Latest news with #MontereyBay
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Three dead in California after small plane crash near Monterey Bay, Coast Guard says
Three people are dead after a small private aircraft crashed on California's Central Coast, according to officials. The U.S. Coast Guard station in Monterey received a relay at 10:55 p.m. Saturday that a twin-engine Beechcraft plane that took off from San Carlos with three people onboard had crashed 200 to 300 yards off Point Pinos, an outcropping at the southern end of Monterey Bay roughly 125 miles south of San Francisco. The Coast Guard launched a rescue helicopter from San Francisco and a search boat from Monterey to hunt for survivors of the crashed plane, which had a tail number of N8796R. A boat crew and drones from CAL Fire, as well as local police departments, joined the search. The wreck was eventually located and its three passengers were found dead, the Coast Guard told The New York Times. The names of the passengers were not immediately made public. The Independent has requested comment from the Coast Guard. The crash occurred roughly 30 minutes after takeoff near the Monterey Regional Airport, the flight's intended destination, according to flight tracking site Flightradar 24. Bodies were recovered off the coast of Pacific Grove, KSBW reports, and aircraft debris has washed up onshore. "I was going to sleep and heard this loud engine grumbling. Sounded like a Cessna, but it was really low and loud. It kind of felt like it was over the house, and there was a pop," Brian Mitchell, who was in the area from Sacramento visiting a relative, told the outlet. Federal officials including the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
The Independent
4 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Three dead in California after small plane crash near Monterey Bay, Coast Guard says
Three people are dead after a small private aircraft crashed on California's Central Coast, according to officials. The U.S. Coast Guard station in Monterey received a relay at 10:55 p.m. Saturday that a twin-engine Beechcraft plane that took off from San Carlos with three people onboard had crashed 200 to 300 yards off Point Pinos, an outcropping at the southern end of Monterey Bay roughly 125 miles south of San Francisco. The Coast Guard launched a rescue helicopter from San Francisco and a search boat from Monterey to hunt for survivors of the crashed plane, which had a tail number of N8796R. A boat crew and drones from CAL Fire, as well as local police departments, joined the search. The wreck was eventually located and its three passengers were found dead, the Coast Guard told The New York Times. The names of the passengers were not immediately made public. The Independent has requested comment from the Coast Guard. The crash occurred roughly 30 minutes after takeoff near the Monterey Regional Airport, the flight's intended destination, according to flight tracking site Flightradar 24. Bodies were recovered off the coast of Pacific Grove, KSBW reports, and aircraft debris has washed up onshore. "I was going to sleep and heard this loud engine grumbling. Sounded like a Cessna, but it was really low and loud. It kind of felt like it was over the house, and there was a pop," Brian Mitchell, who was in the area from Sacramento visiting a relative, told the outlet.
New York Times
4 days ago
- General
- New York Times
Small Plane With 3 Aboard Crashes Off California Coast
Searchers on Sunday located a small plane that had three people aboard that crashed off the coast of Pacific Grove in central California, and found two people who were unresponsive, the authorities said. The private plane, a Beech 95-B55 Baron, took off from San Carlos Airport, about 25 miles south of San Francisco, shortly after 10 p.m. on Saturday, according to Flightradar24, a site that compiles public information about aircraft locations and flight paths. It was in the air for about 30 minutes, flight data shows, before it crashed into the Pacific Ocean, approximately 200 to 300 yards from Point Pinos, on the southwestern edge of Monterey Bay, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Sunday morning. Just before 11 p.m., the authorities in Monterey County alerted the Coast Guard about the crash. The plane has been located, the Coast Guard said on Sunday, and two people have been found unresponsive. A search for the third person is continuing. The plane crashed shortly ahead of its intended destination of Monterey Regional Airport, which is near the bay and a few miles east of Pacific Grove, which is about 120 miles south of San Francisco. A Coast Guard helicopter, three Cal Fire rescue boats, and units from the Pacific Grove Police Department and Monterey County joined in the operation. The F.A.A. and the National Transportation Safety Board said they were investigating the crash.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Yahoo
Monterey Bay fisherman who vanished at sea 28 years ago identified
(KRON) — The remains of a Monterey Bay fisherman who vanished in the ocean nearly three decades ago were recently identified through advanced DNA testing, according to DNA experts with Othram laboratory helped Monterey County cold case investigators confirm the real identity of a deceased man known as 'Sandholdt Doe.' His bones were found tangled in a fishing net in 2021 near the Monterey Bay. The team recently concluded that the bones found at sea were from the skeletal remains of a missing fisherman, Jeffrey Lyndon Hulliger. Hulliger was born on May 30, 1960. He was 36 years old when he went fishing for black cod with a friend in the Monterey Bay on January 14, 1997, according to The fishermen had sent out a distress signal from their boat, The Salmon Patty. Hulliger's boatmate, Greg Mitchell, has never been found. 'According to newspaper accounts at the time, the Coast Guard launched a multi-day search with volunteers, two Coast Guard cutters, a helicopter and an airplane in an effort to rescue the men. Only debris was found, and both men were presumed drowned. Neither the boat nor their remains were located in the search,' wrote. Mysterious human skull found on NorCal beach identified In 2022, the Monterey County Cold Case Taskforce teamed up with Othram, a DNA lab based in Texas, to determine if advanced testing could help identify 'Sandholdt Doe.' According to 'Othram's in-house forensic genetic genealogy team then used the profile in a genetic genealogy search to develop new leads in the case.' A reference DNA sample was collected from a relative that matched Hulliger. 'There is a Fishermen's Memorial established near where this man was lost that is dedicated to the fishermen who lost their lives at sea,' said Kristen Mittelman, chief development officer for Othram. 'Now when their remains are found, we have a technology that can bring answers to their families and those answers can bring resolution.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Forbes
25-06-2025
- Science
- Forbes
The Ongoing Oceanic Catastrophe In Australia Was Predicted Years Ago
Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film The Birds is believed to be inspired by real events. In 1961, along the shores of North Monterey Bay, California, 'crazed seabirds pelted the shores;' these sooty shearwaters started flying into objects, dying on the streets, regurgitating anchovies. This odd, disconcerting event was worthy fodder for a horror film. Analysis shows these birds had ingested high amounts of domoic acid, from a diatom called pseudo-nitzschia, the same chemical that's poisoned thousands of marine mammals in California this year alone. A sea lion with domoic acid poisoning experiencing involuntary muscle spasms. We have another reason to address warming waters, extreme weather events and inefficient agriculture. Put together, they contribute to the increased risk of harmful algal blooms (HABs) that can bring mass death to the marine ecosystems they pervade. California can report 50 dead dolphins in a week, while 'feral, demonic sealions' are attacking surfers. Harmful Algal blooms have been recorded for hundreds of years, with a link seen between the discolored lake water, and the subsequent death of the animals that drank from it. Over the last 40 years or so, these events have become more frequent. This beloved dog, Cedar, died within hours from a 'benthic algae mat'. These formations of algae grow at the bottom of a body of water and detach, surfacing and posing a distinct littoral threat. They're harder to detect than surface blooms and may be more persistent. They can enter the food web and threaten the rest of us via shellfish, while their 'toxic aerosol' can cause respiratory problems. Public Safety Poster about the dangers of benthic algal mats. Warmer Waters Favor Cyanobacteria Blue-green algae isn't algae but in fact cyanobacteria, which are prokaryotes that photosynthesize. Different types of organisms have their environmental preferences and cyanobacteria is the same. It prefers warm waters compared to similar microorganisms so it will thrive thanks to global warming. Interestingly, the darkness of this top layer of cyanobacteria can absorb more heat, creating a feedback loop that perpetuates its growth. Climate action strategies include recognizing tipping points and taking early action. This applies to HABs the same as it does to die-back in the Amazon. The body of water on the right has a cyanobacteria bloom. The left has no bloom. Cause and Effect of Bad Water Management Nutrient run-off is the leading, controllable cause of algal blooms. The water wasted from flood irrigation gives us enough reason to adopt more efficient methods of irrigation, even before considering the risk of runoff. Rather than flooding a field and having some of that water overflow, and enter the local environment, other methods are more targeted. Unlike flooding, other techniques (for example drip irrigation) do not cause water to overflow the field and runoff into a tributary, where the nutrient pollution enters the wider aqueous ecosystem. Nutrient pollution is a problem in more than one-third of lakes and half of all rivers and streams in the United States. While preventing the runoff upstream will be a way to prevent the blooms, the EPA has a list of local resources to deal with them. Beyond creating toxins that can directly kill animals, or harm humans that eat contaminated animals, people may suffer skin irritation and respiratory problems from contact with some of these microorganisms. Species of algae that aren't toxic can still cause harm by forming a surface layer that blocks sunlight for the plant life below. Bodies of water can deteriorate into 'dead zones,' where this lack of sunlight kills the aquatic plants below, now unable to photosynthesize, which depletes the water of oxygen. With that, limited fish or marine life can survive. The largest dead zone in America occurs every summer, when nutrient pollution from the Mississippi River Basin enters the Gulf of America and creates a dead zone of about 4,300-6,500 square miles. Last year saw the dead zone reach 6,700 square miles; the EPA estimates that it will cost $7 Billion a year to reduce this problem. Reasons to Like Algae Having explored toxic algae and the hazards that can arise from benign algae, let's ponder what redeeming uses this group of organisms may offer. Some algae can be used as fertilizers, which would address the ammonia production carbon emissions issues. It's further beneficial as a form of carbon capture and sequestration: while the Haber Bosch would require intensive energy input which causes high emissions (1.8% of global CO2 emissions), algae can grow naturally in a carbon intensive environment, removing it and creating biomass. This biomass has applications beyond fertilizers, such as in biofuels. Spirulina adds a boost to your morning smoothie, and dried seaweed is delicious. Sewage leaks are inherently disgusting and bad for drinking water, and lead to HABs that are the same. Sewage is nutrient pollution that fuels blooms, giving municipalities further reason to efficiently address sewage problems, if they needed it. Algae is not just caused by wastewater, but could help address the issue. From a research paper about using algae for biomass production and nutrient separation while treating wastewater: 'When algae were used to clean wastewater, amazing benefits were guaranteed, such as a decrease in the formation of dangerous solid sludge and the creation of valuable algal biomass through recycling of the nutrients in the wastewater.' Let us work to limit the causes of harmful algae while harnessing the benefits of helpful algae. The First Plague in the Book of Exodus (from The Bible) talks about the sea turning red, of fish dying, of people being unable to drink from the odorous waters. These sorts of events used to be rare, natural occurrences, but over the last 40 years these plagues have become more frequent. Australia is in the midst of an 'ecological catastrophe' as a HAB 70 times the size of Sydney Harbor disrupts life in South Australia, with residents protesting for action. Commercial fisherman are facing bankruptcy, while all residents are suffering. Dead Maori Octopus Could this have been prevented? Yes, a dozen local researchers wrote to the Federal Environment Minister in 2023 about the importance of mitigation and monitoring, and requested funding for reef protection. They were ignored. The Marine Fisher Association says that the current Harmful Algal Bloom has caused 'complete ecosystem failure.'
