North Atlantic Hurricanes

It's been a hot summer and we are nearing the peak of the hurricane season.  Hurricane Earl (2010)  is headed up the Atlantic coast.   I remember driving from New York just ahead of Hurricane Floyd (1999) which dumped more that a foot of rain on New York and New England.   Floyd was downgraded to a tropical storm (see tropical cyclone scales ) from a strong Category 4 hurricane by the time it hit NY and NE.

Here's a nice false color infra-red satellite image of Earl from NOAA.

Earl is located at about 22N, 68W about 300 miles NW of San Juan, PR.
The forecast track is shown below (source National Hurricane Center, NOAA)

Bizarre Whale Leap on Boat

Photo taken off Cape Town, South Africa.

A recent news story from South Africa.  A  southern right whale jumped onto a boat under sail.  An incredible photo was captured from a trailing boat.  The picure seems so well timed that it looks made up. If real, it's amazing.