WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

19-23 July 2010

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2010 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 30 August 2010. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Item of Interest:

• Zenithal Sun -- Residents of Hawaii's Big Island will experience a noontime sun that would be directly overhead during this week (22-23 Jul). This occurrence of a zenithal sun is one of the two times during the year when the noontime sun is directly overhead to residents of Hilo and elsewhere on the Big Island. approximately one more week.. The other time when the Big Island experienced a zenithal sun was in mid May. [US Naval Observatory, Data Services]

Ocean in the News:

• Eye on the Tropics -- During the last week, several tropical cyclones were reported.
• In the western North Pacific Basin,Typhoon Conson continued to move westward during the last week. After forming east of the Philippines as a tropical storm on the previous weekend, Conson became a category-1 typhoon (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) before reaching Luzon and the other northern Philippine islands by early last week. This system brought torrential rains, flooding and death to the Philippines. After crossing the Philippines and weakening, Tropical Storm Conson re-intensified to a category-1 typhoon as it traveled to the west-northwest across the South China Sea. Conson passed near China's Hainan Island and then across the Gulf of Tonkin before making landfall in the northern provinces of Viet Nam at the end of the week. The [NASA Hurricane Page]has satellite images and additional information on Typhoon Conson.
  A tropical storm identified as Tropical Storm 3-W formed over the western Pacific southeast of the Philippines, but weakened quickly as it traveled to the northwest and essentially dissipating after two days.
  At the beginning of this week (local time), a new tropical depression, identified as Tropical Depression 4W, formed east of the Philippines. Current projections are that this system would reach the Philippines within several days.
• In the eastern North Pacific basin, a tropical depression formed at midweek off the coast of southwestern Mexico and was given the designation Tropical Depression 6-E. After two days, this depression weakened into a remnant low pressure system as it moved toward the northwest, remaining well off the Mexican coast. For more information about this depression, along with satellite images, consult the [NASA Hurricane Page]
• Tracking hurricanes on the Web, iPad or iPhone --Text Scientists with NASA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, have developed a technology that continually provides updated satellite imagery from NOAA's geosynchronous satellites to produce an animation of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic and eastern North Pacific basins. The public can access these animations or "movies" on-line from the Web, or from iPhone and iPad. [NASA GSFC]
• La Nina watch is posted --Forecasters and other scientists with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center have issued a La Nina watch as they are expecting a cold-phase La Nina event to develop by August and continue through early 2011. They base their prediction upon the observance of a large reservoir of colder-than-average subsurface water in the equatorial Pacific Ocean and several other signs of coupling of the ocean circulation with the atmospheric circulation that would suggest the development of a La Nina. [NOAA CPC]
• Gulf oil spill updates --During the last week, capping of the Deepwater Horizon BP well appeared to reduce the quantity of oil spilling into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast:
• Ship with international scientists study coral and water quality in Gulf --At the end of the week before last, a science team from NOAA, several US research institutions and Brazil departed from the Florida Panhandle on the HARBOR BRANCH-owned Research Vessel Seward Johnson to gather scientific data on the corals and the quality of the water column in the Gulf of Mexico near the site of the Deepwater Horizon spill area. [NOAA News]
• Closed fishing area in the Gulf expanded again -- NOAA officials at the beginning of last week expanded the area of the Gulf of Mexico that is to remain closed to fishing, primarily to the west because of the spreading oil spill. As of that time, approximately 35 percent of Gulf of Mexico federal waters were declared closed. [NOAA News]
• Satellite sees oil slick near Mississippi Delta-- An image made last week from data collected from the MODIS sensor on NASA's Aqua satellite shows the oil slick from the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill approaching the Louisiana coast near the mouth of the Mississippi River. [NASA Earth Observatory]
• Harvest limits increased for Northeast fisheries --US Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke recently announced that because of new scientific analysis, his department was raising fishing limits on several fish stocks in the waters off the Northeast. [NOAA News]
• More carbon dioxide levels and acidity levels found in Washington State waters --Scientists from NOAA, the University of Washington, the Washington State Department of Ecology and the US Environmental Protection Agency report finding the waters of the state's Hood Canal and the main Puget Sound basin have become more acidic as increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have resulted in more of that gas being absorbed by the waters of the nearby Pacific Ocean. The researchers are concerned that the increased acidity of the state's waters could impact the shellfish industry of the region in coming decades. [NOAA News]
• New cooperative institute to study climate and marine ecosystems --NOAA officials recently announced that the Cooperative Institute on Marine Ecosystems and Climate had been formed as a new research partnership between federal and academic scientists in an effort to study climate change and coastal ecosystems. The University of California, San Diego will lead this new cooperative institute. [NOAA News]
• Ground broken for new NOAA Sanctuary Exploration Center in California-- Early last week, officials from NOAA's Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the City of Santa Cruz in California broke ground for a Sanctuary Exploration Center at Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. This center is scheduled to be completed during the winter of 2011 and "will encourage visitors to explore the marine environment and issues impacting the sanctuary." [NOAA News]
• New research ship will be operated by Scripps --The US Office of Naval Research recently selected Scripps Institution of Oceanography as the operator of a new 200-foot long scientific research vessel that is intended to provide support interdisciplinary research, educational missions, and engineering operations. The ship will be available for duty in 2015. [Explorations Scripps]
• Underwater volcano in Indonesian waters explored by NOAA ship --Indonesian and American scientists participating in a joint exploration of the deep ocean north of Sulawesi, Indonesia during the last week aboard the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer have mapped a huge undersea volcano called Kawio Barat with a multibeam sonar and with cameras on the vessel's remotely-operated vehicle. [NOAA News]
• Status review for porbeagle shark not currently needed --Early last week, NOAA's Fisheries Service published a finding in the Federal Register in which it said that a status review of the porbeagle shark would not be initiated. Earlier this year, two petitions were made to list the species as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. The porbeagle shark lives in temperate waters of the North Atlantic and Southern Oceans. [NOAA News]
• Coastal areas threatened by rising Indian Ocean level --Scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have found that the sea level of the Indian Ocean has been rising at an uneven rate and that the rise could be partially due to changes in climate. The largest sea level rise has been along the coasts of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and Java, which could threaten residents of some of the densely populated regions. [UCAR/NCAR]
• "Footloose" glaciers behave erratically --A glaciologist with Scripps Institution of Oceanography and his colleagues who studied several glaciers in Alaska report that those "footloose" glaciers that become detached from the seafloor appear to be more erratic in behavior, with bigger icebergs than those that remain grounded and attached. [USGS Newsroom]
• 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]
• Global and US Hazards/Climate Extremes -- A review and analysis of the global impacts of various weather-related events, to include drought, floods and storms during the current month. [NCDC]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Historical Events:

• 19 July 1843...The first all-metal liner, the SS Great Britain, was launched from Bristol, England. Designed by I. K. Brunel, the SS Great Britain was the first of the great steamships. She was the world's first screw-propeller driven (and first iron-hulled) steamship to cross the Atlantic (1845). The six-masted, single-screw, 3,270-ton vessel is 322 feet in length overall and carried a crew of 130 including 30 stewards for her 360-seat dining room. As the world's biggest ship of the time, she embarked on a varied career, first as a luxury liner carrying passengers to New York and Melbourne, then as a ferry carrying troops to the Crimea and India, and finally as a cargo ship, before being abandoned in the Falkland Islands in 1886. She was brought back to Bristol on this day in 1970, where she is now being restored by volunteers to her original appearance at the Great Western Dock in which she was built. (Today in Science History)
• 19 July 1886...A hurricane from the Gulf of Mexico crossed Florida causing great damage from Cedar Keys to Jacksonville. This was the third hurricane in one month to cross the Florida peninsula. (David Ludlum) (Intellicast)
• 19 July 1897...LT Robert E. Peary, USN, departed on a year long Arctic Expedition that made many important discoveries, including one of largest meteorites, Cape York. (Naval Historical Center)
• 19 July 1994...Hurricane Emilia was the first of three Category-5 hurricanes to develop in the Central Pacific in 1994 as unusually warm sea temperatures prevailed south of Hawaii. Sustained winds reached 160 mph. (Intellicast)
• 20 July 1964...Four Navy divers entered Project SEALAB I capsule moored 192 feet on the ocean floor off Bermuda for a 11-day experiment. On the 22^nd they submerged and then surfaced on 31 July 1964. (Naval Historical Center)
• 20 July 1985...Treasure hunters found the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sank approximately 40 miles off the coast of Key West, FL, in 1622 during a hurricane. The ship contained over $400 million in coins and silver ingots. (InfoPlease.com)
• 22 July 1986...Hurricane Estelle passed 120 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands creating a ten to twenty-foot surf. The large swells resulted from a combination of high tides, a full moon, and 50-mph winds. The hurricane also deluged Oahu Island with as much as 6.86 inches of rain on the 24th and 25th of the month. (Storm Data)
• 22-23 July 1996...A strong storm system centered south of Tahiti in the South Pacific was responsible for eight-foot surf along the south shores of Hawaii's Oahu Island. Water safety personnel rescued 95 people from the high surf. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 23 July 1715...Boston Light, the first lighthouse in America was authorized by the Boston Light Bill for construction at Little Brewster Island, MA. This light, located on Little Brewster Island to mark the entrance to Boston harbor, has guided ships since its lantern was first lighted just before sunset, on 14 Sep 1716. In the 1600s, treacherous rocks caused countless loss of lives. False signal fires lit in the wrong places by "wreckers" lured ships aground to plunder. Boston Light was blown up by the British in 1776, but rebuilt in 1783 by Governor John Hancock. The lighthouse was also the last remaining staffed station in the U.S. (Today in Science History)
• 23 July 1788...A weather diary kept by George Washington recorded that the center of a hurricane passed directly over his Mount Vernon home. The hurricane crossed eastern North Carolina and Virginia before moving into the Central Appalachians. Norfolk, VA reported houses destroyed, trees uprooted, and crops leveled to the ground. (David Ludlum)
• 23 July 1958...USS Nautilus (SSN-571) departed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for the first submerged transit of the North Pole. (Naval Historical Center)
• 23 July 1982...The International Whaling Commission decided to end commercial whaling by 1985-86. (Wikipedia)
• 24 July 1609...A fleet of ships carrying colonists to the New World met with a hurricane near Bermuda, resulting in much loss of property but little loss of life. (Northern Indiana NWSFO)
• 24-25 July 1979...Claudette, a weak tropical storm, deluged southeastern Texas with torrential rains. The Houston suburb of Alvin received 43.00 inches, a 24-hour precipitation record for not only the Lone Star State, but for the U.S. Freeport reported a total of 30 inches. Total damage from flooding was over $400 million. On the 27^th, a van loaded with people on their way to a church camp stopped on Texas Highway 7 due to a flooded bridge just west of Centerville. A truck rammed the van, pushing it into the flooded creek, resulting in five people drowning. (Intellicast) (David Ludlum) (NCDC) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
• 24-26 July 1996...Although thousands of miles from southern California, an intense South Pacific storm south of Tahiti produced seven to ten foot surf with some sets up to 12 feet along the southern California coast. Lifeguards participated in more than 500 rescues along the beaches. (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, 2010, The American Meteorological Society.