Good news for Gray whales in the North Pacific

"Unusual Mortality Event" declared over. 700 gray whales deaths were recorded off the coast from Mexico to Canada between 2019 and 2023. In a worrisome few years for the North Pacific gray whale population, hundreds washed up dead on shorelines along the West Coast leading to an estimated 30% decline in their population. During the years of the Unusual Mortality Event, 347 Gray whales were stranded along the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington; another 316 were reported in Mexico and 27 in Canada. The population numbers of the North Pacific Gray whale had declined during the Unusual Mortality Event, going from an estimated 20,500 whales in 2019 to 14,526 whales in 2023. Updated population numbers are expected to come out soon. Total calf production also declined, from around 950 calves counted in 2018 to an estimated 217 calves in 2022. In 2023, calf production increased slightly to 412 counted. Between 2018 to 2023 690 gray whales washed ashore from 2018 to 2023: 347 in the United States, 316 in Mexico and 27 in Canada.

Gray Whale

Below is a map of the North Pacific Meteor Airbursts from 2018 to 2022. One of these had the equivalent energy of 49 million kilograms of TNT. They ranged from the Arctic Circle to California.

NASA

New Zealand Meteor shower outburst. Whale Stranding Watch.

Iota Centauri, Centauri, is a star in the southern constellation of Centaurus. Large outburst. This combined with the Alpha centaurids has created problems for marine species around New Zealand. Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia should be on watch for whale strandings.

The Iota Centaurid meteor shower, designated as IAU shower no. 919, exhibited unusually strong activity during the period from January 21 to 26, 2024. This shower corresponds to solar longitudes between 301.0 and 306.0 degrees (equinox J2000.0). Here are some details about this fascinating celestial event:

Triangulated Meteors:

CAMS New Zealand detected 48 iota Centaurids under the coordination of J. Baggaley (University of Canterbury) and J. Scott (University of Otago).

CAMS Australia observed 34 shower meteors via H. Devillepoix (Curtin University) and D. Rollinson.

CAMS Chile recorded 16 shower meteors with contributions from S. Heathcote and T. Abbott (NOIRLAB/Cerro Tololo) and E. Jehin (University of Liege).


Iota Centaurid meteors showed stronger than usual activity (seti.org)

2019, September 14. South Atlantic. AIRBURST. (-38.6, -33.5), e=10.9, -e=0.33. 2052km from the Argentina coast or the below event.

2019, September 16. Argentina, Mar Chiquita. Seven killer whales stranded, or orcas, beached in La Caleta near Mar del Plata. Six of them were pulled back to sea, while one died during the operation.

Historical meteor impacts on land and water in Australia. In the future, I will have many more and then I will do a complete area probability for the ocean environment.

Meteor Impacts in Australia, and some in New Zealand, since early1800's. Cameras such as Map – Fireballs Aotearoa are leading the way. There are now many others, with Australia...following? It seems unfortunate with so many whales stranding in Australian waters they aren't doing more to understand the environment they acquire as their habitat. With the advent of camera monitoring such impact events are found more readily after 2020. I've included violent airbursts close to the ground because of their destructive qualities. I am also including meteorite falls as well even though they are really not represented in this list as there are so many but will do this in the coming months. If it hits, it counts in my opinion. After mapping these events it seems a large portion of falls are yet to be found and a large number will never be found or located due to their airburst origin and remoteness. I haven't included violent sonic booms even though I think they can easily be linked to sea mammal deaths. Some events below have clearly been involved in the concussion deaths of Cetacean. I'm always finding further events so will update when found.

In a study (small study of thirty objects, which is not really a study), the southern hemisphere June is the most likely time to get hit whereas September and October is the least unlikely. The ratio for the first 6 months to the last six months between 2000 and 2013 was 12:4. A meteor the size of your fist hits the Australian continent every year. I my research, looking back at data of Australian history 1862 to the present I found 43 definite events with many more to be found because this is preliminary, as I have a huge data blind. However, the findings above work into the historical data ratio of 26:18. A note to remember is that meteoroid streams diminish over time and are renewed with others replenishing those lost in different areas. Only time will tell where these streams will materialize and if they have a bearing on where whales strand, and with what frequency.

Before 1838. METEOR IMPACT, Western Australia. Hit swan river in daytime near a boat spraying water 20 feet into air.

1850's, Sometime between 1852 and 1858 a meteor hit the ground near Byalla. Made big trough in the ground. Meteorites recovered.

1862, Late January, South Australia, Mine Hill, Kooringa, Meteor Impact/Fall, small.

1865, December 4, New Zealand, Tarauaki, Time 2am, METEOR IMPACT, Flight Direction was South by west. Dropped pieces 170km away on North Island costal regions of Wanganui. This is where it exploded over the region. Made a hole in Turakina. Candels in rooms were totally eclipsed by the brightness. Explosion happened one minute later with a metalic noise and a strong smell of sulphur. Winessed to be size of the sun. It exploded three times with thunderous noise. It was glowing when it struck the water 4km from Taranaki shore between Shakspeare Bay and Torea Bay in the north of South Island. The sonic boom was heard 15 minutes after impact, lasting 15 seconds and was heard 70km away. The tail was visible for two hours until sunrise washed it from sight.

1872, January 18, Queensland, Moreton Bay, north of Mud Island, Time: 2am, METEOR IMPACT, Winessed from St Helena Island by policeman. A large bright light lasting three minutes ended when a object hit the water, The explosion “ploughed up the ocean”.

1879, August 23, South Australia, Laura, south of town of Yarrowie. Time 6:15. METEOR IMPACT, fell on property at Caltowie Extension. Quite a large volume of smoke surrounded the spot and clouds of dust arose.

1880, May, Queensland, Time 6pm, AIR BURST/METEOR IMPACT. Fell in southerly direction. Sonic boom, Tremor. For two minutes a sound like air rushing through a tube could be heard. One winesses stated he thought the meteor fell noth of Galway Downs close to Barcoo River.

1890, October late, Bass Strait, METEOR IMPACT, 80 km east of Kents Group. Fell 200 meters from ship causing a 40 feet high splash.

1893, March 20, South Australia, Semaphore, Port Adelaide, Time: 7:08pm. METEOR IMPACT. Traveled in from SE and seemed to fall directly into sea after exploding a short distance from shore. This was after three days of meteor sightenings.

1894, Febuary 28, Victoria, Williamstown. METEOR IMPACT. During rain storm a object the size of a cricket ball struck factory at the corner of Vulgan Grove and Railway Crecent. Strong smell of sulphurous in air. Brickwork and iron looked like cannon ball had been fired through it. Object buried itself into ground after going through asphalt sending rubble and smoke over yard.

1895, January, 5, Tasman Sea, ship Anthons, from Kairpara in New Zealand to Sydney caught it METEOR SHOWER. Happened during thunderstorm. Between lightening and stones the captain said the sight was a “fearfully grand one”

1898, April 26, Queensland, METEOR IMPACT, At 9pm a meteor hit the water at the South Passage causing an audible explosion.

1902, July 17, New South Wales, Mount Browne, Time 9:15am, AIR BURST/METEOR IMPACT, violent tremor, shook buildings and frightened people. Nearly 14kg of meteorites recovered. Many areas of ground in turmoil. Horses and sheep ran around in great fright.

1906, March 12, Perth, METEOR IMPACT, South of Perth, Tremor, explosion. Landed in Swan River.

1913 March 10, Western Australia, Sandstone, 500km NE of Perth. METEOR IMPACT. Ground glowed for several seconds after impact.

1919, December 25, South Australia, Encounter Bay Victor Harbor, METEOR IMPACT, Two cricket sized meteors fell into the water. The first was bigger than the second. Witnessed by three people.

1922, June 2, Western Australia, PROBABLE METEOR IMPACT, NW of Geraldton in Indian Ocean, 170 km from coast. Tremor felt 230km away at Geraldton rattling windows. A ship 160 km from explosion heard it.

1924, May 18, New South Wales, Upper portion Wonora River, 27km S.W of Sydney. BOLIDE BURST/METEOR IMPACT. Small object that travelling S.W. The meteor exploded a few times leaving a smoke trail. Witnesses in the National Park saw it strike the river.

1925, (Month Unknown), Queensland, Cecil Plains, Toowoomba, METEOR IMPACT, meteorite set fire to grass.

1926, July 6, New South Wales, Goulburn, METEOR IMPACT. 12 hours after airburst at 5:30am another came in but impacted ground.

1927, Febuary. New South Wales, METEOR IMPACT. Near Clarence River. witnesses saw it fall into water creating great disturbance. Another hit field like lava scorching ground around it.

1929, June 30, Western Australia, west of Bunbury just south of Perth, BOLIDE BURST/Possible METEOR IMPACT, Extreme, sonic boom heard, three explosions. It seemed to fall into ocean.

1929, October 5, NSW North Coast, BOLIDE AIR BURST, EXTREME, METEOR IMPACT, Major shaking and tremor. Travelling ENE. Came in fast and at a low angle 50km from coast over Bellinger National Park. Percussions just as bad at Coramba 15km inland as at the coast. At Bellingen Hospital 40km from where meteor crossed coast all nurses and patients received electric shocks. One nurse had to remain resting for some time it was that severe. At Bucca Creek, items in homes were smashed. The meteor hit sea off Coffs Harbor near Solitary Island. Mass fish deaths 20km north and south over two week period. Fish deaths for two weeks at Bundagen Heads. Strange flakes of flakey sand washing ashore in that period. Sugests it hit ocean floor or at least the shock wave did.

1929, October 8, New Zealand, Godley Head Lighthouse, BOLIDE BURST/ METEOR IMPACT, nearly hit lighthouse and impacted the sea. Shook the lighthouse and scared the family when it came within a stones throw.

1930, April 7, METEOR IMPACT, Western Australia, Meteorites fall. Violent. Meteorite found 25km NE from Wagin. Impact felt in locations 200km apart.

1930, July 21, Queensland, Southport, BOLIDE BURST, METEOR IMPACT, Extreme. Sonic boom and tremor. It crashed into sea south off Cook Island west of Point Danger just after 8am. This came in at the same time the other one did in northern New South Wales. Low altitude passing. Detonation shook houses and scared animals. Observed in places over 300 km apart. Electrical interference, violent tremor. Felt 10km inland. Dull thud heard on impact. Thunderous sound for over 90 seconds. (See same day, Multi event, below, I've placed this in as refrence).

1930, July 21, New South Wales, Billinudgel, BOLIDE BURST, Off North Coast. Violent, Tasman Sea. Three different meteroids. First two were small at 4am, 8am and the large one came in at 10am. Sonic boom occurred 3 minutes after sighting.

1932, December 22, METEOR IMPACT off South Australia coast south of Adelaide.

1934, March 12, Victoria, Williamstown, Melbourne, METEOR IMPACT, Tremendous crash 100 meters from shore awoke residents. The impact happened after a great flash of light. The explosion hurled water 30 to 40 feet into the air. The event caused a power outage. Shook walls of houses. Probably something the size of a fist.

1934, December 21, Western Australia, Manfred Station, 120 km north of Murgoo, METEOR IMPACT, sonic boom and tremor with two meteorites found.

1935, June 27, New South Wales, Woolgoolga, METEOR IMPACT, pasted north from coast out into the sea. Witness said it was like a giant searchlight that lit indoors.

1936, January 23. BOLIDE BURST/ METEOR IMPACT, Impacted Southern Ocean 240 km south of Robe in South Australia–Victorian border region, 256km SW of Warrnambool. Approximate impact point (-39.50, 139) off continental shelf

1939, January 25-31, Queensland, Cape Hillsborough, 30km north of Mackay. METEOR IMPACT, a fishing party discovered a hole 1 foot deep with a circumfrence of 4 feet; with a substance resembling molten quartze scattered within 15 feet of the impact.

1939, June 19, New South Wales, Gosford. POSSIBLE METEOR IMPACT, people thought it was a plane hitting ground. North of Wyong.

1941, January 29, Western Australia, Time 10:30pm. BOLIDE BURST/METEOR IMPACT, violent meteroid explode over Port Healand before falling into sea. Tremor that shook houses. Witnesses said it fell into ocean. The violent explosion was described as “terrific”. Travelled N.W. Broke into six pieces. Between two and four minutes a rumbling was heard. A loud explosion, followed by a loud whistling noise and then a little later a long, dull explosion.

1942, August, New South Wales, METEOR IMPACT. 20kg of meteorites fell at Forestvale.

1943, May 16, Tasmania, NW Coast and inland. The great Tasmanian fire balls. SIX EXTREME BOLIDE BURSTS. METEOR IMPACT. Violent. Sonic Booms. Damage. Coming in from Bass Straight. Exploded over land and sea. Tremor, sonic booms. Over 9 hours 6 bolides were reported.

1944, January 23, Victoria, METEOR IMPACT, Tremor, hissing noise, thunder, air-blast and considerable echo. A meteor came over the suburbs of Melbourne exploding, shaking houses in Alphington, Camberwell and Kew. It left a smell of cordite in the air. After travelling SWW it struck the water in Port Phillip Bay off Rosebud West after travelling 60 km.

1944, April 26, New South Wales, Maclean, AIR BURST, three men fishing from a boat in the Clarence River, two of which were standing up at time, were thrown to the floor of the boat when a meteraoid exploded above them. It caused a loud detonation that disturbed the fish to try and flee the water.

1948, April 11, Queensland, Charlesville, AIR BURST/METEOR IMPACT, crashed into ground 38km from Lynwood Station shaking the ground. The explosion was heard 80 km away.

1948, July 27, Queensland, BOLIDE BURST/METEOR IMPACT, two violent explosions two minutes after detonation causing tremor. Entered atmosphere 30km inland over Brookfield. Travelled into Coral Sea.

1948, August 11, Western Australia, Time: 6pm. BOLIDE BURST/METEOR IMPACT, EXTREME, violent, Indian Ocean west of Geraldton. Came in a 30 degrees. It came in generating more and more heat until it exploded leaving a glow for over half an hour in the sky. The trail of gold smoke lasted for over one and a half hours until night fall.

1949, January 5, Western Australia, Mt Ida. Inland. Time 9pm. 193 km N.N.W from Kalgoorlie. METEOR IMPACT. Violent. Nearly hit mining town in arid region, caused trees to flatten, one was uprooted and flung 100 meters. A short time before the meteor event the town underwent a electrical disturbance.

1950, Month unknown, Northern Territory, eastern Kakadu Park Area, METEOR IMPACT. Site never located. Tremor felt over 100km away.

1951, October 5, Victoria, Melbourne METEOR IMPACT.- A meteor, shot over the heads of a man and his young son fishing in the Barwon River. The fireball crashed into the river with a roar. The river in the vicinity momentarily rose four feet above normal level, 18-inch waves passed up and down the river, and steam rose 25 feet into the air.

1954, January 28, New Zealand, METEOR IMPACT, west of Wellington in Tasman Sea.

1954, August 10, New South Wales, Sydney, BOLIDE BURST/METEOR IMPACT, said to have impacted sea.

1954, August 12, Canberra, BOLIDE BURST/METEOR IMPACT, violent, flew over coast and landed in sea.

1954, September 6, New South Wales, METEOR IMPACT, bolide crashed into sea just over 11km off Ulladulla coast. Extremely violent/almost natural disaster. A couple of seconds slower and it would have wiped out a city block at minimun. It entered the atmosphere North of Sydney. It started exploding at 5000 feet and a object the size of large plane impacted sea with tremendous explosion. A piece disolved before impacing 100 meters from the Manly Ferry.

1959, March 23, New Zealand, METEOR IMPACT. Three huge bolides fall into see 150 km west of Wellington. First 5pm, second 5:58pm and third 10:23pm. The second was the largest, and was described as a impact of high detonation.

1963, July 23, South Australia, METEOR IMPACT, Witnessed. Off coast into Great Australian Bight. Massive roar and explosion at sea in Great Australian Bight off west South Australian coast.

1969, Meteor impact near Murchison, Victoria in 1969. A object was recovered called the Murchison meteorite, It belongs to the carbonaceous chondrite class, a group of meteorites rich in organic compounds.

1991, July 21, Queensland, 170km S.W of Longreach, Time 2pm, METEOR IMPACT, hit arid region called - Gidgee country. Hard to access. Witness said it was like a flaming ball of fire.

1994, December 5th, South Australia, METEOR IMPACT, Mt Wedge. Violent impact on the hills of a farm. Pictures taken of ground impact. Violent tremor.

2021, April. A meteorite that fell near the remote cattle station of Forrest, which was recovered by Seamus Anderson and his team. 

2022, Northern Territory, A meteorite that fell in Central Australia in 2022, which was captured falling to earth by Northern Territory Police CCTV cameras.

2022, Queensland, Fragments from an asteroid that fell in the Queensland Gulf region in 2022, which are being searched for by citizen scientists.

2022, Queensland, A meteorite that is believed to have landed near the tiny Gulf town of Croydon in 2022, based on data collected by citizen scientists.

INCIDENTS WITHOUT VALID DATES

1920s-1930s maybe earlier. New South Wales, Woodford Island, Clarence River, METEOR IMPACT, Hit hill on the Island causing considerable sparks to fly.

Between 1850 to 1887 a large meteoroid hit Bass Strait off the coast near Circular Head in Tasmania. Sketches were drawn of the event.

Before October 1932. Queensland. Not long ago, before 1932, Maroochy River residents heard a whistling noise, not unlike that of a locomotive, for a few seconds, and eventually' there was a, tremendous splash of something falling in the stream at Lake Point, It is believed that this was a small meteor.

1907+/- 1 year. New South Wales. about 8 o'clock one night in Coramba, a meteor passed over the town and fell somewhere in the scrub near Dorrigo. The crash could be plainly heard of falling timber, and a ray of light, brilliant enough to read a paper by for about 30 seconds ensued.

(This one I put in because of the meteor shower remark rather than the hit) Year unknown (Before 1926) A farmer at Bream Creek (Tasmania) was walking across a clear space in the bush one day when some thing struck him smartly just above the knee. He could find nothing to account for it, but his leg swelled, and he had a good deal of trouble with it. There was a great shower of meteorites about that time.  

Four new impacts from small meteoroids. After going through historical entries for the last 180 years I am going to do a review of the area and then calculate how many are likely to hit over land and sea in a year within Australia and the Southern Ocean. They might not be Wolfe Crater forming; however, you wouldn't want to be under them or anywhere in the local area for that matter.

1939, January 25-31, Queensland, Cape Hillsborough, 30km north of Mackay. METEOR IMPACT, A fishing party discovered a hole 1 foot deep with a circumference of 4 feet; with a substance resembling molten quartz scattered within 15 feet of the impact. Scientists examined the area and said it was a meteor strike.

1944, January 23, Victoria, METEOR IMPACT, Tremor, hissing noise, thunder, air-blast and considerable echo. A meteor came over the suburbs of Melbourne exploding and shaking houses in Alphington, Camberwell and Kew. It left a smell of cordite in the air. After travelling SWW, witnesses said it struck the water in Port Phillip Bay off Rosebud West after travelling 60 km.

1944, April 26, New South Wales, Maclean, AIR BURST, three men fishing from a boat in the Clarence River, two of whom were standing up at the time, were thrown to the floor of the boat when a meteoroid exploded above them. It caused a loud detonation that disturbed the fish to try and flee the water.  

1951, October 5, Victoria, Melbourne METEOR IMPACT.  A meteor, shot over the heads of a man and his young son fishing in the Barwon River. The fireball crashed into the river with a roar. The river in the vicinity momentarily rose four feet above normal level, 18-inch waves passed up and down the river, and steam rose 25 feet into the air.

1920s-1930s maybe earlier. New South Wales, Woodford Island, Clarence River, METEOR IMPACT, Struck a hill on the Island causing considerable sparks to fly.

How two different eras of the media handled meteors. One in 1956, the other in 1988. One used science the other used not so much science. Both cases were fireballs caused by meteors creating a highly charged atmosphere.

Case 1. Victoria, Australia, 1956

The amazed farmer saw 'Flame' from the sky "Fireballs" bombarded two farmers, three boys, and 500 sheep at Kilmore yesterday. After the fireballs exploded about 11 a.m., they left a trail of fine blue dust covering the ground about a quarter of a mile from the property of Mr. Vic Lowden. Mr. Lowden, his two sons, Doug,13, and Jimmy, 9; a neighbor, Mr. Albert Smith, and his son, Howard, 8, took several hours to scrub off the dust. The fireball, which made a display lasting half an hour, surrounded the sheep, until they bolted. The fireballs fell in fine weather, but rain followed in the afternoon. The Weather Bureau said last night "fireballs" were possible at any time, particularly during and after thunder – storms. They mainly resulted from the clash of falling meteors.

Case 2. South Australia, 1988

UFO encounter on Nullarbor Plain reported ADELAIDE: A Perth family say they were terrorised by a UFO which plucked their car from the road on the Nullarbor Plain. Police said yesterday that they were taking the report seriously after investigating damage to the car, which was covered in an ash-type substance. A truck driver and a car driver also witnessed the bizarre event after being chased by the UFO along the Eyre Highway just inside the Western Australia border. Mrs Faye Knowles and her three sons, Patrick, 24, Sean, 21, and Wayne, 18, were about 40km west of Mundrabilla driving toward South Austra-lia when they first saw the glowing object about 2.45am yesterday. They told police they had watched as it chased the truck and car, which were travelling in the opposite direction, before turning and landing on their own vehicle. "It apparently picked the car up off the road, shook it quite violently and forced the car back down on the road with such pressure that one of the tyres was blown," 11 a police spokesman said. "While this was happening the family said their voices were distorted and it was as if they were talking in slow motion." Mrs Knowles told police the UFO turned the car around and placed it back on the road facing in the opposite direction. Once they were back on the road they had jumped out and fled into the bush where they hid for some time before going back and changing the wheel. They drove to Ceduna in the far west of South Australia and reported the incident to local police. By chance, crime scene investigators from Port Lincoln were in Ceduna and examined the car. "We have to take it seriously, there's no reason why we shouldn't," Sergeant Fred Longley, of Ce-duna police, said. "There were too many witnesses for us not to. "The car was damaged and was covered in ash from the object and they were clearly shaken up." Sergeant Longley said the Knowles drew a diagram of the UFO which looked like an egg in an egg cup.