Australia and New Zealand cetacean and meteor activity in May

2025, May 12. New Zealand, inland North Island between Rotorua and Taupo. Seen at Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay, Waikato and Wellington in locations 440km apart. Fireball. Time: around 07:57 UT. Travelling west to east.

2025, May 18. New Zealand, North Island, Waiheke, Onetangi Beach. Dead Pygmy Cachalot.

2025, May 19. Tasmania, Hobart. Fireball. Time: Around 20:32. Looking towards the west/south west. Duration: 6 sec.

2025, May 19. South Australia, Largs Bay. A dolphin calf washed ashore dead.

2025, May 21. New Zealand, North Island. Small Fireball. Time: 22:38. Travelling west to east over water between the mainland and Rangitoto Island north of Auckland.

2025, May 21. New Zealand, South Island, Westport, Carters Beach. Dead Pygmy Sperm whale.

2025, May 30. New Zealand, North Island, north of Auckland. Fireball. Seen in Waikato Region. Travelling SSW. Time: 21:42NZST and around 09:27 UT.

Cetacean and Meteor Events

2025, May 14. USA, New Jersey, 2.5 miles away to the north via Sandy Hook Gateway National Park. A14.5-foot Long-finned Pilot whale struggling in the surf ¼ mile north of the Ship Ahoy Beach Club in Sea Bright Humanely euthanized.

2025, May 14. Canada, British Columbia, Port McNeill Bay, Northern Vancouver Island. A young Bryde's Whale was found dead. Namgis First Nation and DFO are managing the incident.

2025, May 15. Northern Ireland, Millisle. A bottlenose dolphin euthanised after stranding with injuries.

2025, May 16. North Atlantic, Wilmington Canyon, 135 km East of Maryland USA. Dead Humpback aflot and in advanced state of decomposition.

Events in Australian and New Zealand Regions. 

2025, May 11. Western Australia, Central Wheatbelt. Mothers Day Fireball/Impact. Time: 05:57. Travelling north to the south. Duration: 10 sec. Color: green, orange glow. It was seen in locations over 560 km apart including Perth, Gingin, Scarborough, Mt Magnet, Mandurah, Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie. Meteorites recovered from Lake Hope. Approximate Coordinates: (-32.48, 120.47).

2025, May 12. Western Australia, Perth, Direction was South East (Byford area). Fireball.

2025, May 12. New Zealand, inland North Island between Rotorua and Taupo. Seen at Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay, Waikato and Wellington in locations 440km apart. Fireball. Time: around 07:57 UT. Travelling west to east.

2025, May 18. New Zealand, North Island, Waiheke, Onetangi Beach. Dead Pygmy Cachalot.

2025, May 19. Tasmania, Hobart. Fireball. Time: Around 20:32. Looking towards the west/south west. Duration: 6 sec.

New Jersey

Tasmania Fireball

Mass stranding of cetaceans in Tasmania. 2025, February 19, Time:19:14.

Mass whale stranding of 157 false killer whales on a beach in Tasmania's far north-west. At the moment 90 are still alive. More to come. Update: 2025, February 19, Time:19:14. Tasmania, Arthur River. A mass stranding of 157 false killer whales stranded on a beach in Tasmania's far north-west and died. A total of ninety were alive when found and were euthanized.

Image: Jocelyn Flint

Image: NRE Tasmania

Huge uptick in global strandings

2025, February 15. India, Cavelossim South Goa. Dead dolphin.

2025, February 7. Tasmania, Tamar River at Rosevears, north of Launceston or 35 km from mouth of river. A minke whale described as bloated and starting to decay, with the noticeable smell described as being significantly foul. 

2025, February 8. South Australia, West Beach, between Ocean and Surf Avenue. A 3 meter long Pygmy Sperm whale. Species confimation to come.

2025, February 12. New Zealand, North Island, east coast, Hawkes Bay, Napier, Clive, Haumoana river mouth south side beach. A adult strap-toothed beaked whale and calf spotted close to shore. The adult beached and died.

2025, February 15. Western Australia, Geraldton, shallows towards Point Moore. Baby humpback washed ashore dead. 

2025, February 16. New Zealand, Wairarapa, Mataikona beach. A strapped tooth dolphin washed ashore dead in an advanced state of decomposition.

2025, February 17. New Zealand, North Island, East coast, Bland Bay Beach. Another Beaked whale washes ashore dead.  

2025, February 17. USA, Florida, Deerfield Beach, A total of three whales, two different species. Pilot whale and Pygmy cachalot (sperm whale). One is just north of the Zumba deck or the pavilion near trespass, the other is north of Tierra East. Report: 6 juvenile pilot whales tried to strand. I think it was a pod of Pygmy sperm whales.  

2025, February 17. Netherlands, north of the Dutch Frisian Islands. A dead cachalot (sperm whale) has been located at sea by the Netherlands Coast Guard.

2025, February 17. Philippines, Mindanao, San Isidro, Gingoog Bay. A mass stranding of Rissos dolphins (Confirmation on species to come). Many have died. The stranding appears to be stretched across 22 km of coast line.

Dead whale in Tasmania 35 km from mouth

Comes nine days after: 2025, January 28. Bass Strait, East of Flinders Island. Fireball. Travelling north to South. Time: 9:52UT or 2025-01-28 20:59AEDT. Seen in locations in Tasmania and Victoria, over 390 km apart.  

American Meteor Society

Image / Stewart Malone via Facebook  

Dead minke whale washes up in Tamar River - Pulse Tasmania

Mass stranding of whales in Tasmania

2024, November 3. Tasmania, Macquarie Harbour on Tasmania’s West Coast. Mass stranding of 25 Black Dolphins (Pilot Whales) in Tasmania. Four stranded pilot whales remain on a remote beach in the area, with NRE officers now assessing the situation.  

The whales during the rescue operation. Image / Wayne Mcdermott  

Rescue mission underway after mass whale stranding in Macquarie Harbour - Pulse Tasmania

Why Tasmania and New Zealand have the worst mass cetacean strandings in the world

Airbursts between the years 2000 to 2024. 

Mass Cachalot (Sperm whale) stranding on Flinders Island, Tasmania. Updated 20241010

2024, October 6. Tasmania, Flinders Island, Bass Strait. Five Cachalots (sperm whales) found stranded on Marshall Bay Beach on Flinders Island have all died, officials have confirmed, despite efforts to save two overnight. Crews from the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service and the Marine Conservation Program found three of the whales dead when they first arrived to inspect them on Monday.

(Supplied: Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania)  

(Supplied: Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania)

Google Maps

All the below meteors were caught on camera on the 7th, the day after the stranding. 

Meteor Map – Fireballs Aotearoa

Further activity

2024, October 3. New Zealand, Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato. Fireball. Time: around 09:20UT. 22:08NZDT.

2024, October 7. New Zealand, South Island. Fireball. Time: around 06:59 UT. 19:59NZDT. Seen at Canterbury and Tasman travelling east in the N.W of island.  

2024, October 10. New South Wales / Queensland. Fireball. Seen in locations 700km apart from western Sydney to Toowoomba in Queensland.  

Rescue efforts to save dolphins stranded on Tasmanian beach near Devonport. Update: 20240814 Fish deaths in Victoria

Six short-beaked common dolphins were found stranded in Tasmania at Hawley Beach, east of Devonport, around 9:30am on Tuesday.

This stranding is interesting because the atmosphere has been energetic since the July 3 fireball incidents. I looked at the data since and found that meteor activity was increasing. It's the most active for the region this year. Below is a snapshot of the sky on the 31 July. Unfortunately, I haven't any camera data from the 3 August onwards and the bad weather has seen blank cards so I will have to wait, maybe a week or more to find out any further information. Hopefully, something large has come in and was caught on one of the Victorian cameras. This is a great example of having real-time data to allow warnings for probable events? We need cameras around Tasmania and more cameras in the coastal regions of Victoria!!!!

Meteor Map – Fireballs Aotearoa

Rescue efforts underway to save dolphins stranded on Tasmanian beach - Pulse Tasmania

2024, August 14. Victoria, Port Phillip Bay. Hundreds of dead fish washed up on the foreshore of Capel Sound. It appears to have affected one type of fish species.  

The 1997 Airburst that killed 115 Cachalots (sperm whales)

1997, November 7. Southern Ocean. Midway between the South Island of New Zealand and Antarctica. Large Airburst. Time 07:46, (-57.3, 167.2). e = 8=, -e = 1.2 or an equivalent blast force of 1,900,000 kg/TNT.

1998, February 3 to 28. Tasmania. 115 Cachalots (97 female, 15 male, 3 unknown sex) were involved in three mass stranding events along the west and northwest coastlines. It should be noted that during (Stranding 1) thirty whales were seen offshore but never stranded.

Ocean Beach, Strahan (Stranding 1) On the evening of 3 February 1998, several cachalots were reported ashore on Ocean Beach near Strahan (42"18'S, 145'16'E). By the morning of 4 February, 66 animals had stranded, 12 of which were still alive. A rescue operation towed two animals (one male, one of unknown sex) offshore by midday, at which time two females and two males remained alive. By 0700 on 5 February, only one female and one male were alive. The female was euthanized and the male was refloated and towed offshore at 1630.

Greens Beach, Marrawah (Stranding 2)

At 0700 on 19 February 1998, local residents reported a group of cachalots in a tightly grouped formation off Greens Beach, Marrawah (40°55'S, 144'39'E). Shortly after 1000, they began to strand. By 0700 on 20 February only five of the 35 whales ashore were alive, with rough seas inhibiting any chance of rescue. At 1300 one male and one female were alive. By 0900 on 21 February, the female had died and at 11:00 the male was euthanized.

Black River Beach, Stanley (Stranding 3)

At 1000 on 28 February 1998, 11 Cachalots were reported ashore at Black River Beach, Stanley (40'50’S, 145’17’E). At 1230, 10 females were found deceased and one male alive. At 0400 on 1 March the male sperm whale was towed offshore, but later re-stranded at Edgecumbe Beach (40’52’S, 145’25’E), 10 km east at 1600. This animal was positively identified from Black River Beach by the presence of a lower jaw deformity. At 0230 on 2 March, the whale was towed offshore again and was followed for approximately 14 km, after which it was observed to swim away.

Therefore, 66 of these cachalots were stranded at Ocean Beach, Strahan; 35 at Greens Beach, Marrawah; and 11 at Black River Beach, Stanley. The remaining whales stranded singly along the coastline. Three mass strandings of this species in such close temporal proximity have not been reported in this area before, and this is the first time that data have been comprehensively collected from complete or near‐complete groups of sperm whales from Tasmanian waters. Adult females dominated the three stranding groups. Total lengths ranged from 417 to 1,200 cm and ages ranged from 0.75 to 64 years. Four females were lactating, and four fetuses were found among the groups. Stomach contents were dominated by pelagic cephalopods.

Doomed to Extinction, deaths of marine species rising around the world.

In Bangladesh 3 dolphins, 1 porpoise and 1 turtle were found dead in three days. Two more dolphins were found dead on Inani sea beach of Cox’s Bazar on Friday. One of them is a Irrawaddy dolphin and another is Indo Pacific Humpback. Scientists are at a loss to explain these deaths?

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)

Whale Stranding watch for Tasmania.

After looking at historical data and what is happening in New Zealand, probably, King Island, Flinders Island and the east coast of Tasmania could see a mass stranding of cetaceans. This is due to the heavy meteoroid activity in New Zealand. Even though I am unable to back up this with current hard data, historically Tasmania has seen strandings in the above locations when New Zealand has an incident on the northeast coastline.

Alpha centaurids and whale stranding watch.

Even though the Alpha centaurids are a minor meteor shower there should be a lookout for marine occurrences during this time (whale standings). It begins at the end of January and carries through until February 21. In 2024, it will peak on the evening of February 8 - 9. Because the stream isn’t as robust as larger showers, only about six peaks per hour are produced even during the peak. That’s compared to more than 100 per hour during the Perseids, in August.

Meteor Detection Expands. Hopefully Tasmania comes sooner than later in regard to whale strandings.

 Western Australia's role in Global Meteor Network expands with 16 new cameras installed.

Western Australia's role in Global Meteor Network expands with 16 new cameras installed - ABC News

Tasmania is probably the most important place in the world to have comprehensive meteor detection cameras regarding whale strandings. At the moment the state represents a black hole for science.

Map – Fireballs Aotearoa

Camera Locations scanning the Southern Ocean

Just an add-in on camera locations for meteoroid search.

Macquarie Island, Maatsuyker Island, Te One Island, Herd Island Dumont d'Urvillle Station, Eclipse Island and Casey Station.

Auckland Islands, Campbell Island.

 King Island and Flinders Island. 

Tasmania - All of the state swept for objects. Priority on Southern Ocean views.

Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia coastlines. 

New Zealand is well covered but could fill some blind spots.