WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

7-11 May 2012

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2012 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 27 August 2012. 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.
Problem fish in lower Mississippi could provide nutritious meals for needy Haitians -- Researchers at NOAA's Louisiana Sea Grant program and the Louisiana State University gave been using Asian carp that has become an invasive species in the lower Mississippi River to produce a high-quality protein fish product that can be canned and then used to feed many of the hungry Haitians that are survivors of the January 2010 earthquake. [NOAA Research]
Measures issued to protect marine mammals in northern Alaskan waters during energy exploration --Last week NOAA's Fisheries Service issued two incidental harassment authorization measures to Shell corporation that are designed to protect marine mammals during Shell's proposed oil and gas exploratory programs this upcoming summer in the shallow waters of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off the northern Alaska coast. [NOAA News]
Means to detect low-level exposure to seafood toxin in marine animals discovered -- NOAA Fisheries scientists and their colleagues have discovered a biological marker in the blood of laboratory zebrafish and marine mammals that shows when these animals have been repeatedly exposed to low levels of domoic acid, which is produced by certain species of marine algae and can be potentially toxic at high levels. [NOAA News]
Steps to be taken to assist North Atlantic fisheries -- NOAA Fisheries Service recently announced several steps that may help minimize the economic loss facing the commercial fishing industry due to the Georges Bank yellowtail flounder quota reductions. The Georges Bank fisheries are jointly fished and managed with Canada. [NOAA News]
Taking a closer look at ocean temperatures -- Researchers in NOAA Satellite and Information Service have developed an operational high resolution sea surface temperature product that combines observational data from the fleet of geosynchronous and polar orbiting environmental satellites operated by the US, the European nations and Japan. This daily blended product, which has a 5-kilometer resolution, has the greatest resolution of global sea surface temperatures so far to date. [ NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory]
Elevated methane levels found above cracks in Arctic sea ice -- Researchers from NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory and colleagues report finding methane, a potent greenhouse gas, seeping out of the fractures in the sea ice floating on the surface of the Arctic Ocean. The gas may have been generated from tiny bacteria and other organisms in the seawater. [NOAA Research]
Surprising ecological effects of earthquake and tsunami revealed -- Researchers from the Universidad Austral de Chile and the University of California-Santa Barbara examining the sandy beaches of south central Chile have found a resurgence of some species and a reappearance of certain ecological habitats following the 8.8-magnitude earthquake and devastating tsunami in 2010. The researchers warn of the potential effects of natural disasters on sandy beaches worldwide, including global rises in sea level. [University of California-Santa Barbara]
Changes in speeds of Greenland glaciers help in estimating future sea-level change -- Researchers at the University of Washington and their colleagues report that their research into a decade-long record of changes in the speed of movement of Greenland outlet glaciers using satellite obtained data indicates that Greenland's contribution to projected rising sea level during the 21st century might be significantly less than the upper limits previously stated. [University of Washington]
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:

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)
9 May 1502...The explorer Christopher Columbus left Spain for his fourth and final journey to the "New World". (Wikipedia)
9 May 1926...The Baden-Baden, a ship propelled by two 50-ft high cylindrical rotors arrived in New York having left Hamburg on 2 April 1926, and completed a transatlantic crossing from Germany. Utilizing the aerodynamic power of the Magnus Effect (discovered in 1852), which builds air pressure behind a rotating cylinder, these rotors drove 45-hp electric motors that powered the ship. Although a theoretical success, it was not sufficiently effective for commercial application. (Today in Science)
9 May 1980...A blinding squall, followed by dense fog, reduced visibility to near zero at the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay in Florida. The Liberian freighter SS Summit Venture hit the bridge piling, causing a 1200-foot section of the bridge to fall 150 feet into the bay. Several vehicles, including a bus, drove off the edge of the span, resulting in 35 deaths. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar) (Wikipedia).
9 May 1990...A tropical cyclone hit the southeast coast of India, killing 1000 people, even though 400,000 people evacuated because of early warning of the storm. More than 100 miles of coast were devastated as winds reached 125 mph and a storm surge measured at 22 feet flooded inland as far as 22 miles. (The Weather Doctor) (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
10 May 1497...The Italian cartographer Amerigo Vespucci allegedly left the Spanish coastal city of Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World. (Wikipedia)
10 May 1503...Christopher Columbus discovered the Cayman Islands and named them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles that he found there. (Wikipedia)
10 May 1960...The submarine, USS Triton (SSRN-586), completed a submerged circumnavigation of world in 84 days following many of the routes taken by Magellan and cruising 46,000 miles. (Naval Historical Center)
11 May 1833...The ship Lady of the Lake struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic while bound from England to Quebec, resulting in the loss of 215 lives. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
11-12 May 1965...The first of two cyclones that struck East Pakistan (now called Bangladesh) during the year made landfall. This system, along with the one on 1-2 June, killed about 47,000 people.
12 May 1916...Plumb Point, Jamaica reported 17.80 inches of rain in 15 minutes, which set a world record. (The Weather Doctor)
12 May 1978...The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that they would no longer exclusively name hurricanes after women.