Hawaiian Island to Evict Over-Friendly Seal

Forecast calls for normal year, less severe than recent years

(NEWSER) - Hurricane forecasters say this looks to be a pretty standard year for the Atlantic, with one to three major hurricanes expected in the six-month season that begins June 1. Some specifics from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration :

• Expect nine to 15 named storms, meaning winds reach at least 39mph

Number will drop 'precipitously' by 2020

(NEWSER) - If you like to complain about the unreliability of the weather forecast, get ready to rant: The weather satellites orbiting the Earth are "beginning a rapid decline" in both quality and quantity, a new report finds, and squeezed budgets mean replacements may not be forthcoming. NASA and NOAA Earth observation missions are at 23 this year, but will see a "precipitous" drop to just six by 2020, while the number of satellites monitoring the Earth will drop from 110 last year to less than 30 in the same time period. More»

Around 35% probably evaporated, model suggests

(NEWSER) - The Deepwater Horizon disaster has led to the release of million of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, but figuring out where it all is has proven kind of hard. Roughly 4.6 million gallons seem to have pooled into a shape-shifting blob off the coast of Louisiana, and some has washed up as far away as Alabama. But even more is unaccounted for, and it's unclear where it'll ultimately wind up. More»

Humpback is enmeshed in hundreds of feet of fishing line

(NEWSER) - Rescue teams are battling rough seas in an effort to save a young humpback whale tangled in hundreds of feet of heavy rope off the coast of Hawaii. A transmitter was attached to the rope after earlier efforts to free the whale failed, and the whale's position is being tracked by satellite. Marine experts have been working to rescue the whale since they were alerted to its plight by a tour boat on Tuesday. More»

Omnipresent fowl frustrate locals, tourists

(NEWSER) - Chickens are running amok on the Hawaiian island of Kauai—and they’re not letting locals or tourists forget it. “Those blasted birds won't let me sleep,” one human resident tells the Wall Street Journal. “They make a racket all day and night.” The birds first tasted freedom after a 1992 hurricane that opened the pens of domestic chickens as well as competitors in an underground cockfighting scene. More»