WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK ELEVEN: 14-18 November 2005

Ocean in the News:

• (Thurs.) Top fishing ports noted -- According to NOAA, Dutch Harbor, Alaska landed 886.4 million pounds of fish and shellfish in 2004 while New Bedford, Massachusetts had $206.5 million worth of fish hauled in. U.S. 2004 total fish landings were 9.6 billion pounds, valued at $3.7 billion dollars. [NOAA News]
• (Thurs.) Endangered killers -- The Southern Resident killer whales of Washington State's Puget Sound have diminished in numbers to where NOAA Northwest Fisheries have declared them endangered. Population declines were due to catches for aquariums in the '70s and now to boat traffic, toxic chemicals and decreased salmon as food sources. [NOAA News]
• (Tues.) Japanese earthquake triggers tsunami alert -- A magnitude 6.9 earthquake in the Pacific Ocean centered off the east coast of the main Japanese island of Honshu early Tuesday (local time) prompted a tsunami warning for the northeast Japanese coast, where waves of 12 to 20 inches above normal were anticipated. A tsunami informational alert was also issued for the coast of the British Columbia and the US Pacific Northwest. [CNN]
  See also map of the earthquake [http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/earthvu.gif] and forecasted travel times [http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/ttvu.gif], courtesy of NWS West Coast & Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.
• (Tues.) Mudslides blamed on tropical depression -- Torrential rains from Tropical Depression 27 buried two fishermen and destroyed several homes in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Monday. This tropical system formed in the southeastern Caribbean on Sunday and if it intensifies, would become Tropical Storm Gamma. [CNN]
• (Tues.) A benefit of "global warming" -- In a study recently released by the Norwegian Institute for Water Research, scientists claim that higher global temperatures would possibly benefit the salmon in Norwegian rivers because more rainfall would flush away or dilute accumulations of poisonous nitrates, especially during spring when young salmon smolt are most vulnerable. [ENN]
• (Tues.) "Intersex" fish found off California coast -- The first instance of fish with both male and female sex tissues was found in a marine environment near Los Angeles and Orange County wastewater discharge areas. While such mixed sex fish have been seen in freshwater, this is the first time wastewater contaminants have been linked to ocean fish. [ENN]
• (Tues.) An ancient sea monster discovered -- A skull of a fossilized marine relative to the crocodile, which discoverers nicknamed "Godzilla", was discovered in Argentina on a National Geographic-sponsored expedition. This fossil appears to be part of a marine animal that was nearly 12 feet long and lived in the Pacific Ocean approximately 135 million years ago. [The New Scientist]
• (Tues.) Human impact greater than tsunami on reef health -- A team of ecologists from James Cook University, the Wildlife Conservation Society-Indonesia Program, and Syiah Kuala University reported on their expedition to the coral reefs near the epicenter of the earthquake that triggered the major Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004. They report that damage by the tsunami was somewhat limited, but that damage by human activity has been more widespread. [EurekAlert!]
• (Tues.) Yellow Sea becoming a dead sea -- The Yellow Sea off the coast of China has become a dead zone according to the UN Environment Program, because of the nearly unabated contamination due to runoff from China and Korea. [Donga.com]
• Satellite altimeters study historic hurricane storm surges -- Onboard radar altimeters on the NOAA GOES12 geosynchronous satellite and several polar orbiting satellites (NASA's Jason-1/TOPEX and European Space Agency's Envisat and ERS-2) detected changes in the height of the ocean surface in the vicinity of two of this season's most intense hurricanes to hit the Gulf Coast States. These higher elevations in sea level were in part due to storm surge, but also to warmer water that helped supply latent energy to fuel the hurricanes.
  • Ocean altimeters onboard these satellites for the first time detected a hurricane storm surge as Hurricane Katrina traveled across the Gulf of Mexico toward the central Gulf coast in late August 2005. [NASA JPL]
  • Altimeters onboard these satellites also detected a storm surge as Hurricane Wilma initially crossed the Caribbean to the Yucatan Peninsula and then across the Gulf of Mexico toward southwest Florida in October 2005. [NASA JPL]
• Coastal restoration efforts suffer setback -- Experts with the US Geological Survey, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and the University of New Orleans report that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have not only destroyed valuable wetlands but have set back coastal restoration efforts along Louisiana's Gulf coast, making many areas vulnerable to storm surge accompanying future storms. [ENN]
• Have seabirds become too dumb? -- A scientist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks suggests that the populations of several seabird species on the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea dropped as the climate changed and the number of lipid-rich fish declined because the young birds lacked certain nutrients found in the fish, making the birds too stupid to survive. [The New Scientist]
• Where's the "Yellow Submarine"? -- A settlement has been made in the suit filed after a yellow submarine that would have been used for underwater tourist excursions off San Diego, CA was lost in a storm off Mexico's Baja California. The submarine has not been located. [San Diego Union-Tribune]
• An Indian canal could be a disaster -- Ecologists warn that India's dredging of a channel for a shipping route through the shoals of the Ram's Bridge between India and Sri Lanka could be disastrous. [The Independent]
• A satellite views a remote island volcanic eruption -- NASA recently released an image made from a radiometer onboard its polar orbiting Terra satellite of the eruption of Mount Belinda on one of the islands in the South Sandwich Island chain off South America's Cape Horn. Lava from this eruption has also been reported to have reached the ocean, resulting in steam plumes. [NASA]
• 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: Living Coral and El Niño

El Niño episodes of 1982-83 and 1997-1998, the most intense of the 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 El 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/.

Concept of the Week: Questions

1. Most hermatypic corals thrive at an ocean water temperature of [(10) (27)] °C.
2. Corals [(can) (cannot)] recover from bleaching if high ocean water temperatures are not long lasting.

Historical Events:

• 14 November 1825...The Codorus, the first ship made in the U.S. with sheet iron, was tested on the Susquehanna River at York, PA. The ship weighted five tons, of which two tons was for the coal- and wood- fueled boiler which provided power for an 8 hp engine. With a keel length of 60-ft and a 9-ft beam, the ship drew about seven inches of water. (Today in Science)
• 14-21 November 1991...Tropical Cyclone Tia spent most of its life near the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. However, it completely destroyed 90 percent of all dwellings on Tikopia Island. The remaining 10 percent of the buildings sustained collapsed walls or roofs that had been blown off. (Accord Weather Calendar)
• 15 November 1860...The light in the massive stone Minots Ledge Lighthouse at the entrance to Boston Harbor, which was built on the original site of the one lost in 1851, was exhibited. Work on the new lighthouse commenced in 1855 and was finished in 1860. "It ranks, by the engineering difficulties surrounding its erection and by the skill and science shown in the details of its construction, among the chief of the great sea-rock lighthouses of the world." (USCG Historians Office)
• 15 November 1888...The Norwegian oceanographer and meteorologist Harald Ulrik Sverdrup was born on this date. He was known for his studies of the physics, chemistry, and biology of the ocean. He died in August 1957. (Today in Science)
• 15 November 1854...In Egypt, a royal concession from Said was made that ultimately permitted construction of the Suez Canal linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. (Wikipedia)
• 17 November 1820...Captain Nathaniel Palmer, USN, became the first American to see Antarctica. He saw the Palmer Peninsula, which was later named after him. (Wikipedia)
• 17 November 1869...The Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas, was officially inaugurated in Egypt with an elaborate ceremony. (Wikipedia)
• 17 November 1973...The "Largest Icebreaker in the Western World," USCGC Polar Star, was launched. (USCG Historians Office)
• 18 November 1421...Wind-driven waves from an intense storm breached Dutch dikes on the Zuider Zee, sweeping away 72 villages. At least 10,000 people died in "St. Elizabeth's flood." (Accord Weather Calendar)
• 18 November 1929...A magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake centered on the Grand Banks off the south coast of Newfoundland broke 12 transatlantic telegraph cables and triggered a tsunami that destroyed many south coast communities on Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula. (Wikipedia)
• 19 November 1493...The explorer Christopher Columbus became the first European to go ashore on modern day Puerto Rico one day after seeing it for the first time. At the time, he named the island San Juan Bautista. (Wikipedia)
• 19 November 1978...A waterspout came onshore to become a tornado near Muhio Wharf in Hilo Harbor on Hawaii's Big Island. Some industrial buildings lost their roofs. The proximity of the waterspout-tornado caused an airliner to change its landing approach to Hilo's airport. (Accord Weather Calendar)
• 19 November 1996...The last component of the Confederation Bridge was placed that crosses the Northumberland Strait between Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island and Cape Jourimain, New Brunswick. This two-lane eight mile long bridge, which was opened in May 1997, is the longest bridge over ice covered salt waters in the world. Ice covers the strait for five months per year. (Today in Science)
• 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)

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Prepared by AMS DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2005, The American Meteorological Society.