stuck into the mouth, really into the mangroves."
John Badman The Telegraph Mon, 13 Jan 2025 12:35 UTC
A man in his early 50s died Friday after being attacked by a pit bull in a home in the first block of Lovejoy Lane in Alton.
Alton Police and firefighters were called to the home for a dog bite call just before 5 p.m. on Friday. Family members were waiting in the driveway, but the bite victim was still in the house with the dog. Alton firefighters waited for police to secure the scene.
Officers reportedly entered the home, and a gunshot was heard. After the shot was fired, police, firefighters and Alton Memorial Ambulance personnel tried valiantly to treat the man and called for a helicopter ambulance.
Despite their best efforts, the man succumbed to the bleeding and injuries to an arm. The Madison County Coroner's Office was called to the scene and the man was pronounced dead.
Taal Volcano in Batangas spewed a 900-meter plume late Friday night following a phreatic eruption, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said.
The phreatic eruption from Taal Volcano Island's Main Crater, which occurred at 11:51 p.m., was accompanied by a volcanic tremor that lasted three minutes.
Phreatic eruptions are steam-driven explosions that occur when water beneath the ground or on the surface is heated by magma, lava, hot rocks, or new volcanic deposits, according to PHIVOLCS.
Alert Level 1 (Low-level unrest) prevails over the volcano.
Tropical storm Dikeledi slammed into northern Mozambique Monday after leaving at least three people dead in Madagascar and triggering floods in the French territory of Mayotte.
The storm intensified as it reached Mozambique's coastal Nampula region, bringing destructive winds and torrential rains, according to French weather administration Meteo-France.
At least 120 people were killed in northern Mozambique in December when Cyclone Chido struck, after taking at least 39 lives in Mayotte where it injured more than 5,600 people and caused colossal damage.
Mozambique's National Institute of Meteorology (INAM) issued flood warnings for Dikeledi with forecasts of up to 200 millimetres (nearly eight inches) of rainfall in 24 hours and wind gusts of up to 180 kilometres (110 miles) per hour.
A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the Miyazaki Prefecture Monday evening in Japan, initially setting off a tsunami warning before it was called off, officials said.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the earthquake was 11 miles southeast of Miyazaki in the Hyuga Nada Sea at a depth of about 19 miles.
Japanese authorities issued a tsunami advisory for Miyazaki and Kochi prefectures with an expected high of up to three feet, warning residents to stay away from the coast before being called off.
Four people were killed in the Indonesian city of Batam, located in the Riau Islands province, after a landslide struck a housing complex early on Monday. The disaster also injured five others and destroyed five houses, according to the province's disaster mitigation agency.
Hendrija, the agency's head of the rehabilitation and reconstruction division, told local media that heavy rains had been falling in the Riau Islands since the previous Friday and were expected to continue until Saturday. He later urged the public to remain vigilant and alert for potential further hydrometeorological disasters.
"We plan to implement roadblocks to the housing complex as part of the emergency response. We don't want more victims," he said.
Indonesia frequently experiences hydrometeorological disasters during the rainy season. Last November, the country's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency warned that the country is currently entering the rainy season, with rainfall intensity expected to increase by between 20 and 40 percent due to a weak La Nina, which typically brings wetter conditions.
Rescue services in the Minas Gerais state said Sunday that nine people died in the city of Ipatinga, where 3.1 inches of rain fell in the space of one hour on Saturday night
Nine people died in the city of Ipatinga, where 80 millimeters (3.1 inches) of rain fell in the space of one hour on Saturday night, the mayor's office said.
Firefighters pulled the body of an eight-year-old boy from the rubble of a house destroyed by a landslide.
Another landslide swept away everything in its path along a street on the side of a hill in the city's Bethania neighborhood.
AFP images from the scene showed rubble from the houses poking up from the mud.
Mount Ibu Volcano sent a 5km high ash column above its crater when it erupted in Indonesia on Saturday night. Footage shows the hot lava flowing from its peak, as seen from a home in North Maluku on the evening of January 11.
Authorities recorded the eruption at 7:35 pm local time, with the ash column height reaching 5,325 metres with thick intensity leaning towards the west. The eruption lasted more than three minutes with a maximum amplitude of 28 mm.
Lava was ejected 2km from the centre with alert level 3 status. Locals and tourists are prevented from entering a 4km radius danger zone, while residents near the area are advised to use face masks and goggles.
Indonesia is in the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active area with frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. It has more than 130 active volcanoes, making it one of the most volcanically active countries in the world.
Ten Russian cities shattered January 8 temperature records this week, RIA Novosti reported, citing Roman Vilfand, the scientific director of Russia's Hydrometeorological Center.
In a country known for bitter winters, with temperatures sometimes plunging as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius, some regions saw unseasonably mild conditions. Large cities like Ryazan, Orel, Lipetsk, and Voronezh recorded highs of 5.1 degrees Celsius, far exceeding previous January 8 benchmarks, according to Vilfand.
The latest data released by the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service shows that 2024 was the hottest year on record, stretching back to 1890. Each of the past decades was one of the ten warmest years recorded, and the two-year average for 2023-2024 exceeded the 1.5-degree limit that countries agreed to avoid under the Paris climate agreement in 2015, Copernicus said on Friday.
Last year the planet's average temperature was 1.6 degrees Celsius higher than during the pre-industrial period of 1850-1900, before humans began burning CO2-emitting fossil fuels on a large scale, according to the service.
The year 2024 was the warmest year on record in Moscow despite the unprecedented chill recorded in the Russian capital during the first ten days of May. Moscow State University reported on December 31, citing data tracked by its meteorological observatory, that the average annual temperature reached a record high of 8.2 degrees Celsius. The previous record of 8.0 degrees Celsius was recorded in 2020.
Singapore received more than its average monthly rainfall for January over just two days - on Jan 10 and 11.
Changi recorded the highest total amount of rainfall at 255.2mm across the two days, exceeding Singapore's monthly average rainfall of 222.4mm in January, national water agency PUB said in a statement on Jan 12.
PUB said the prolonged rainy weather caused by the ongoing monsoon surge is expected to persist until Jan 13.
The agency issued several flood risk warnings on Jan 10 and 11 in locations such as Jalan Seaview, which is off Tanjong Katong Road, the junction of Mountbatten Road and Tanjong Katong Road South, as well as Jalan Pokok Serunai.
Heavy rain in these areas resulted in high water levels in drains and canals.
Comment: Update January 14
The same source reports: