Did all those seals who left SF Pier for Oregon Coast know there would be an Earthquake coming..?

[BrklynLiberal]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8437395.stm

Page last updated at 21:25 GMT, Friday, 1 January 2010

<snip>
Although the hunt for food seems the likeliest reason for their disappearance, experts admit it is a mystery.
One more outlandish theory is that their departure is the sign of an imminent earthquake.

Well...guess what? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/3770326

Big 6.5 earthquake hits NorCal coast

Saturday, January 09, 2010 8:53 PM
<snip>
The quake was centered in the ocean about 22 miles from the coastal town of Ferndale, located between San Francisco Bay and the Oregon state line.

Don't make fun of Mother Nature...

[Cleita]

1. Ferndale is such a cutsey poo place, that I hope they didn't sustain too much

damage.

Also, what about all the whales gathering in Santa Monica Bay? It seems earthquakes aren't bothering them.

http://cbs2.com/tv/whale.sightings.Santa.2.1403097.html

[femrap]

16. Santa Monica is SOUTH....

the whales were avoiding the quake.

eta: give it up...animals are much smarter than humans. They don't start wars, do they?

[Cleita]

21. Santa Monica gets earthquakes. There is a fault right in the bay there.

I lived there for thirty years and experienced many tremors and earthquakes. Also all of California is active and so is Oregon, so I don't believe that earthquakes are the reason, but that feeding grounds are. It turns out that since Santa Monica started cleaning up the bay the krill have thrived and that's part of the whales' diet. I think there is a explanation having to do with food to explain the sea lions' activities as well.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

39. "They don't start wars, do they"

You really don't know much about animals do you?

[femrap]

44. What 4-legged ones or winged

ones do you know of that start wars and kill thousands?

You little smarty pants.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

49. I can think of countless animals

that are more violent than humans. Just because they don't have the intelligence to produce large mass-kill weapons doesn't mean that they're not violent.

[femrap]

50. I talking WARS....

you're talking violence. Apples...oranges.

There's killing one's own species en masse and then there's finding prey to survive.

Geez. Why do I bother?

Good luck to you. I'm done.

[Warpy]

29. There were pics of the damage on Twitter last night

and it was limited to broken plate glass and light items knocked off shelves in wee giftie shops.

I'd say they dodged a big one this time. It really didn't look bad although it probably rattled everybody's teeth as well as their nerves.

[XemaSab]

2. They're probably closer to the quake in Oregon than they were in SF

n/t

[EFerrari]

12. To this one. We just had a 4.X about eight miles away from Alum Rock

iirc on Friday.

[Gormy Cuss]

26. So they stayed in OR too long, the big lugs.

Shoud've swum back after the Alum Rock quake.
:P



On a serious note, I read that the theory of why they moved was related to schooling patterns of their favorite food fish.

[EFerrari]

28. They're just screwing with my head.

It would be really cool to find out why they decided to take the trip. And if they're coming back.

(Btw, my cats are freaking all over the place but it may just be high spirits. Or, they're screwing with me, too. lol )

[Patchuli]

3. Then they headed right into it

because you pass Humboldt on the way to Oregon. I think they're hunting...tourism slows down and the fishing in the cold weather.

[gateley]

4. I posted on this previously -- a geologist says to keep an eye on an areas

Lost Animals and you'll see a spike prior to an earthquake. I did once, and the number of missing animals tripled before we got a sizable quake.

Makes sense.

And I've heard the Chinese kept crickets because when they went silent, they knew they were in for a shaker.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. Always trust Mother Nature....she is amazing.

[gateley]

11. And she's the boss. I'm consistently dumfounded that man thinks he (we)

can "control" her. She has my utmost respect.

[BrklynLiberal]

19. Me too. I agree 100%

Every time man tries to screw with Mother Nature, she wreaks painful revenge.

It would seem that the law of unforeseen consequences was written for just that situation.
It seems to happen every single time man tries to control or change Mother Nature

[EFerrari]

13. Chickens. They also use chickens as predictors. n/t

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

31. The problem with that is that it doesn't happen every time. Or even most of the time.

If predicting earthquakes were that easy we'd be doing it already.

[omega minimo]

34. And sciencyists must ignore all data/experience that doesn't happen every time, exactly the same

their brains might 'splode :think: considering possibilities outside their control.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

35. That doesn't make any sense. n/t

[omega minimo]

47. I know but that's how they think!!!!

:wow:

[omega minimo]

48. !

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=247x28002

[depakid]

6. ...

:rofl:

[femrap]

17. ...

:dunce:

[SidDithers]

20. +1...

I've lost the ability to be surprised at the shit that gets posted here.

Sid

[htuttle]

7. I bet they wanted to swim over the top of the epicenter

They like the bubbles...

[TransitJohn]

8. So they left a pier

350 miles away weeks earlier? No, don't think so. Woo woo.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

9. Good Catch.

I lived there during Loma Prieta earthquake of "89". The horses were acting very jittery the day before with one mare foaling early.

[femrap]

18. I was there as well....

an extremely eerie day in San Fran. We were lucky the World Series was at Candlestick or the freeways would have been much more crowded with many more deaths.

I'll never forget it.

Mother Nature has such strength that she could exhale and cause millions of deaths.

[regnaD kciN]

10. If so, they would have headed to SoCal instead...

...unless seals find swimming in earthquake-churned waters a real rush, dude!

[EFerrari]

14. Or maybe we aren't finished yet.

:scared:

[stevedeshazer]

15. Nah. The quake epicenter is almost exactly equidistant from SF to Sea Lion Caves in Oregon

It was just off the coast near Eureka.

on edit: Anchovies. They are following food.

http://www.tonic.com/article/san-francisco-pier-39-sea-lion-update/

[Tim01]

22. They are probably on top secret maneuvers. nt

[Zoeisright]

23. Wouldn't surprise me. Nature can be really eerie.

[MindandSoul]

24. I am convinced that animals "feel" a quake coming because. . .

I lived in the hills of Santa Cruz County, five miles from the epicenter of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (a 7.2). All the house in my neighborhood were damaged, some were totaled. We lived outside for 4 days after the quake. . .we felt safer in the open then inside our damaged houses. It was very warm, although it was October. . .and the nights were full of the sounds of crickets and other wild life. . .then, it would very suddenly get absolutely silent. . .and within 30 seconds to one minute, an aftershock (mostly between 3.5 and 5.5) would occur. We had hundreds of those aftershocks during those four days. . .every time the insects and all the animals would become totally silent BEFORE the shock. Then they would start again when the shock was over!

Very spooky. . .and reassuring at once! We learn to "listen" to the silence!

[ChadwickHenryWard]

25. Why would seals have the ability but not humans?

I hear from time to time about animals "predicting" a quake. But humans are animals too. Why can't we predict these things? I can't think of any mechanism by which a seal or other animal should be able to detect these things that would not be available to humans.

[astral]

30. only b/c we're too disconnected from nature

we are out of touch with the senses out side of the 5 Senses.

[ChicagoSuz219]

27. Good point...

...animals always know when an earthquake, other weather events, are coming.

Remember the tsunami... all the animals went to the highest points.

[Moochy]

32. What possible advantage does this give them? What putative senses are they using?

My theory about Sea Lions:

Seal Lions like fish.

[Book Lover]

33. Why would they leave for this one and not all the others that we have?

We have small quakes right by the Farallons several times a month. Why would the seals leave for this quake but no others?

[Orrex]

36. The mechanic said I blew I seal

I said fix the damn thing and leave my personal life out of it.

[Forkboy]

38. I'm torn between congratulating you for using such a classic...

...or scolding you for going so far back... ;)

[Orrex]

46. Let's just shake hands and congratulate each other for getting the reference.

:fistbump:

[Forkboy]

37. We should probably ask this question of their food.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

40. Um, no.

[haele]

41. Nope, IMO, they were following food north.

When I lived in the SF bay area (eons ago), there were always fewer sea lion during the winter. As it was, they apparently went up to Coos Bay in Oregon, which is pretty much equidistant from the epicenter to San Fransisco. 20/30 years ago, in January and February, sea lion numbers usually dropped to a couple hundred at most vying for attention.
That there are more sea lions hanging around the wharf areas eating off the tourists last year just made it seem like a more drastic disappearance than it was.

Now, if all 5K or so of them just suddenly flipped tail and started out to sea an hour or so before, I'd think there was something to it. But a 5K disappearance over a period of a couple weeks indicates a migratory feeding pattern.

Haele

[gleaner]

42. Actually the earthquake ....

could have been the reason. Scientists think that birds and animals can feel tiny fore shocks that people can't. Before the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 people noticed that the small birds and pigeons were gone. They returned several days afterwords.

I feed the birds in my yard and before the 1994 earthquake in LA, I noticed that they weren't coming in for their food and I could not hear their usual chitterings and chirpings. Again, they came back later and resumed eating as if nothing had happened. My cats are always extremely nervous and irritable before we have a trembler. They pace and talk and are generally pretty jumpy and irritable. After it is over they are themselves again.

I have to tell you that if I could sense earthquakes, I'd find a nice hotel far from the epicenter and check in there. The animals have the right idea.

[joeybee12]

43. The answer is they went looking for food as global warming is disrupting

the ocean and it's not prodcuing enough for them in the now warmer waters.

[pinniped]

45. Nah. The sea lions just got tired of hanging around the wharf with all those cheesy....

tourist shops.