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Fri, 05 Nov 2021
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Humpback whale washes up on San Francisco beach

A dead humpback whale washed up at San Francisco’s Baker Beach on Tuesday.
© Dean C. Smith
A dead humpback whale washed up at San Francisco’s Baker Beach on Tuesday.
A severely decomposed young humpback whale washed ashore on a San Francisco beach and experts said Tuesday they were trying to determine how it died.

Dr. Pádraig Duignan, Chief Pathologist at The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, said the center was alerted early Tuesday to a dead whale on San Francisco's Baker Beach.

A small team of scientists from the center and California Academy of Sciences performed a partial necropsy on the 37-foot-long (11-meter) whale. Details on what killed the whale won't be available until a final necropsy report is completed, he said.


Tornado2

At least 6 killed, over 20 injured as tornadoes batter Texas and Oklahoma

tornado texas april2020
© Twitter / Robin S. / @triplejaymom
At least six people have been killed after nearly two dozen tornadoes ripped through the south central region of the United states, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

Three people were killed and some 20 injured by a fearsome tornado in , Texas located roughly 90 miles north of Houston. Two others were killed by another violent storm system in southern Oklahoma while another fatality occurred in Louisiana.

Comment: Mississippi was raked by three EF4 tornadoes within 40 Miles of each other in ONE week


Camera

Giant rings around the sun over Cork, Ireland explained

Sun halo over Cork, Ireland
© Robert Falvey
Aliens, weird cloud formations or just optical illusions - many people across the Rebel County have been asking about the giant rings seen around the sun today.

The rings, which appeared in the sky around lunchtime and persisted for a few hours, caught the eye of many an amateur astronomer, including Robert Falvey, who took a few pics on them while on his 2km walk on the Commons Road on the northside of the city.

And Robert wasn't the only Leesider looking to the sky and wondering what was going on, if social media is any guide.


Robert reckoned they were "weird and amazing" asked CorkBeo to look into it, so we asked Caoimhin de Bhailis of Blackrock Castle Observatory who came up with the scientific explanation.

Cloud Precipitation

Horta river flood devastates crops in the region of Bolivar, Colombia

bananas

Bananas
Due to the weekend's heavy rains in the department of Santander, the Horta river flooded in the municipality of Bolivar devastating plantain, cassava, banana, and the papaya crops of 130 producers.

Apparently, the damming of the waters in the upper part of the river caused the flood. "Since the flood took place during the day, people were alert and we had no human losses," said the Mayor of Bolivar, Wilson Gamboa Sedano. The flood took place on Sunday affecting the villages of Puerto Pacheco, Pozo Tortuga, and Horta Medio, located in an area bordering this region's Magdalena medio valley.

Cloud Precipitation

At least 8 killed by flash floods in Djibouti - half of annual rainfall in a few hours

floods
At least 8 people have died in flash flooding in Djibouti.

Djibouti city and surrounding areas were the worst affected after flash flooding struck on 21 April after overnight heavy rain. The UN in Djibouti said initial estimates indicate that some 18,000 households (approximately 110,000 persons) were affected across Djibouti city and its suburb of Balbala.

The fatalities occurred when a house was washed away by the floodwater. The house was situated near a seasonal river (oued) that separates Djibouti town from Balbala

In a report of 21 April, the UN in Djibouti said: "in the night between 20 and 21 April, Djibouti city received 80 mm of rainfall in few hours (half of the annual average), triggering widespread flash floods. Heavy rains also occurred in other areas of the country, causing some damages. In Arta province some 100 mm of rainfall were recorded in the same time span in Damerjog, Chebelley; 110 mm in Iskoutir; and 80mm in PK20. In ali Sabieh province, the capital received 60mm of rainfall, and the refugee village of Ali Addeh 70mm."


Tornado1

Mississippi was raked by three EF4 tornadoes within 40 Miles of each other in ONE week

A home in Hurricane Creek, Miss., that was demolished by a tornado
© NWS Jackson
A home in Hurricane Creek, Miss., that was demolished by a tornado Sunday night.
Sunday's EF4 tornado in southern Mississippi tore a path less than 40 miles from a pair of Easter Sunday EF4 tornadoes in the same area, making it the third violent tornado there in a week.

According to damage survey results released Monday evening by the National Weather Service office near Jackson, Mississippi, Sunday's tornado tore a 54-mile path through parts of five counties, from Walthall County to Perry County.

The tornado quickly intensified and earned an EF4 rating after the NWS examined what was left of a destroyed home in southern Marion County.


Comment: Devastating Easter tornadoes leave at least 33 dead across southern US


Question

Mystery disease killing Germany's blue tits

There has been an unexplained spike in deaths in Germany's blue tit bird population

There has been an unexplained spike in deaths in Germany's blue tit bird population
An unknown contagious disease is affecting Germany's blue tit bird population, said conservation non-governmental organization NABU. It received over 11,000 reports from the public of sick or dead birds between April 9 and April 17.

The Eurasian blue tit is a small bird native to Europe. It is around 12 cm (4.7 in) long with blue and yellow feathers. A spate of blue tit deaths in Germany, first noted on March 11, prompted NABU to launch the self-report survey.

Particularly hard-hit are blue tits in the lower Mosel wine region and the region around the city of Oldenburg, in Lower Saxony. "At least in these regions there is a noticeable death rate above all among the blue tit population," said NABU on its website.

The disease appears to mainly affect blue tits, but the great tit and other small song birds are sometimes infected.

Cow

Signs and Portents: Mutant cow born with two heads and two spines in Wessington Springs, South Dakota

Farmers have been left shocked by the birth of a twin-headed calf in the US
© Pen News/Amber Kolousek
Farmers have been left shocked by the birth of a twin-headed calf in the US
A mutant calf with two heads has been born on a farm in the US - to the shock of a family of farmers who had never seen anything like it before in five generations.

Scott Kolousek of Wessington Springs, South Dakota, USA, was halfway through the 2020 calving season when he discovered one of his cows having difficulty delivering her calf.

The poor little thing's front legs and head were out, and everything seemed normal, but it would come no further until a caesarean section revealed the reason why.

"We didn't know the calf was unusual until the vet pulled it out during the c-section," said his wife, Amber.

Boat

At least 6 killed as floods after heavy rainfall hit villages in Kenya

Families seek refuge on dry ground with their belongings on the Kisumu-Kericho highway after flood waters marooned their homes in Kobura, Nyando, Kisumu County, on April 21, 2020.
© OSCAR KAKAI /NATION MEDIA GROUP
Families seek refuge on dry ground with their belongings on the Kisumu-Kericho highway after flood waters marooned their homes in Kobura, Nyando, Kisumu County, on April 21, 2020.
Heavy rains have left a trail of destruction in parts of Nyanza and the South Rift where at least six people had died in the past 48 hours and hundreds of families have been displaced.

Homes have been marooned and residents lack basic necessities like food and bedding, amid fears of an outbreak of waterborne diseases.

In Kericho County, three children died in two separate incidents when mudslides hit Kipkelion West on Monday evening, while in Migori, a 28-year-old woman and her two children died when their house caved in.


Cloud Precipitation

Deadly flooding strikes Yemen's Aden killing at least 10

flood
© EPA
Vehicles drive through a flooded street following heavy rains in Sana'a, Yemen
At least 10 civilians died and dozens were injured when heavy flooding struck the port city of Aden in southern Yemen on Tuesday.

Dr Jamal Khadabakhish director of public health in Aden, told The National that the huge floods resulted in three deaths and 27 injuries among residents of Al Mualla district.

And four people from one family died as their house in Sirah district, in southern Aden, collapsed on them.

"There are many other casualties in the northern districts of Dar Saad and Al Sheikh Othman," Dr Khadabakhish said.