Meteor Airbursts and their effect on cetaceans at the surface

Note: I removed the math from this to make it easier to read. I have placed the summary first, which covers the findings; however, read on if you want further information.

Summary: Whales at or breaking the sea surface face substantially increased risk from a meteor airburst compared with fully submerged animals. Surface exposure eliminates the large air–sea impedance loss for the portions of the animal in air, allowing the full airborne overpressure and impulsive loading to act on the blowhole, respiratory tract, and dorsal tissues. Open airways provide a direct coupling pathway for pressure impulses into pulmonary structures, and the impulsive loading of the middle/inner ear and soft tissues increases the likelihood of trauma or temporary/permanent auditory effects. Crucially, surface exposure also magnifies behavioral risk: a sudden, intense airblast can provoke a strong startle or panicked flight response while simultaneously producing surface jets or hydrodynamic forcing that physically displace animals into shallow water or drive them toward shore. Therefore, while large-scale hearing injury from airburst-coupled underwater signals remains uncommon except near energetic epicenters, the combination of direct airblast effects and behavioural consequences makes presence at the surface a significant risk factor for strandings.

If whales are at the surface when an airburst occurs, the risk goes up — sometimes substantially — because they can be exposed directly to the airborne blast (no −30 dB air→water penalty) and because the blast can act on the animal’s blowhole, lungs and sensory organs. Direct air exposure: A whale at or breaking the surface presents air-facing tissues (blowhole, rostrum, dorsal area) that receive the full airborne overpressure and impulse. There is no large impedance mismatch loss for those parts — the animal is effectively in the same medium as the source. Open airways: If the blowhole is open or the animal inhales/exhales at the time, the airway and lungs can be coupled to the airblast — increasing risk of barotrauma and blunt pressure effects. Combined loading modes: The animal may simultaneously receive (a) direct airblast loading of soft tissues and lungs, (b) an underwater pressure pulse on submerged portions, and (c) sudden surface motion (wave/jet) that can move animals onto reefs. Direct blast overpressure on tissues — can cause hemorrhage, tissue shear, trauma to lung and middle/inner ear if sufficiently large. Airway/lung coupling — an open blowhole or inhalation path lets the pressure impulse enter the respiratory tract, increasing internal pressure transients. Rapid vertical acceleration / surface jetting — an airburst over or near the water can launch surface waves, jets or water jets that physically displace animals or force them ashore. Startle / behavioral panic — an intense sudden air-noise and shock can trigger strong flight or grouping responses; boats, shallow bathymetry, or confusion can then cause stranding. Combined stressors — simultaneous geomagnetic, visual (bright flash), or social confusion increases probability of maladaptive behaviour. Blowhole & airway: Airblast through an open blowhole can transmit pressure into the lungs and lower airways; rapid positive/negative swings increase barotrauma risk. Middle/inner ear: Sudden pressure transients can damage hearing—even at lower levels—if the pressure waveform is steep and impulsive. Lung/air sac differences: Cetacean lungs and accessory air spaces are structurally different to terrestrial mammals; vulnerability to blast is not identical and is poorly quantified in the literature. Behavioral consequences: An intense airblast when the animal is at the surface is also the most likely context for a strong flight reaction (fast, disorganized movement) which can lead to stranding in shallow water. Hearing injury (TTS/PTS): still probably uncommon except very near a large airburst epicenter. However, surface exposure increases the chance relative to an entirely submerged animal because of direct pressure spikes to airways and ears. Acute barotrauma / lung injury: possible in high-overpressure scenarios (near epicenter; low altitude burst). The exact probability is unknown because cetacean-specific blast-injury thresholds are not well characterized. Behavioral/stranding risk: substantially higher when animals are at the surface because a strong startle + sudden surface motion + proximity to shore/shelf can combine to produce strandings.

Proving a link between meteor airbursts and mass whale strandings would be hard but not impossible

It would require coordinated multi-discipline evidence that converges on the same conclusion: (1) an airburst actually happened close enough in time/place to plausibly affect animals; (2) physical/forensic evidence shows the animals sustained injuries or physiological effects consistent with a pressure/shock or electromagnetic event; and (3) other, more likely causes are ruled out. Below, I lay out a practical, step-by-step research program, including the measurements and protocols needed, the statistical approach, logistical/ethical constraints, and a brief checklist of “minimal convincing evidence.” There are other topics not listed below, such as unmonitored coastlines and population densities etc.

High-level research strategy

1. Detect — Build/assemble independent records showing a meteor/bolide/airburst occurred (satellite, infrasound, optical, radar, eyewitness, seismic).

2. Correlate — Show the timing and location of the atmospheric event match the stranding (within a plausible window given propagation and whale behavior).

3. Forensically link — Perform necropsies and environment sampling that produce signatures consistent with airburst effects (e.g., barotrauma-like injuries, ear damage, microdebris).

4. Exclude alternatives — Systematically rule out known stranding causes (acoustic sonar, disease, algal toxins, navigational error, prey movements, geomagnetic anomalies).

5. Replicate — Accumulate multiple independent events with the same convergent evidence to move from anecdote to pattern.

6. Model plausibility — Physically model how an airburst of the observed energy at the observed altitude/distance would transmit shock/noise into the water and what biological effects would be expected.

Concrete measurements & instrumentation you need

• Atmospheric / bolide detection

  • Government infrasound arrays and seismic networks (detect pressure waves).

  • Satellite detections (IR, optical, flash sensors — e.g., US government bolide reports where available).

  • Ground optical meteor networks / fireball cameras and radar if available.

  • Citizen reports, smartphone videos (timestamped), and audio.

• Ocean acoustic & physical monitoring

  • Coastal and deep-water hydrophone recordings (to capture underwater pressure/sonic signatures).

  • Coastal seismic stations (some airbursts couple into the ground).

  • Surface wave and tsunami sensors (to detect any surface impulsive displacement).

• Biological & forensic

  • Rapid, standardized necropsies performed by trained marine mammal pathologists. Key samples/observations: inner ear examination (cochlea — hemorrhage or trauma), lungs (barotrauma, pulmonary hemorrhage), eyes (hemorrhage), gas bubble formation in tissues, soft tissue hemorrhages, organ pathology, toxicology (algae toxins), microbiology (pathogens).

  • Histology of ear and brain tissue to detect blast-type lesions.

  • Stable isotope/diet analysis to check feeding status, and stomach contents to see if prey behavior was a factor.

  • Collection of external materials from bodies/nearby shoreline (micrometeorites, melted-glass spherules, unusual particulates).

• Environmental & oceanographic

  • Bathymetry and coastline slope maps (to assess navigational risk).

  • Local ocean temperature, currents, and prey distribution (fish/krill surveys or acoustic fishery data).

  • Records of local human naval/industrial acoustic sources (sonar, seismic surveys, shipping).

• Tagging / telemetry (where available)

  • Long-term tagged whales can provide pre-event behavior: dive profiles, vocalization changes, heading changes. If a tagged pod shows synchronized behavioral anomaly at the time of a bolide, that would be powerful.

Necropsy protocol (fast, standardized)

Time is critical. A suggested rapid response protocol:

1. Secure scene; photograph and map carcasses and surrounding area.

2. Within 24 hours (fresher is better) perform full necropsy following established marine mammal protocols (e.g., IWC/NOAA guidance). Record gross lesions.

3. Sample and preserve (label + chain of custody): inner ears, brain, lung, spleen, kidney, muscle, stomach contents, blood/serum, ear bones (if needed), and environmental particulates. Freeze portions for later histology, toxicology, genetic testing.

4. Take swabs/samples from skin/blubber surface for particulates.

5. Submit samples to pathology labs and independent labs for histology (ear, brain), gas analysis (embolic gas composition), and trace element/particle analysis (spherules, microtektites, meteoritic composition).

6. Publish/ archive all raw necropsy data publicly for review.

Specific forensic signatures that would support an airburst cause

Look for multiple, converging signatures rather than a single oddity:

• Temporal/spatial coincidence: bolide/airburst detection within minutes–hours and within tens to a few hundreds of kilometers (depending on event strength) of the stranding.

• Blast/pressure injuries: inner ear hemorrhages, pulmonary hemorrhage, gas bubble formation in tissues consistent with rapid pressure change. (These findings could also match sonar-related injuries, so comparative pathology matters.)

• Absence of other causes: negative for algal toxins, no evidence of infectious disease sufficient to kill the pod, no nearby naval sonar or seismic activity that could explain it.

• Physical debris: discovery of meteoritic micro-spherules or high-temperature melt products on animals or immediate coastline that match the bolide composition.

• Acoustic records: hydrophone/infrasound signatures that match a strong near-shore airburst and, ideally, timing that matches behavioral anomalies in tagged whales.

• Behavioral telemetry: tags showing synchronous abrupt surfacing, disorientation, or anomalous dives concurrent with the event.

Statistical & analytical approach

• Case–control design: Compare strandings coincident with detected bolides to a matched set of strandings with no bolide. Assess whether the coincidence rate is greater than random expectation.

• Time-series analyses: Use permutation tests to see if strandings cluster around bolide dates more than expected. Adjust for confounders (season, coastal traffic, sonar exercises).

• Bayesian hierarchical modeling: Combine different evidence streams (probability of bolide occurrence, probability of biological injury given bolide parameters, prior plausibility) to produce posterior probability that airburst caused stranding.

• Forensic likelihood ratio: For each event, compute likelihood of observed forensic/pathology evidence under two models — airburst vs alternative cause (e.g., sonar). A high likelihood ratio in favor of airburst would be compelling.

• Power/sample size: Because strandings are relatively rare and airbursts in the right place/time are rarer, expect to need multiple well-documented events to reach high confidence. Simulations (Monte Carlo) using estimated base rates of airbursts and strandings can help estimate required sample sizes.

Logistics, collaborators & data sources

• Collaborators: marine mammal stranding networks, university marine biology/pathology labs, atmospheric physics groups (meteoritics), infrasound/seismology groups, oceanographers, national space/defense agencies (for satellite bolide data), citizen science networks (fireball cameras).

• Data sharing: set up rapid alerting and data sharing — e.g., if a large fireball is detected near a coast, stranding networks are notified to prepare. Conversely, rapid stranding reports should trigger searches for bolide records.

• Legal/ethical: you cannot intentionally expose animals to harmful blasts; all work must be observational/forensic and follow animal welfare laws.

Challenges & likely confounders

• Similar pathologies: sonar and strong underwater explosions can produce ear/inner-organ injuries similar to a blast from an airburst — differentiating the two requires careful context (presence/absence of sonar records) and possibly micro-pattern differences on histology.

• Signal attenuation: atmospheric shockwaves dissipate quickly and couple into water inefficiently — small/medium airbursts may have negligible marine effects unless very close. Modeling is needed to show physical plausibility.

• Sparse detection coverage: not every airburst is captured by government satellites or infrasound arrays publicly, making negatives ambiguous.

• Rarity of coincident events: obtaining multiple high-quality, independent events may take years.

Minimal convincing evidence (a practical threshold)

For a single event to be considered strong evidence, you’d want:

1. Clear, independently recorded bolide/airburst (satellite/infrasound/optical) close in time and space.

2. Hydrophone/infrasound records showing a pressure transient reaching the ocean at a plausible level.

3. Necropsy findings consistent with rapid pressure/sonic trauma (inner ear hemorrhage, pulmonary lesions) in multiple animals from the same stranding.

4. Negative results for other major causes (toxin, disease, naval sonar).

5. Physical particulates or melt spherules consistent with a bolide found in the environment or on animals (this is optional but would be a strong added signature).

6. Ideally, at least one independent replication (another well-documented stranding + bolide) or behavioral telemetry from tagged whales showing a temporally matched anomalous response.

A practical short plan you could implement now

1. Set up a formal partnership between a stranding network and a meteor/bolide detection group.

2. Create rapid-response SOPs for necropsy + environmental sample collection when a large fireball is reported near a coast (and vice versa).

3. Archive and link datasets (bolide detections, hydrophone archives, satellite reports, stranding necropsy reports, shipping/sonar logs) for retrospective searches.

4. Run retrospective analyses: cross-match historical bolide catalogs with historical mass stranding records for statistical excesses.

5. Model the blast-to-water coupling for a range of bolide energies and distances to produce a dose–response curve (pressure in water vs distance/energy). Compare modeled exposure vs lesion thresholds in mammals.

Final realistic assessment

Proving the theory beyond reasonable doubt will require multiple, multi-modal, independently verified cases where the airburst is recorded, the forensic evidence points to blast/pressure effects, and other causes are ruled out. Because other causes (sonar, disease, navigation, algal toxins) are common and can produce similar injuries, the standard of evidence must be high. Still — with dedicated coordination between stranding networks and meteor/bolide observers, rapid forensic work, and robust statistical analysis, it is scientifically testable.

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

Airbursts between the years 2000 to 2024. 

Airbursts, Fireballs and Cetacean Strandings in last month

2024, August 25. South Africa. Small Airburst / Meteor Impact. Time: 08:51. The detonation occurred 60 km inland from the coast. Travelling east over coast. Coordinates: (-33.6, 24.5). Altitude: 38.2 km. Velocity: 20.1 km/s. -e = 2.6e10, e = 0.092 or 92,000 kg/TNT. Three massive explosions were heard near Mossel Bay, Great Brak and St Francis Bay region. One witness stated that it sounded like a jet passing over, and caused the sliding doors in their house to rattle. The main explosion was heard and felt at places over 273 km apart at Humansdorp, Patensie and Addo, and as far afield as Sedgefield and George. Meteorites were located in Nqweba from a stony chondritic meteroid estimated to be around 7 feet long. Meteorites recovered at Kirkwood, 100 km from St Francis Bay. The furthest report the scientists received of someone observing the incident was from Ceres, over 600km away from where fragments were spotted. The fireball that streaked across the heavens was heard from Gqeberha to the Karoo 315 km apart. There were reports of small fragments hitting the water offshore. See September 14 humpback death.

2024, August 27. UK, Cumbria, Braystones, near Whitehaven, Irish Sea. A dead juvenile minke or fin whale. Measuring approximately 3.5m (11.5ft) in length.

2024, August 27. USA, Florida, St. Augustine Beach. Dead dolphin. South of the A Street beach access. Its carcass was found heavily shark-scavenged.

2024, August 28. USA, North Carolina, Corolla. A very emaciated pygmy sperm whale that washed up on an Outer Banks beach had to be euthanized.

2024, August 30. Bangladesh, Sonarpara beach of Cox's Bazar sea coast. A dead spinner dolphin. The length of spinner dolphin is 8 feet and weight is 95 kg. It is assumed that the dolphin might have died within 24 hours.

2024, August 30. Alaska, Prince of Wales Island. Subadult female Humpback was found in waters near Craig.

2024, August 30. Italy, north east, Porto San Rocco in Muggia, located in Trieste. Crews removed the carcass of a Fin whale measuring 13 meters (42 feet), which was discovered underneath a pier. Appeared to have been dead for no more than 7 days. See 2024, August 12.

2024, September 2. Scotland, Lunan Bay, Angus beach. A large male minke whale washed up deceased and decomposed. The whale may have become entangled.

2024, September 2. Thailand, Phuket’s Bang Tao Beach. A pregnant 2.24-metre-long female Dwarf Sperm whale with a 50-centimetre-long male calf, tragically choked by a stomach full of rubbish, was found dead.

2024, September 2. Alaska, Prince of Wales Island. Humpback, young male whale was found in waters near Craig.

2024, September 3. Philippines, Mariveles, Bataan. A dead dolphin was found floating near a beach resort in front of the Freeport Area of Bataan. The cetacean measured four to five feet in length. There are verifying reports of another dead dolphin sighting off Barangay Cabcaben in Mariveles.

2024, September 3. Egypt, near Cairo. Large Bolide. Caught on camera from the International Space Station. Time: at 5:42 am (IST)

2024, September 5. Philippines, North Luzon, N.E in the Philippine Sea. Airburst. Coordinates: (18, 123). It was 86 km east from the coast. Energy: -e = 6.2, e = 0.2 or 200,000 kg/TNT. Altitude: 25km. Velocity: 19.7 km/s. Time: 00:39PST. UT around 16:39 on the 4th. Asteroid 2024 RW1 was discovered 8 hours before entering the Earth's atmosphere. Asteroid Designation: CAQTDL2. Diameter: 1.5 m or 4.9 ft. Mass: 6 metric tons. It created a fireball seen over Cagayan Valley, Calabarzon and Cordillera Administrative Region. Delayed and concurrent sound heard.

2024, September. Ukraine. A baby white-sided dolphin has been washed up on the coast of the Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park in Odesa Oblast. A dead bottlenose dolphin was also found near the national park in the village of Hrybivka. Dolphins had also washed up on the Black Sea coast in Bulgaria and on the Sea of Azov coast earlier. About 50,000 dolphins perished in the Black Sea over the first eight months of the full-scale war.

2024, September 6. Timor Sea/Indian Ocean. S.W of the Indonesian Island of Sumba. Airburst. Time:12:36. Coordinates: (-12.9, 118). e = 2.1, -e = 0.076 or 76,000 kg/TNT. Altitude: 27km. Velocity: 22.6 km/s.

2024, September 6. Indonesia, Liliweri, Alor Regency, East Nusa Tenggara. A total of 17 pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) were found dead stranded on the coast. The condition of these whales was poor with wounds from being hit by rocks on the coast, each about 10 to 15 meters apart. East Nusa Tenggara Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Service, police, village government and local communities are organizing the burial. (See also February 5 and May 24 Airbursts).

2024, September 10. USA, California, Carmel River State Beach. A stranded killer whale rescued died while in transport to Santa Cruz’s Long Marine Laboratory.

2024, September 10. USA, California, Ventura County, Port Hueneme. A dead minke whale washed up along the coast. Was found near a jetty close to the lighthouse.

2024, September 11. North Sea. Fireball. Drenthe, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen and Schleswig-Holstein. Time:around 19:10. UT. 21:10CEST. Travelling N.N.W.

2024, September 14. South Africa, St Helena Bay, located at Sandy Point Beach Estate on the West Coast, Cape Town. Dead Humpback floating offshore. 20 days after August 25^th airburst.

2024, September 14. USA, Long Island, Cupsogue Beach in Westhampton Beach. A dead whale landed at on Saturday morning. The whale carcass, a 62-foot finback whale, is not intact due to “significant predation and decomposition”.

2024, September 14. India, Visakhapatnam. A dead Spinner dolphin (Stenella Longirostris) washed ashore at RK Beach. ‘dead strandings’. Responding unit East Coast Conservation Team (ECCT), Andhra Pradesh Forest Department.

2024, September 17. Malayia, Kuala Sungai Padang area. The carcass of a Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris), weighing about 130kg. The dolphin has been dead for three days. The carcass did not find any injury on the body and the cause of its death is still under investigation.

2024, September 16. USA, Cape Cod, Linnell Landing. 14 bottlenose dolphins stranded with three confirmed dead. In just the last two weeks, rescue agencies have responded to 26 dolphin strandings, both common and bottlenose, so we have been on high alert and monitoring their movements closely.

2024, September 22. USA, Oregon, Hug Point State Park in Clatsop County. A giant sunfish, (mola mola). Washed up on an beach for the third time this summer. Three sunfish have washed up on beaches in the county since June. A mola tecta, or hoodwinker sunfish, washed up in June, followed by another mola mola in August.

2024, September 22. Thailand, Kata Noi Beach in Phuket. A rare Risso’s dolphin carcass, tragically entangled in a pile of rubbish. The Rare and Endangered Marine Animals Group, part of the Upper Andaman Marine and Coastal Resources Research Center (MCRC) is investigating.

2024, September 22. UK, Hartlepool. The whale was spotted at the Headland. Experts believe it to be a Minke.

2024, September 22. USA, Texas, near Kahala Beach on Galveston Island. A dead pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) was found stranded.

2024, September 25. UK, Headland Beach, Hartlepool. Believed to be a minke or fin whale and is unable to be moved.

2024, September 26. Indonesia, Teritip Beach, about 35 kilometers north of Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. Cachalot. The mammal had reportedly been stranded for 4 days before dying.

Europe is being ravished by floods. Airbursts and meteors are fueling the disaster. Update: 20240918

Witnessed fireballs in Europe in September.

2024-09-19, 22:052,UK, France, Denmark, Netherlands.

2024-09-19, 01:45CEST, Germany, Austria, Bavaria.

2024-09-17, 23:49CEST, Netherlands, Denmark.

2024-09-17, 22:35CEST, France.

2024-09-17, 02:28BST, England, Wales.

2024-09-15, 01:35CEST, Italy.

2024-09-14, 22:06, UK, France.

2024-09-14, 22:06 time zones; UK, France.

2024-09-14, 20:22 time zones, UK, France, Belguim, Wales.

24-09-13, 20:22BST;UK, England, Wales.

2024-09-13, 00:112, Romania, Belguim.

2024-09-11, 21:10CESTNL, Denmark.

2024-09-07, 22:01CEST, Denmark, Netherlands.

2024-09-06, 23:41CEST, Netherlands.

2024-09-06, 23:18CEST, France.

2024-09-06, 20:11CEST, Italy.

2024-09-05, 22:42CEST, France.

2024-09-05, 21:21CESTFR, France.

2024-09-03, 20:24BST,UK.

2024-09-02, 22:46CESTITFR, Denmark, Germany.

2024-09-02, 03:23CEST, Netherlands.

2024-09-01, 02:07CEST, France, Denmark.

There have also been unrecorded airbursts causing tremors. 

From the past. Extract.

1783: The summer of the year 1783 was amazing, portentous and full of horrible phenomena for besides the alarming meteors and tremors from Sicily to Norway and the tremendous thunderstorms that affrighted and distressed the different countries of this kingdom the peculiar haze or smoky fog that prevailed many weeks were a most extraordinary appearance, unlike anything known within the memory of man.

Airbursts so far in 2024.

2017, Three airbursts and three strandings

 Airbursts:

2017, February 2. Philippines, Pacific Ocean. Airburst. Coordinates: (10.4, 131.6). Time: 06:09. e= 6.6, -e = 0.21. Altitude: 33.5 km.

2017, February 18. Indian Ocean, midway between India and Africa. Airburst. Coordinates (6.2, 60.4). Time: 19:48. e = 29.5, -e = 0.79. Altitude: 38 km. Velocity: 24.2 km/s.

2017, May 24. South of Indonesia, Indian Ocean. Airburst. Coordinates: -9.1, 101.8). 430 km W.N.W. of Christmas Island south of Java and Sumatra. Time: 07:03. e = 9, -e = 0.28. Altitude: 46km. Velocity: 18.4.

Strandings:

2017, May 2. Philippines. Mass stranding of Pygmy Killer whales. The number unknown, All died.

2017, June. Sri Lanka. 20 pilot whales were stranded at a beach in the coastal town of Sampur near Trincomalee harbour in the country's northeast. All were saved.

2017, November 13. Indonesia, Aceh. 10 Cachalots were stranded. 4 died; 7 were refloated, one returned to shore and died and the remainder died on the beach. Volunteers from WWF Indonesia, the Indonesian government, and the Indonesian Navy collaborated to float the whales back to sea.  

The disorientation of whales is why they get hit by ships

Below are North Atlantic airbursts and whale strandings of humpbacks on America's east coast within timeframes.

Ships hit whales, however, not all whales are in good condition or alive when hit.

300 humpbacks in 21 years. Airbursts from 1995 January 1st to 2015 December 31. 

Fireballs (nasa.gov)

200 humpbacks in 7 years. Airbursts from 2016 January 1st to 2022 December 31st.

Fireballs (nasa.gov)

2023 = meteors and whale strandings

Bolides, Meteors or Airbursts = Whale Strandings. Whether it was in India or Hawaii the same can be seen in the rhythm of events. Below are dates for UK and Scotland between April and September.

2023, April 26. Celtic Sea, North Atlantic. Airburst. (47, -10.7). Time: 13:14. Altitude: 29.6 km. Velocity: 16.2. e= 2.4. -e= 0.086.

2023, May 7. Scotland, North Berwick beach in East Lothian. Dead minke whale.

2023, May 8. UK, North Wales, Porth Neigwl, also known as Hell's Mouth, Gwynedd. An adult female cachalot.

2023, July 6, UK, Irish Sea, Isle of Man. Fireball. Time: 22:33. Velocity: 20km/s. Duration: 20 seconds. LB: -4.01. LB: 54.20. HB: 94.37 km. LE: -2.38. LE: 52.96. HE:86.59 km.

2023, July 16. Scotland, Outer Hebrides, Isle of Lewis. 54 long-finned black dolphins died.

2024, July 25. Scotland, the village of Culross. Two northern bottlenose whales were stranded and died.

2023, September 1UTC. United Kingdom, North of Skye. Traveling S.S.W. Time: 21:14. Velocity = 65.89km/s. Duration: 0.95 seconds. LB: -5.66. LB: 58.20. HB: 112.23 km. LE: -5.94. LE: 57.68. HE: 101.58 km. Related Meteor Shower: Aurigids.

2023, September 4. United Kingdom, Skye, 13 common dolphins.

  

Map – Fireballs Aotearoa

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