Fireball seen as orca rescue underway in Uruguay

2026, April 26. Uruguay, Playa Mansa, Punta del Este. An orca(killer whale) calf stranded on a beach. After failed rescue attempts, the whale was euthanised. A team continued efforts to save the animal under difficult weather conditions. The animal had stayed close to the shore, showing signs of weakness.

2026, April 27. Uruguay, Playa Mansa. Fireball. Time: around 01:54 UT or 22:51LT. The event was recorded by security cameras and widely observed in Argentina and Uruguay. Duration 6+ seconds. Fragmented over Maldonado. No reports of sonic boom. Seen in Punta del Este, Buenos Aires Province, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Maldonado Department, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Santa Fe. This is the first report of a fireball in Uruguay this year.  

Also: New Zealand, North Island. It had a flurry of activity on the 26th, 27th and 28th across the North Island. One meteor detected on camera was over 10 seconds in duration, low and slow. Overall, about half a dozen were detected over water on both sides of the Island down to Cook Strait, with three stretching over a region of sky south of Auckland (Pacific/Tasman Sea). No NASA airbursts or AMS were logged or reported within the time frame, so it's a wait-and-see scenario. The atmosphere (globally) has been quiet, with the risk of a mass stranding (as I see it) regarded as low. Spyhopping whales on the 24th is a strong indicator that something is annoying them, but hopefully, like the past Chatham Island whales, they will settle. Just a reminder, if meteors are being picked up on camera of a night that restricted time frame allows for added objects not detected during daylight hours so the flux could be much higher than observed.

Early image of a meteor bursting over Melbourne in 1934

I came across this early image of a meteor bursting over Melbourne on August 24, 1934. Victoria, Jolimont and Brunswick. Travelling S.W to N.E. The meteor, which was followed by a trail of light-blue smoke, was bright blue-white at first, changing to bright orange.  

Fireballs and whale strandings on the east coast of the USA

Since the May 15th Airburst on the east coast of the America, fireball after fireball was seen, even a daylight meteor over New York that created a sonic boom causing a tremor. See the posts below for events and further information. Note: These are just animal strandings in Massachusetts and do not include surrounding states, which is concerning.

6/28/2024: 146 live dolphins stranded, 37 died, 7 euthanized, 102 survived.

7/05/2024: 4 dead dolphins.

7/06/2024: Dead dolphin.

7/10/2014: Dead Loggerhead turtle this summer.

7/10/2024: Dead Minke Whale.

7/12/2024: Dead Humpback whale, last was seen healthy had the name ‘Lollipop.

7/14/2024: Dead Humpback Whale.

7/18/2024: Dead dolphin (in oil soot by offshore wind vessel). It is not known if this was the cause of the whale's death.

7/19/2024: Unidentified dolphin or small whale found today.

9 stranded, deceased marine wildlife events in Massachusetts in less than a month – New Bedford Guide

Above are the events witnessed and catalogued by the AMS in Massachusetts in June and July. None were recorded in the state in the month before, apart from the event to the top right, a large meteor/airburst on May 15th, out of the activity zone. There have been strandings in the area to the north from Massachusetts into Nova Scotia, which is south of Newfoundland.

Major meteor airburst in Antarctica - 27th largest since records began in 1988

2024, July 20. Antarctica. Airburst. Coordinates: (-73.7, 22.5). Time: 14:08. e = 243, -e = 5.1 or 5,100,000 kg/TNT. Altitude: 38.8 km. Velocity: 30.8 km/s. This is the 27^th largest meteor airburst since NASA records began in 1988. It was the largest this year and was nearly 40 times more powerful than the May 19th Portugal event.

Brazil Airburst, fireballs over New York and Australia; and whale dead in the Middle East

2024, July 13. Brazil, State of Piaui, 60 km S.E. of Picos, 4 km from Belem do Piaui, Malhada Grande. Large Meteor Airburst. Coordinates: (-7.4, -41). Time: 03:10. e = 59, -e = 1.5 or 1,500,000 kg/TNT. Exploded over rural farming allotments. Travelling east. Delayed and concurrent sound. This was seen at locations 650 km apart. The sound travelled more than 650 kilometres.  

2024, July 17. Australia, Queensland, Brisbane. Fireball. Time: Evening. Caught on live TV.  

Update: 2024, July 16. USA, New York. A fireball was first sighted at 11:15am near the New Jersey-New York border. Altitude: 49 miles above Upper Bay (east of Greenville Yard). Moving a bit east of north at 34,000 miles per hour, the meteor descended at a steep angle of 18 degrees from vertical, passing over the Statue of Liberty before disintegrating 29 miles above midtown Manhattan. Green, yellow and white in colour. Created ground shaking from a low sonic boom.  

2024, July 13. United Arab Emirates, Port of Fujairah. A 20-meter-long whale was found dead three miles from the Port. In 2016, a 15-meter-long whale washed up on Kalba beach, after concluding that it had died after colliding with a large ship.  

South Africa has three humpbacks in one day strand

2024, July 8. South Africa, Cape Town. Meteor. Time: 18:55.  

2024, July 15. South Africa, Schoenmakerskop, Willows Gate 5. It is one of three humpback whale carcasses that stranded on Monday on Eastern Cape shores and one of six that have washed up this winter. Two other humpback carcasses washed ashore at Thyspunt near Oyster Bay and at Kasouga on the Sunshine Coast.

Humpback whale carcass washes ashore at Willows (heraldlive.co.za)

Also: 2024, July 15. Western Australia, Geraldton, Pages Beach. Large whale carcass washes ashore.

Meteor Airburst in North Atlantic

2024, April 9. North Atlantic. Airburst. Location (36.5, -37.8). Time: 04:47. e=3.3, -e=0.11. Equivalent energy of 110,000 kilograms of TNT. Altitude: 36.3 km. 700km W.S.W of the Azores.

Fireballs (nasa.gov)