Warming oceans drive tuna from Pacific islands
They searched for more than two hours before finally spotting seagulls circling in the distance. Petaia threw open the throttle as his nephew Ranol Smoliner tossed a hooked line into the water. Soon, the younger man felt the tug of a 25-pound yellowfin, which he pulled up and bashed with a club. By morning's end, the pair had caught eight tuna — a haul far smaller than when Petaia's father taught him to fish 30 years earlier.
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Associated Press
a day ago
- Associated Press
FACT FOCUS: No, Oprah Winfrey didn't block access to a private road amid tsunami warning evacuations
Even as the threat of a tsunami swamping Hawaii had passed on Wednesday, social media posts were still circulating claims that Oprah Winfrey had refused immediate access to a private road that would allow residents a shorter evacuation route. The warnings followed one of the century's most powerful earthquakes, an 8.8 magnitude quake that struck off a Russian peninsula and generated tsunami warnings and advisories for a wide swath of the Pacific. Posts on X and TikTok contended Winfrey refused to open her private road, or was slow to do so during the evacuation. But the roadway does not actually belong to Winfrey, and efforts to open the road to the public started soon after the tsunami warning was issued. Here's a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: Winfrey owns the private road and refused to allow public access for residents trying to reach higher ground, only relenting following public pressure. FACT: This is false. Despite being commonly known as 'Oprah's road,' the portion of Kealakapu Road is privately owned — but not by Winfrey. It belongs to Haleakala Ranch, which also owns the land surrounding the road, its president Scott Meidell told The Associated Press. Winfrey has an easement agreement with the ranch, which allows her to use and make certain improvements to the road, her representative told the AP in a statement. Winfrey has paved the road as part of the agreement, Meidell said. The decision to open the road to the public is principally up to the landowner, Winfrey's representative noted. Meidell said Haleakala Ranch 'had conversations with Ms. Winfrey's land management staff during this process. So, they're consulted to be sure.' Haleakala Ranch contacted the local fire department and the Maui Emergency Management Agency just after 3 p.m. local time, shortly after the tsunami warning went into effect, Meidell said. The road was made accessible shortly after 5 p.m., he said, and ranch personnel assisted in the evacuation of around 150 to 200 vehicles until the final group of cars were escorted up the road at 7 p.m. Maui County officials said in a press release shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday that 'Oprah's road' was accessible to the public, an advisory repeated in a 9:30 p.m. update. But Meidell said further evacuations weren't necessary after 7 p.m. because police had confirmed 'at that point the highway was completely empty of traffic.' Maui police and the Maui Emergency Management Agency did not immediately return the AP's requests for comment. 'As soon as we heard the tsunami warnings, we contacted local law enforcement and FEMA to ensure the road was opened. Any reports otherwise are false,' a representative for Winfrey wrote in a statement first disseminated to news outlets Tuesday night. The decision to open the road was made quickly 'when the warning was issued to evacuate, working with local officials and Oprah's Ranch,' the representative added in a statement Wednesday. Cars were escorted in separate caravans that each 'had a lead vehicle and a sweep vehicle to make sure that there weren't any incidents on the mountain road,' Meidell said. Haleakala Ranch encompasses nearly 30,000 acres of open space from the southern shoreline to Upcountry Maui, according to its website, and has been family-owned and operated since the late 1800s. The private road connects a public roadway with a highway on the island's oceanside. Some Hawaii residents have long expressed frustration with the large swaths of land that wealthy public figures like Winfrey own on Maui and have advocated against short-term rentals that dot the region and worsen the already low housing supply. The islands have faced a chronic housing shortage only exacerbated in 2023 when a deadly wildfire destroyed most of Lahaina, a town on Maui and the historic former capital of the Hawaiian kingdom. The wildfire was the deadliest in U.S. history in a century that left more than 100 people dead. Users claimed with no evidence then that Winfrey had hired private firefighters to protect her land before the fires started, and hired security to keep others of her land during the evacuations. Some X users also spread false claims linking Winfrey to the cause of the blaze. Winfrey teamed up with Dwayne Johnson to launch the People's Fund for Maui and committed $10 million to help residents who lost their homes in the wildfires. The fund raised almost $60 million as of April 2024. In 2019, Winfrey confirmed on X, then Twitter, that county officials were given permission to use the private road immediately after a brush fire started on Maui's southern area. The road ultimately was not used, Maui County spokesperson Chris Sugidono told the AP at the time. ___ Associated Press National Writer Hillel Italie contributed reporting. ___ Find AP Fact Checks here:
CBS News
a day ago
- CBS News
Extinct-in-the-wild Guam kingfisher hatches at National Aviary
A bird that's extinct in the wild recently hatched at the National Aviary. The aviary announced this week that its breeding center hatched a Guam kingfisher chick from parents Kel and Yomuk. Three Guam kingfishers that previously hatched at the National Aviary were recently released onto the predator-free island of Palmyra Atoll, about 1,000 miles south of Honolulu, Hawaii, in the Pacific Ocean. Guam kingfishers haven't been seen in the wild since 1988 after invasive brown tree snakes arrived and decimated the population. About 30 birds were captured and taken to U.S. zoos, where their population has grown. The aviary is working with the global Sihek Recovery Program to establish a wild population of Guam kingfishers with the hope of returning them home once the threat from brown tree snakes is addressed. The aviary also shared exciting news from the Atoll. Two of the birds that hatched in Pittsburgh, Mames and Långet, laid a second clutch of three eggs, which the aviary says is very rare in human care populations. It's possible Mames and Långet become the first pair to hatch chicks of their own in the wild. The aviary says no Guam kingfishers hatched in human care will join those released on Palmyra Atoll this year. Instead, the aviary says it's working to grow a special population for possible deployment in 2026. The chick, meanwhile, is being cared for behind the scenes. Parents Kel and Yomuk live in the Canary's Call habitat.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Watch the moment massive earthquake rattles homes in Russia
Videos show the moment when a massive earthquake hit Russia on July 29, leaving residents clinging to furniture as buildings convulsed beneath them. A magnitude 8.8 earthquake with a depth of about 12 miles struck off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:24 p.m. ET, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). It is the 8th strongest earthquake ever recorded, according to USGS. The quake, which was recorded approximately 78 miles southeast of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia, sparked tsunami alerts across the Pacific. Tsunami waves reached Hawaii, California and other states along the West Coast, according to the National Weather Service. Updates on earthquake, tsunami: Evacuation orders lifted in Hawaii hours after tsunami waves reach state's shores Watch the moment a massive earthquake hits Russia Videos shared on social media paint a picture of the moments during and after the earthquake hit Russia. Some residents captured furniture, appliances and kitchenware rattling violently during the quake. Others could be seen clinging to fixtures as the ground shook. Some areas were forced to evacuate and buildings were damaged in the earthquake, but no serious injuries or fatalities were reported, Russia's Ministry for Emergency Services said on Telegram. "Today's earthquake was serious and the strongest in decades of tremors," Kamchatka Gov. Vladimir Solodov said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app, Reuters reported. One surveillance video from a medical facility showed doctors grasping to a patient during a cancer surgery. Russia's Ministry for Emergency Services also shared videos of building damage caused by the event. Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video shows the moment a massive earthquake hits Russia
