Weekly Ocean News

Weekly Ocean News

DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK TEN: 7-11 April 2014

For Your Information

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 several tropical cyclones were detected across the South Indian Ocean and the western Pacific.

In the South Indian basin Tropical Cyclone Hellen became a category 4 tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale as it traveled across the waters of the Mozambique Channel last weekend. At the start of last week Hellen made landfall along the northwestern coast of Madagascar. Hellen was one of the most powerful tropical cyclone to have traveled across the northern Mozambique Channel since the beginning of the satellite era in 1967. The NASA Hurricane Page has additional information and satellite imagery on Tropical Cyclone Gillian.
Late last week, Tropical Storm Ivanoe (also known as Tropical Storm 22S) formed approximately 800 miles to the southeast of Diego Garcia. This tropical storm traveled toward the southeast and weakened on Sunday A satellite image and additional information on Tropical Storm Ivanoe is found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In the western South Pacific basin Tropical Storm Ita formed at the end of last week to the southwest of the Solomon Islands. Over the weekend, Ita traveled toward the west-southwest. As of late Sunday, Ita was approximately 600 miles to the east-northeast of Cairns, Australia.
In the western North Pacific Tropical Depression 5W formed approximately 900 miles to the east-southeast of Koror last week. Over the weekend this tropical depression intensified to become Tropical Storm Peipah as it traveled toward the west-northwest. Current forecasts indicate that Peipah could travel toward Mindanao in the southern Philippines. See the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite imagery on Tropical Storm Peipah.

Arctic sea ice reaches a winter maximum -- During the last week scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported that their analysis of satellite data has indicated sea ice on the Arctic Ocean reached its maximum seasonal extent on 21 March 2014 after a brief surge in extent mid-March. As of that date, the scientists declared the annual melt season had commenced as the ice cover would begin to contract, continuing to shrink to a minimum extent in September. The date of this year's maximum ice extent occurred eleven days later than the average date of 9 March for the era of satellite surveillance that began in 1979. This winter season's maximum areal extent was the fifth lowest in the satellite record. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory]
Arctic melt season lengthening as ocean rapidly warms -- In a study conducted by researchers at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and NASA, the length of the melt season for Arctic sea ice has lengthened by several decades since satellite surveillance began in 1979. The longer sea ice season when coupled with an earlier start to the melt season has permitted the Arctic Ocean to absorb additional solar radiation in some locations that could melt as much as four feet of ice from the thickness of the ice cover. Passive microwave data were collected from NASA's Nimbus-7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer, and the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager and the Special Sensor Microwave Imager and Sounder carried onboard Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft. [NASA's Earth Science News Team]
National policy on recreational fishing to be developed -- Early last week NOAA Fisheries announced plans to develop a national recreational fishing policy designed to broadly guide future actions and better integrate recreational fishing with NOAA Fisheries' mission. This announcement was made during NOAA Fisheries' second national Saltwater Recreational Fishing Summit held in Alexandria, VA. [NOAA News]
Federal funding expected for research along Atlantic Coast to benefit fishing industry -- NOAA Fisheries announced that several research projects in New England and the Mid-Atlantic States are expected to receive nearly $5.6 million in federal funding for research and development projects that benefit the US fishing industry. [NOAA Fisheries News]
Steller sea lions should not be jeopardized b proposed fisheries management changes in the Aleutians -- NOAA Fisheries recently issued a biological opinion under the Endangered Species Act in which the agency concluded that the continued existence of the endangered western population of Steller sea lions in Alaska's Aleutian Islands would suffer "no jeopardy" from proposed fishery management changes for this island change. [NOAA Fisheries News]
Wreck of 19th-century US Coast Survey steamer added to National Register of Historic Places -- NOAA officials recently announced that the wreck of the Robert J. Walker, a side-wheel steamer that served in the US Coast Survey, was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The steamer sank off the New Jersey coast in June 1860 with the loss of 21 men. The site of the wreck was identified in 2013. [NOAA News]
Animation shows tsunami traveling across Pacific Ocean last week -- NOAA's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center produced an animation of the simulated tsunami wave propagation on YouTube following the 8.2 magnitude earthquake off the northern Chile coast on 1 April 2014. [NOAA's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center]
Ocean cruise provides "ground truth" for satellite sensors -- A team off oceanographers from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center are making detailed observations of ocean water during a 45-day cruise across the waters of the South Pacific and Southern Ocean designed to calibrate data collected by orbiting satellites such as the Suomi NPP, Landsat 8 and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) spacecraft that have been launched during the last two years. The researchers onboard the National Science Foundation Nathaniel B. Palmer are timing their observations to coincide with the overhead passage of the satellites. [NASA Earth Observatory]
"World Ocean Atlas 2013" released -- Late last week NOAA released the "World Ocean Atlas 2013," which represents a compilation of ocean climate data that include temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and nutrients from the world's oceans as part of the World Ocean Database. The newest version of this Atlas contains high resolution data and objectively analyzed figures with a one-degree latitude-longitude grid for oceans' climate at standard levels from the surface to a depth of 5500 meters on monthly, seasonal and annual intervals. [NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service News]
Another segment of the most recent IPCC report released -- At the start of last week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the latest segment of its 5th Assessment Report (AR5) titled "Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability." This report presents a comprehensive look at impacts of climate change that is currently occurring and an assessment of climate adaptation practices needed for society to become more resilient to climate change and to mitigate risk. [IPCC Press Release]
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]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

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:

8-10 April 1958...A global 48-hr precipitation record was established at Aurere, La Reunion Island, when 97.1 in. of rain from a tropical cyclone fell on the Indian Ocean island. (The Weather Doctor)
8-14 April 1984...Intense Tropical Cyclone Kaimsy crossed and re-crossed the northern portion of Madagascar. Winds exceeding 112 mph destroyed 80 percent of Antseranana and Mahajanga. Rainfall from this system totaled 27.99 in. Eighty-two people were killed and 100,000 were made homeless. Damage was greater than 150 million US dollars. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (The Weather Doctor)
9 April 1770...The English explorer Captain James Cook discovered Botany Bay on the Australian continent.
10 April 1877...The first of two great coastal storms struck the Virginia and North Carolina coasts. The Oregon Inlet was widened by three-quarters of a mile. The "entire topography of country is materially altered," according to a description of the altering of sand dunes at Cape Hatteras, NC. (Intellicast)
10 April 1998...Northeast winds at 40 mph on the 9^th and 10^th combined with high levels of Lake Erie produced waves to 14 ft along the lakeshore in Ottawa and Sandusky Counties in Ohio. Much damage resulted, along with the destruction of 10 houses. Bulldozers were needed to clear the debris from roads. Downtown Port Clinton streets were flooded. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
11 April 1803...A twin-screw propeller steamboat was patented by John Stevens of Hoboken, NJ. (Today in Science History)
11 April 1900...The U.S. Navy acquired its first submarine, a 53-foot craft designed by Irish immigrant John P. Holland that was propelled by gasoline while on the surface and by electricity when submerged. (Today in Science History)
13 April 1960...The Navy's first navigation satellite, Transit-1B, was placed into orbit from Cape Canaveral, FL and demonstrated the ability to launch another satellite. The Transit system was designed to meet Navy's need for accurately locating ballistic missile submarines and other ships. (Naval Historical Center) (Today in Science History)