Weekly Ocean News

WEEK TEN: 7 - 11 November 2016

For Your Information

NOAA Tide Tables for 2017 are available -- NOAA's National Ocean Service has announced that the 2017 NOAA Tide Tables and Tidal Current Tables are now available. These annual tide predictions and tidal current predictions, which represent the 151th edition, can be obtained online for US coastal stations; printed tide tables are also available. [NOAA National Ocean Service News] Last year, a narrative along with a timeline visualization of the evolution of the NOAA Tide Tables since the first tide tables for locations along the East Coast of the United States when first published by the US Coast Survey in 1853. The changes in the methods used to compute the tide tables over the last 150 years are also described. [NOAA National Ocean Service News]
Perigean spring tide to occur early next week with a supermoon -- The moon will reach its full moon phase early next Monday morning at 1352Z (8:52 AM EST, 7:52 AM CST, etc.) on 14 November. This full moon will occur approximately 2 hours after perigee, when the moon is closest to Earth in its elliptical orbit. Since the moon will come within 221,524 miles of Earth, it is called a "supermoon," as its closeness would make the moon appear larger than usual. In fact, this full moon will be the closest supermoon of the year. In fact, this full moon will be the closest supermoon of the year. The closeness of the moon and increased gravitational pull will cause an increase in the height of ocean tides over next weekend, resulting in what is called a "perigean spring tide" (or King Tide). [EarthSky] [NOAA National Ocean Service Facts]
Free admission into the National Parks -- The National Park Service has been designated Veterans Day (Friday, 11 November 2016) as being a part of its fee-free days program, which in this case is to honor the nation's veterans. This fee waiver will cover entrance and commercial tour fees in many of the national parks and monuments administered by the Park Service. [National Park Service Fee Free Days] Special observances for veterans will be held at several military parks, battlefields and historic sites. [National Park Service Military Honor]
Celebrate Geography Awareness Week -- Next week (13-19 November 2016) has been identified as Geography Awareness Week. National Geography Awareness Week, launched by presidential proclamation in 1987, is designed to draw attention to geo-literacy and "the importance of geographic understanding in ensuring our nation's economic competitiveness, national security, environmental sustainability, and the livability of our communities in the 21st century." Since the US National Park Service is celebrating its 100th anniversary, this year's Geography Awareness Week theme is "Explore the Power of Parks."
Hydrothermal vent organisms -- You are invited to read this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth that describes how geoscientists have investigated the deep-sea environment in the vicinity of hydrothermal vents that form along the oceanic ridges nearly 3000 meters below the ocean surface. Interestingly, a diverse and abundant community of marine organisms has been found to live in these extreme oceanic conditions.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the Tropics -- During the last week tropical cyclone activity was confined to the western North Pacific basin. Tropical Storm Meari formed from a tropical depression late last week to the southwest of Guam. This tropical storm traveled generally toward the north. Over this past weekend, Meari intensified to a category 2 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale as it traveled to the . As of early Monday (local time), Typhoon Meari was traveling toward the northeast as it was located approximately 300 miles to the southeast of Iwo To, Japan (also know as Iwo Jima). Current forecasts indicate that Typhoon Meari should continue traveling toward the northeast across the open ocean and should not pose a threat to the main Japanese islands located to the north and west of the projected track. Additional information and satellite images on Meari are available on the NASA Hurricane Page.
NOAA director makes statement on new marine protected area in Ross Sea -- Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, the NOAA Administrator and Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, wrote a statement one week ago concerning the historic announcement of a Marine Protected Area in Antarctic's Ross Sea. [NOAA News]
Inspecting nation's largest estuary from space -- Researchers from NOAA, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the University of Maryland and other institutions have been collecting and analyzing data obtained from sensors onboard NASA's fleet of satellites to evaluate the changes in the water chemistry, the sediment and the amount of phytoplankton and other organisms within the waters of Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest estuary. [NASA Earth Observatory]
This year's algal bloom in Lake Erie was relatively "mild" -- NOAA's National Center for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) recently reported in its "Experimental Lake Erie Harmful Algal Bloom Bulletin" that the bloom of Microcystis cyanobacteria in Lake Erie during 2016 was "mild" compared to the last few years and with last year's record bloom. However, in the western section of the Lake's basin, this year's bloom biomass was more toxic than in 2015, but less than half the toxicity of 2014. Comparison of the two true-color images obtained from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instruments onboard the NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite taken during the second weeks of October 2015 and 2016 show that the extent of the algal blooms in Lake Erie this year was much smaller than that at the same time last year. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory]
Assistance provided to help New England respond to unprecedented harmful algal bloom -- The NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) has awarded funds to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, MA and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, ME to map the spatial extent of the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia bloom in the coastal waters of the Gulf of Maine, as well as to determine the oceanographic conditions contributing to the bloom's toxicity and distribution. Maine state managers are using these data to inform shellfish harvest closures and mitigate the impact of the bloom. [NOAA NCCOS News]
Underwater data collected to map the Virgin Islands' deep coral reefs -- Scientists from NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) collected numerous underwater photographs and videos from the waters in the Caribbean Sea between Vieques Island and St. John in the US Virgin Islands that are intended to support the development of a new benthic habitat map that will depict the distribution of mesophotic coral reef ecosystems, which represent light dependent coral and algae, found in water with low light penetration on the insular shelf. The photos and videos were from the mesophotic ocean depths that are at depths ranging from 30 to 100 meters. [NOAA NCCOS News]
Climate scientist explains the "terrifying" trends of climate change -- Galen McKinley, the Bryson Professor in the Nelson Institute's Center for Climatic Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was recently interviewed about the consequences of the projected climate change in the future that have been deemed "terrifying" by President Obama this past September. [Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies: University of Wisconsin-Madison News]
Impacts of contributions of individuals to climate change are calculated -- Researchers from the National Snow & Ice Data Center in Boulder, CO and Germany's Max Planck Institute for Meteorology have developed a scheme that they claim provides the public with a better way of grasping the impact that an individual's contribution would have on Earth's changing climate, in particular upon disappearance of summer sea ice in the Arctic. According to the researchers' calculations, three square meters of summer sea ice would disappear in the Arctic for every metric ton of carbon dioxide gas that a person directly or indirectly produces. [National Snow & Ice Data Center Newsroom]
Diminished sea ice could "heat up" naval operations in Arctic Ocean -- Scientists sponsored by the US Navy's Office of Naval Research have been investigating the role that diminishing sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has upon the expansion of navigable waters in that ocean. The scientists measured the strength and intensity of waves and swells moving through the weakened Arctic sea ice and used used sophisticated oceanographic and acoustic sensors to gauge temperature, salinity, ice and ambient noise conditions under the surface of the ice and water.[US Navy Office of Naval Research News]
Crucial symbiotic relationship between algae and coral dates back to the Triassic -- An international team of scientists have found that a mutually beneficial or symbiotic relationship between algae and coral began more than 210 million years ago during the Triassic Period, a time of massive worldwide coral-reef expansion. The coral reefs provide algae with shelter, while the algae give coral reefs their colors and supplies both organisms with nutrients. [News at Princeton University]
Locating the "graveyard orbits" and the "afterlife" of satellites -- In keeping with the Halloween season, NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) posted an article describing where inoperative and decommissioned Earth-orbiting satellites reside after their service in monitoring the planet's atmosphere, oceans and climate. Some low orbiting satellites will naturally reenter the atmosphere and burn up within 25 years, while others will have to be subjected to controlled maneuver that takes them out of orbit. The satellites in a geosynchronous orbit are sent into "graveyard orbits" that are at least 200 miles farther away from Earth and away from the orbits for functional geosynchronous satellites. [NOAA NESDIS News]
An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA's National Weather Service, FAA and FEMA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAA/NWS Daily Briefing]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

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. 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 13 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 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:

7 November 1837...One of the most intense hurricanes ever to strike Hawaii brought winds of 115 mph to Hilo, killing 730 people. (National Weather Service files)
8 November 1870...The first storm warning was issued by Professor Increase A. Lapham of the U.S. Signal Corps Weather Service as a cautionary forecast for the Great Lakes. Lapham believed that warnings of deadly storms on the Great Lakes could be derived from telegraphed weather observations. A bill was introduced and signed into law to establish a national telegraphic weather service. The Signal Corps began taking observations one week early on 1 November 1870. (National Weather Service files)
8 November 1994...The twelfth and final tropical cyclone of the Atlantic hurricane season formed on this day in the southwestern Caribbean. While Hurricane Gordon was only a Category 1, it still killed 1,149 individuals, including 1,122 in Haiti. (National Weather Service files)
8 November 2013...Super Typhoon Haiyan struck the central Philippines with 16 foot waves, a foot of rain, and winds on land of 147 mph gusting to 170 mph (winds of 195 mph with gusts to 235 mph were estimated when the system had been over open water). Five to six thousand people were estimated to have perished. (National Weather Service files)
9 November 1913...The "Freshwater Fury," a rapidly deepening extratropical cyclone, caused unpredicted gales on the Great Lakes. Seventeen ships, including eight large ore carriers on Lake Erie sank drowning 270 sailors. Cleveland, OH reported 17.4 in. of snow in 24 hrs, and a storm total of 22.2 in., both all-time records for that location. During the storm, winds at Cleveland averaged 50 mph, with gusts to 79 mph. The storm produced sustained winds of 62 mph at Port Huron, MI, wind gusts to 80 mph at Buffalo, NY. (9^th-11^th) (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
9 November 1932...An unnamed hurricane struck Cuba, with winds reaching approximately 210 mph at Nuvitas. However, a storm surge was the main killer of 2500 of the 4000 residents of Santa Cruiz del Sur. Essentially no storm records exist, as the observer drowned, with records and instruments washed away. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
9-12 November 1970...One of the worst cyclones in recent history hit the coast of Bangladesh. Storm surges of 13 to 16 feet combined with high tides and more than 10 inches of rain caused incredible flooding and killed more than 300,000 people. (National Weather Service files)
10 November 1835...A severe storm crossed the Great Lakes and "swept the lakes clear of sail" as 19 ships were lost and 254 sailors killed on Lakes Erie, Ontario and Michigan. (Intellicast)
10 November 1975...Another "freshwater fury" hit the Great Lakes. A large ore carrier on Lake Superior, the Edmund Fitzgerald, sank near Crisp Point with the loss of its crew of 29 men. Eastern Upper Michigan and coastal Lower Michigan were hardest hit by the storm, which produced wind gusts to 71 mph at Sault Ste Marie, MI and gusts to 78 mph at Grand Rapids, MI. Severe land and road erosion occurred along the Lake Michigan shoreline. A popular song by Gordon Lightfoot was inspired by the storm. (David Ludlum) (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
Editor's note: In 2000, the NOAA National Weather Service Forecast Office at Marquette, MI created a web page commemorating the 25^th anniversary of the sinking and describing the advances in marine weather forecasting over the last quarter century. EJH
10 November 1993...Violent storm over the Black Sea closed the Russian oil terminal port of Novorossisk for 20 days. "Bora" winds reported as high as 112 mph sank at least seven ships. (The Weather Doctor)
11 November 1099...Violent storm in the North Sea killed 100,000 people in England and The Netherlands. (The Weather Doctor)
12 November 1956...(date approximate) The crew on the icebreaker USCGC Glacier saw what may have been the world's largest iceberg. Observed about 150 mi west of Antarctica's Scott Island, the iceberg was about 60 mi wide by 208 mi long, or roughly the size of Maryland. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
12 November 1974...A salmon was caught in the River Thames, England - the first in more than 130 years. (Today in Science History)
13 November 1970...A cyclone swept over Bangladesh, then known as East Pakistan, pushing a 49-ft storm surge against the coast at high tide. Flooding killed 500,000. Over 50 million people were affected by the storm rain, wind and surge. (The Weather Doctor)
13 November 2002...The single-hulled oil tanker Prestige sank off Spain's Galician coast, causing a huge oil spill. (Wikipedia)