25-29 April 2016

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2016 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 22 August 2016. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Items of Interest:

• Planet Earth viewed in a different light from space -- On Earth Day 2016, the NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory produced a portrait of planet Earth using near-infrared and shortwave infrared radiation from the sensor onboard the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) sensor onboard the NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite. The colors appearing in this satellite image indicate temperatures of clouds and the planet's surface. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory ]
• Celebrating five successes on Earth Day 2016 -- A feature appearing on the Climate.gov website highlights five big successes that have occurred in the 46 years since the first Earth Day in 1970: Expansion of marine protected areas; cleaner air; cleaner waterways; better prediction of extreme events and progress made in reducing overfishing. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
• Weather satellite images relive beginning of Deepwater Horizon -- An animation of visible images made from sensors onboard NOAA's GOES East geosynchronous satellite on 20 April 2010 shows the northern Gulf of Mexico and the smoke that was being released from the fire that was burning on the Deepwater Horizon oil well platform located to the southeast of Louisiana. The oil released into the Gulf following this fire resulted in the largest oil spell in the nation's history. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory]
• National Science Bowl set for next weekend -- The US Department of Energy (DOE) National Science Bowl®, a nationwide academic competition for middle and high school students will be held through next weekend (28 April -2 May 2016) in Washington, DC. This event will test students' knowledge in all areas of science and is meant to encourage high school students to excel in science and math and to pursue careers in those fields. [DOE Office of Science]
• Between equinox and solstice -- Next Sunday (1 May 2016) will be May Day, which had its origins as a great Celtic festival Beltane. This date is close to the traditional "cross quarter" day, roughly halfway between the vernal equinox (20 March 2016) and the summer solstice (20 June 2016). (Note that Thursday 5 May 2016 is closer to the halfway point between the equinox and solstice. EJH)

Ocean in the News:

• Eye on the tropics --- Tropical cyclone activity during the last week was found in the South Indian and western South Pacific basins:
• In the Southern Indian Ocean basin, Cyclone Fantala strengthened to a major category 5 cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale as maximum sustained surface winds reached 170 mph at the start of last week as it traveled toward the west-northwest just before reversing direction. Fantala brought strong winds, high seas and heavy rain to northern sections of Madagascar. By the end of the week, Fantala had weakened as it continued traveling to the southeast. As of Sunday, Fantala had diminished to a tropical storm and then a tropical depression approximately approximately 725 miles to the north-northwest of Port Louis, Mauritius. Check the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite images on Cyclone Fantala.
• In the South Pacific Ocean basin, a tropical depression formed by the midpoint of last week to the northeast of Fiji. Eventually this system formed Tropical Cyclone Amos as it traveled generally toward the east. Becoming a category 1 cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, Amos brought strong winds, high seas and heavy rain to American Samoa over the weekend. As of late Sunday (local time), Amos was weakening as it traveled eastward approximately 90 miles east-northeast of Pago Pago. Satellite images and additional information on Cyclone Amos are found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
• Legendary hurricane scientist passes -- Professor emeritus William (Bill) Gray of Colorado State University, who began seasonal forecasts of Atlantic hurricane activities in the 1980s, passed away one week ago this last Saturday, just a few days after his protégé Phil Klotzbach issued the 2016 Extended-range Forecast of Atlantic Seasonal Hurricane Activity and Landfall Strike Probability. [Washington Post Capital Weather Gang]
• Nation's fisheries continue rebuilding -- According to the 2015 Status of Stocks report that NOAA Fisheries made to the US Congress on the status of US fisheries, two previously overfished stocks (blueline tilefish in the South Atlantic and canary rockfish along the Pacific Coast) have been rebuilt in 2015 and the number of domestic fish stocks listed as overfished or subject to overfishing remains near an all-time low since NOAA began tracking stock status. The continued progress made toward sustainable maintenance of fish stocks is the result of the combined efforts of NOAA Fisheries, the regional fishery management councils, the fishing industry and other partners.[NOAA Fisheries Stories]
• Make virtual dives in the Marianas -- The public is invited to join NOAA scientists and their partners explore by virtual means via an online live video feed the ocean depths in the western Pacific in and around the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. These scientists are currently conducting the "Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas expedition" onboard the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer through 10 July. [NOAA News]
• Recipients of annual Sea to Shining Sea Award: Excellence in Interpretation and Education Award announced -- NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries officials recently announced the recipients of the agency's annual Sea to Shining Sea: Excellence in Interpretation and Education Award. This year's award was to contractors at XL Catlin Seaview Survey for their program, The Spatial Storytelling of American Samoa, which is part of a broader collaboration between the National Marine Sanctuary System, XL Catlin Seaview Survey and Google Street View. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries News]
• Review of global weather and climate for March 2016 -- Using preliminary data collected from the global network of surface weather stations, scientists at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information have determined that the combined global land and ocean surface temperature for March 2016 was the highest for any March since sufficiently detailed global climate records began in 1880. This global temperature for March 2016 was 1.22 Fahrenheit degrees above the 20th century (1901-2000) average. Furthermore, the global temperature departure for March 2016 from the long-term average was the largest for any month during the 137-year period of record, continuing the trend of eleven consecutive months when an all-time monthly temperature record has been broken.
  When considered separately, the average land temperature for March 2016 was the highest for any March since 1880. Likewise, last month's average temperature over the oceans was the highest for March. Although the historic El Niño event was showing signs of weakening, the event was helping maintain above average sea surface temperatures across the equatorial Pacific.
  The researchers at the National Snow and Ice Data Center noted the areal extent of the Arctic sea ice reached its annual maximum extent near the end of the third week of March. The areal extent of this sea ice for March 2016 was the second smallest since satellite surveillance began in 1979, being slightly larger than the record smallest extent set in March 2015. Conversely, the extent of the Antarctic sea ice was the 14th largest in the 38-season record. According to data from the Rutgers Global Snow Lab, the Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent for March was the second smallest in the 50-year period of record. [NOAA/NCEI State of the Climate] A global map of Selected Significant Climate Anomalies and Events for March 2016 is available from NCDC.
• Explaining the occurrence of drought in western tropical Pacific -- The drought conditions that have developed across a large section of the western Pacific Ocean and many of the islands of Oceania during the last several months appear to be the result of the El Niño event that resulted in a shift in the east-west oriented Walker Circulation in the equatorial atmosphere. Some of the island nations experiencing the most drought have been Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
• Oil exposure in Gulf of Mexico appears a cause of perinatal dolphin deaths -- NOAA scientists and colleagues from academic research institutions claim that the increased number of deaths of stillborn and stranded juvenile bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico from 2010 through 2013 appears to have been likely caused by chronic illnesses in dolphin mothers exposed to oil following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. [NOAA News]
• Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park has extensive coral communities -- Scientists who conducted a recent research expedition of the waters of Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve onboard the Research Vessel Norseman II found an abundance of cold-water corals and associated marine organisms that use these corals as habitat. Scuba divers and the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Kraken2 were used in the survey. [NOAA Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research News]
• Free app designed to help anglers know saltwater fishing regulations -- A free app (or applications software) called "Fish Rules" has been made available to recreational fishermen along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts (Maine to Texas) for use on their smart phones. This app, which was co-developed by a recreational fisherman from Florida, provides images of various species for identification along with important information that lets the fishermen know in real time if a fish happens to be in season at their location, how many they can keep, minimum size, bag and vessel limit, and more. [NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center Feature]
• Ten West Coast marine wildlife viewing sites should not be missed -- An article entitled "10 West Coast Marine Wildlife Viewing Experiences You Can't Miss" that was written by VisittheUSA.com highlights the Greater Farallones, Cordell Bank, Monterey Bay and Channel Islands national marine sanctuaries along the California coast. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries News]
• New seafloor maps chart melt risks from Greenland glaciers -- A team of researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a variety of other research institutions have combined seafloor data from shipboard surveys of the several fjords in west Greenland between 2007 and 2014 with related data collected from NASA's Operation Icebridge and the NASA/U.S. Geological Survey Landsat satellites to generate comprehensive maps of the ocean floor around 14 Greenland glaciers. According to these new maps, the research team warns that many of these large Greenland glaciers are at a greater risk of melting from below than previously thought, which would affect the predicted rise in global sea level. [NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory News]
• Diversity in the marine sciences increases due to Partnership Education Program -- NOAA Fisheries' Partnership Education Program (PEP) is highlighted in a feature article that shows the success of this program designed to provide college students from under-represented groups in the marine sciences with mentoring and hands-on research experience that will help launch a career in the sciences. The career paths of several PEP alumni also have been featured in the article. [NOAA Fisheries Feature Stories]
• 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] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

• 26 April 1991...200,000 people were killed as a cyclone caused tremendous flooding which devastated the Bay of Bengal region of Bangladesh and India. (National Weather Service files)
  
• 27 April 1521...The Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan was killed by natives during a tribal skirmish on Mactan Island in the Philippines after completing nearly three-quarters of a trip around the world. One of his ships, the Victoria, under the command of the Basque navigator Juan Sebastiýn de Elcano, continued west to arrive at Seville, Spain on 9 September 1522, the first ship to circumnavigate the globe. (The History Channel)
• 28 April 1947...Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl and five others set out in a balsa wood craft known as Kon Tiki to prove that Peruvian Indians could have settled in Polynesia. The trip took 101 days.
• 29 April 1770...The British explorer, Captain James Cook, arrived at and named Botany Bay, Australia. (Wikipedia)
• 30 April 1492...Spain gave Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration. (Wikipedia)
• 30 April 1894...An Antarctic iceberg fragment was sighted at a latitude comparable to Rio de Janeiro. Reported by the ship Dochra, this sighting remains the nearest to the equator that an iceberg has been seen. (Today in Science History)
• 30 April 1991...Southeast Bangladesh was devastated by a tropical cyclone with sustained winds of approximately 150 mph during the early morning. A 20-foot storm surge inundated offshore islands south of Chittagong, taking water from the Bay of Bengal inland for miles. This cyclone resulted in up to 200,000 deaths and $1.4 billion damage. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
• 1 May 1683...A patent was awarded in England for the extraction of salt from seawater. (Today in Science History)
• 1 May 1883...At Cape Lookout, NC, a storm tide swept over the island drowning sheep and cattle. (Intellicast)
• 1 May 1921...The first radio fog signals in the United States were placed in commission on Ambrose Lightship, Fire Island Lightship, and Sea Girt Light Station, NJ. These signals installed by the US Lighthouse Service were meant to guide ships approaching New York Harbor. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 1 May 1936...The Whaling Treaty Act outlawed the taking of right whales or calves of any whale. This law was enforced by the Coast Guard. (USCG Historian's Office)
  

Return to DataStreme Ocean's RealTime Ocean Portal

Prepared by DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D.,
email hopkins@aos.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2016, The American Meteorological Society.