WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

7-11 December 2015

DataStreme Ocean will return for Spring 2016 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 18 January 2016. All the current online website products, including updated issues of Weekly Ocean News, will continue to be available throughout the winter break period.

Items of Interest:

• United Nations climate change conference continues in Paris -- The 2015 Paris Climate Conference, officially known as COP21 (for the 21st Conference of Parties), continues through this upcoming Friday, 11 December. This conference, which was to attract 50,000 participants from numerous nations, is intended to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping the global temperature rise below 2 Celsius degrees. [COP21 Paris]
  Many media sources are providing ongoing commentaries.  Among these sources are Andrew Revkin'sDot.Earth Blog.
• Environmental Literacy Grants funding opportunity from NOAA are now available for K-12 STEM programs -- NOAA's Office of Education has issued a competitive funding opportunity for education projects designed to strengthen the environmental literacy of K-12 students and the public in an effort to enable informed decision-making necessary for community resilience to extreme weather events and other environmental hazards. The deadline for applications for this Environmental Literacy Grants (ELG) funding opportunity is 8 February 2016. [NOAA Office of Education]
• Worldwide GLOBE at Night 2015 Campaign continues -- The eleventh in a series of GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaigns for 2015 will continue with a 10-night campaign running through 11 December. GLOBE at Night is a worldwide, hands-on science and education program designed to encourage citizen-scientists worldwide to record the brightness of their night sky by matching the appearance of a constellation (Perseus in the Northern Hemisphere and Grus in the Southern Hemisphere) with the seven magnitude/star charts of progressively fainter stars. Activity guides are also available. The GLOBE at night program is intended to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution. The 2016 campaign will commence starting 1 January and running through 10 January 2016. [GLOBE at Night]

Ocean in the News:

• Eye on the tropics --- Tropical cyclone activity was limited to the western South Pacific Ocean basin last week. Tropical Storm Tuni formed during the previous weekend approximately 130 miles south of Pago Pago, American Samoa and traveled toward the southeast as a minimal tropical storm. In two days, Tuni lost its tropical characteristics and became an extratropical cyclone. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite images on Tropical Storm Tuni.
• Additional summaries of 2015 hurricane seasons in North Atlantic and the eastern and central North Pacific basins -- After the end of the official 2015 hurricane season in the North Atlantic, eastern North Pacific and central North Pacific basins last Monday (30 November 2015), NOAA scientists issued their assessment of this hurricane season in all three basins. They noted less than average activity in the Atlantic, but record activity in the eastern and central Pacific. They credited the presence of a strong El Niño event for the differences in the activity between the Atlantic and Pacific basins. [NOAA News]
  The forecast team at Colorado State University released their summary of the tropical cyclone activity in the North Atlantic basin during 2015 along with a verification of their long-range seasonal and two-week forecasts. [Tropical Meteorological Project]
  NASA scientists produced global maps of tropical cyclone tracks across all ocean basins across the globe for 2015. [NASA Earth Observatory]
  Attention is also directed to the fact sheet assembled by the Tropical Meteorology Project at Colorado State University that highlights many of the tropical cyclone records set across all the major ocean basins in the Northern Hemisphere in 2015. One of these records was the development of 30 major tropical cyclones of category 3 or higher status on the Saffir-Simpson Scale in the hemisphere during the year. NOTE: ACE is Accumulated Cyclone Energy, a numerical index that expresses the activity and destructive potential of individual tropical cyclones and entire tropical cyclone seasons. [Tropical Meteorology Project]
• Images of US Navy seaplane lost in infamous Pear Harbor attack are released -- Rare images of a sunken US Navy PBY-5 Catalina airplane were released during the last week by NOAA and University of Hawaii archeologists. This Catalina PBY "flying boat" was sunk in 30 feet of water in Hawaii's Kāne‛ohe Bay as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor began on the morning of Sunday, 7 December 1941, a "Day of Infamy." [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries News]
• Increases in ciguatera poisoning seafood predicted with rising ocean temperatures -- Scientists at NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science recently reported that increased frequencies in cases of ciguatera, the most common form of algal-induced seafood poisoning caused by consuming contaminated reef fish, are possible due to projected increases in global ocean temperature due to changing climate. With warmer waters, ciguatera-causing algae from the Caribbean Sea appear to be spreading northward into the the Gulf of Mexico and the along the US southeast Atlantic. The contaminated tropical marine reef fish especially along would include grouper, snapper and barracuda. This new ecological forecast represents part of NOAA efforts to build "climate-smart" nation. [NOAA News]
• Six projects receive funding for building coastal resiliency and improved marine habitat -- Early last week NOAA officials announced that $4 million in recommended funding was being awarded under NOAA's 2015 Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants Program for six restoration projects in California, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Washington state. These selected projects are intended to increase coastal ecosystem resiliency to the impacts of extreme weather and changing environmental conditions, as well as to provide habitat needed to support sustainable fisheries and contribute to the recovery of protected species. [NOAA Habitat Conservation]
• Learning about corals -- As part of Corals Week 2015, NOAA Fisheries has provided a list of "10 Things You Should Know about Corals" that provide valuable information on corals and how the public can help save some of the these threatened species from further loss. A one and a half-minute video entitled "Corals: The Bottom Line" is also included. [NOAA Fisheries Feature Stories]
• Exploring coral reefs in Hawaii -- A 22-minute podcast in the "Diving Deeper" series was produced by NOAA's National Ocean Service that explores the Hawaiian coral reefs with interviews of the deputy superintendent for the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and the research coordinator for the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. [NOAA National Ocean Service Ocean Media]
• Higher levels of radioactive cesium isotopes from the Fukushima found off US West Coast -- Scientists who have been monitoring the spread of radioactive materials in the ocean from the Fukushima nuclear accident following the March 2011 earthquake and ensuing tsunami along the Japan report finding an increased number of sites off the US West Coast showing increased levels of radioactive cesium isotopes from the Fukushima nuclear reactor. A sample of seawater collected approximately 1660 miles west of San Francisco had the highest level of radioactive cesium isotopes collected off the West Coast, but was more than 500 times lower than current US government safety levels for drinking water. [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution News]
• Highlighting citizen scientists participating in NOAA's Old Weather project -- Four volunteer citizen scientists who are participating in NOAA's Old Weather project were interviewed about their work in assisting NOAA transcribe and digitize weather data from 19th century ship logs. This six-year citizen scientist program with nearly 21,000 volunteers is designed to construct data sets in a format that would be used by climate scientists to assess changing climate over the last two centuries. Currently, over 7.5 million weather observations have been transcribed. [NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research News]
  One of the results of this project is the development of a website on "Old Weather Whaling" at the New Bedford (MA) Whaling Museum.
• 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]

Historical Events:

• 7-8 December 1703...A monstrous storm raked southern England and adjacent waters with winds in excess of 100 mph. Approximately 8000 deaths were the result of this storm, mostly at sea. Many naval and supply ships were anchored in harbors or in the English Channel. The Eddystone Lighthouse disappeared. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
• 7 December 1872...An expedition put to sea from Sheerness aboard the corvette H.M.S. Challenger under the command of Captain George Nares on a 3 1/2-year world oceanographic cruise. During the 68,890 nautical mile cruise that ended on 24 May 1876, the ship traversed the North and South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, traveled north of the limits of drift ice in the North Atlantic polar seas and south of the Antarctic Circle. The scientists onboard the Challenger sounded the ocean bottom to a depth of 26,850-ft, found many new species, and provided collections for scores of biologists. (Today in Science History)
• 7 December 1932...The first gyro-stabilized vessel to cross the Atlantic, the Conte di Savoia of the Italian Line, arrived in New York City. The ship had 48,502 gross tons, an overall length 814.6 ft by beam 96.1 ft, two funnels, two masts, four screws and a speed of 27 knots. As one of the first ships to be fitted with gyrostabilizers, it was claimed that rolling was limited to a maximum of three degrees. The maiden voyage began from Genoa to Villefranche and New York on 30 November 1932. (Today in Science History)
• 8 December 1777...Captain James Cook left the Society Islands (French Polynesia).
• 8 December 1866...The first transpacific side-wheeler steamship launched in the U.S. was the Celestial Empire (later named China) with capacity for 1,300 passengers. The builder, William H. Webb of New York, introduced many features of naval architecture in this liner, since in common use. (Today in Science History)
• 8 December 1993...The U.S. Secretary of Defense declared that the Global Positioning System (GPS), accurate within 100 meters, had 24 GPS satellites operating in their assigned orbits, available for navigation use at Standard Positioning Service (SPS) levels for civil users. This worldwide satellite-based radionavigation system used as the Defense Department's primary radionavigation system provided authorized users encrypted Precise Positioning Service accurate to at least 22 meters. (Today in Science History)
• 8 December 2002...Super-typhoon Pongsona hit Guam with sustained winds of 144 mph and gusts to 173 mph, along with a storm surge to 20 feet. The 40-mile wide diameter eye was over Anderson AFB for 2 hours. One indirect death and 193 injuries were attributed to the typhoon. Some bridge pavement was "scrapped off" by wind and wave action. Damage was estimated at $700 million. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
• 9 December1938...A prototype shipboard radar designed and built by the Naval Research Laboratory was installed on the battleship, USS New York (BB-34). (Naval Historian Center)
• 9 December 2003...A subtropical storm became Tropical Storm Peter approximately 700 miles west-northwest of the Cape Verde Islands. With Tropical Storm Odette having formed in the Caribbean on the 4th, the development of Peter marked the first time since 1887 that two tropical storms formed in the Atlantic Basin in December. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
• 10 December 1582...France began use of the Gregorian calendar.
• 10 December 1799...The metric system was made compulsory by law in France. (Today in Science History)
• 10 December 1922...Nobel Prize for Peace was awarded to Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian oceanographer explorer, author, athlete and statesman in recognition of his work for refugees and the famine-stricken. Other prize winners that year were Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein.
• 10 December 1978 (date approximate)...A 90-foot research ship chartered by the University of Hawaii left Honolulu on the 9th, but failed to arrive in Kawaihae on the 11th. Except for an empty box, no trace of the ship, crew or scientists was found by an extensive air and sea search operation. Gusty trade winds prevailed over the area. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
• 11 December 1901...Italian physicist and radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi sent the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean, covering over 2000 miles from Cornwall in England to Newfoundland, Canada. (The History Channel)
• 12 December 1966...A Greek passenger ferry foundered in heavy seas near Heraklion, Crete with the loss of 241 lives.
• 13 December 1577...Five ships and 164 men under the command of English seaman Francis Drake (later knighted) set sail from Plymouth, England, to embark on Drake's circumnavigation of the globe, the first by a British explorer. The journey took almost three years. (The History Channel)
• 13 December 1642...Dutch navigator Abel Janszoon Tasman became the first European explorer to sight the South Pacific island group now known as New Zealand. (The History Channel)
• 13 December 1816...The first US patent for a dry dock was issued to John Adamson of Boston, MA. (Today in Science History)
• 13 December 1879...The first federal fish-hatching steamer was launched at Wilmington, DE.

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Prepared by DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@aos.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2015, The American Meteorological Society.