WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

13-17 May 2013

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2013 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 2 September 2013. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Items of Interest:

Hurricane season begins in the eastern North Pacific -- The 2013 hurricane season in the eastern North Pacific Ocean basin begins on Wednesday, 15 May 2013. The hurricane season in the North Atlantic basin, including the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico will begin in two weeks on 1 June. The official hurricane seasons in both basins end on 30 November 2013. NOAA has declared the week of 26 May-1 June 2013 to be Hurricane Awareness Week across the nation.
North American Safe Boating Week -- Commencing this coming Saturday, the week of 18-24 May has been declared 2013 National Safe Boating Week, to help kick off the 2013 North American Safe Boating Campaign. Check the Safe Boating Week site maintained by the Safe Boating Council.
Zenithal Sun -- The end of this upcoming week marks one of the two times during the year when the noontime sun is directly overhead to residents on the Big Island on about 14 May at South Cape (Ka Lae at 18.9 deg North latitude and 155.68 degrees West longitude) and on the 18th and 19 May at Hilo; those on Oahu (Honolulu metropolitan area) will experience the noon sun at the zenith in approximately one more week (25-27 May). The sun will again be over the Big Island during the last week of July. [US Naval Observatory, Data Services]
Time-lapse satellite image sequences chronicle global change for nearly three decades -- Google, Inc., the American corporation specializing in Internet services, recently released a compilation of time-lapse sequences of images made of Earth from space that cover more than a quarter of a century. The images, which display changes to Earth's surface over time, were generated from data collected from the Landsat Program managed by the US Geological Survey, the images display an historical perspective on changes to Earth's surface over time. [NASA Headquarters] or [USGS Newsroom] For some of the image sequences, attention is directed to the Google Official Blog.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the tropics -- Two tropical cyclones formed over the waters of the Indian Ocean in both hemispheres during the last week:
In the Southern Indian Ocean basin, Tropical Cyclone Jamala formed nearly 800 miles east of Diego Garcia last Wednesday. This tropical storm (originally identified as Tropical Storm 24S) initially moved eastward and then southward during the late week, well away from any land area. Eventually, this system weakened to a tropical depression and dissipated as of the start of this past weekend. For more information and satellite images on Tropical Cyclone Jamala, see the NASA Hurricane Page.
The first tropical cyclone of 2013 in the North Indian Ocean basin formed last Friday near the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. This tropical cyclone was originally designated as Tropical Cyclone 1B, as it was the first to form in the eastern sector of the North Indian Ocean that includes the Bay of Bengal. This system has also been called Tropical Storm Mahasen. Over the weekend, Mahasen intensified as it traveled toward the northwest into the Bay of Bengal. Forecasts indicate that Mahasen would gradually turn and move toward the north and then northeast, possibly becoming a category 1 tropical cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Mahasen could make a possible landfall on Myanmar (formerly called Burma) by this coming Wednesday, accompanied by strong winds, high seas and torrential rains. Additional information and satellite images on Tropical Storm Mahasen (or Tropical Cyclone 1B) is available on the NASA Hurricane Page.
Post-Sandy hydrographic surveys commence for this year -- During the last month, NOAA commenced its post-Hurricane Sandy hydrographic work for 2013 as the NOAA Coast Survey's Navigation Response Team 5 (NRT5) began a survey of the waters of New York Harbor surrounding Liberty Island and Ellis Island in an attempt to reestablish safe navigation and docking at the Statue of Liberty. This team is using multi-beam echo-sounding technology and side scan sonar to identify storm debris that followed last October's Hurricane Sandy. [National Ocean Service]
Funding awarded to help upgrade New York and New Jersey water facilities damaged by Hurricane Sandy -- At the start of last week, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that grants of over $500 million would be provided to the states of New York and New Jersey for improvements to wastewater and drinking water treatment facilities damaged by Hurricane Sandy last October. [EPA Newsroom]
Report on important role of habitat conservation for fisheries released -- During the last week NOAA Fisheries announced the release of an eight-page illustrated report entitled "More Habitat Means More Fish" that outlines the crucial role that habitat plays in maintaining US commercial and recreational fisheries. This report, which was partnered with Restore America's Estuaries and the American Sportfishing Association, also shows why habitat conservation represents a good investment in producing significant gains in the health and size of fish populations. [NOAA Habitat Conservation]
New chemosynthetic community discovered in deep ocean -- The Deepwater Canyons Project Science Team recently reported the discovery of a community of specialized bacteria living in the gills of mussels at depths of approximately 1600 meters (one mile) below the ocean surface. These chemosynthetic animals produced methane bubbles that were observed using the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Jason attached to the NOAA ship Ron Brown. The Deepwater Canyons Project is a collaborative effort among the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, CSA Ocean Sciences, Inc. and their academic partners. The NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research and the US Geological Survey are also involved in the project. [NOAA Ocean Explorer]
Data are made available for climate change and human health research -- Last week, the Obama Administration announced that data potentially useful to research related to climate change and human health would be made available publicly through a new online tool called "Metadata Access Tool for Climate and Health (or MATCH), a project administered by the interagency US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). MATCH is a searchable clearinghouse of publicly available Federal metadata and links for data sets and tools, extracted from more than 9000 health, environment, and climate-science datasets held by six Federal agencies, including NOAA and NASA. [The White House]
Mauna Loa Observatory measures new carbon dioxide level milestone -- Late last week NOAA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography scientists at Hawaii's Mauna Loa Observatory measured a daily mean concentration of carbon dioxide that surpassed 400 parts per million (ppm). This reading was the first time that the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels reached 400 ppm since these measurements began in 1958 by the late Charles Keeling. Scientists noted that the rate of increase in carbon dioxide has accelerated from about 0.7 ppm per year in the late 1950s to 2.1 ppm per year during the last decade. [NOAA Research]
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:

14 May 1836...U.S. Exploring Expedition authorized to conduct exploration of Pacific Ocean and South Seas, the first major scientific expedition overseas. LT Charles Wilkes USN would lead the expedition in surveying South America, Antarctica, Far East, and North Pacific. (Naval Historical Center)
15 May 1934...Lightship No. 117, occupying the Nantucket Shoals Station, in a dense fog, was struck by the RMS Olympic and sank on station with the loss of seven crew members. (USCG Historian's Office)
15-24 May 1951...Hurricane Able did a "loop-the-loop" north of the Bahamas and reached Category 3 strength off Cape Hatteras, NC. (The Weather Doctor)
16 May 1917...Marquette, MI had its latest opening of navigation on Lake Superior in history. (Intellicast)
17-21 May 1887...An early season tropical storm raked Cuba and The Bahamas. (The Weather Doctor)
17 May 1970...The Norwegian ethnologist, Thor Heyerdahl, and a multinational crew set sail on a trans-Atlantic voyage from Morocco on Ra II, a papyrus sailing craft modeled after the ancient Egyptian vessels in an effort to prove his theory that Mediterranean sailors reached the Americas in ancient times. After 57 days, the Ra II reached Barbados. (The History Channel)
19 May 1535...French explorer Jacques Cartier set sail on his second voyage to North America with 3 ships, 110 men, and Chief Donnacona's two sons (whom Cartier kidnapped during his first voyage). (Wikipedia)
19 May 1912...The US Navy established the North Atlantic Ice Patrol following the RMS Titanic disaster. (Naval Historical Center)