WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

9-13 June 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.

Ocean in the News:

• Eye on the tropics -- At the start of last week, two named tropical cyclones were found in the North Atlantic Basin and the Western North Pacific, but by the end of the week, the weather across the tropics became relatively quiet.
  In the North Atlantic Basin, Tropical Storm Arthur, the first named tropical cyclone of the 2008 hurricane season in that basin formed over the waters of the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Belize last weekend. This system moved inland and finally dissipated over Central America by early last week. Images of the clouds associated with this tropical storm and remnants of Tropical Storm Alma, the first named tropical cyclone of the season to form over the waters of the eastern North Pacific can be found in the NASA Hurricane Page. Images made obtained from the MODIS instruments on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites show both systems. [NASA Earth Observatory]
  In the western North Pacific, Super Typhoon Nakri continued to travel to the northeast, passing to the south of the Japanese islands. This typhoon, which had earlier reached category 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, finally dissipated by midweek. Additional information and images of Typhoon Nakri are available. [NASA Hurricane Page] [Editor's Note: The notation appearing on this webpage is incorrect as all references to "eastern" should be replaced by "western" throughout this description. EJH]
• Dolphin populations in eastern Pacific increasing -- Biologists with NOAA’s Fisheries Service report an increase in the populations of northeastern offshore spotted and eastern spinner dolphins in the waters of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean during the last decade after three decades of decline due to accidental deaths caused by tuna fishing practices. [NOAA News]
• Annual catch limits proposed -- Officials from NOAA's Fisheries Service recently released an outline of a plan that would establish required annual catch limits for individual fish species within the next three years designed to help restore federally-managed marine fish stocks. [NOAA News]
• Extension granted to East Coast fishermen for fishing gear change -- The NOAA Fisheries Service has proposed a six-month extension of the requirement that East Coast trap/pot fishermen switch from floating to sinking groundline in order to reduce the accidental entanglement of large whales. [NOAA News]
• Aid provided for Alabama shoreline restoration -- NOAA officials recently announced plans to invest money through its Restoration Center and "Living Shorelines" restoration practice to help local organizations restore Alabama's Mobile Bay and adjacent coastline. [NOAA News]
• High-tech underwater robots unveiled -- Researchers at the University of Washington have designed and tested a small underwater robot called "Robofish" that can be used to communicate with the scientists or work with other underwater robots for submarine exploration. [University of Washington News]
• Women in the geoscience academic community -- A report issued by the American Geological Institute (AGI) Workforce Program shows that while the number of women obtaining degrees in the geosciences has increased in the last several decades, the percentage of female faculty members in the geosciences remains below the other sciences. [AGI] [Editor's note: This one-page pdf file requires a viewer. EJH]
• Climate change could threaten ocean life -- Researchers at the Climate Adaptation National Research Flagship, an organization within Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, warn that the changes in climate could have a profound influence on oceanic ecosystems and they encourage the international scientific community to conduct more research into studying these effects. [CSIRO]
• 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:

• 9 June 1534...The French navigator Jacques Cartier became the first European explorer to discover the river that he named the St. Lawrence in present-day Quebec, Canada. (The History Channel)
• 9 June 1966...Hurricane Alma made landfall over the eastern Florida Panhandle near Alligator Point during the evening-- the earliest land-falling hurricane on the U.S. mainland on record. Peak sustained winds were near 90 mph. Highest winds reached 125 mph and lowest pressure 970.2 millibars (28.65 inches) were reported at the Dry Tortugas on the 8^th. (Intellicast) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 9 June 1990...San Diego, CA set a new record rainfall amount on this date, as 0.38 inches of rain fell breaking the old record of 0.13 inches established in 1892. Moisture from the remains of Hurricane Boris was responsible for this rare rain event. (Intellicast)
• 10 June 1909...The International Distress Call (SOS distress signal) was used for the first time in an emergency. The Cunard liner SS Slavonia used the signal when it wrecked off the Azores. Two steamers received her signals and went to the rescue.
• 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)
• 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, 2008, The American Meteorological Society.