WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

19-23 May 2008

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2008 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 25 August 2008. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Discovery Education/3M Young Scientist Challenge 2008

Students in grades 5 to 8 -- Enter a science competition with a chance for prizes, money and trip to Washington, DC. Application deadline is June 15th. Check it out! http://youngscientist.discoveryeducation.com/about/about.html (Also, there is a teacher entry division.)

Ocean in the News:

• Eye on the tropics -- As sea surface temperatures increase across the Northern Hemisphere several tropical cyclones (low-pressure systems over tropical waters) have developed across the western North Pacific during the last week. Tropical Storm Matmo formed last week over the Philippine Sea northeast of Luzon. As of this past weekend, this tropical storm was traveling to the northeast and was to pass to the south of Japan.
  Typhoon Halong formed late last week over the South China Sea west of the Philippines. As of the weekend, this category 1 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale was moving to the northeast and was forecast to pass just to the southeast of Japan. An image obtained from data collected by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) aboard NASA's Aqua satellite shows the temperatures of the cloud tops surrounding Typhoon Halong. [NASA Hurricane Page]
  Earlier in the week, Typhoon Rammasun (which means "God of Thunder" in Thai) finally weakened and dissipated over the waters of the western North Pacific southeast of Japan. This supertyphoon had been reached category 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. A variety of satellite images are available for viewing that include the surface wind field around the typhoon generated from data obtained by NASA's QuikSCAT satellite and cloud images from instruments on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. [NASA Hurricane Page]
• More on the cyclone disaster in Burma -- As government officials have begun to permit more relief efforts across Myanmar (Burma), they have declared that 78,000 people were killed and 56,000 others remained missing following the passage of Tropical Cyclone Nargis in early May. [CNN] Additional satellite images and astronaut photographs of Tropical Cyclone Nargis have been recently posted. [NASA Hurricane Page] [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Risk models used to identify neediest cyclone survivors -- Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Lehman College, CUNY have been using geographic risk models to identify the regions of Myanmar (Burma) that are at the greatest risk from the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Nargis. They conclude that as many as 3.2 million Burmese were affected by the cyclone. [Johns Hopkins University]
• North American Safe Boating Week -- This week of 17-23 May has been declared 2008 National Safe Boating Week, to help kick off the 2008 North American Safe Boating Campaign. Check the Safe Boating Week site maintained by the Safe Boating Council.
• Hurricane Preparedness Week -- With the beginning of the official 2008 hurricane season for the North Atlantic Basin beginning on 1 June, next week (25-31 May) has been declared National Hurricane Awareness Week. The National Hurricane Center maintains a hurricane preparedness website that provides information and educational material for the various hurricane hazards to include storm surge, high winds, tornadoes and flooding. (A Spanish version of this website is also available.) The 2008 hurricane season has begun in the eastern North Pacific basin last Tuesday (15 May). A similar hurricane preparedness website is also maintained by the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu, HI with some information specific for the central Pacific basin.
  Editor's Note: Based upon hurricane records that commence in 1949 for the eastern North Pacific basin, the earliest hurricane of the season for that basin was Hurricane Alma, a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, that formed on 12 May 1990 and reached hurricane status on the 15th. On the other hand, the latest hurricane of the season was Hurricane Winnie, which became a Category-1 hurricane on 6 December 1983 and dissipated a day later. EJH
• Names are retired from hurricane name list -- Due to the ferocity of several hurricanes during 2007, the names of Dean, Felix, and Noel were officially retired from the rotating list of hurricane names assigned to the North Atlantic basin. An international committee of the World Meteorological Organization has selected new replacement names for the list that will be used in 2013. [NOAA News]
• Hollings Scholarship award winners announced -- NOAA's Office of Education has recently selected 111 college students from 36 states to receive the agency's 2008 Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship, designed to encourage undergraduates to pursue careers in the atmospheric or oceanic sciences. [NOAA News]
• California schools encouraged to become "ocean guardians" -- NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries announced last week that it was offering between $2000 and $6000 in the form of an "Ocean Guardian" grant to K-12 schools in several California counties whose students create a school or community-based conservation project that protects their local watershed and the ocean. [NOAA News]
• Possible transition to ENSO-neutral conditions foreseen -- Scientists at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center recently announced that the sea surface temperatures across the equatorial Pacific Ocean were warming, signaling a possible end to the La Niña conditions that were found across the globe since last July. These scientists foresee a transition to what they identify as "ENSO-neutral conditions" (ENSO=El Niño Southern Oscillation) within the next month. [NOAA CPC]
• An award given for sampling New England fishery population -- NOAA’s Fisheries Service has awarded a grant to a team of commercial fisherman from Rhode Island and Massachusetts and a researcher at the Rhode Island Sea Grant for testing alternative sampling methods designed to assess the status of the scup population in southern New England waters. [NOAA News]
• New observing system aids mariners -- A new NOAA ocean observing system called Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®) has been recently been installed at the Port of Pascagoula on Mississippi's Gulf coast to provide mariners with free real-time information on water and wind conditions at the port through an easy-to-use Web portal. [NOAA News]
• Naval technology enlisted to search for sunken history -- The potential use of the U.S. Navy's mine-hunting technology for the finding historic shipwrecks by maritime archaeologists from NOAA is being displayed through this week at AUVfest 2008 Narragansett Bay, RI. (An AUV is an autonomous undersea vehicle.) [NOAA News]
• A decline in contaminants found in the nation's coastal waters -- Scientists associated with the NOAA Mussel Watch program recently released a 20-year study entitled "An Assessment of Two Decades of Contaminant Monitoring in the Nation’s Coastal Zone" that shows that the overall contaminant levels in the coastal waters surrounding the US have decreased since environmental laws were enacted in the 1970s. However, some waters near urban and industrial areas continue to have elevated levels of metals and organic contaminants. [NOAA News]
• Assessing the health of a historic sanctuary -- NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries recently released a report that it prepared assessing the conditions of NOAA's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary off the North Carolina coast. The sanctuary was assessed to be in overall good health, but the historic shipwreck of the Civil War-era USS Monitor still faces threats. [NOAA News]
• Deep-sea "secrets" could be unlocked -- Scientists from the United Kingdom's Durham University will depart on a five-week expeditions onboard the British Royal Research Ship James Cook where they will use robotic equipment to explore underwater volcanoes in the Atlantic waters off the Azores and collect rock samples from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. [EurekAlert!]
• Wireless transmission affected by weather and waves -- Research conducted at the United Kingdom's University of Leicester indicates that the signal strength of radio waves traveling across the ocean appears to be strengthened during certain hours of the late afternoon and early evening in spring and summer because of weather conditions, resulting in greater clarity and greater distance traveled. [EurekAlert!]
• An El Niño may have affected Magellan's historic voyage -- An archaeologist from North Carolina State University and a researcher from the University of Calgary claim that anomalous weather conditions associated with an El Niño event may have affected the portion of Ferdinand Magellan's sixteenth-century voyage across the Pacific Ocean in his attempt to circumnavigate the globe, by taking more than 1000 miles off his intended course. They also indicate that Magellan's voyage may be the earliest historical record of an El Niño event. [EurekAlert!]
• Algae bloom off Scotland -- An image from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite nearly two weeks ago shows that turquoise color of the waters of the North Sea off Scotland associated with a widespread bloom of marine phytoplankton. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Sandy beaches may not be as clean as seawater -- Researchers with Oceanographic Center of Florida's Nova Southeastern University who conducted an US Environmental Protection Agency study have found high levels of fecal bacteria from sewage in the beach sand along the intertidal zone of Florida beaches, indicating that this bacteria may survive beater in sand than seawater. [Soils Society of America]
• Interesting findings from nitrogen cycle studies -- An international group of scientists including those from Texas A&M University and Britain's University of East Anglia reported that approximately one third of the fixed nitrogen entering the world's oceans from the atmosphere is from anthropogenic activity, which could result in increased biological activity and carbon dioxide uptake, along with increased levels of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas. They also note that these nitrogen emissions are currently ten times greater than in 1860. [EurekAlert!] [EurekAlert!] In two other studies involving changes in the nitrogen cycle due to human activity, scientists considering how food and energy production were causing excessive concentrations of reactive forms of nitrogen to accumulate in the atmosphere, soil and coastal oceanic waters. [EurekAlert!]
• 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.

Historical Events:

• 19 May 1535...French explorer Jacques Cartier set sail on his second voyage to North America with 3 ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona's two sons (whom Cartier kidnapped during his first voyage). (Wikipedia)
• 19 May 1912...The US Navy established the North Atlantic Ice Patrol following the RMS Titanic disaster. (Naval Historical Center)
• 20 May 1497...John Cabot set sail from Bristol, England, on his ship The Mathew looking for a route to the west (other documents give a 2 May date). (Wikipedia)
• 20 May 1498...The Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama became the first European to reach India via the Atlantic Ocean when he arrived at Kozhikode (previously known as Calicut) on the Malabar Coast, after departing Lisbon, Portugal in July 1497. (The History Channel) (Wikipedia)
• 20 May 1570...Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issued the first modern atlas. (Wikipedia)
• 20 May 1845...HMS Erebus and HMS Terror with 134 men under John Franklin sailed from the River Thames in England, beginning a disastrous expedition to find the Northwest Passage. All hands were lost. (Wikipedia)
• 20 May 1964...The first U.S. atomic-powered lighthouse was put into operation in the Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore Harbor, MD. Designed to supply a continuous flow of electricity for ten years without refueling, the 60-watt nuclear generator generated heat from strontium-90 in the form of strontium titinate, a safe radioisotope. The heat was converted to electricity by 120 pairs of lead telluride thermocouples. Complete with shielding, the unit was only 34.5 inches high and 22 inches in diameter. It was designed and produced by the nuclear division of Martin-Marietta Corp. (Today in Science History)
• 20 May 1999...A devastating cyclone, packing winds of up to 170 mph and a high storm surge, struck the Sindh Province in southern Pakistan. Some 600 villages were devastated and more than 400 people killed. (The Weather Doctor)
• 22 May 1819...The steamship SS Savannah left Savannah, GA on a voyage to Liverpool, England and became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. It reached Liverpool on 20 June. (Wikipedia)
• 22 May 1849...The future President, Abraham Lincoln, received a patent for the floating dry dock described as for "buoying boats over shoals" (No. 6,469). He was the first American president to receive a patent. His idea utilized inflated cylinders to float grounded vessels through shallow water. (Today in Science History)
• 22-24 May 1948...A rare early season hurricane struck the island of Hispaniola, killing an estimated 80 people. (The Weather Doctor)
• 22 May 1960...A 8.6 magnitude earthquake off the coast of south central Chile triggered a tsunami that moved across the Pacific Ocean. Between 490 and 2290 people were estimated to have been killed by the earthquake and tsunami, and damage estimates were over one half billion dollars. Hilo, HI was devastated by the tsunami. (The University of Washington)
• 23 May 1850...The US Navy sent USS Advance and USS Rescue to attempt rescue of Sir John Franklin's expedition, lost in Arctic. (Naval Historical Center)
• 23 May 1946...Commodore Edward M. Webster, USCG, headed the U.S. Delegation to the International Meeting on Radio Aids to Marine Navigation, which was held in London, England. As a result of this meeting, the principal maritime nations of the world would make an intensive study of the World War II-developed devices of radar, LORAN, radar beacons, and other navigational aids with a view to adapt them to peacetime use. This meeting was the first time that the wartime technical secrets of radar and LORAN were generally disclosed to the public. (USCG Historian's Office)
• 23 May 1960...Tsunami waves from Chilean earthquakes began to affect the Alaska's coast along the Gulf of Alaska from Prince of Wales Island to Montague Island for as long as one week. The tsunami waves on the 23rd were up to 14 feet high near Yakutat. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 24 May 1500...The 13 ships in the fleet of Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral were hit by a huge ice storm that sank four ships. The rest of the ships were separated as they sailed south of the Cape of Good Hope and continued their journey to India.
• 24 May 1901...The relative humidity at Parkstone, Dorset in England at 4 PM was reported to be 9.5 percent. This low relative humidity is not typical of the British Islands, which are surrounded by ocean water and have no large high mountain barriers or plateaus. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 24 May 1951...Northeast gales generated waves to 15 feet high in the harbor of Newport, RI. A 50-ft. Navy launch with about 142 men on board capsized. Nineteen of the men drowned in the incident. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 24 May 1992...Winds up to 40 knots and seas to 18 feet in the northern Gulf of Alaska, approximately 30 miles southwest of Alaska's Cape Cleare, sent three waves crashing over the Cajun Mama. The 80-ft fishing boat sank, but the crew of five was rescued. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 25 May 1985...The Meghna River delta in Bangladesh was hit with a tropical cyclone with winds of over 100 mph that created a 15-to 20-foot high storm surge that flooded a 400-square-mile area, mainly islands located in the mouth of the river. More than 11,000 people and 500,000 head of cattle died and hundreds of thousands were left homeless because of this cyclone.

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Prepared by AMS DS-Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D., email hopkins@meteor.wisc.edu
ã Copyright, 2008, The American Meteorological Society.