Earthwatch: A Diary of the Planet

Dolphin Deaths

At least 34 white-sided dolphins died after becoming stranded in shallow waters along the shores of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Marine officials tried desperately to save the sea mammals that inexplicably beached themselves in the popular tourist area. Officials believe the deaths could be linked to recent high tides, strong winds and large waves.

At least five dolphins died when they became stranded on a beach in south Australia. The dead were among a group of 50 dolphins that beached at Napean Bay on Kangaroo Island. More than 100 volunteers were able to save 45 dolphins by keeping them wet and coaxing them back out to sea.

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Ongoing Rumblings

Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano produced two minor explosions, sending plumes of ash and steam three miles into the sky and showering the state of Puebla with volcanic debris. The 15,600-foot volcano has been emitting volcanic material from its crater since December 1994. Military troops were recently stationed around the flanks of the smoking mountain in the event a rapid evacuation becomes necessary.

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Earthquakes

The remote Alaskan communities of Adak and Amchitka were soundly rocked by a magnitude 6.8 earthquake, which struck the eastern Aleutian Islands.

Earth movements were also felt in Southern California, northern Colombia, eastern Romania, Nepal, Russia’s Lake Baykal region, the Tajikistan-Afghan border region and New Zealand’s North Island.

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Chinese Whirlwind

A tornado ripped through a harbor in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, sinking 71 fishing vessels and damaging 164 others. The disaster wiped out nearly one-third of the harbor’s fishing boats, but only caused a handful of injuries.

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Philippine Spill

An oil tanker spilled nearly 85,000 gallons of crude oil and injured seven crew members when it crashed and sank in Manila Bay. The oil slick covered about 80 acres of the Philippine bay.

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Tempting Fate

Lightning killed a traditional Nigerian rainmaker last week as he climbed atop a building where a funeral was being conducted. A family employed the man, known locally as Rasaq, in Abeokuta, southwestern Nigeria, to hold off the rain threatening to douse the burial ceremony. Rasaq had just begun appealing to Sango, the Yoruba god of thunder, when lightning struck and threw him to the ground. The head of the local Sango worshipers, Ibigbami Sangotola, said the victim had lost his life because he had disregarded the power of the god by thinking he could divert the storm with which Sango had decided to punish the town.

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Additional sources: U.S. National Earthquake Information Center, Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the United Nations World Meteorological Organization