Archive | October 6, 2015
Large number of ‘endangered’ fur seals washing up dead or dying along coast of California, USA
Eighty fur seals have been found stranded or dead on California’s coast so far this year, eight times more than normal, scientists said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said 42 of the seals were found dead and the remainder were found alive but half-starving.
The NOAA said on Tuesday it was declaring an Unusual Mortality Event in light of the strandings and deaths, a designation that allows for more federal funds to be allocated for the threatened species.
Teneya Norris, of the Marine Mammal Center which is caring for some of the animals, attributed the strandings to changes in the availability of food due to ocean-warming trends.
“These stranded animals are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of animals affected by the unusually warm water temperatures we’ve been seeing off the coast,” Norris said.
The fur seals were nearly brought to extinction in the late 1800s because of hunting and today about 10,000 remain.
They breed almost exclusively on Guadalupe Island, off the Mexican coast, and little is known about the species.
In 2013, the NOAA also sounded the alarm on California’s sea lions after hundreds became stranded along the coast.
Norris said while the number of fur seals stranded is significantly lower than the 1,300 sea lions rescued this year, the influx was distressing.
“While these numbers might not sound like a lot, for a threatened species it’s actually a big warning sign that we need to pay attention to what’s happening in our oceans,” she said.
Courtesy of news.discovery.com
Thousands of dead fish wash ashore along Red Sea coast in Saudi Arabia
It was fish tsunami as thousands of dead fish washed ashore on the Red Sea coast in Saudi Arabia. They were dead despite still being in water.
A video of the incident was published by the Saudi Daily ‘Okaz’.
Saudi officials say they are investigating the incident and trying to find out why the fish died.
“Officials said they have collected samples of the fish, the water and sand to have them tested at the laboratory to identify reasons for their death,” the paper said.
Courtesy of gdnonline.com
Thousands of dead fish found in a reservoir in Lugo, Spain
A spectacular fish fauna mortality was detected during the last weekend at the mouth of the river of Porcos , in Grandas reservoir in the municipality of Lugo Negueira Muniz . Fishermen in the area described the dramatic situation and ensure that there are tons of dead fish. So much so that, due to heat in some areas has already begun to be felt yesterday a foul smell. The regional government says the problem affects the neighboring community of Asturias .
The complaints of neighbors alerted during the last weekend Protection Service of the Civil Guard (SEPRONA) of the command of Lugo. The patrol rushed to the scene several times, particularly at the mouth of that river and also the Spaniard in Ibias. They found that, indeed, there were thousands of dead birds, especially bream and trout.
Official sources said that the guards reported the situation to the agents of Environment serving the area and that they deal with the situation were made in order to investigate the causes and report what happened.
Environment of the Xunta de Galicia reported yesterday that the provincial service Lugo learned of the slaughter, but the action was taken by Asturian guards because they understand that the case was registered in the reservoir area of Grandas , belonging to the jurisdiction of the neighboring community. The dam straddles Asturias and Galicia.
The regional government said they were taken water samples for bacteriological analysis . The results thereof may know the causes that led to this ecological disaster. According to data collected by Environment mortality only affected the bream (some neighbors also reported the existence of trout) making rule out the existence of dumping of some highly polluting product. Say from the regional government that if it were any chemicals would have affected primarily to trout and cyprinids species considered more sensitive. In any case, from the Environment they indicated that they were awaiting the results of the analytical, both in regard to the bacteriological and virological parameters to intervene if necessary.
Courtesy of lavozdegalicia.es
MAGNITUDE 5.4 WESTERN TURKEY
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us10003ksq#general_summary
Subject To Change
Depth: 10 km
Distances: 7km (4mi) S of Finike, Turkey
14km (9mi) ESE of Demre, Turkey
14km (9mi) E of Demre, Turkey
18km (11mi) SW of Beykonak, Turkey
314km (195mi) WNW of Nicosia, Cyprus
Worst wind damage in 20 years causes complete mayhem in parts of New Zealand
Hundreds of homes remain without power after wild winds wreaked havoc across the South Island, downing electricity lines and fanning dozens of fires.
PowerNet chief executive Jason Franklin said he believed the damage caused to the network was the worst Southland and Otago had seen in 20 years.
It had been subjected to power interruptions and network disturbances throughout the region, he said.
“The company has been extremely busy with power outages since the storm began,” he said.
“At this stage we are doing all we can to restore power to our affected customers.”
Power remained out to almost 80 people west of Christchurch. Affected customers were in West Melton, Halkett and Sandy Knolls.
In South Canterbury about 400 homes were still without electricity.
In Otago, about 400 consumers on the Aurora Energy network are without power.
The winds made it too dangerous for lines crews to reconnect the power overnight. Affected areas included Glenorchy, Kinloch, Closeburn and Mount Creighton, Leith Valley, Mosgiel and Dunedin city.
Meteorologist Emma Blades said northerly and northwest gusts peaked overnight at 113kmh at the Rimutaka summit, 107kmh at Mt Kaukau above Wellington, and 98kmh in the Wellington suburb of Kelburn.
Cape Turnagain, near the Manawatu-Hawke’s Bay boundary, was one of the windiest spots in New Zealand and had one gust reach 172kmh late on Sunday.
Winds in Canterbury on Monday morning reached 70kmh in Lyttelton and 130kmh at Le Bons Bay in Banks Peninsula.
Gale winds that caused havoc in the south on Sunday calmed on Monday morning but the MetService is forecasting that Invercargill and Stewart Island could experience strong westerly winds again later today.
A tree at the old Gore hospital blew down across Wigan St on Sunday night taking out a boat and a truck, but luckily no-one was hurt, the Gore District Council said.
Courtesy of stuff.co.nz
MEGA DIP SPIKES ON THE WEAK MAGNETOSPHERE @ APPROX 17:00, 18:00, 19:30, 19:45 HRS UTC
**VERY URGENT**
MEGA DIP SPIKES ON THE WEAK MAGNETOSPHERE @ APPROX 17:00, 18:00, 19:30, 19:45 HRS UTC. FURTHER EARTHQUAKES, VOLCANO ACTIVITY & ADVERSE WEATHER PATTERNS WILL BE GREATLY INFLUENCED BY THE COSMIC RAYS STRIKING THE EARTH’S CORE
***BE ALERT***
MAGNITUDE 3.0 FRANCE
http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=463342
Subject To Change
Depth: 0 km
Distances: 177 km NW of Paris, France / pop: 2,138,551 / local time: 15:10:15.3 2015-10-06
65 km NW of Rouen, France / pop: 112,787 / local time: 15:10:15.3 2015-10-06
0 km NE of Yport, France / pop: 1,041 / local time: 15:10:15.3 2015-10-06
MAGNITUDE 4.2 NEPAL
http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=463338
32 km SE of Kodāri, Nepal / pop: 1,600 / local time: 17:47:30.0 2015-10-06
Subject To Change
Depth: 10 km
Distances:
76 km E of Kathmandu, Nepal / pop: 1,442,271 / local time: 17:47:30.0 2015-10-0632 km SE of Kodāri, Nepal / pop: 1,600 / local time: 17:47:30.0 2015-10-06
MAGNITUDE 5.1 COQUIMBO, CHILE
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us10003knu#general_summary
Subject To Change
Depth: 45 km
Distances: 39km (24mi) WNW of Illapel, Chile
63km (39mi) NW of Salamanca, Chile
97km (60mi) SSW of Ovalle, Chile
99km (62mi) SSW of Monte Patria, Chile
238km (148mi) NNW of Santiago, Chile
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