DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK TEN: 4-8 April 2005

• Need for global tsunami warning system voiced -- The Director of the National Weather Service, David L. Johnson, called for an improved global tsunami warning system following last week's major earthquake off the Indonesian coast, which did not produce a significant tsunami as originally feared. [NOAA News]
• April is Tsunami Awareness Month in Hawaii -- The National Weather Service along with state civil defense agencies in Hawaii conducted a statewide tsunami warning and response exercise last Friday, kicking off Hawaii's Tsunami Awareness Month activities. [NOAA News]
• Indian government concerned about damaged coral reefs -- Various agencies within the Indian government have indicated that a major issue of concern has turned to the damage to the coral reefs along the country's Indian Ocean coasts caused by last December's disastrous tsunami. [ENN]
• Indian Ocean observing network is developed -- A large observing network, sponsored by several nations and administered by the international Indian Ocean Panel, is being developed to monitor the ocean temperatures and currents in the Indian Ocean in order to understand how that ocean influences the conditions that produce episodes of rain and drought across those areas surrounding the Indian Ocean that are home to nearly two-thirds of the planet's population. [EurekAlert!]
• Safer navigation prompted with better charts -- NOAA officials recently released a report titled the "NOAA Hydrographic Survey Priorities for 2004" produced by the Office of Coastal Survey, which identifies and sets priorities for the navigational waters within the nation's territorial waters and the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. An important priority that this report identifies is the need to continue updating previous hydrographic surveys and the resulting maps in an effort to improve the navigational safety of the maritime community. [NOAA News]
• Helping to restore Chesapeake Bay oysters -- Several agencies within NOAA have been collaborating with other agencies in the federal and state governments along with environmental organizations and concerned citizens to clean and restore the waters of Chesapeake Bay, together with introducing resistant species so as to return the nation's largest estuary to a major oyster habitat. [NOAA Magazine]
• Population density increases along the nation's coastal areas -- A recently released NOAA report entitled "Population Trends Along the Coastal United States: 1980-2008" documents the finding that as of 2003, more than half the nation's population lived within a coastal area along the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes that comprises only 17 percent of the land area. This report also forecasts that the population densities along the coasts should continue to increase in the next five years, along with additional coastal development that could make these coastal areas more vulnerable to pollution and other coastal hazards. [NOAA Magazine]
• White shark released from captivity -- A great white shark that had been captured by a fisherman off the coast of southern California last August and taken to the Monterey Bay Aquarium was finally released into the Pacific Ocean late last week. [ENN]
• Russian pipelines rerouted to avoid whales -- The Royal Dutch/Shell Group, a major oil company that has been exploring for oil off Far Eastern Russia's Sakhalin Island to the north of Japan, has announced that it plans to reroute an oil pipeline to avoid the feeding grounds of the endangered gray whale in the Sea of Okhotsk. [ENN]
• Oceans respond to climate changes in both hemispheres -- A team of researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Cardiff University have demonstrated that climate changes in both the northern and southern hemispheres are linked because the ocean circulation in the southern hemisphere has responded to sudden changes in the circulation in the northern hemisphere. [EurekAlert!]
• Termination of ice ages controlled by changes in orbital tilt -- Using a model based upon the rate at which sediment deposits upon the ocean floor, researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently reported that periodic changes in the tilt of the earth's spin axis on the order of 100,000 years appear to signal changes in the cycles in glaciation, primarily in the rapid termination of these glacial events. [EurekAlert!]
• Searching for disease cures in the Florida Strait -- With support from the State of Florida, the Harbor Branch Biomedical Expedition will begin a two-week expedition in the Straits of Florida in search of marine organisms that produce chemicals that could help cure diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's Disease. [EurekAlert!]
• Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, including drought, floods, and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

The United States Commission on Ocean Policy reports that less than 5% of the ocean floor has been explored. This is beginning to change as scientists and engineers develop and apply new technologies to investigate deep ocean waters and the sea bottom (refer to Chapter A in your DataStreme Ocean textbook). Consider, for example, the effort to obtain a better understanding of seamount ecosystems.

A seamount is a submarine mountain of volcanic origin (now extinct) that rises more than 1000 m (3300 ft) above the ocean floor. Usually a seamount summit is 1000 m to 2000 m (3300 ft to 6600 ft) below sea level. They occur as isolated peaks, chains (e.g., Emperor Seamounts in the North Pacific; New England chain in the North Atlantic), or clusters. The term "seamount" was first applied in 1936 to the Davidson Seamount located off the coast of Southern California. Scientists estimate that perhaps 30,000 dot the ocean floor with as many as two-thirds located on the Pacific Ocean bottom. However, fewer than one thousand seamounts have been named and only a handful of seamounts has received detailed scientific study.

In recent years, discovery of unique life forms on seamounts has spurred scientific interest in seamount ecosystems. Many nations, including the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, are supporting cruises to observe and collect specimens from seamount ecosystems. Seamount ecosystems are unusually productive and are home to unique species. Some seamount surveys have found that certain seamount species are endemic, that is, they live on only one seamount or a few nearby peaks. For example, up to one-third of all species living on some seamounts off New Caledonia are endemic while up to half of the invertebrates and fish on the Nazca seamount off Chile are endemic. In the northeast Pacific, large-scale eddies may transport larval fish from coastal environments to isolated seamounts located out at sea. Furthermore, some scientists argue that seamounts may function as stepping stones that allow for migration of species over lengthy periods--perhaps over millions of years. In addition, some seamounts may serve as aids to navigation for fish that migrate over long distances. For example, hammerhead sharks may use the magnetic field surrounding seamounts to find their way.

The recent effort to survey and explore seamount ecosystems has reached new urgency with the realization of the devastating impact of commercial fish trawlers on those ecosystems. In some cases, trawling has striped off most marine life (e.g., coral gardens) from the surface of seamounts leaving behind mostly bare rock. Typically, trawled seamounts have only half the biomass and considerably fewer species than undisturbed seamounts. Scientists anticipate that a better understanding of seamount ecosystems will help make the case for their conservation and inform the most effective strategies for their protection. Australia is one of the first nations to protect seamount ecosystems, establishing the Tasmanian Seamount Marine Reserve in 1999. The reserve covers 370 square km (140 square mi) and includes more than a dozen seamounts.

1. Seamounts are extinct submarine volcanoes that occur primarily in the [(Atlantic) (Pacific)(Southern)] Ocean.
2. Commercial fish trawling has [(little if any)(a devastating)] impact on seamount ecosystems.

• 4 April 1581...The famous English navigator, Francis Drake, completed his circumnavigation of the world (1577 to 1580) and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I. (Wikipedia).
• 6 April 1894...President Cleveland authorized enforcement of the Paris Award concerning the preservation of fur seals in Alaska. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 6 April 1909...The American explorer, Commander Robert E. Peary, USN, along with assistant Matthew Henson, and four Eskimos reported reaching the geographic North Pole; however, navigational errors may have meant that they were a few miles away from the exact pole. (Naval Historical Center) (The History Channel)
• 6 April 1913...USRC Seneca, a derelict destroyer (whose mission was to locate and destroy abandoned wrecks that were still afloat and a menace to navigation), inaugurated the Revenue Cutter Service's participation in the International Ice Patrol. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 8-10 April 1958...A global 48-hour precipitation record was established at Aurere, La Reunion Island, when 97.1 in. of rain from a tropical cyclone fell on the Indian Ocean island. (The Weather Doctor)
• 8-14 April 1984...Intense Tropical Cyclone Kaimsy crossed and re-crossed the northern portion of Madagascar. Winds exceeding 112 mph destroyed 80 percent of Antseranana and Mahajanga. Rainfall from this system totaled 27.99 in. Eighty-two people were killed and 100,000 were made homeless. Damage was greater than 150 million US dollars. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (The Weather Doctor)
• 9 April 1770...The English explorer, Captain James Cook, discovered Botany Bay on the Australian continent.
• 10 April 1877...The first of two great coastal storms struck the Virginia and North Carolina coasts. The Oregon Inlet was widened by three-quarters of a mile. The "entire topography of country is materially altered," according to a description of the altering of sand dunes at Cape Hatteras, NC. (Intellicast)
• 10 April 1998...Northeast winds at 40 mph on the 9^th and 10^th combined with high levels of Lake Erie produced waves to 14 ft along the lakeshore in Ottawa and Sandusky Counties in Ohio. Much damage resulted, along with the destruction of 10 houses. Bulldozers were needed to clear the debris from roads. Downtown Port Clinton streets were flooded. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)

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URL: DS Ocean/news.html
Prepared by AMS DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2005, The American Meteorological Society.