Weekly Ocean News

Weekly Ocean News

DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK ELEVEN: 14-18 April 2014

Items of Interest

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:

Minimal tsunami threat from earthquake in western Pacific --
A 7.6-magnitude earthquake occurred in the western Pacific Ocean near the Solomon Islands on Sunday (local time). Tsunami watches and warnings were initially posted across the Pacific by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, but later canceled as the earthquake's magnitude was downgraded from what was originally estimated to have been an 8.3 magnitude earthquake and the resulting tsunami did not appear to threaten American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii and the West Coast of the US and Canada. [CNN] [NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center]
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 Storm Ivanoe lost its tropical characteristics at the start of last week and became a midlatitude storm as it traveled toward the southeast nearly 1000 miles to the southwest of Cocos Island. Additional information along with a satellite image on Tropical Storm Ivanoe appears on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In the western South Pacific basin Tropical Storm Ita intensified into a major category 4 tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale last week as it traveled to the west and then southwest across the Coral Sea toward the coast of Queensland in northeastern Australia. At the start of last weekend, Ita made an initial landfall along Queensland's Cape York Peninsula. As it approached the Cape York Peninsula, maximum sustained surface winds reached 155 mph with gusts in excess of 180 mph. Seas reached heights ranging between 30 and 35 mph, with a large storm surge. Local meteorologists feared that Ita was one of the strongest tropical cyclones to hit Queensland in recent memory. Over the weekend, Ita recurved toward the southeast and traveled along the coast of Queensland, weakening to a tropical storm as remained over land. Current forecasts indicate that Ita would head toward the southeast across the waters of the western South Pacific as a tropical storm. The NASA Hurricane Page has satellite images and additional information on the Cyclone Ita.
In the western North Pacific Tropical Storm Peipah traveled to the west-northwest toward Mindanao in the southern Philippines during the week. However, by late in the week, Peipah weakened to become a tropical depression that dissipated late in the week approximately 200 miles to the west-northwest of Koror, Palau. See the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite imagery on Tropical Storm Peipah.

Portraits of a major Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone from space -- Late last week a natural color image was obtained from the MODIS instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite of the powerful Cyclone Ita as it moved along the coast of the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. Cyclone Ita had become a major category 4 tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Attention is invited to the clockwise swirl in the cloud pattern around the center of Ita that is located at the central eye. Since this tropical cyclone is in the Southern Hemisphere, this pattern is opposite the counterclockwise cloud swirl around a Northern Hemisphere hurricane or other tropical cyclone. [NASA Earth Observatory]

NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory

An El Niño watch is in effect -- Forecasters with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center recently posted an El Niño watch indicating a 50 percent chance that an El Niño event could develop by the upcoming Northern Hemisphere's summer (beginning in June and running through August) as above average sea-surface temperatures were developing across the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean during March 2014. The forecasters indicate that the current ENSO-neutral conditions should persist through Northern Hemisphere spring. (ENSO represents El Niño/Southern Oscillation). [NOAA Climate Prediction Center]
Hurricane season forecast -- Last week, the hurricane forecast team from Colorado State University headed by Phil Klotzbach released its April forecast of the 2014 North Atlantic hurricane season that officially begins on 1 June 2014. The team, which includes Professor William Gray, foresees a hurricane season that should be less active than the long-term (1981-2010) climatology for tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic. They feel that an El Niño event of moderate strength could develop in the equatorial Pacific Ocean during this upcoming summer and autumn seasons in the Northern Hemisphere, which would result in a relatively quiet Atlantic hurricane season. In addition, an anomalous cooling of the tropical Atlantic has occurred. In their initial April forecast, the forecasters call for nine named tropical cyclones (hurricanes and tropical storms), with three potentially becoming hurricanes. One of these hurricanes could become severe, reaching category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. They also anticipate a below-above average probability of a major Atlantic hurricane making landfall somewhere along the coast of the coterminous US and in the Caribbean. [USA Today][The Tropical Meteorology Project]
"Ingrid" and "Manuel" retired from Atlantic and eastern Pacific Basins storm name lists -- The World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) hurricane committee recently retired the name "Ingrid" from its official list of names used to identify Atlantic Basin tropical storms and hurricanes along with "Manuel" from its corresponding list in the eastern North Pacific because of the deadly impacts that these two tropical cyclones had upon Mexico in 2013. Ingrid was a category 1 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) that made landfall on the southern coast of Mexico in September, resulting in 32 fatalities. The replacement name on the list is "Imelda" that could be used for the first time in 2019 when the list is reused. "Manuel" was a category 1 hurricane that made two landfalls along the western coast of Mexico, causing at least 123 deaths. "Mario" is the replacement name for Manuel on the eastern Pacific list. [NOAA News]
Studying the entire ecosystem helps manage fish populations -- An interdisciplinary group of 50 scientists from 11 institutions including the NOAA's Alaska Fisheries Science Center has been participating in the Integrated Ecosystem Research Project (IERP) in the Gulf of Alaska in an effort to interpret how the physical and biological forces in the ocean combine to determine fish recruitment into the area's fishery. This fishery is worth $2 billion in revenue. [NOAA Fisheries News]
Become a "virtual explorer" of the Gulf of Mexico on a NOAA expedition -- The public is invited to join the scientists onboard the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer as "virtual ocean explorers" as the ship explores canyons, deep-sea coral communities and shipwrecks in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The expedition can be joined on the http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/ website as live webcasting from the ocean floor began last Saturday (12 April) and continues through 30 April. Video of the expedition is also available. [NOAA News]
Potomac River estuary water quality could be significantly improved by oyster aquaculture -- A new study by NOAA and US Geological Survey scientists concludes that significant improvements in water quality in the Potomac River estuary could occur through oyster aquaculture as all the nitrogen polluting the estuary could be removed if 40 percent of the riverbed were used for shellfish cultivation. [NOAA News]
Risk of icebergs in North Atlantic higher now than in 1912, the year of the Titanic disaster -- Researchers at the United Kingdom's University of Sheffield have recently refuted the long-held theory that spring of 1912 had an exceptional number of icebergs in the North Atlantic when the Titanic sailed and collided with an iceberg on its ill-fated maiden voyage; the 102nd anniversary of that disaster occurs this week. Some people had claimed that an exceptional number of icebergs in 1912 were cause by lunar or solar effects. The researchers analyzed data on iceberg locations dating back to 1913 and found that while 1912 was a significant year, but not extreme. Furthermore, they claim that the risk of icebergs is higher today. [The University of Sheffield News]
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: 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

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

Historical Events:

14 April 1543...Bartolom� Ferrelo returned to Spain after assuming command of the ill-fated expedition of the Spanish navigator Juan Rodr�guez Cabrillo (who died on San Miguel Island in California's Channel Islands). The expedition was the first known entry by Europeans into San Francisco Bay in the New World.
14-15 April 1912...The British steamer RMS Titanic sank following its collision with an iceberg in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland on its maiden voyage from South Hampton to New York. The collision occurred at about 11:45 PM on 14 April and the ship, which was considered unsinkable, sank in 2.5 hours during the early morning hours of the 15^th. Reports showed 1517 people out of 2207 onboard lost their lives in this accident. Because of this disaster, certification and life saving devices were improved and an International Ice Patrol was established to monitor the iceberg hazards in the North Atlantic. The U.S. Coast Guard continues to conduct much of the effort. (US Coast Guard Historian's Office) A 21-year old telegraph operator at the Marconi radio station in New York City, David Sarnoff who became a pioneer in radio and television broadcasting, received and transmitted the distress calls from the Titanic. (Today in Science History)
16 April 1851...The famous "Lighthouse Storm" (a "nor'easter") raged near Boston Harbor. Whole gales and gigantic waves destroyed the 116-ft Minot Ledge Light at Cohasset, MA with the loss of its two keepers still inside. The lighthouse was the first one built in the United States that was exposed to the full force of the ocean. The storm coupled with a spring tide resulted in massive flooding, great shipping losses and coastal erosion. Streets in Boston were flooded to the Custom House. (David Ludlum) (US Coast Guard Historians Office) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
16 April 1854...A furious storm that produced two feet of snow at New Brunswick, NJ also caused approximately 18 shipwrecks along the New Jersey coast. The immigrant ship Powhattan beached 100 yards from the shore. With rescue impossible, 340 people onboard lost their lives. "The shrieks of the drowning creatures were melancholy indeed." (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
16 April 1992...The Katina P ran aground off Maputo, Mozambique, causing 60,000 tons of crude oil to spill into the ocean. (Wikipedia)
17 April 1492...Spain and the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus signed a contract for him to sail to Asia to obtain spices. (Wikipedia)
17 April 1524...Giovanni Verrazano, a Florentine navigator, onboard the frigate La Dauphine "discovered" New York Bay. (Wikipedia)
18 April 1906...An early morning magnitude 7.8 earthquake along with a subsequent fire devastated much of San Francisco, CA, resulting in one of the worst natural disasters to hit a major US city. As many as 6000 people may have died because of this disaster. The earthquake was along the San Andreas Fault, with an epicenter thought to have been near Mussel Rock along the coast at suburban Daly City.
18 April 1848...U.S. Navy expedition to explore the Dead Sea and the River Jordan, commanded by LT William F. Lynch, reached the Dead Sea. (Naval Historical Center)
19 April 1770...Captain James Cook discovered New South Wales, Australia. Cook originally named the land Point Hicks.
20 April 1534...Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, set sail from St. Malo, France with two ships to explore the North American coastline in an attempt to find a passage to China. In this first voyage, he explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
20 April 1952...The tankers Esso Suez and Esso Greensboro collided in thick fog off the coast of Morgan City, LA. Only five of the Greensboro's crew survived after the ship burst into flame. (David Ludlum)