Earth ChangesS


Attention

Dead sperm whale found near Glenburn, New Zealand

Nathan Crombie
Wairarapa Times-Age
Mon, 16 Feb 2015 18:12 UTC
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The 14m sperm whale carcass found on a South Wairarapa beach at Glenburn near Honeycomb Rock.
Workers from Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairarapa iwi yesterday recovered the bones and teeth of a 14m-long sperm whale found dead on a South Wairarapa coastal beach.

Iwi authority chief executive PJ Devonshire said the carcass of the whale - an adult male weighing about 48 tonnes - was discovered washed up and lying between rocks on a beach south of Glenburn near Honeycomb Rock a week ago Saturday.

A Department of Conservation ranger believed the animal had died of old age.

He said the DoC Honeycomb walkway extended along the stretch of coast where the whale was found and a group from the iwi had travelled to the location on Tuesday, securing and blessing the carcass in a ceremony during which the whale was also named Te Pani o te Moana - orphan of the ocean.
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Cloud Lightning

Weatherman goes berserk over 'thundersnow' in Boston


Daily Telegraph
Mon, 16 Feb 2015 17:14 UTC
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Cantore stands in front of the camera as a Thundersnow bolt of lightning strikes
It's always nice to see a man enjoying his job.

Just take the Weather Channel's Jim Cantore as an example. The 51-year-old meteorologist displayed the infectious enthusiasm of a child while reporting on Sunday's blizzard in Massachusetts, US.

In the video below, which has gone viral over the past 24 hours, Cantore can be seen tramping around in knee-deep snow when the screen suddenly flashes pure white in a rare example of 'Thundersnow' - when lightning occurs during snowfall.

"Oh yes! Yes! Yes!" he exclaims. "We got it baby! We got it! We got it! Woo! Woo! We got it! Yes! Listen to that! Listen to that! Oh baby!"

Just as Cantore begins to regain his composure, the screen again flashes white, setting the excitable weatherman off on another bout of wild celebration. "Oh again! Again!" he shouts, throwing a handful of snow into the air. "That's a two-fer. That's a two-fer, baby. Oh my goodness!"

Four further flashes illicit similar exultations, as the meteorologist gives up any pretence of hiding his excitement.

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Attention

Red tide of algae kills 200 tons of lobsters off South Africa coast


Africa Trade
Wed, 11 Feb 2015 15:09 UTC
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Red tide
Harmful algae off the coast of South Africa has killed more than 200 metric tons of West Coast Rock Lobster, according to the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

The algae, known as red tide for the color it creates in the water, killed 80 tons of the crustacean on Wednesday at Eland Bay, north of Cape Town, the department said in an e-mailed statement. The total loss is equivalent to more than 10 percent of the allowable catch this season.

The bloom was detected on Feb. 3 off South Africa's west coast and killed about 30 tons of lobsters on Feb. 9 and another 70 tons on Tuesday, the department said.
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Fish

Peculiar fish found dead on North Devon coast, UK

N D J Duncan
North Devon Journal
Sat, 14 Feb 2015 11:18 UTC
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Peculiar fish found dead
A strange fish has washed up on the North Devon coast.

It was discovered yesterday at Northam Burrows by Nick Porter, who was walking his dogs when he spotted what he believes is a Parrot Fish.

He said: "Interestingly, the carcass was not apparently decaying as you would expect a fish to do.

"The skin was hard and leathery."

Comment: This is the second such record from Devon recently, see also: Weird fish with 'rodent-like teeth' found dead on Woolacombe beach, UK

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Bizarro Earth

Odd display of red auroras over Manitoba, Canada


SpaceWeather
Sun, 15 Feb 2015 01:55 UTC
For Valentine's Day, night-sky photographer Alan Dyer received not red roses, but red auroras. "It was an odd display. Instead of the usual green, the lights over Manitoba, Canada, on Feb. 14th were a beautiful shade of red," says Dyer, who took this 25 second exposure using a Canon 6D digital camera and a fish-eye lens:
Red Auroras
© Alan Dyer Taken by Alan Dyer on February 14, 2015 @ Churchill, Manitoba.
"The bright light at the right is Jupiter," he points out. "Later, the aurora took on the more normal appearance with green curtains topped by fringes of red."
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Arrow Down

Massive sinkhole widens even further in Solikamsk, Russia

Yuliya Fedorinova
bloomberg.com
Fri, 06 Feb 2015 14:39 UTC
Image
© GettySolikamsk sinkhole
Flooding at a PAO Uralkali potash mine in Russia's Perm region has increased four-fold in the last two weeks, and a nearby sinkhole is almost 300 feet across.

The average brine inflow to the Solikamsk-2 mine increased from 200 cubic meters an hour to about 820 cubic meters an hour between Jan. 22 and Feb. 6, the world's largest potash miner said today in a statement. A sinkhole that opened up east of the mine, swallowing local summer homes, has widened to 87 meters (285 feet) by 58 meters and is about 75 meters deep, it said.

Comment: See this earlier report from November 2014: Sinkhole opens up near old mine in Russia's Ural Mountains

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Black Cat

Bobcat kills 3 pets before capture in El Dorado Hills, California

Tia Ewing
fox40.com
Mon, 02 Feb 2015 13:47 UTC
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Captured bobcat.
It was stalking around town, on the hunt for prey in a secluded El Dorado Hills neighborhood overrun with trees and brush. It's the kind of environment that makes it easy for a predator on the top of the food chain to hide out.

A 50-pound bobcat did some serious damage to the community, killing 3 pets in 2 days.

"Killed one of their cats, attacked another one of their cats and tried to eat it but the cat got away. Killed another neighbor's cat, then he called us," Jeffery Duke of Duke's Wildlife Control & Removal told FOX40.


Comment: See also: Bobcat attacks and kills family dog in Ahwatukee, Arizona

Bobcat attacks woman sitting on a bench in Solvang, California

Bobcat attacks dog in Chelmsford, Massachusetts

Bobcat attacks hiker's dogs near Squamish, Canada

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Black Cat

400 people killed in man-animal conflict in last 15 years in Uttarakhand, India

Seema Sharma
The Times of India
Fri, 13 Feb 2015 13:33 UTC
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Leopard
Man-animal conflict has played havoc with the lives of people in almost 14,000 villages which are located near forest areas. Figures point to the massive extent of damage, and the many lives lost. Since 2000, when the state was formed, around 400 people have died in attacks by animals. Of these, 241 were believed to have been killed by leopards alone. As for animal casualties, around 800 leopards, 90 tigers and 280 elephants have reportedly died in these encounters. However, the state forest department is yet to get its act in place. It cites shortage of staff and limited weaponry as the biggest stumbling blocks in ensuring proper patrolling of the forests.
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Question

500 starving sea lion pups have washed ashore along the California coast since the start of 2015

Brett Smith
redorbit.com
Thu, 12 Feb 2015 21:13 UTC
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© Thinkstock Sea lion pup.
Starving sea lion pups have been washing ashore along the California coast for the past three winters and experts have very few clues as to why this is happening.

"They're extremely emaciated, basically starving to death," Shawn Johnson of the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California told National Geographic.

Since the start of the year, almost 500 pups have been admitted to the state's rehabilitation centers, with the Sausalito facility handling 171 cases so far. Last year, it took until April for the center to hit the 100-case mark.

Officials said they are particularly concerned because they've yet to hit the peak stranding season, which is traditionally a few months away.

"We're all kind of holding our breath," said Justin Viezbicke, stranding network coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Comment: See also: Sick sea lions wash ashore at alarming rate, California

650 emaciated sea lion pups wash up on the California coast over last 2 months

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Arrow Down

Sinkhole injures two in Surprise, Arizona

Jerod MacDonald-Evoy and Judson Tomaiko
The Arizona Republic
Sat, 14 Feb 2015 20:57 UTC
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© Surprise Police DepartmentA sinkhole in Surprise injured two when their car fell into it Friday afternoon, according to officials.
A sinkhole in Surprise sent two people to the hospital Friday and forced an overnight road closure, authorities said.

The sinkhole on 163rd Avenue about a 1/2 mile north of Grand Avenue was about as wide as a lane of traffic. Attempts to repair the damage were underway Friday afternoon.

Two people received minor injuries when the vehicle they were in entered the sinkhole, according to a Surprise Fire Department official. The pair were taken to Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center in Sun City for treatment.

Traffic was initially moving through the area with restrictions. Officials closed 163rd Avenue overnight and the road was expected to be off limits to traffic at least through this morning.

It wasn't clear when repairs would be complete and the road restrictions would be cleared.
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