25-29 April 2011

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2011 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 29 August 2011. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Item of Interest:

• National Science Bowl set for next weekend --
The US Department of Energy (DOE) National Science Bowl®, a nationwide academic competition for middle and high school students will be held this coming weekend (28 April-3 May 2011) in Washington, DC. This event will test students' knowledge in all areas of science and is meant to encourage high school students to excel in science and math and to pursue careers in those fields. [DOE Office of Science]

Ocean in the News:

• Eye on the tropics ---
During the last week, no organized tropical cyclones were detected over the world's ocean basins. However, in the North Atlantic basin, an area of low pressure developed during the midpoint of last week over the waters of the western Atlantic approximately 450 miles northeast of Puerto Rico. The National Hurricane Center issued a Special Tropical Weather Outlook for this low-pressure system, as this system had a small chance of becoming a tropical or subtropical cyclone. However, by the end of the region showed little organization despite deep convection. For additional information and satellite imagery on this "Tropical Low 1" in the Atlantic basin, consult the NASA Hurricane Page.
• Australian cyclone season rainfall estimated by satellites --
A map of the precipitation accumulated across Australia between January and April 2011 was generated by the Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis at NASA's Goddard Space Flight using data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. Most of the precipitation across northern Australia was from several tropical cyclones that traveled across the region and that had storm tracks plotted on the map. [NASA Hurricane Mission]
• Marine fisheries advisors are appointed to national committee --
Late last week, the US Department of Commerce announced the appoint of three new public advisors to the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, who will counsel the Secretary of Commerce and NOAA on national saltwater fishery management and laws that protect a variety of marine life. These new advisors are from American Samoa, Florida, and Georgia. [NOAA News]
• Local jobs and habitat supported by Florida wetlands restoration --
NOAA, the Ecosphere Restoration Institute, state and local partners celebrated the restoration of nearly 70 acres of wetlands that feed into Florida's Tampa Bay. This wetlands restoration project not only restores habitat, but also supports the creation of new jobs. [NOAA News]
• All federal Gulf waters reopened to fishing --
NOAA officials announced during the last week that all federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico closed to fishing following last year's BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill have been reopened. This declaration that opened the last closed area followed consultation with officials from the US Food and Drug Administration and the various Gulf Coast States. [NOAA News]
• Agreement reached to fund early Gulf Coast restoration projects --
During the last week, Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) trustees for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill from NOAA, the US Department of Interior and the five Gulf Coast states announced that $1 billion would be provided to fund early Gulf Coast restoration projects. [NOAA News]
• Historic ties between southern Louisiana and the oil industry --
On the first anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, researchers at Louisiana State University produced a study on how the oil industry has influenced the environment, the economics and the culture of southern Louisiana. [LSU]
• Changes to New England fishing season announced --
The Secretary for the US Department of Commerce, Gary Locke, and the NOAA Administrator, Dr. Jane Lubchenco, recently announced that with the beginning of the new fishing year next week in New England waters, the catch limits will be raised and more access will be given to small-vessel fishermen. [NOAA News]
• Guidelines to promote fisheries safety to be updated --
NOAA's Fisheries Service recently invited public input as the current National Standard 10 guidelines are being updated to promote safety in the nation's fisheries regulations. [NOAA News]
• NOAA seismic and tsunami expert to head Seismological Society of America --
Christa von Hillebrandt-Andrade, manager of the NOAA National Weather Service Caribbean Tsunami Warning Program, recently was elected the new president of the Seismological Society of America (SSA). [NOAA News]
• Propeller turbulence could affect marine food webs --
Researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science claim that turbulence generated by boat propellers kills large numbers of copepods, or small crustaceans that represent an important component in the marine food web. [Virginia Institute of Marine Science]
• Satellite-detected rings around tropical cyclones used to predict storm intensity --
Scientists at the University of Illinois have found that telltale structural rings in tropical cyclones revealed by passive microwave satellite data could be used to predict the sudden changes in the intensity of these tropical cyclones. [University of Illinois]
• Look locally for guidance in national marine management --
A team of natural and social scientists at Brown University, the University of Michigan, Oregon State University and Duke University has prepared a plan designed to advance the directive issued by President Obama for better management of the nation's coastal waters and the Great Lakes. They base their recommendations on a two-year investigation of marine management efforts made by more than two-dozen local and regional groups across the country. [Brown University]
• Fossil sea cows help provide view of ancient climate --
Scientists from the University of Wyoming and Kutztown University using isotopic analysis of sirenian (sea cows) fossils along with output from a climate simulation model have been able to ascertain the temperature and composition of sea water, and hence the climate, during the Eocene Epoch (approximately 50 million years ago) when the first modern mammals emerged. [NSF]
• An All-Hazards Monitor --
This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, drought, floods, marine weather, tsunamis, rip currents, Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and coral bleaching. [NOAAWatch]
• Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes --
A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, to include drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
• Earthweek --
Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

• 27 April 1521...The Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives during a tribal skirmish on Mactan Island in the Philippines after completing nearly three-quarters of a trip around the world. One of his ships, the Victoria, under the command of the Basque navigator Juan Sebastiżn de Elcano, continued west to arrive at Seville, Spain on 9 September 1522, the first ship to circumnavigate the globe. (The History Channel)
• 28 April 1947...Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl and five others set out in a balsa wood craft known as Kon Tiki to prove that Peruvian Indians could have settled in Polynesia. The trip took 101 days.
• 29 April 1770...The British explorer, Captain James Cook, arrived at and named Botany Bay, Australia. (Wikipedia)
• 30 April 1492...Spain gave Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration. (Wikipedia)
• 30 April 1894...An Antarctic iceberg fragment was sighted at a latitude comparable to Rio de Janeiro. Reported by the ship Dochra, this sighting remains the nearest to the equator that an iceberg has been seen. (Today in Science History)
• 30 April 1991...Southeast Bangladesh was devastated by a tropical cyclone with sustained winds of approximately 150 mph during the early morning. A 20-foot storm surge inundated offshore islands south of Chittagong, taking water from the Bay of Bengal inland for miles. This cyclone resulted in up to 200,000 deaths and $1.4 billion damage. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
• 1 May 1683...A patent was awarded in England for the extraction of salt from seawater. (Today in Science History)
• 1 May 1883...At Cape Lookout, NC, a storm tide swept over the island drowning sheep and cattle. (Intellicast)
• 1 May 1921...The first radio fog signals in the United States were placed in commission on Ambrose Lightship, Fire Island Lightship, and Sea Girt Light Station, NJ. These signals installed by the US Lighthouse Service were meant to guide ships approaching New York Harbor. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 1 May 1936...The Whaling Treaty Act outlawed the taking of right whales or calves of any whale. This law was enforced by the Coast Guard. (USCG Historian's Office)

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Prepared by AMS DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2011, The American Meteorological Society.