On Sept. 8, a nature photographer named Marko Haug saw a moose near a reservoir in Paide, Estonia. When he approached, he saw that right where the moose had been standing, a 71-year-old woman who had gone missing was trapped in a ditch. “The most incredible thing,” Mr., is that the moose “stayed put in exactly the same place where the old lady was lying in the ditch — as if signaling or drawing attention.”

In November, the whale expert Jay Barlow and colleagues working in the Pacific off Mexico spotted some beaked whales, which are seldom seen. Examining their photos, they realized that not only were these beaked whales, they were also?, potentially a new species. Recordings of their calls appear to be unique. That a 15-foot-long animal has never before been detected underscores how much we have yet to learn about our fellow travelers on this lonely, lovely planet.