Category: Sandy

Post-Sandy beach erosion reveals skeleton of rare beaked whale

On By A.P.In beaked whale, Ed Dettman, erosion, Florida, New Smyrna Beach, SandyLeave a comment

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When Hurricane Sandy blew by Florida last month it blew sand away that led to erosion.

That erosion exposed the remains of a beaked whale on Sunday.

An Orlando-area couple was looking for sand dollars when they noticed something far more interesting in the sand at the oceanfront dog park in New Smyrna Beach.

When they started digging, they found the remains of an 8- to 9-foot whale that may have been there for decades.

“It speaks to the amazing amount of post-Sandy erosion that’s happened on this beach,” said Ed Dettman, who walks the beach every day.

There is only one record of a beaked whale washed up on the beach, and this isn’t it.

The skull, vertebrae and ribs were recovered and laid out as if the whale were in a museum.

The couple turned their find over to the county.

The remains were a foot below the surface but were likely much deeper before the storm blew through.

Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/central-florida/volusia-county/Beach-erosion-reveals-remains-of-whale/-/12983450/17799578/-/7lkvaqz/-/index.html#ixzz2FSYDmWfx

Former Beatle Paul McCartney will fill in for Kurt Cobain in Nirvana reunion

On By A.P.In 12-12-12, bipolar disorder, Bruce Springsteen, Concert for Sandy Relief, Dave Grohl, Eric Clapton, grunge, Human Behavior, Krist Novoselic, Kurt Cobain, music, Neuropsychiatric Disease, New York, Nirvana, Nirvana reunion, Paul McCartney, Sandy, suicide, Superstorm Sandy, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, UncategorizedLeave a comment

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70 year old Sir Paul McCartney filled in for Kurt Cobain as the surviving members of Nirvana reunited at the Superstorm Sandy benefit in New York on Wednesday.

Grunge stars Dave Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic have reportedly enlisted the Beatle to play onstage with them at the Madison Square Garden charity gig.

The Fab Four legend reveals Grohl invited him to “jam with some mates”, but admits he had no idea he was filling in for tragic rocker Cobain, who committed suicide in 1994.

Sir Paul tells Britain’s The Sun, “I didn’t really know who they were. They are saying how good it is to be back together. I said, ‘Whoa? You guys haven’t played together for all that time? And somebody whispered to me, ‘That’s Nirvana. You’re Kurt.’ I couldn’t believe it.”

The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, and Eric Clapton were also on the bill for the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/12/12/paul-mccartney-to-fill-in-for-kurt-cobain-in-nirvana-reunion-gig

South Pacific Sandy Island proven not to exist

On By A.P.In Coral Sea, Google Earth, Island, Maria Seton, Sandy, Sandy Island, South Pacific, University of SydneyLeave a comment

 

A South Pacific island, shown on marine charts and world maps as well as on Google Earth and Google Maps, does not exist, Australian scientists say.

The supposedly sizeable strip of land, named Sandy Island on Google maps, was positioned midway between Australia and French-governed New Caledonia.

But when scientists from the University of Sydney went to the area, they found only the blue ocean of the Coral Sea.

The phantom island has featured in publications for at least a decade.

Scientist Maria Seton, who was on the ship, said that the team was expecting land, not 1,400m (4,620ft) of deep ocean.

“We wanted to check it out because the navigation charts on board the ship showed a water depth of 1,400m in that area – very deep,” Dr Seton, from the University of Sydney, told the AFP news agency after the 25-day voyage.

“It’s on Google Earth and other maps so we went to check and there was no island. We’re really puzzled. It’s quite bizarre.

“How did it find its way onto the maps? We just don’t know, but we plan to follow up and find out.”

Australian newspapers have reported that the invisible island would sit within French territorial waters if it existed – but does not feature on French government maps.

Australia’s Hydrographic Service, which produces the country’s nautical charts, says its appearance on some scientific maps and Google Earth could just be the result of human error, repeated down the years.

A spokesman from the service told Australian newspapers that while some map makers intentionally include phantom streets to prevent copyright infringements, that was was not usually the case with nautical charts because it would reduce confidence in them.

A spokesman for Google said they consult a variety of authoritative sources when making their maps.

“The world is a constantly changing place, the Google spokesman told AFP, “and keeping on top of these changes is a never-ending endeavour’.’

The BBC’s Duncan Kennedy in Sydney says that while most explorers dream of discovering uncharted territory, the Australian team appears to have done the opposite – and cartographers everywhere are now rushing to undiscover Sandy Island for ever.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20442487

Sandy Unearths Bones and Caskets

On By A.P.In bones, Connecticut, Hurricane, Lincoln Oak, Mr. C, New Haven, Sandy, skeleton, storm, Weather, Yale University1 Comment

Residents of New Haven, Conn., got an eerie Halloween surprise when a famed tree uprooted during Hurricane Sandy, unearthing the bones of a woman who died nearly 200 years ago – and maybe from others who died during the same period.

Around 6 p.m. on Monday the famous tree at New Haven’s Upper Green, named the “Lincoln Oak” after President Abraham Lincoln, was uprooted as Sandy swept through. New Haven resident Katie Carbo was passing by when she saw the back of a skull in the 60- to 70-foot-tall tree’s roots, police said.

Carbo quickly contacted the New Haven police, and soon after detectives were on the scene as a crowd of onlookers formed. Officer David Hartman with the New Haven Police Department told ABCNews.com that the timing of the discovery was particularly striking.

“I found myself standing there, among onlookers saying, ‘Wow this is really cool, the day before Halloween,’” he said.

Detectives from the NHPD’s Bureau of Identification and the state Medical Examiner’s office came to collect the bones, which Hartman said included a spine and rib cage.

New Haven police also contacted staff from Yale University’s anthropology department, Hartman said, and the New Haven Independent shot some images.

The NHPD said that it had not launched a criminal investigation into the discovery, and that the remains were being taken to the medical examiner’s office.

“What we haven’t yet determined is what will happen with the remains,” Hartman said. “This archaeological event that is going on will last for probably about a week, they’re estimating.”

New Haven police said that the bones belonged to a probable victim of yellow fever or smallpox, who likely was buried between 1799 and 1821, when the headstones were removed to New Haven’s Grove Street Cemetery, but the bodies were never relocated.

Later, the New Haven Independent, citing an initial investigation by an anthropologist and a state investigator, reported bones at the scene actually may be from two or more centuries-old skeletons – not just one.

The Lincoln Oak was planted at the town green by Admiral Andrew Hall Foote’s Grand Army of the Republic post, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Lincoln’s birthday in 1909, according to the New Haven police.

Robert S. Greenberg, a local historian, said that the town green is the burial ground for as many as 5,000 to 10,000 bodies.

Hartman said that he learned today that this is actually not the first time this has happened on the historic Upper Green. According to a local historian, the same situation occurred in 1931, when an uprooted tree brought up skeletal remains, he said.

New Haven is not the only place where the dead were unearthed in Sandy’s wake. The Associated Press reported that at a cemetery in Crisfield, Md., two caskets were forced out of their graves, making their sides visible from the grass, after the cement slabs covering the graves became dislodged.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/10/superstorm-sandy-unearths-bones-caskets/

Thanks to Mr. C for bringing this to the attention of the It’s Interesting community.