Animals
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Fish

Whale mortality rises in San Francisco Bay with 22 confirmed carcasses in 2025

Gray whale deaths in San Francisco Bay reached 22 as of mid-June 2025, with data showing continued population decline and signs of ecosystem stress and malnutrition.

San Francisco Bay
© Copernicus EU/Sentinel-2, EO Broweser, The Watchers. Acquired on June 12, 2025
At least 22 whale carcasses have been confirmed in the San Francisco Bay Area so far in 2025, including 19 gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus), two unidentified baleen whales, and one minke whale. This is the highest number reported in the region since 2021, when an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) affected gray whales along the Eastern North Pacific.

Data collected by local observers and the Marine Mammal Center indicate that more than 30 gray whales have been seen alive in San Francisco Bay over the same period. This represents an increase from just 6 whales observed by May 2024.

Approximately one-third of those whales remained in the bay for more than 20 days, with visible signs of varied health that ranged from normal to emaciated condition.


Lightning

Residents see dead pelicans fall out of the sky during a thunderstorm in Mobile, Alabama on June 14

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© Mason Terrill / News 5 Photographer
Mobile, Alabama, police recently responded to reports of pelican corpses falling from the sky in one neighborhood, which sat there for days, according to NewsNation affiliate WKRG.

WKRG spoke with residents, who believe that a lightning strike might've caused the pelicans to fall from the sky.

One woman said she heard two loud booms during a thunderstorm and saw birds on the ground after it passed.

"Ain't no way, we looked outside, 16 birds just in our yard," resident Destany Williams said. "Nowhere else, just in the yard. This ain't no coincidence... This is the end of the world for real."


Attention

35-foot blue whale found dead near Makran Coast, Pakistan

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A blue whale, measuring about 35 feet, was found dead in Gwatar Bay, Makran Coast at the border Pakistan and Iran.

The discovery was made by local fisherman Ahmad Baloch, who spotted the whale floating near Kuntani, Balochistan.

It is believed the whale died several days earlier in open waters between the two countries and drifted toward the bay due to rough sea conditions and strong currents.

While the exact cause of death remains undetermined, experts suspect the whale may have become entangled in gillnets, commonly used for fishing in the region.

The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is one of three baleen whale species in Pakistani waters, alongside the Bryde's whale and the Arabian humpback whale.


Lightning

Lightning kills 13 goats in Mugu, Nepal

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© Hari Krishna Aidi/TRN
Thirteen goats have been killed due to lightning at Jantalaina of Jhyari Gaun of Chhayanath Rara Municipality -8 in Mugu on Thursday.

Municipality ward number 8 Chair Karna Bahadur Rawal informed that lightning killed 13 goats of Ganesh Rawal and Banchurup Rawal at the pasture land on Thursday. (RSS)

Info

What if we weren't the first advanced civilization on Earth?

The Silurian Hypothesis asks whether signs of truly ancient past civilizations would even be recognisable today.
Advance Civilization
© ZME Science/SORA

In the grand sweep of Earth's four-billion-year history, 300 years is barely a blink. And yet, that blink — our industrial era — has already reshaped the atmosphere, oceans, and sediments. If civilization collapsed tomorrow, would anything of us remain 100 million years from now? Could some alien beings visiting Earth in the future ever tell that this planet was inhabited by an advanced civilization? More startling still: if another civilization once existed on Earth long before us, could we even tell?

This question lies at the heart of the Silurian Hypothesis — a playful yet serious scientific proposition by NASA climate scientist Gavin Schmidt and astrophysicist Adam Frank, detailed in a 2018 paper in the International Journal of Astrobiology. The name nods to the Silurians, a fictional species of ancient intelligent reptiles from Doctor Who, but the premise is grounded in geology, astrobiology, and climate science.

"We are not however suggesting that intelligent reptiles actually existed in the Silurian age," the authors clarify in their paper, just to be sure no one misreads them. "Nor that experimental nuclear physics is liable to wake them from hibernation."

Doberman

15-year-old girl killed by dog pack in Saline County, Arkansas

A 15-year-old girl is dead after being attacked by multiple dogs.
© KATVA 15-year-old girl is dead after being attacked by multiple dogs.
A 15-year-old Saline County girl was killed by a pack of dogs near Alexander on Wednesday.

At approximately 12:15 p.m., the Saline County Sheriff's Office said it received a 911 call reporting that a female had been attacked by dogs. Deputies and emergency medical personnel responded immediately to the scene where they found the girl deceased.

Locals believe the tragedy could have been prevented and blame the county for not stepping in sooner to do something about the animals, which had been neglected by their owners.

Neighbors KATV spoke with said the girl was trying to feed the malnourished dogs on a property on White Oak Drive when she was killed. The young lady and her mother, out of the kindness of their hearts, had been taking care of the animals for some time after noticing their deplorable condition.

Wednesday, it all went horribly wrong.

Shortly after noon, neighbors heard sirens and then gunshots as one of the first deputies arrived at the scene.


Attention

Rampaging nilgai antelope kills farmer, damages several cars in Uttar Pradesh, India

nilgai
© Vladimir WrangelNilgai
A rampaging blue bull (nilgai) gored a farmer to death and damaged several cars in a residential colony before collapsing and dying near a house around 5am on Wednesday. Nathan Singh, 65, a resident of Mohalla Sewa Wali Gaonwadi in Nagina, was plucking vegetables in his field near his house when the animal attacked him.

The animal thrust its horns into his stomach and threw him to the ground. Singh managed to escape and reach home despite serious injuries. His family first took him to a private doctor, and later he was referred to a govt hospital, where he died during treatment.

Soon after the attack, the same bull entered the densely populated Ambedkar Nagar locality and ran through the area for about half an hour, damaging six cars parked outside homes by charging into them. The animal continued to strike the walls and doors of nearby houses before collapsing and dying.

"The family refused to have the post-mortem conducted," said Nagina station house officer Tejpal Singh.

Municipal workers later took away the carcass of the bull. Forest ranger Pradeep Sharma said an investigation is underway.

Attention

Wild monkeys attack villagers in Malaysia

The injuries caused by the wild monkeys.
The injuries caused by the wild monkeys.
The villagers in Pulau Sakar expressed concern following the presence of wild monkeys (Beruk) that attacked villagers and intruded their houses.

The wild monkeys also damaged their crops and properties as well as stole their food. One of the villagers urged the relevant authorities to take immediate action as two villagers have been attacked by the animal in the past week.

The villager said at about 4pm on Tuesday, his uncle was sleeping at his house's veranda in Kampung Louk Terusan when he was attacked by a wild monkey.

The victim suffered injuries on his feet in the incident and the monkey attempted to launch a second attack.

Fish

Three giant deep-water oarfish wash up in one week across Australasia

'Doomsday' Oarfish
© Sybil Robertson'Doomsday' Oarfish
Bad luck comes in threes, according to the saying. And this week three ethereal oarfish, nicknamed "the doomsday fish", have washed up on the shores of Australia and New Zealand.

Two headless specimens were found near Dunedin and Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island, following the discovery of an oarfish on Tasmania's west coast on Monday.

But scientists say there is no evidence of any link between oarfish sightings and imminent natural disaster.

Earlier in the week, an oarfish was found near the small coastal settlement of Aramoana, north of Dunedin. Another, washed up on Thursday at a stony beach near Birdlings Flat, a 45-minute drive from Christchurch.

Andrew Stewart, the curator of fishes at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, described the fish as "beautiful" and "otherworldly", with their "purply-blue, silver and crimson" colours.

The museum had investigated collecting one of these "magnificent and ethereal-looking fish", but seagulls arrived first and demolished their heads.

(More here)

Lightning

10 cattle killed following lightning strike in Cavan, Ireland

Cattle killed in lightning strike
Cattle killed in lightning strike
10 cattle have been killed on a farm in Cavan following lightning which struck parts of the county on Friday evening, June 6.

Agriland understands the incident occurred yesterday evening in the region of Butlersbridge, Co. Cavan.

The 10 continental suckler-bred heifers owned by a farmer from the area had taken shelter from the heavy rain under a tree in the middle of the field when a bolt of lightning struck the earth, killing the 10 heifers instantly.

Farmers in the surrounding area told Agriland the lightning - which lasted for less than an hour - "was clearly very close by" as the thunder was occurring "almost instantly" after the lightning.

While lightning storms are not uncommon at this time of year, livestock losses are rare as a result of lightning but not unheard of across the country.