25-29 July 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.

• Eye on the tropics --- Several tropical cyclones moved across the Atlantic and Pacific basins of the Northern Hemisphere during the last week.
• In the North Atlantic basin, Tropical Storm Bret, the second named tropical cyclone of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, formed over the waters surrounding the northern Bahamas at the start of last week. During the week, this tropical storm traveled to the north-northeast off the East Coast of the United States. By the end of the week, it had weakened to a tropical depression well off the Outer Banks of North Carolina. For more information on Tropical Storm Bret, along with satellite imagery, consult the NASA Hurricane Page.
  Another tropical storm, named Cindy, formed farther to the northeast over the waters of the Atlantic near Bermuda by midweek. This third named tropical cyclone of 2011 traveled to the northeast and subsequently dissipated by the end of the week. See the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information and satellite imagery on Tropical Storm Cindy.
• In the eastern North Pacific basin, a tropical depression formed off the southwestern coast of Mexico and intensified to become Dora, the fourth named tropical cyclone of 2011 in the eastern Pacific. This system traveled to the west-northwest off the Mexican coast, intensifying to a major category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Dora weakened to a tropical storm on Saturday and continued to weaken slowly as it traveled to the west of the Baja California Peninsula on Sunday. Satellite imagery and additional information on Hurricane Dora can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
• In the western North Pacific basin, Typhoon Ma-on, which had become a super typhoon the previous week, continued to track to the north toward the southwestern Japanese coast early in the week. By late in the week, Ma-on curved to the east and then to the southeast as it weakened to the south of Japan. See the NASA Hurricane Page for satellite images and additional information on Typhoon Ma-on.
  At the end of this past weekend, Tropical Depression 10 formed east of the Philippines. This depression was forecast to travel to the northwest, passing close to the northern coast of Luzon, the Philippine's largest island.
• New catch limits for sustainable Atlantic sea scallop fishery are approved -- During the last week, NOAA approved a suite of management measures that included catch limit increases designed to provide greater flexibility to the sustainable Atlantic sea scallop fishery. [NOAA News]
• Public input sought on sustainable management of halibut stock -- NOAA's Fisheries Service is seeking public comment through early September on a draft rule designed to manage the halibut stock in the waters surrounding southeast Alaska and the central Gulf of Alaska on a sustainable basis. This rule was recommended by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. [NOAA News]
• Iceland's whaling considered to undermine the International Whaling Commission -- Last week, the Secretary of the US Department of Commerce Gary Locke certified to President Obama that Iceland's commercial whaling and international trade in fin whale products is diminishing the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission and he has urged the Government of Iceland to cease permitting commercial whaling. [NOAA News]
• Rhode Island's coastal and ocean management plans approved -- Late last week, the NOAA Administrator along with Rhode Island officials that included the governor and the two US Senators from the state, met to recognize the Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan. This new and innovative ocean management plan is designed to improve state review processes and policies with a goal of create wind energy jobs in coastal communities, while maintaining good environmental stewardship along the coastal waters. [NOAA News]
• Research vessel crew found to have acted responsibly in whale collision -- In an investigation conducted by NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement, the crew of the NOAA Research vessel Auk was found to have exercised due care before and after it struck an endangered North Atlantic right whale in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the Massachusetts coast in April 2009. Therefore, no further enforcement response was deemed warranted. [NOAA News]
• DNA testing of Puget Sound's killer whales indicates inbreeding -- NOAA researchers and their colleagues have been using DNA testing techniques on a small population of Southern resident killer whales that seasonally visit Washington State's Puget Sound. The researchers have found signs of inbreeding within this population that could reduce the population's genetic diversity. [EurekAlert!]
• Chemical composition of Gulf plume determined -- A research team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has determined what chemicals were contained in a deep, hydrocarbon-containing plume in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico that emanated from last year's BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The oil component of the plume consisted of benzene, toluene, ethybenzene, and total xylenes. [NSF]
• 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.

• 25 July 1956...The Italian ship Andrea Doria sank in dense fog near Nantucket Lightship, MA. Ten hours earlier, the ship was rammed by the Swedish-American liner, Stockholm, forty-five miles off the coast of Massachusetts. Fifty-two persons drowned, or were killed by the impact. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
• 25 July 1994...Hurricane Gilma, like Emilia a week earlier, reached Category 5 strength in the Central Pacific. (Intellicast)
• 27 July 1866...The 1686-mile long Atlantic Cable was successfully completed between Newfoundland and Ireland by the American businessman Cyrus W. Field, allowing transatlantic telegraph communication for the first time. Two previous attempts at laying a cable ended in failure. (Wikipedia) (Today in Science History)
• 27 July 1926...A hurricane came inland near Daytona Beach, FL. The hurricane caused 2.5 million dollars damage in eastern Florida, including the Jacksonville area. (David Ludlum)
• 27 July 1943...On a whim, and flying a single engine AT-6, Lieutenant Ralph O' Hair and Colonel Duckworth were the first to fly into a hurricane. It started regular Air Force flights into hurricanes. (The Weather Channel)
• 28 July 1819...A small but intense hurricane passed over Bay Saint Louis, MS. The hurricane was considered the worst in fifty years. Few houses were left standing either at Bay Saint Louis or at Pass Christian and much of the Mississippi coast was desolate following the storm. An U.S. cutter was lost along with its thirty-nine crewmembers. The storm struck the same area that was hit 150 years later by Hurricane Camille. (David Ludlum)
• 31 July 1498...On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, the explorer Christopher Columbus became the first European to reach the island of Trinidad. (Wikipedia)
• 31 July 1978...A 50-yard wide waterspout came onshore at Kill Devil Hills, NC and destroyed a small house. One person died and four were hurt. Waterspouts are typically considered relatively benign. (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, 2011, The American Meteorological Society.