Weekly Weird News for 7 July 2023

Man, it’s a hot one this week. We had record global temperatures for several days in a row. And it’s not even that far into northern hemisphere summer yet. Yuck. Scientific models have been very close to predicting the changes due to global warming but they underestimated the impacts, such as sea level rise and wildfires, which many of us never experienced as effects prior to this year. These are definitely strange times. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66104822 and https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/record-breaking-global-temperature-raging-wildfires-highlight-effects-of-climate-change

Insect smog

The air has been full of smoke particulates on the east coast and, in some places, insect particulates. Winged aphid populations exploded in New York City at the end of June. There were so many that people were inadvertently inhaling them. This was not usual but the less than frigid winter may have had something to do with it. https://apnews.com/article/new-york-gnats-404a0e7e699a6619c29c8a43462cdcd0

Octopus’ garden in the shade

A deep sea expedition found an octopus nursery among hydrothermal vents off the coast of Costa Rica. The researchers had seen octopuses here before but now they found babies. There are only 3 known areas of octopus nurseries in the world. Octopuses are normally solitary but may be attracted to the warmth from the vents. Scientists know very little about their habits. https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/deep-sea-expedition-reveals-rare-octo-nurseries-off-costa-rica/

Saved from a shark?

A man swimming in the Red Sea was attacked by a shark and thought he was going to die until, he claims, dolphins rescued him. The dolphin group appeared nearby and the shark disappeared. A boat rescued the man who needed 300 stitches. It may be a stretch to say dolphins were knowingly saving the man. The dolphins (or in other cases, other whales) will harass the shark and, thus, get it out of the picture. The story came to light as a result of a new TV show called “Saved From a Shark”, so we can assume the details may have been exaggerated. https://www.livescience.com/animals/sharks/i-knew-it-was-circling-me-man-attacked-by-shark-was-waiting-to-die-then-dolphins-saved-his-life

Whales come for the pickings

In another anecdote about whales and humans, a captain of a tourist boat says that grey whales deliberately approach the boat so that people can pick whale lice off of them. He says after it happened once, the whale kept returning to the lagoon in Baja California/Mexico and others followed. It’s not too far-fetched for the whales to understand that humans do them a service, although whale lice aren’t harmful to the whales but may be irritating. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/06/grey-whales-seen-seeking-human-help-to-remove-parasites

Random roos appeared in France and the UK

A kangaroo was spotted in a vineyard eating the grapes in France. Multiple people saw it and a video was obtained so there is no doubt that there is a wayward animal hopping around. https://www.ouest-france.fr/region-occitanie/vauvert-30600/gard-cest-la-premiere-fois-quon-voit-ca-un-vigneron-filme-un-kangourou-dans-ses-vignes-2da395a4-1bdf-11ee-9817-eaa28518a142

A woman in Mendip Hills, Somerset UK was surprised by a wallaby as she was out walking. It is actually not that unusual for people to see these animals in unexpected places. There is hardly any mistaking them if they are moving, although people who claim to see them standing still may be seeing normal deer. Kangaroos are often kept as pets and are good at escaping enclosures. So, if you think you see one, it’s not that far-fetched. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-somerset-66110694

FAA approves flying car

It’s 2023 and about time we got our flying cars! A company has received FAA approval for exhibition, research and development of the personal aircraft. It’s not the first time this has been given. But maybe we are past due for this to become a reality. There have been hundreds of preorders for the all-electric or hydrogen air car priced at $300K. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/flying-car-faa-certification-alef-california/

Raptor beach patrols

Ocean City, New Jersey has a seagull problem. The birds are so numerous they pose a threat to tourists and businesses by stealing food and even attacking children to try and take their treats. The city has hired East Coast Falcons to patrol the boardwalk with their trained raptors. The test run in 2019 was remarkably successful. The gulls scatter at the first sight of a falcon in the air. This year, the company is bringing Harris’s hawks, eight falcons of varying species, eight more back-up falcons, and one Eurasian eagle-owl to work the Boardwalk. People love it. The handlers say, “It’s easier to train the birds [to do this job], than to train humans [to not be careless with food in the open air].” https://www.popsci.com/environment/ocean-city-nj-falcons/

Interactive Anthropocene

Finally, enjoy this amazing interactive presentation of information graphics in this story from the Washington Post. Crawford Lake in Canada has recorded observations from a changing world. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2023/anthropocene-geologic-time-crawford-lake/