WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

4-8 June 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.

Items of Interest:

"Break the Grip of the Rip®" -- NOAA, the United States Lifesaving Association and the National Park Service have designated this upcoming week of 3-9 June 2012 as national Rip Current Awareness Week. Using the theme, Break the Grip of the Rip®, efforts are meant to heighten public awareness of rip currents at surf beaches that claim the lives of as many as 100 people in the United States annually. [NWS Rip Current Safety]
Transit of Venus focus of Sun-Earth Day 2012 -- View a "once in a lifetime" celestial event tomorrow evening or late afternoon (5 June 2012) and help celebrate Sun-Earth Day: Shadows of the Sun. The planet Venus will appear to pass slowly across the solar disc as a small dot over the span of several hours in what astronomers call the "transit of Venus." While the previous transit was on 8 June 2004, the next occurrence of this celestial event will not be until the year 2117 and then in 2125. The entire transit event, which starts at 2209 UTC on 5 June and ends at 0449 UTC on 6 June, should be visible to those across the western Pacific, eastern Asia, and eastern Australia, while residents across a large section of North America should see the beginning of the transit before local sunset, while those in Europe and western Asia could see the end of the transit event just after local sunrise on 6 June. See the Global Visibility Map. CAUTION! Do not look directly at the solar disc. Use proper precaution to protect your eyes. Editor's note: The transits of Venus has great historical significance in science, as the first one to be observed in 1639 helped provide the best estimate of the Earth-Sun distance to that time. Captain James Cook, RN made observations of the 1769 transit from Tahiti during his first voyage to the Pacific. EJH
World Environment Day -- This Tuesday, 5 June 2012, is World Environment Day, a day that has been created by the United Nations in an effort to stimulate worldwide awareness of the environment and to enhance political attention and action. This observance was established initially by the UN General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Various activities are being planned. This year's theme is " Green Economy: Does it include you?" [World Environment Day]
World Ocean Day to be celebrated -- World Ocean Day or a "Celebration of the Sea" will be celebrated Friday, 8 June 2012 in an effort to increase public awareness and to foster public involvement in the management of the ocean and its resources. Although this date was created at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, it had not been officially recognized by the United Nations until 2009. This year's theme is Youth: the Next Wave for Change. A partial listing is provided for events across the US and other nations that will celebrate World Ocean Day. [The Ocean Project]
Free admission into the National Parks -- In observance of National Get Outdoors Day this coming Saturday (9 June 2012), the US Department of the Interior's National Park Service has designated next Saturday will provide free entry to any of the 397 national parks in the system. This fee waiver will cover entrance and commercial tour fees in many of the national parks and monuments administered by the Park Service. [National Park Service Fee Free Days]
Early Sunrise -- Within the next week, many locations in the continental United States will experienced the date of earliest sunrise. While the longest daylight at each locale in the Northern Hemisphere will occur in over two weeks on the summer solstice (late afternoon on Wednesday, 20 June 2012), the occurrence of earliest local sunrise occurs before this date because the apparent sun now "leads" the clock time. This time discrepancy, which now amounts to approximately 2 minutes, occurs because of a combination of factors that result from the earth moving more slowly in its elliptical orbit because the earth presently is near its farthest point from the sun (aphelion on late evening of 4 July 2012) and the effect of the tilt of the earth's spin axis (near the summer solstice). For reference, the latest sunsets of the year will occur later in June as the apparent sun slows and by the first week of July "lags" clock time by about 4 minutes.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics-- Although the 2012 hurricane season officially started in the North Atlantic basin late last week, two named tropical cyclones had developed earlier in that basin. Tropical Storm Beryl, the second named system, traveled westward over the Memorial Day weekend and made landfall along the northeast coast of Florida near Jacksonville on late Sunday night. This tropical storm weakened to a tropical depression as it continued moving slowly westward across northern Florida during the first half of the week. At midweek, Tropical Depression Beryl turned to the northeast and traveled across southern Georgia and coastal sections of South Carolina. By late in the week, this season had reached coastal sections of North Carolina. Additional information and satellite imagery on Tropical Storm Beryl are available on the NASA Hurricane Page.
In the western North Pacific, Typhoon Sanvu weakened to a tropical storm at the start of this past week before becoming an extratropical storm and then a remnant low as it traveled to the northeast across the waters of the North Pacific to the south-southeast of Japan. See the NASA Hurricane Page for satellite imagery and additional information on Typhoon Sanvu.
Late last week, Typhoon Mawar formed from a tropical depression over the waters of the Philippine Sea to the east of Samar Island in the southeastern Philippines. Initially, this tropical cyclone traveled to the north-northwest before curving to the north-northeast over this past weekend. As of Sunday Typhoon Mawar had intensified to a category 2 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Additional information on Typhoon Mawar along with satellite imagery can be found on NASA's Hurricane Page.
Forecasters to study hurricane eyewalls -- During this upcoming Atlantic hurricane season, NOAA scientists will be using a new statistical model to help them predict the start of the "eyewall replacement cycle," which appears to be a key indicator that the strength and size of a tropical cyclone will dramatically change soon. Data collected from NOAA's geosynchronous and polar orbiting satellites are used to help create the model, a project that was part of the NOAA Joint Hurricane Testbed and the Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project. [NOAA News]
Revisiting Hurricane Andrew's strong winds after 20 years -- A map showing the sustained surface wind speeds across south Florida as Hurricane Andrew, a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, made landfall in the Miami metropolitan area in August 1992 has been prepared by researchers at NOAA's National Hurricane Center and the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory. The maximum sustained surface winds surrounding the hurricane's eye were estimated to be 165 mph. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Lab]
Pilot-less research aircraft to fly over hurricanes this season -- With the start of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, NASA announced that it will use two of its "Global Hawks" pilot-less aircraft to fly to altitudes of 60,000 feet and for up to 28 hours over hurricanes to obtain atmospheric measurements that will be used to investigate those processes involved with the life cycle of hurricanes. Six different instruments will be used. This mission, which includes NASA and other federal and university partners, is called the Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) airborne mission. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center]
Another hurricane forecast released --During the last week, scientists at Florida State University Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies released their Atlantic hurricane forecast for 2012. This forecast, the fourth annual forecast that these researchers produced, is based on a computer model based upon 51 individual seasonal forecasts using sea surface temperatures predicted by NOAA. The Florida forecast calls for a 70 percent probability of 10 to 16 named tropical cyclones and five to nine hurricanes. The mean forecast is for 13 named storms and seven hurricanes. They also calculated an average accumulated cyclone energy of 122, which is a measure of the strength and duration of storms. Their forecast is slightly below the 1995-2010 average of 14 named tropical cyclones and eight hurricanes, reflecting cooling surface waters in the tropical North Atlantic and warmer waters in the equatorial Pacific associated with potential El Niño conditions. [Florida State University]
Gulf Coast deemed vulnerable to extreme erosion from weak hurricanes -- A new report produced by the US Geological Survey (USGS) warns that approximately 70 percent of the Gulf of Mexico coastline is vulnerable to extreme erosion caused by even weak category 1 hurricanes on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. The USGS scientists who authored this report used modern modeling techniques to determine the probabilities of erosion, overwash and inundation during direct hurricane landfall for sandy beaches along the entire U.S. Gulf Coast shoreline. An interactive map is available that allows users to focus on local sections of the Gulf Coast. [USGS Newsroom]
Changing Bering Sea ecosystem impacts nation's most valuable fisheries -- .... NOAA researchers from the agency's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and the Alaska Fisheries Science Center along with their partners from the University of Washington and other academic research institutions have been studying the Bering Sea ice and marine ecosystem conditions along the western coast of Alaska in order t understand those processes that affect the eastern Bering Sea marine ecosystems, which contain some of the most commercially valuable of the nation's fisheries. [NOAA News]
US-European Union agreement signed to strengthen climate, weather and ocean science activities -- At a meeting held last week in Brussels, Belgium, officials from NOAA and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre signed a landmark agreement that would strengthen cooperative science activities between the US and the European Union (EU) in several environmental areas involving weather, climate, oceans and coasts. The meeting also marked the start of the first four environmental monitoring projects under this agreement. [NOAA News] In addition to signing the agreement, Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D. Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere & NOAA Administrator also delivered remarks to the EU Parliament on the importance of international cooperation on sustainable fisheries management, focusing upon the rebuilding of US fisheries. Her prepared remarks the Parliament are included. [NOAA News] A joint statement on sustainable fisheries management from Maria Damanaki, European Union Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, and Dr. Lubchenco was also made available following the remarks made by the two to the EU Parliament. [NOAA News]
New virtual estuaries science curriculum available for middle school -- NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) has recently posted "Estuaries 101" a multi-media, online science curriculum for middle school students on their Estuary Education website. The Estuaries 100 curriculum, which was developed for teachers, offers students a virtual field trip to one of 28 estuaries around the country. The curriculum also meets National Science Education Standards for grades 5-8 and can be readily aligned to meet all state standards. [NOAA News]
Red snapper catch limit increased in the Gulf of Mexico --Based upon the favorable results of a recently updated population assessment, NOAA has increased the 2012 commercial and fishing catch limits for the Gulf of Mexico red snapper as of last Friday. The recent assessment indicates the population of this species is increasing as overfishing has ended. [NOAA News]
New theories needed for understanding terrestrial formation -- A scientist at Denmark's University of Copenhagen has found that the current theory of continental drift and plate tectonics may be adequate for explaining terrestrial processes during the last 3 billion years, it is not sufficient to explain the dynamics involved with the formation of the Earth's crust when the planet formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago. [University of Copenhagen News]
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:

4 June 1825...A hurricane struck Long Island, NY leveling trees and causing damage to ships. The early season hurricane, which originated near Cuba, caused major damage along the Atlantic coast from Charleston, SC to New York City. Many were lost at sea. (David Ludlum)
4 June 1976...Forty-foot waves from a tropical cyclone smashed Gogha (port), India. Excellent warnings limited the death toll to approximately 70. Dredging of the harbor at Bhavnnagar ceased for several years as storm runoff from the Kansa River washed away accumulated sand and silt. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
6 June 1882...More than 100,000 inhabitants of Bombay, India were killed as a tropical cyclone that developed over the Arabian Sea pushed huge waves into the harbor. (Wikipedia)
7 June 1914...The first vessel, the Alliance, passed through the Panama Canal. The 51-mile long canal, which links the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans across the isthmus of Panama, was officially opened on 15 August 1914. (Today in Science History) (Wikipedia)
7 June 1924...The Oil Pollution Act was passed. It was enforced by the Coast Guard.
Protection of halibut in the North Pacific Ocean was placed under Bureau of Fisheries (Coast Guard- enforced since 1926). (USCG Historian's Office)
7 June 1972...Richmond, VA experienced its worst flood of record as rains from Hurricane Agnes pushed the water level at the city locks to a height of 36.5 feet, easily topping the previous record of thirty feet set in 1771. (The Weather Channel)
7-10 June 2001...Tropical Storm Allison made landfall along the Texas Gulf Coast near Galveston early on the 6^th and drifted northward before becoming stationary as a depression later in the day near Lufkin. Later, it began to drift back southward, moving offshore over the Gulf late on the 9^th at nearly the same place as it had made landfall. Allison caused disastrous flooding across the Upper Texas Gulf Coast, especially in the Houston area where a storm total of 36.99 inches fell at Port Houston. Twenty-three people lost their lives in Texas. Damage in the region amounted to $5 billion, which included 45,000 homes, 70,000 vehicles and 2000 businesses. (Accord's Weather Guide Calendar)
8 June 1937...Observation of the total eclipse of the sun was made by a U.S. Navy detachment commanded by Captain J. F. Hellweg, USN, which was participating in the National Geographic Society - United States Navy Eclipse Expedition at Canton Island in the Phoenix Islands, Pacific Ocean. USS Avocet was assigned to this expedition. (Naval Historical Center)
8-9 June 1990...The Norwegian tanker Mega Borg released 5.1 million gallons of oil some 60 nautical miles south-southeast of Galveston, TX, the result of an explosion and subsequent fire in the pump room. Two crew members were killed. Coast Guard units fought the resulting fires and recovered spilled oil. (Information Please) (USCG Historian's Office)
8 June 1992...The first World Ocean Day was celebrated, coinciding with the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Wikipedia)
8 June 1937...Observation of the total eclipse of the sun was made by a U.S. Navy detachment commanded by Captain J. F. Hellweg, USN, which was participating in the National Geographic Society - United States Navy Eclipse Expedition at Canton Island in the Phoenix Islands, Pacific Ocean. USS Avocet was assigned to this expedition. (Naval Historical Center)
8-9 June 1990...The Norwegian tanker Mega Borg released 5.1 million gallons of oil some 60 nautical miles south-southeast of Galveston, TX, the result of an explosion and subsequent fire in the pump room. Two crew members were killed. Coast Guard units fought the resulting fires and recovered spilled oil. (Information Please) (USCG Historian's Office)
8 June 1992...The first World Ocean Day was celebrated, coinciding with the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Wikipedia)
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 8th. (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.