11-15 June 2007

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2007 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 27 August 2007. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

• Storm off Australia is deadly -- A storm struck Australia's eastern coast at the end of last week, resulting in the deaths of at least five people and the beaching of a coal freighter, the Panamanian-registered "Pasha Bulker". [USA Today] While maritime officials in New South Whales thought no oil or cargo was leaking from the ship, others feared a major marine disaster if this beached ship breaks up due to the high waves. Several other ships issued distress calls. [ENN]
• Eye on the tropics -- Cyclone Gonu (the Indian Ocean's counterpart of a hurricane), which had formed over the previous weekend over the Arabian Sea, moved to the west and then northwest, making landfall along the coast of Oman and Iran late in the week. At one point, the system had been classified as a Category 5 cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson scale as the winds gusted to over 170 mph, making it the strongest cyclone to hit this region in over 60 years. As of Sunday, the torrential rain that accompanied this cyclone had killed at least 70 people in Oman and southern Iran. [USA Today] A MODIS image obtained from one of the NASA satellites at the end of last week shows the clouds associated with the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Gonu as it made landfall. [NOAA OSEI] Earlier, MODIS images from NASA's satellite show Gonu as a very strong category 4 system. [NASA Earth Observatory] [NOAA OSEI]
• Shipwreck placed on National Register -- NOAA officials recently announced that the wreck of the early 20th century coal schooner Paul Palmer submerged in the coastal waters of Massachusetts in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [NOAA News]
• Beachgoers educated on rip currents -- Personnel from NOAA's National Weather Service and the National Park Service were partnering in their efforts for promoting public awareness and safety during last week's national Rip Current Awareness Week, which had a theme of "Break the Grip of the Rip®." [NOAA News]
• A rise noted in Lake Superior nitrates -- Researchers at the University of Minnesota report that nitrate levels in Lake Superior water has been increasing steadily since measurements in 1906 and they are concerned that over time, the water could become unhealthy for human consumption. The nitrates in the lake water could come from various sources including runoff of nitrate fertilizers, burning of fossil fuels and the decay of other forms of nitrogen. [EurekAlert!]
• Ancient frogs could have used rafts to migrate -- Researchers at Penn State University suggest that nearly all of the 162 land-breeding frog species on the Caribbean islands may have originated from one frog species that reached these islands from South America on rafts, making the journey across the open sea between 50 and 30 million years ago. [Penn State University]
• Saltiness of oceans could portend climate change -- Several scientists, including a paleoclimatologist from Spain's Autonomous University of Barcelona, report that their analysis of paleoclimatic data suggests monitoring of the saltiness of ocean water in certain critical locations, such as off South Africa and New Zealand, could serve as an early warning of large scale climatic change over the next one to two decades. [EurekAlert!]
• A grim future for European seas foreseen -- An international group of scientists warned that the state of the four regional seas surrounding Europe (Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and North-East Atlantic) is declining and could result in a grim future unless urgent action is undertaken by European countries to prevent further damage. [EurekAlert!]
• Dutch seaport seen from space -- A photograph taken by one of the astronauts on the International Space Station shows the North Sea port and harbor of Den Helder in the northern coastal section of the Netherlands along with nearby tidal mudflats, dune fields and farm fields. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Report on the hurricane protection of New Orleans is released -- A panel of experts from the American Society of Civil Engineers recently released its report entitled "The New Orleans Hurricane Protection System: What Went Wrong and Why" that conducted a risk analysis of the levees and floodwalls that surround New Orleans and recommends steps to reduce hurricane damage in the Big Easy. [University of Texas at Austin]
• The value of environmental monitoring -- Researchers from the Institute of Ecosystem Studies, the US Geological Survey, Syracuse University, the University of Vermont, SUNY Syracuse, and the US Environmental Protection Agency prepared a review entitled "Who needs environmental monitoring" arguing that environmental monitoring is a crucial part of science and help the public understand a myriad of environmental issues. [EurekAlert!]
• The Bush administration considers cheaper environmental monitoring systems -- The White House science advisor recently reported that the administration of President George W. Bush is considering cheaper ways to monitor the planetary environment, including paring the number of satellites in the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System from six to four. [ENN]
• Famous seaweed seen from space -- Scientists studying data collected by the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) on board the European Space Agency's Envisat satellite claim that they can monitor the famous Sargassum seaweed that used to entangle ships. From these data that include the MERIS maximum chlorophyll index, the scientists are attempting to determine the primary productivity of the oceans and better predict climate change. [ESA]
• Aqua-blue waters off the Emerald Isle -- An image made last week from data collected from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Terra satellite shows the large expanse of phytoplankton that were blooming over the North Atlantic Ocean offshore of the western coast of Ireland. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Trawlers leave muddy tracks in the Gulf of Mexico -- Images made by instruments on NASA's Landsat satellite show the trails of mud that have been stirred from off the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico by bottom trawling across this body of water. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• A view of the Channel Islands from space -- An image obtained from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite shows San Miguel and Santa Rosa Islands, two of the islands in the Channel Islands National Park off the coast of southern California. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• An interesting cloud formation over the Persian Gulf -- The MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite last month captured an image of an unusual cloud formation over the Persian Gulf that may be associated with an "undular bore", which may have been formed as cool, dry air circulating around a low-pressure system located over the Arabian Peninsula interacted with a stable layer of warm, humid air situated over the Arabian Sea. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Reef-building coral are at risk in the Caribbean -- Scientists from universities in the US and the Caribbean report at six species of reef-building coral could vanish from the waters of the Caribbean sea because of rising water temperatures and toxic runoff from development on the region's islands. [ENN]
• 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.

• 11 June 1644...The Florentine scientist, Evangelista Torricelli described in a letter the invention of a barometer, or "torricellian tube." (Today in Science History)
• 11 June 1764...The Sandy Hook Lighthouse, at the south point of the entrance to New York Harbor, was first lighted. Today, its octagonal tower, built by Mr. Isaac Conro of New York City with money collected by a group of New York merchants, is the oldest original light tower still standing and in use in the United States. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 11 June 1770...The British explorer Captain James Cook discovered the Great Barrier Reef off Australia when he ran aground. (Information Please)
• 11 June 1847...The English naval officer and an Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin died in Canada while attempting to locate the Northwest Passage.
• 12 June 1925...Lake Huron Lightship radio fog signal was placed in commission, the first signal of this kind on the Great Lakes. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 12 June 1991...On the same day that Mt Pinatubo in the Philippines awakened from its 635-year slumber, Typhoon Yunya crossed Luzon province. Mudslides and flooding caused many deaths and when added to the impacts of Pinatubo left more than a million homeless. (The Weather Doctor)
• 13 June 1415...Henry the Navigator, the prince of Portugal, embarked on an expedition to Africa.
• 13 June 1881...The steamer USS Jeannette was crushed in Arctic ice pack north of Siberia as the 1879-1881 Jeannette Arctic Exploring Expedition under the command of Lieutenant Commander George Washington DeLong, USN, attempted to reach the North Pole by ship. (Naval Historical Center)
• 13 June 1977...A tropical cyclone crossed the Arabian Sea from near the Laccadive Islands off southwest India and slammed into the island of Masirah, sultanate of Oman. Winds reached at least 104 mph and the 24-hour rainfall total was 16.95 inches. About 99% of buildings were damaged. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 14 June 1834...The first US patent for a practical underwater diving suit was issued to Leonard Norcross of Dixfield, ME. One month earlier, he tested his suit, an airtight leather outfit with a brass helmet connected via a rubber hose to an air bellows pump on a boat, in the Webb River. (Today in Science History)
• 15 June 1744...British Admiral George Anson returned to England after circumnavigating the globe in an expedition that lasted nearly four years.
• 15 June 1990...The first use of bioremediation in open waters was to treat an oil slick from the supertanker Mega Borg following an explosion and fire on 8 June 1990 approximately 70 miles south-southeast of Galveston, TX. The 3-day bioremediation tests were conducted using oil-metabolizing bacteria and nutrients. The results of the tests were inconclusive. (Today in Science History)
• 16 June 1903...The famous Norwegian explorer, Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen, began the first east-west navigation of the Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by leaving Oslo, Norway on the ship Gjøa. Amundsen and six others spent two winters exploring over land and ice from the place currently called Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, Canada. (Wikipedia)
• 17 June 1579...During his "Famous Voyage," Sir Francis Drake, the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe, claimed San Francisco Bay for England, calling the region along the northern California coast "Nova Albion" (meaning, New England). (Wikipedia)
• 16-18 June 1972...The greatest three-day rainfall in Hong Kong since 1889 produced 25.68 inches and resulted in disastrous landslides and building collapses. More than 100 people died, while thousands were made homeless. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• Month of June...According to a 1969 US Army technical report, the average dewpoint temperature at Ras Andahglie and Assab, Eritrea (Ethiopia) average slightly more than 84ºF. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)

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Prepared by AMS DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2007, The American Meteorological Society.