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Attention

Two dolphins dead after stranding in Nova Scotia, Canada

Carol Dunn
The News
Thu, 17 Nov 2016 14:24 UTC
Despite his efforts, Robert Lange of Big Island wasn’t able to help this common dolphin, which died on Wednesday after getting stranded in shallow water.

Despite his efforts, Robert Lange of Big Island wasn’t able to help this common dolphin, which died on Wednesday after getting stranded in shallow water.
Two dolphins found dead on Big Island may have feeding close to shore when the tide dropped, said Andrew Reid of the Marine Animal Response Society.

Big Island resident Robert Lange was returning home from New Glasgow on Wednesday when he saw what he thought was geese in the water.

"Looking through binoculars, I realized it was dolphins and some were coming very close to the Big Island causeway. They were churning up the water as the tide was low, and the dorsal fins were all above the water," he said.

Lange said a few minutes later a small group of the mammals came along the roadway and one swam the wrong way, beaching itself in shallow water.

"It was thrashing around trying to get back to deeper water," he said.

By the time he got to the water's edge, sadly, it was too late.
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Attention

Dozens of fur seals found dead or sick on shores of Bay Area, California

Don Ford
sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com
Wed, 16 Nov 2016 13:03 UTC
Fur seal

Fur seal
A shocking number of fur seals are washing up on Bay Area shores, sick or dead.

Dr. Shawn Johnson - Marine Mammal Center Director of Veterinary Science, "They're probably the cutest little Marine Mammal out there. They're a combination between a California Sea Lion and maybe a Sea Otter."

This rare Guadalupe fur seal is one of the lucky ones being released back into the wild after recovering at the marine mammal center...once hunted nearly to extinction, now listed as threatened under the endangered species act. The Marine Mammal Center is seeing more of them, but that's not good.

Dr. Shawn Johnson, Director of Veterinary Science at the Marine Mammal Center said, "Over the last four years the most we've ever rescued in one year is five. But recently, fifty.

      Read More...
Fire

Wildfires Rage Across Southern US, Scorching More Than 100,000 Acres

Elizabeth Chuck
NBC News
Thu, 17 Nov 2016 10:56 UTC
southern US wildfires from space
© NASA
Southern US wildfires seen from space
Uncontrolled wildfires are raging through the drought-stricken South, blanketing multiple states in haze as firefighters race to temper the flames.

If you're not on the front lines, it may be hard to visualize just how bad these wildfires have gotten. To give you an idea of their size and scope, here's a handy guide:
  • Wildfires are burning in six states: North Carolina, which is the hardest hit, plus Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
  • All told, there are more than 30 large fires that are still uncontained. Overall, 128,000 acres have gone up in flames — a land mass that's about nine times the size of Manhattan, more than four times the size of San Francisco... or the size of nearly 96,970 football fields.
  • While that's a lot, there have certainly been much larger wildfires in past years. In August 2015, the Okanogan Complex Fire in Washington burned over 256,560 acres, making it the largest wildfire in Washington state history.
  • More than 5,000 firefighters and support personnel are battling the flames. The firefighters have come in from all parts of the country to assist and authorities are using 24 helicopters to drop flame retardant on the fires.

Comment: Winter drought forecast for much of United States

      Read More...
Seismograph

New Zealand Quake Ruptured 6 Faults

Tia Ghose
Live Science
Wed, 16 Nov 2016 23:57 UTC
New Zealand Earthquake
© GNS Science
A new map reveals that six faults ruptured during the Nov. 14 Kaikoura earthquake in New Zealand. The magnitude-7.8 quake ruptured at least four faults along the coast, as well as two inland. Arrows show the level of displacement along each of these faults.
The magnitude-7.8 quake that rattled New Zealand, killing at least two people and stranding thousands of people, completely transformed the underlying faults in the region.

Six major faults ruptured as a result of the New Zealand quake, a new map reveals.

The Kaikoura earthquake struck the South Island of New Zealand early in the morning on Nov. 14 local time, triggering landslides, tsunamis and hundreds of aftershocks. And thousands of people were stranded when earthquake detritus dammed a river. During the quake, bystanders captured images of mysterious earthquake lights painting the sky in eerie blue and green.

To see how the massive temblor reshaped the landscape, Nicola Litchfield, a geologist with the geoscience consultancy group GNS Science in New Zealand, and colleagues flew over the South Island in a helicopter to take video footage of the region.

Comment: See also:

      Read More...
Attention

Locals attempt to rescue two rare oarfish from beach stranding in Busselton, Western Australia

Emma Kirk and David Allan-Petale
WAtoday
Thu, 17 Nov 2016 20:46 UTC
Donna Moule, her brother Mark and a local woman tried to help the oar fish get back into the water.
© Donna Moule
Donna Moule, her brother Mark and a local woman tried to help the oar fish get back into the water.
Busselton resident Karen Smith was walking along the shore near the Busselton Jetty on Friday when she spotted something peculiar in the shallows.

Very long, silvery and looking more like a snake than a fish, she sent a picture to her colleague at Busselton's Underwater Observatory and was told the unusual animals were oarfish.

"They are tropical and rare, apparently they do beach themselves quite regularly, people at the beach helped put it back in the ocean," she said

"One was still floating around under the jetty but we did not think it would survive."
      Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Close lightning strike filmed in Mutare, Zimbabwe

Peter Lowenstein
You Tube
Tue, 15 Nov 2016 18:28 UTC
Close lightning strike with slow motion
© Peter Lowenstein
Close lightning strike with slow motion
CAUTION! At full volume the bass on slow motion replay is very loud and could damage sub-woofers.

On 14 November there was a violent afternoon thunderstorm with hail and 90 millimeters of torrential rain which persisted into the night. At about quarter past three there was a very close lightning bolt which struck a pole which had just one week earlier been installed by the national telephone company to bring a fiber internet connection to my home. The pole is situated on the opposite side of the road less than 50 meters from the front of the house.

The accompanying video, which begins at normal speed then plays in three slow-mo rates of x0.5, x0.25 and x0.125 and ends at normal speed again, shows the brief but intense lightning flash descending towards the pole which is just below the field of view. It was accompanied by a sharp click of static electricity and almost immediately afterwards by a very loud report which could be felt and shook the house. This was followed by a deep rumbling sound which persisted for almost twenty seconds. An electromagnetic pulse was generated which was strong enough to affect the electronics in the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ10 being used to film the storm and produced strange bright histogram shaped patterns in the two frames which captured the strike. The video thumbnail image has been processed to remove these.

The fiber optic internet connection was unaffected by the strike but induced high voltages damaged the LNB in my rooftop satellite TV dish and connected decoder.

      Read More...
Windsock

Tornado-like winds whip through western Britain

Lucy Verasamy
ITV News
Thu, 17 Nov 2016 16:56 UTC
Aberystwyth storm damage
© Thomas Scarrott /PA Wire
Aberystwyth (pictured) has been one of the worst affected areas by Thursday's stormy weather.
A combination of unstable upper air, heavy downpours and strong gusty winds peaking at 84mph (in Shropshire) earlier produced 'tornadic' winds across Wales and the West Midlands earlier this afternoon.

Reports of actual tornadoes remain unconfirmed by the Met Office and tornado and storm organisation TORRO.

Tornadoes or tornadic winds occur when we have particularly squally (or windy and wet) conditions, where strong wind sheer at the ground meets a strong updraft (due to unstable air and downpours) shooting up into the atmosphere.

The winds then become a powerful, destructive rotating column of air - extending skyward while maintaining contact with the ground.

The UK is no stranger to tornadoes - around 30 are reported every year - but don't always affect populated, urban areas.

A tornado swept through London in December 2006 damaging at least 100 properties and one of the strongest tornadoes on record ripped through Birmingham in summer 2005, where winds peaked at 130mph or more.
      Read More...
Attention

Woman attacked by black bear in Frederick County, Maryland


ems1.com
Thu, 17 Nov 2016 17:27 UTC
Black bear

Black bear
Wildlife officials have killed a bear that injured a woman in a rare attack in western Maryland.

Maryland Natural Resources Police spokeswoman Candy Thomson said by telephone Thursday that the attack, the only one she can remember in Maryland for decades, happened Wednesday night when 63-year-old Karen Osborne went outside to investigate why a dog was barking nearby.

She dropped into a fetal position and called 911. The bear eventually left.

Osborne was taken to a hospital with a broken arm, cuts and puncture wounds, but Thomson says her injuries aren't considered life-threatening.

Thomson says wildlife officials tracked the bear and killed it. She says officials believe Osborne got between the sow and her cubs. She says the cubs, who are old enough to live on their own, were released.

Source: Associated Press
      Read More...
Snowflake Cold

Cold blast set to plunge temperatures up to 50 degrees in northeastern U.S.

Alex Sosnowski
AccuWeather
Thu, 17 Nov 2016 07:42 UTC
The first major blast of cold air will sweep across much of the northeastern United States this weekend and will be accompanied by snow and strong winds in some areas.

The same storm set to bring the first heavy snow and blizzard conditions of the season to the northern Plains into Friday will turn eastward this weekend.

Cold air wrapping around the storm will slash temperatures by 25-50 degrees Fahrenheit in about 36 hours from the Midwest to the mid-Atlantic. More than half of the temperature plunge can occur in the matter of a few hours.
Friday-Sunday forecast
© Accuweather
Temperatures in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Morgantown, West Virginia, and Buffalo, New York, will plummet from the 60s and 70s on Friday to the upper 20s and lower 30s during Saturday night. Then, temperatures may recover by only 10 degrees or less on Sunday.

The transition to cold air will be slightly less dramatic along the Interstate 95 corridor of the mid-Atlantic. However, strong winds will mark the approach and passage of the leading edge of the cold air during Saturday evening.

In coastal New England, the bulk of the cold air will not arrive until the end of the weekend, but cold and blustery conditions will make their presence known during Sunday and Monday.
      Read More...
Question

Mysterious 'phantom earthquake' reported in San Jose, California

Dianne de Guzman and Amy Graff
SFGate
Wed, 16 Nov 2016 20:34 UTC
Phantom earthquake in San Jose
© twitter/Rakesh
South Bay residents felt some shaking Tuesday afternoon, however the exact cause is unknown.

The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed that what South Bay residents felt was not an earthquake.

"Our duty seismologist did an extensive search and we did not see any seismic activity in the South Bay," Susan Garcia, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Geological Survey, said to SFGATE. "So it's not an earthquake, whatever they're feeling — as far as we can tell."

Despite that, many local residents did report on Twitter that a rumbling of some sort was felt at about 2:45 p.m.

Comment: Reports of a sonic boom being responsible for the mysterious shaking also appear to have been discounted. "Based on initial reports we're receiving, it's inconsistent with a military sonic boom taking place," Marc Calero, a spokesperson for the Naval Air Station at Lemoore said Wednesday evening. "The way people have described it seems highly inconsistent with a sound barrier being broken."

      Read More...
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