Weekly Ocean News

DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK TEN: 2-6 April 2007

Ocean in the News:

(Thurs.) Fisheries scientist in the spotlight -- The NOAA Magazine recently featured Steve Murawski, the Director of Scientific Programs and Chief Science Advisor at NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service and the leader of NOAA’s Ecosystem Goal Team. In addition to his involvement with the national fisheries, he is responsible for the mobilization of interagency teams that respond to ecosystem issues. [NOAA Magazine]
(Thurs.) California warms -- A team of scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and California State University, Los Angeles have determined that during the second half of the 20th century average temperatures across California have risen by nearly two Fahrenheit degrees, with the greatest warming occurring in urban areas. In addition to urbanization and increases in population, the researchers attribute some of the increased temperatures across the Golden State to increases in sea surface temperatures of Pacific coastal waters of up to 0.16 Fahrenheit degrees per decade associated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), as ascertained in part from NASA's Jason satellite altimeter. [NASA Earth Observatory] Graphics are provided at JPL site. [Editor's note: One of the study's researchers, Dr. Steve LaDochy of California State University, Los Angeles, is a valued long-time member of the AMS Education Program, serving as a LIT Leader. EJH]
(Thurs.) New desalination and sewage plants displayed -- Israel recently marked International Water Day by displaying one of its most efficient desalination plants to demonstrate how it can produce fresh water from seawater. [US Water News Online]
(Tues.) Tsunami update -- There are at least 28 confirmed deaths although many more are expected after the 5-m tsunami wave struck the Solomons destroying almost 1000 homes leaving 5000 homeless. Deaths were also listed in New Guinea. [CNN]
(Tues.) Dolphin-safe tuna products website launched -- The NOAA Fisheries Service recently launched a website identified as "DolphinSafe.Gov" that provides the public including consumers and producers with information and requirements concerning the display of a label on those tuna products certifying that dolphins were not intentionally surrounded by nets or harmed during the tuna catch. [NOAA News]
(Tues.) Analysis made of air-sea momentum transfer in major hurricane -- Using wind and wave data collected from an array of moored instrumented buoys as Hurricane Ivan (a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Intensity Scale) moved across the Gulf of Mexico, scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory - Stennis Space Center directly calculated the air-sea momentum exchange at the atmosphere-ocean interface. This momentum exchange, which is a function of the wind speed, is an important factor in the development of wind-driven ocean currents and storm surges. [EurekAlert!]
(Tues.) A portrait of a Caribbean island -- A photograph recently made by an astronaut on the International Space Station shows Guanaja Island and the surrounding coral reef in the western Caribbean. [NASA Earth Observatory]
(Tues.) Ocean model mimics microbial life cycles -- Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed an ocean model that is sufficiently sophisticated that it simulates the growth of marine phytoplankton, with ten years of evolution compressed into five days of computing. [EurekAlert!]
(Tues.) Biodegradable plastic could be a boon for cruise ships -- Scientists at the University of Southern Mississippi have developed a new type of plastic that safely degrades in seawater, which they claim could provide an answer for the waste storage problem that cruise and other ships face on long voyages, [EurekAlert!]
Tsunami hits Solomon Islands with potentially disastrous results -- An earthquake with a magnitude of at least 8.0 was reported in the Solomon Islands of the western South Pacific Ocean on Monday (local time), resulting in a small tsunami. The tsunami, which had heights of nearly 15 feet in some locations, was reported to have hit several villages in the Solomons, leaving four people missing on the island of Mono. A tsunami warning was issued for the Pacific Rim countries, including Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia, while tsunami advisories were posted for coastal sections of North America, including Alaska, British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest. [CNN]
April is Tsunami Awareness Month in Hawaii -- The State of Hawaii and the National Weather Service Office in Honolulu have declared April as Tsunami Awareness Month in the Aloha State. The National Weather Service Office is also hosting the International Tsunami Information Center in conjunction with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO. [International Tsunami Information Center]
Tropical cyclones detected over Southern Hemisphere waters --- Austral autumn has meant that tropical cyclone (hurricane) activity continues across the tropical waters off Australia:
- In the Indian Ocean, Tropical Cyclone Kara moved to the south-southwest off the northwest coast of Australia as shown by an image from the MODIS sensor on one of NASA's satellites. [NOAA OSEI]
- In the western South Pacific, Tropical Cyclone Becky was moving to the southeast near the Solomon Islands northeast of Australia as shown by an image from the Japanese MTSAT satellite. [NOAA OSEI]
Dust may have affected hurricane forecasts -- Researchers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center claim that airborne dust particles from several significant dust storms over Africa's Sahara Desert in June and July 2006 may have been responsible for causing a slight cooling of the surface waters of the tropical Atlantic, which ultimately resulted in a less active 2006 hurricane season in the North Atlantic basin from that of the previous year and from early forecasts made for the 2006 season. [NASA Earth Observatory] [Attention is directed to the NASA graphics of the sea surface temperatures during the 2005 and 2006 hurricane seasons.]
Polar expeditions can obtain Arctic Ocean satellite images -- Expeditions participating in the International Polar Year (IPY) currently underway can access the latest satellite radar images of sea ice conditions in the Arctic Ocean directly from the European Space Agency's Envisat satellite. [ESA]
A warm winter in the Arctic -- Scientists with the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research and the German Aerospace Centre recently reported that the just concluded winter was unseasonably mild, resulting in the lack of ice formation in the Arctic, such as around Spitzbergen. [EurekAlert!]
Call is made for improvements in ice sheet monitoring -- Citing recent rapid changes in the Antarctic Ice Sheet, European and American polar ice experts recently called for improved monitoring of these ice sheets to provide improved predictions of future sea-level rises that would be associated with melting of large ice sheets. [Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas]
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.

Concept of the Week: Solving the Mystery of Seamount Ecosystems

The United States Commission on Ocean Policy reports that less than 5% of the ocean floor has been explored. As noted in Chapter A of your textbook, this is beginning to change as scientists and engineers develop and apply new technologies to investigate deep ocean waters and the sea bottom. Consider, for example, the effort to better understand 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 to 2000 m (3300 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 scientific 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.

Concept of the Week: Questions

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

Historical Events:

2 April 1513...Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon came ashore on the Florida coast near present-day St. Augustine and claimed the territory for the Spanish crown. He is reported to be the first known European to set foot in Florida. (The History Channel)
2 April 1958...One of the most destructive coastal storms in years battered New England (31 March-3 April). Some beaches between Portland, ME and Cape Cod, MA were eroded by approximately 50 ft. Miles of sea walls and bulkheads were either breached or demolished. Many beachfront cottages in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine were sandblasted. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
2 April 1926....Baden-Baden, a rotor ship invented by Anton Flettner left Hamburg, Germany on a transatlantic crossing, arriving in New York on 29 May 1926. The ship used two 9-ft diameter, 50-ft high cylinders, mounted vertically on the deck at the bow and the stern for propulsion, utilizing the aerodynamic power of the Magnus Effect, which builds air pressure behind a rotating cylinder. (Today in Science History)
3 April 1797...Captain Thomas Truxtun, USN, devised and issued the first known American signal book using numerary system, encompassing 10 numeral pennants, made of combinations of red, white, blue, and yellow bunting, with flags for repeaters. This signal book contained approximately 300 signals. Fog signals were made by gunfire. Night signals were made by lanterns and gunfire. (Naval Historical Center)
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 Grover 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-hr 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)