WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

20-24 November 2017

This week is Thanksgiving Break for the Fall 2017 offering of this course. This Weekly Ocean News contains new information items and historical data, but the Concept of the Week is repeated from Week 11.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving Week from the AMS Ocean Central Staff and Ed Hopkins!

Items of Interest

Nation's newest polar-orbiting weather satellite is launched -- During the predawn hours of Saturday morning, the new JPSS-1 Polar Orbiting Weather Satellite (JPSS-1) lifted off from California's Vandenberg AFB on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket and successfully placed into orbit. JPSS-1, which will eventually be renamed NOAA 20, is the first of four highly advanced polar-orbiting satellites that NASA will be launch for NOAA. [NASA Press Release] This satellite is equipped with three instruments that will provide meteorologists with observations of atmospheric temperature and water vapor, clouds, sea-surface temperature, ocean color, sea ice cover, volcanic ash, and wildfires. It is designed to improve the accuracy of NOAA's weather forecasts out to seven days. [NOAA NCEI News] Slightly more than three weeks ago, NOAA celebrated the launch of the NOAA/NASA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite on 28 October 2011. Suomi NPP marks a bridge between NOAA's legacy Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (or POES) and NOAA's next generation Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) weather satellites. [NOAA Satellite and Information Service]
Species dominance and ocean properties -- Discover how variations in both the physical and chemical properties of ocean waters can be accompanied by changes in the dominance of the various species of marine life in this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics --- Only one tropical cyclone was reported across the tropical ocean basins of the Northern Hemisphere during the past week. Tropical Storm Kirogi formed late last Thursday (local time) from Tropical Depression 31 W (TD 31W) that was located over the waters of the South China Sea approximately 60 miles to the northwest of Puerto Princesa, a city on Palawan Island in the western Philippines. Over this past weekend Kirogi traveled generally to the west across the South China Sea toward the coast of Vietnam as a minimal tropical storm. As of late Sunday (local time), Kirogi had weakened to a tropical depression with signs of dissipating as it was located approximately 160 miles to the east-northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Torrential rains accompanying Kirogi were expected to exacerbate the flooding across southern Vietnam produced by Typhoon Damrey earlier this month. Consult the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite imagery for Tropical Storm Kirogi (formerly, TD 31W).
Two historic shipwrecks discovered in waters of northern Lake Huron -- During this past summer, researchers at NOAA's Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary discovered the lost wrecks of the Choctaw, a 267-foot steel semi-whaleback steamer that sank in the waters of Lake Huron in July 1915, and the Ohio, a 202-foot wooden bulk carrier that sank in September 1894. The researchers employed unmanned aircraft systems and autonomous underwater vehicles in their discovery efforts. These recently discovered shipwrecks, along with more than 100 known shipwrecks are located in the waters of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, which is off the northeastern shore of Lower Michigan. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries News]
List of foreign fisheries developed to help evaluate scope of marine bycatch -- Officials with NOAA Fisheries recently released a draft List of Foreign Fisheries that is intended to determine the scope of marine mammal bycatch in global commercial fisheries. Currently, this list contains the evaluation of 3990 foreign fisheries that export fish and fish products to the United States and offers a review of regulatory programs in more than 135 nations that address marine mammal bycatch in commercial fishing operations. [NOAA Fisheries News]
Annual International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas meeting -- The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) is currently holding its 25th Regular Meeting of the Commission in Marrakech, Morocco (14 to 22 November 2017). ICCAT is an inter-governmental fishery organization responsible for the conservation of tunas and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean.[European Commission Fisheries]
A 50-year statistical reconstruction of chlorophyll measurements made for the Pacific basin -- A team of researchers from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, NOAA's Center for Satellite Applications and Research, and the University of Maryland has created a statistical reconstruction of chlorophyll measurements made across the Pacific Ocean between 1958 and 2008. This reconstruction, which involved both traditional oceanographic sampling and satellite observations, provides the first basin-wide view of the monthly changes in chlorophyll associated with changes in phytoplankton especially in the tropical Pacific. Three maps of the Pacific basin reflect differences in the distribution and amount of chlorophyll associated with a strong La Niña event in 1973, a very strong, basin-wide El Niño event in 1982, and a strong Central Pacific El Niño in 1987. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Satellite shows how Alaskan dust storm helps fuel offshore phytoplankton bloom -- A natural-color image of the coastal region of southern Alaska and the Gulf of Alaska near Prince William Sound was obtained from data collected by the MODIS sensor onboard NASA's Aqua satellite on the previous weekend. This image shows brown colored plumes of dust being carried southward from land out over the waters of the Gulf of Alaska due to late autumn dust storms and green colored coastal waters where phytoplankton blooms have developed. Research by scientists from NASA, the US Geological Survey and other organizations indicates that dust storms provide nutrients, such as iron, to the Gulf of Alaska, which help promote phytoplankton growth. [NASA Earth Observatory]
NOAA Fisheries global fisheries management efforts are highlighted -- The director of NOAA Fisheries' Office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection recently posted a message describing how his agency has been working to achieve globally sustainable resources and conservation of living marine resources, while ensuring that the nation's fishers have access to high-seas fisheries. He noted two achievements that involved implementing new regulations: The Seafood Import Monitoring Program, which established traceability requirements for certain priority fish species entering U.S. commerce; and The international import provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which require that seafood exported to the United States is from fisheries with measures in place to reduce the bycatch of marine mammals that are comparable in effectiveness to U.S. measures. [NOAA Fisheries]
The climate observing system of the future is being designed -- A committee of 28 scientists, including the heads of four NOAA research laboratories, recently published an article entitled "Designing the Climate Observing System of the Future" in which they call for climate observations to be made by a system that is planned in a comprehensive, focused manner and adequately addressing the full range of climate needs. They suggest an approach where priority is given to the seven important topics associated with the Grand Challenges identified by the World Climate Research Programme: Melting Ice and Global Consequences; Clouds, Circulation and Climate Sensitivity; Carbon Feedbacks in the Climate System; Understanding and Predicting Weather and Climate Extremes; Water for the Food Baskets of the World; Regional Sea-Level Change and Coastal Impacts; and Near-term Climate Prediction. [NOAA Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research News]
United Nations climate change conference adjourns -- The twenty-third session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) and the thirteenth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 13) adjourned last Friday (17 November 2017) in Bonn, Germany. Delegates from over 190 countries agreed to a 12-month engagement focusing on "Where are we, where do we want to go and how do we get there?" A list of outcomes and highlights of this 2017 UN Climate Conference was provided. The 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 24) to the UNFCCC will take place from 3-14 December 2018, in Katowice, Slaskie, Poland. [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP 23]
Major shifts in Colorado River found during its history -- Researchers from the University of Oregon and the US Geological Survey have found that over the course of its history spanning millions of years, the Colorado River in the Southwestern US has undergone several major changes in its course from the Colorado Plateau to the Gulf of California. The researchers claim that shifts in underlying bedrock and changing sea levels have influenced the path of lower stretches of the river, including a series of stops and starts between approximately 6.3 and 4.8 million years ago. [University of Oregon Academics & Research]
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]

This Concept of the Week is repeated from last week.

Concept of the Week: Living Coral and El Niño

El Niño episodes of 1982-83 and 1997-1998, the most intense of the 20th century, confirmed the connection between higher than average ocean temperatures and bleaching of hermatypic corals. (Hermatypic corals live in warm shallow water and build large reefs.) Water temperatures higher than 29°C (the normal maximum sea surface temperature in the equatorial eastern Pacific) can trigger expulsion of zooxanthellae, microscopic dinoflagellates whose symbiotic relationship with coral polyps is essential for the long-term survival of coral. Without zooxanthellae, coral polyps have little pigmentation and appear nearly transparent on the coral's white skeleton, a condition known as coral bleaching. If maximum temperatures are not too high for too long, corals can recover, but prolonged warming associated with an intense El Niño (that may persist for 12 to 18 months) can be lethal to coral. Most hermatypic corals thrive when the water temperature is 27°C, but do not grow when the water becomes too cold. Although the ideal temperature varies with species and from one location to another, the temperature range for optimal growth is quite narrow--only a few Celsius degrees. This sensitivity to relatively small changes in water temperature is an important source of information on past climates as fossil coral is a significant component of many limestones. Evidence of bleaching episodes in fossil corals may yield important clues to past changes in the world's tropical ocean.

Coral, sometimes referred to as "the rainforests of the ocean," provides a base for local ecosystems and have many benefits (e.g., fisheries, tourism) that are important in many parts of the globe. Hence, vulnerability to El Niño-associated warming is an object of considerable scientific interest. During the 1997-98 Niño, NOAA charted significant coral bleaching from portions of the Great Barrier Reef near Australia, French Polynesia in the south Pacific, in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Kenya, and around the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. Closer to home, coral bleaching was reported in the Florida Keys, the Cayman Islands, and off the Pacific coast of Panama and Baja California. Fortunately, damage from the 1997-98 El Niño warming was less drastic than the 1983-84 El Niño when up to 95% of the corals in some locations died. Many of the corals damaged in the late 1990s have at least partially recovered including important reefs in the Florida Keys. For additional information on coral status, go to the NOAA website http://www.coralreef.noaa.gov/.

Historical Events:

20 November 1820...The 238-ton American whaler Essex from Nantucket, MA was attacked by an 80-ton bull sperm whale approximately 2000 miles off the western coast of South America. Of the 20 crew members that escaped in three open boats, only five survived the 83-day journey to the coastal waters of South America. The classic novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville (1851) was inspired in part by the story of the Essex. (The History Channel)
20 November 1985...Kate intensified to a major Category 3 Hurricane and as she moved west of Key West, Florida with top winds of 115 mph and a minimum central pressure of 954 millibars or 28.17 inches of mercury. The next day Kate made landfall between Panama City and Apalachicola, Florida. Tides ran 8 to 10 feet above normal. Many houses were damaged by fallen trees. Many power poles and lines were downed. Several roads were washed out. (National Weather Service files)
21 November 1987...Truk Island (Federated States of Micronesia at 7.4 degrees N, 151.7 degrees E) was struck by the rapidly intensifying Tropical Storm Nina, as winds gusted to 95 mph. Five died, and most buildings were destroyed. A storm of such intensity so close to the equator is somewhat unusual. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
21 November 1994...Hurricane Gordon caused 1122 deaths in Haiti, mostly in mudslides. Eight died when Gordon came ashore in Florida as a category 1 hurricane with winds of 85 mph. Over 14 inches of rain fell at Fort Lauderdale. The storm caused an estimated damage of $400 million in the US alone. (National Weather Service files)
22 November 1992...Supertyphoon Gay generated gusts up to 120 mph on Guam in the western Pacific. Only one injury was sustained. Earlier, when at its peak approximately 1000 miles southeast of Guam, Super typhoon Gay had sustained surface winds estimated to 185 mph with gusts to 225 mph. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
23 November 1869...The clipper ship, the Cutty Sark, was launched at Dumbarton, Scotland. This three-masted and 212-foot long ship was one of the last clipper ships to be built and is the only one surviving to the present day, residing in a dry dock at Greenwich, England. (Wikipedia)
23 November 1912...The Rouse Simmons (also known as "The Christmas Tree Ship") was a three-masted schooner famous for sinking during a violent storm on Lake Michigan on this day. The ship was bound for Chicago with a cargo of Christmas trees when it foundered off the coast of Two Rivers, WI, killing all on board. (National Weather Service files)
23-24 November 1981...Typhoon Irma, the worst in 10 years, struck north central Philippines (mostly Luzon) with winds to 139 mph and a storm surge of 16 feet. More than 236 people died, while 600,000 were made homeless. Entire provinces were left without power or communication. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
24 November 1982...Hurricane Iwa lashed the Hawaiian Islands of Niihau, Kauai, and Oahu with high winds and surf. Winds gusting to 120 mph caused extensive shoreline damage. Winds at Honolulu gusted to 81 mph. Damage totaled 150 million dollars on Kauai, and fifty million dollars on Oahu. The peak storm surge on the south shore was six to eight feet. It marked the first time in 25 years that Hawaii had been affected by a hurricane. (The Weather Channel)
26 November 1703...Bristol England was damaged by a hurricane. The Royal Navy lost 15 warships.
26 November 1778...Captain James Cook of the British Royal Navy became the first European to discover Maui in the Sandwich Islands (later renamed the Hawaiian Islands). (Wikipedia)
26 November 1847...LT William Lynch, USN, sailed from New York to Haifa on USS Supply for an expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea. His group charted the Jordan River from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea and compiled reports of the flora and fauna of the area. (Naval Historical Center)
26 November 1888...A late season hurricane brushed the East Coast with heavy rain and gale force winds. The hurricane passed inside Nantucket and over Cape Cod, then crossed Nova Scotia. (David Ludlum)
26 November 1966...The world's first tidal power station was opened at Rance estuary in the French province of Brittany. This power plant, fitted with reversible turbines, generates 500 million kilowatt-hours annually. (Today in Science History)
26-28 November 1898...The "Portland" storm raged across New England producing gale force winds along the coast and heavy snow inland. A foot of snow blanketed Boston, MA, and 27 inches fell at New London, CT. Winds at Boston gusted to 72 mph, and wind gusts to 98 mph were estimated at Block Island, RI. A passenger ship, the S.S. Portland, sank off Cape Cod with the loss of all 191 persons aboard, and Boston Harbor was filled with wrecked ships. The storm wrecked 56 vessels resulting in a total of 456 casualties. (26^th- 28^th) (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)