Mass whale stranding in Canada

2025, September 27. Canada, Prince Edward Island, Pituamkek National Park Reserve. Efforts are underway to refloat three large sperm whales that are stranded off western Prince Edward Island's North Shore. The cetaceans stranded on the ocean side of a small chain of islands close to Hardys Channel on Gulf of St. Lawrence side, near East Bideford. Meteor activity in the region includes an event on the 21st west of Quebec City and one on the 22nd on the east coast of Nova Scotia, with both events producing sonic booms.  

Images: DFO

Note: (Southern Hemisphere) There is an active meteor outburst in the constellation of horologium. Next 72 hours. The radiant is near Gamma Horologii.  

Mass strandings in UK and Crete

2025, September 25. Crete, Mediterranean Sea, South Cretan Sea, municipalities of Viannos and Ierapetra, coast of Keratokampos. Report: ARION confirmed a mass stranding of Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) on the coasts of southeastern Crete. Four whales were found: three already dead, and one alive that later did not survive. Update: See below the meteor/fireball on the 13th. 

vianitika.gr  

2025, September 13. Mediterranean Sea, between Libya and Sicilia, Malta region. District. Fireball. Time: 22:45 UT or 00:45 EET. Duration: 3.5s. Seen in Italy - Calabria, and Sicilia Libya - Misrata District. Seen in locations 750km apart. Travelling NE.

Also: 2025, September 22. UK, Cumbrian coast on the Irish Sea, near Silloth. A mass stranding involving four common dolphins – two adults, a juvenile, and a calf. One adult and a calf died next to each other, but the other adult and a juvenile were kept alive by volunteers until the tide came in and refloated.  

80 km of atmospheric fire

I'm glad this didn't happen over water. Satellite image of the meteor explosion over Argentina. 2025, September 13. Argentina, Lihuel Calel Department, La Pampa Province. Airburst. Time: 22:26:39UT. 19:24LT. Coordinates: (38.1S,64.8W). Altitude: 25.1 km. Energy: e = 16.7e10, -e = 0.48 or 480,000 kg/TNT. Velocity: 17.8 km/s. Trajectory east-west with a luminosity trail about 80km long. Seen east at Bahía Blanca, Provincia de Buenos Aires (AR), Witness: “ It was persistent and incandescent, like it got on fire quickly. The train lasted for a while. It was kind of a whiteish explosion and I saw some fragmentation.” Seen 520km south at Puerto Madryn, Chubut Province (AR) Witness: “It exploded very close to the ground, at an extremely fast speed, and the explosion was very, very large. It left a huge trail of fire, and then the smoke remained as a red cloud for more than 10 minutes.”

Image: RAMMB/CIRA in its GOES 19

A dolphin died in Brazil. I'm not linking this to the recent airburst, just keeping a close eye on what's happening. 

2023 bookmark events and cetacean deaths in France

2023, February 13. France, English Channel. Meteor/Meteorites Recovered. A small asteroid called 2023 CX1 entered Earth’s atmosphere and streaked across the skies of Normandy. The meteor produced a shock wave, which was heard by some witnesses and was detected by French seismographs. The event produced a bright fireball and multiple meteorites that were collected on the ground.

2023, February 16 and 25. France, Atlantic Coast. Mass dolphin deaths. 245 cetacean carcasses were identified on the Atlantic coast, with more than 400 dolphins found stranded along the coast, marking an unprecedented number.

2023, April 26. Celtic Sea, North Atlantic. Airburst. Coordinates: (47N, 10.7W). Time: 13:14. Altitude: 29.6 km. Velocity: 16.2. e= 2.4. -e= 0.11 or 110,000 kg/TNT.

France Histograms & Stranding Maps  

Update post on Brazilian Meteor Airburst and comet SWAN25B

Update: 2025, September 9. South Atlantic, 77km off the coast of Brazil in Ceará. Some witnesses reported faint hissing sounds, while others described loud booms comparable to thunder, in one case strong enough to cause ground vibrations.  The event was caught on satellite by NASA. 

Also:

2025, September 13. Mediterranean Sea, between Libya and Sicily, Malta region. Misrata; Misrata District. Fireball. Time: 22:45 UT or 00:45 EET. Duration: 3.5s. Seen in Calabria, Misrata District and Sicilia.

2025, September 10. Mid Pacific Ocean, French Polynesia. Airburst. Time: 11:00:57. Coordinates: (14.8S,142.4W). Altitude: 37.0km. Energy: 2.8e10, -e = 0.098 or 98,000 kg/TNT. Velocity: NA. This is the 26th airburst of 2025.

2025, September 13. (Land-based Event) Argentina, Lihuel Calel Department, La Pampa Province. Airburst. Time: 22:26:39UT. 19:24LT. Coordinates: (38.1S,64.8W). Altitude: 25.1 km. Energy: e = 16.7e10, -e = 0.48 or 480,000 kg/TNT. Velocity: 17.8 km/s. Seen east at Bahía Blanca, Provincia de Buenos Aires (AR), “ It was persistent and incandescent, like it got on fire quickly. The train lasted for a while. It was kind of a whiteish explosion and I saw some fragmentation.” Seen 520km south at Puerto Madryn, Chubut Province (AR) “It exploded very close to the ground, at an extremely fast speed, and the explosion was very very large. It left a huge trail of fire and then the smoke remained as a red cloud for more than 10 minutes.” This is the 27th airburst of 2025.

2025, September 10. USA, North Atlantic. Fireball. Seen in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont on Thursday, Travelling SSW on the coast near Casco Bay, Maine. Time: 20:47EDT.

2025, September 13. USA, Well Fleet, Chipman’s Cove. A mass stranding of 7 dolphins. Out of the 12 in the pod, comprising six males and six females, spanning juvenile, subadult, and adult stages, seven ended up stranded, while others stayed afloat in shallow waters. The rescued animals underwent veterinary care, such as intravenous hydration and comfort measures, enroute to their release point near Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown. The next day, five dolphins were spotted again in the Herring River Gut area of Wellfleet. One had passed away before help arrived, but the four surviving ones were transported and freed into deeper waters off Herring Cove Beach.

Observation Topic: The comet SWAN25B was detected approximately 72 hours ago following its perihelion passage, when it became visible in the night sky. Prior to this, it remained undetected because its trajectory brought it into the inner solar system from the Sun-facing, or daylight, side of the sky. Since solar illumination limits terrestrial observations to the night hemisphere at any given time, the comet’s approach was concealed within the Sun’s glare until its recent emergence. It remains uncertain whether this phenomenon is responsible for the recent increase in meteor airbursts; however, ongoing observations over the coming weeks may provide further insight. Additional atmospheric anomalies, including unexplained explosive events, have been reported within the past week, though these so-called 'ghost events' appear to have been excluded from NASA’s official analyses. Either side of October 5th is likely to be eventful. Comet SWAN25B also shows how unprepared we are for these out-of-the-blue objects when they arrive from Earth's blind spots. 

Meteor Airburst off the coast of Brazil

2025, September 9. South Atlantic, 77km off the coast of Brazil in Ceará. Airburst. Time:17:49:10UT, 14:433 time zones. Coordinates: (2.3S, 39.5W). Altitude: 24.0km. Velocity: 20.72km/sec. Energy: e = 15.3e10, -e = 0.44 or 440,000 kg/TNT. Travelling east. Seen inland as far as 140 km and 216km from event. It displayed properties of concurrent and delayed sound. Given the location on the continental shelf and the substantial energy release, a Marine Animal Disturbance Alert should be issued for the region. This is the 25th airburst of 2025.  

Note of Interest: 2025, September 8. Saudi Arabia, Hail Province, 13km west of An Nimriyah. Airburst. Time: 10:09:15. Coordinates: (26.4N, 42.2E). Altitude: 28.4km. Energy: e = 3.6e10, -e = 0.12 or 120,000 kg/TNT. This is the 24th airburst of 2025.

Mass stranding in Libya

2025, September 4. Libya, Gulf of Sidra, Marir Qabis, the coastal region 35–40 km west of Ajdabiya, the eastern part of the country, Mediterranean Sea. Four large cachalots (sperm whales) washed ashore and died. They are stretched out over a 2 km of sandy coastline.

Update 20250906: A witness stated: “It's common to see whales washed ashore this time of year, but not in this number or species.” The Ministry of Marine Wealth of the Parliament appointed a government team to collect samples from the whales to determine the causes of the unusual event.

Global Meteor Airburst Activity in 2025

On a global scale, meteor airburst activity in 2025 has been comparatively subdued. While localized atmospheric disturbances and cetacean strandings have been documented, the overall frequency of events has declined markedly relative to preceding years. The distribution of activity suggests that the situation, although notable, could have been considerably more severe under different conditions.

The temporal pattern of activity during the current year has been irregular. Elevated activity was recorded at the start of the year, followed by a pronounced decrease. A subsequent short-lived resurgence occurred before levels once again diminished. Spatially, the most active regions have been Northern Europe and the west coast of North America. Of particular interest is a recent airburst detected over Japan, which remains under ongoing investigation. Additionally, an unresolved case off the west coast of northern Africa coincided with cetacean strandings, raising questions about possible atmospheric or geophysical interactions.

As of September 2025, a total of 23 confirmed airbursts have been recorded worldwide. This figure falls below the long-term mean annual frequency of approximately 33 events. Fireball activity has also been comparatively limited, although several highly luminous events (“wow” events) have been observed. The progression of activity in the final four months of 2025 will be critical in determining whether the year’s total aligns with or diverges significantly from the established climatology of meteor airbursts.

In addition, Western Australia has experienced a notable outburst. This region, however, has historically exhibited persistent activity and continues to display a relatively stable background frequency of events.