WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

2-6 May 2011

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2011 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 29 August 2011. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics -- Although the official hurricane season is about to begin in the Northern Hemisphere during this next month, no organized tropical cyclones were found across any of the globe's ocean basins during the last week.

East Coast awareness tour commences --NOAA hurricane experts will embark Monday on a five-day, five-city tour along the nation's East Coast in a "hurricane hunter" aircraft to raise public hurricane awareness. The schedule includes stops in Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. [NOAA News]

Changes in catch limits for Atlantic sea scallop fishery made -- Officials at NOAA's Fisheries Services announced last week that the agency had proposed raising the catch limit for Atlantic sea scallop vessels during the next two years that would also contain measures limiting scallop fishing in certain areas designed to protect sea turtles and yellowtail flounder. [NOAA News]

Completion of a Cape Cod salt marsh restoration project celebrated -- Early last week, NOAA fisheries officials, along with local governmental officials and other partners celebrated the completion of project along Stony Brook on the shores of Cape Cod, Massachusetts designed to restore natural tidal flow to a salt marsh and open a passage for fish to migrate to their freshwater spawning grounds. This project was part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. [NOAA News]

Ocean explorations provide educational foundation for understanding Gulf oil-spill effects -- NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research recently created "The Gulf of Mexico Deep-Sea Ecosystem Education Materials Collection" designed to highlight information obtained from 11 NOAA-sponsored ocean explorations in the Gulf of Mexico that have increased understanding of oil spill-related changes in the Gulf ecosystems. This collection includes an educator’s guide and 16 associated lesson plans. [NOAA News]

Official statements made on New England fisheries management -- Last week, Eric Schwaab, assistant NOAA administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service, provided commentary as he released the first phase of an independent assessment of the fishery management system in New England that he had requested last year. [NOAA News]

Animation shows interannual variability of Pacific Ocean sea surface heights -- A nearly 19-year sequence of images of the sea surface heights in the Pacific Ocean basin as obtained from several NASA spacecraft reveal a year-to-year variation superimposed upon the gradual increase in global sea level height. These "interannual" variations reflect changes that range from several years to a decade associated with climate events such as the El Niño, La Niña and Pacific Decadal Oscillation. [NASA Hurricane Mission]

Mercury becomes toxic in ocean waters -- Researchers from the University of Alberta and their colleagues have discovered that a relatively harmless form of mercury generated worldwide by human activity is transformed into toxic monomethylmercury, a deadly neurotoxin, in ocean water by a process called methylation, where a methyl group is added to inorganic heavy metals by certain enzymes. [University of Alberta]

New intergovernmental agency climate impact studies funded -- NASA, together with the US Geological Survey, the National Park Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Smithsonian Institution recently announced funding during the next four years for 15 new research projects to study the response of different species and ecosystems to climate changes and develop tools to better manage wildlife and natural resources. The research projects will be conducted by academia, government and the private sector organizations. [NASA Headquarters]

National standards for offshore wind turbines are sought -- In a report prepared by the National Research Council's Transportation Research Board, a clear set of required standards and practices for offshore wind energy turbines are needed. The report, entitled "Structural Integrity of Offshore Wind Turbines: Oversight of Design, Fabrication, and Installation," recommends that the US Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement establish performance goals for structural integrity of these systems. [National Academies]

Global climate could be affected by the Agulhas Current system and its "leakage" -- A scientific team from the US, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain have discovered that the Agulhas Current, which runs along the east coast of Africa, has "leakage" from the Indian Ocean into the Atlantic Ocean and that increased Agulhas leakage could represent a significant player in global climate variability. Warm and salty water from the tropical Indian Ocean could leak into the less saline Atlantic Ocean and strengthen the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. [University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science]

Deep ocean eddies found as powerful ocean transport modes -- Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and their colleagues have discovered that massive, swirling ocean eddies can extend from the surface down to the ocean bottom at mid-ocean ridges, transporting tiny marine life, chemicals, and heat from hydrothermal vents over large distances. These eddies may have a horizontal dimension of approximately 500 kilometers at the surface and extend vertically over 2500 meters. The researchers found that atmospheric events such as winds can generate these eddies at the surface. [Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]

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:

2 May 1775...Benjamin Franklin completed the first scientific study of the Gulf Stream. His observations began in 1769 when as deputy postmaster of the British Colonies he found ships took two weeks longer to bring mail from England than was required in the opposite direction. Thus, Franklin became the first to chart the Gulf Stream. (Today in Science History)
2 May 1880...The first U.S. steamboat to successfully employ electric lights was the Columbia, a 309-ft long vessel which operated between San Francisco, CA and Portland, OR. An "A" type dynamo was placed in operation to illuminate the passenger rooms and main salons. (Today in Science History)
2 May 1932...After a Convention with Canada, the Northern Pacific Halibut Act re-enacted the Act of 7 June 1924 and made it unlawful to catch halibut between 1 November and 15 February of each year in territorial waters of United States and Canada, as well as on the high seas, extending westerly from there, including the Bering Sea. The Coast Guard enforced this act. (USCG Historian's Office)
2-3 May 1998...Ocean swells from storms in the South Pacific caused surf heights of 7 to 9 feet, with sets to 12 feet along the southern California coast. A man fishing on rocks at Rancho Palos Verdes, CA was swept away. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
3 May 1494...The explorer Christopher Columbus sighted the island of Jamaica in the West Indies. He named the island Santa Gloria. On the following day, he landed on Jamaica. (Library of Congress)
3 May 1761...Large tornadoes swept the Charleston, SC harbor when a British Fleet of 40 sails was at anchor. It raised a wave 12 feet high, leaving many vessels on their beam-ends. Four people drowned. (Intellicast)
4 May 1869...The first U.S. patent for an offshore oil-drill rig was issued to T.F. Rowland for his "submarine drilling apparatus" (No. 89,794). (Today in Science History)
4 May 1904...Construction began on the Panama Canal. (Wikipedia)
4 May 1910...Congress required every passenger ship or other ship carrying 50 persons or more, leaving any port of United States to be equipped with radio (100-mi radius) and a qualified operator. (USCG Historian's Office)
5 May 1990...A strong Pacific cold front moving rapidly inland caused weather conditions at the east end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca in Washington State to quickly change from sunny and calm to westerly winds of 60 mph and ten-foot waves. Three recreational fishing boats capsized in heavy seas off Port Angeles resulting in five deaths. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
6 May 1994...The rail tunnel under the English Channel, or "Chunnel," that connects Folkestone, England, with Sangatte, France was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President Mitterrand. (The History Channel)
8 May 1961...The first practical seawater conversion plant in the U.S. was opened in Freeport, TX by the Office of Saline Water, U.S. Dept. of the Interior. The plant was designed to produce about a million gallons of water a day at a cost of about $1.25 per thousand gallons. (Today in Science History)
8 May 1992...The source of a "red tide" in the Gulf of Mexico was suggested by scientists at a conference on the ecology of the Gulf. The red tide produced huge blooms of reddish algae in sufficient quantity to kill fish and cause severe respiratory problems for humans. A "green river" that started 60 miles inland of Florida was indicated as the source of the algae. The wind and water currents that bring nutrients from the floor of the ocean to the surface provided the food that caused the algae population to explode once it reached the Gulf. (Today in Science History)