WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

2-6 May 2016

DataStreme Ocean will return for Fall 2016 with new Investigations files starting during Preview Week, Monday, 22 August 2016. All the current online website products will continue to be available throughout the summer break period.

Item of Interest:

• May is National Wetlands Month -- The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), along with other federal agencies and environmental groups, has designated May as American Wetlands Month in an effort to increase public awareness of the importance of protecting and preserving the nation's wetlands. This year's observance is the 26th annual National Wetlands Month. [EPA-Wetlands]

Ocean in the News:

• Eye on the tropics --- At the start of last week, tropical cyclone activity was limited to the South Pacific Ocean basin were Cyclone Amos was weakening as it traveled eastward past Pago Pago in American Samoa. Strong wind shear tore this tropical cyclone apart. See the NASA Hurricane Page for satellite images and additional information on Cyclone Amos.
• Cooling of coastal surface waters seen to impact tropical cyclone intensity -- Researchers from Rutgers University and colleagues from China recently reported finding that cooling of the stratified coastal ocean waters can occur ahead of an approaching tropical cyclone (hurricane) due to wind-forced mixing, which could result in a reduction in the tropical cyclone's intensity. Their conclusions were based on analysis of data collected from Hurricane Irene in 2011 and similar hurricanes and tropical storms that exhibited similar intensity reductions linked to lower sea surface temperatures in coastal waters ahead of the eye of the tropical cyclone. [NOAA Climate Program Office News]
• Educating to help mitigate ocean acidification -- NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and NOAA's Ocean Acidification Program have organized a special outreach session and evening Share-a-Thon to help educators, communicators, and scientists share effective approaches to communicating ocean acidification in conjunction with the 4th Ocean in a High CO₂ World Symposium that is being held in Hobart, Tasmania with more than 350 scientists in attendance. Educators and communicators are urged to participate in the Sharing Ocean Acidification Resources for Communicators and Educators (SOARCE) Webinar during the late afternoon or early evening of this coming Friday, 6 May. [NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries News]
• NOAA invites public to "ask us anything" on harmful algal bloom Reddit -- NOAA scientists Richard Stumpf and Karen Kavanaugh will be answering questions from the public involving harmful algal bloom (HAB) on Reddit Science "Ask Us Anything" this coming Friday, 5 May 2016 at 1:00 PM EDT. [NOAA National Ocean Service News]
• New marine mammal rehabilitation center opened -- During the last week, officials with NOAA Fisheries and Marine Mammals of Maine opened a new short-term triage facility for seals in Harpswell, ME which represents the first such holding facility along the East Coast that is part of NOAA's Regional Marine Mammal Stranding Response Program. [NOAA News] or [NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region News]
• Public input sought on development of Commerce Trusted Trader Program -- During the last week, NOAA Fisheries officials announced that a 60-day comment period was being opened on the design and implementation of a Commerce Trusted Trader Program as part of an effective seafood traceability process to combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and seafood fraud. The National Ocean Council Committee on IUU Fishing and Seafood Fraud is charged with implementing the Presidential Task Force. [National Ocean Council Committee on IUU Fishing and Seafood Fraud ]
• NOAA Sentinel Site cooperative established in northern Gulf of Mexico -- As part of its NOAA Sentinel Site Program, NOAA's National Ocean Service as established a Northern Gulf of Mexico Sentinel Site Cooperative that is designed for "fostering oyster management for the Gulf's greater good." This Cooperative includes more than 90 members representing various federal, state and local governmental agencies, universities, non-profit organizations and private companies that are charged with finding suitable habitat for oysters in the northern Gulf of Mexico. [NOAA National Ocean Service News]
• Gravity data collected by unmanned aircraft designed to increase nation's resiliency -- NOAA's National Geodetic Survey is conducting a 15-year program called Gravity for the Redefinition for the American Vertical Datum (GRAV-D) that is designed to increase the accuracy of elevation measurements with more precise data obtained through measuring gravity nationwide using aircraft. The goal is to have elevation data that will allow emergency managers an increased ability to prepare for floods, sea level rise and other emergencies, make our coastal communities more resilient, and aid a number of diverse industries such as agriculture, construction, transportation, and urban planning. Recently, NOAA's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program is working with NOAA's Small Business Innovation Research program to use unmanned aircraft equipped with a gravity measuring device to more efficiently collect gravity data around the nation for the GRAV-D program. A private contractor from northern Virginia has been awarded the contract to test the technology for these flights. [NOAA Office of Oceanic & Atmospheric Research News]
• More information on El Niño and the polar vortex -- A research scientist at the University of Colorado's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) wrote this past week's NOAA's ENSO blog discussing possible connections between the recent strong El Niño event and the stratospheric polar vortex circulation regime that caused much public attention during the previous two winters because of anomalously cold and snowy winters across many sections of the Midwest and Atlantic Coast. She also describes a major "sudden stratospheric warming" event that can occur if the polar vortex breaks down. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
• Loss of oxygen in global ocean could become noticeable within 20 years -- A new study led by scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reports that reductions in the amount of oxygen dissolved in the oceans due to increases in air and water temperature associated with climatic change is currently apparent in some locations around the world and these reductions in dissolved oxygen are expected to become more readily apparent across large sections of the global oceans between 2030 and 2040. The loss of oxygen could have profound effects for marine life. [UCAR/NCAR AtmosNews]
• Lake and river ice records help describe changing climate since 15th century -- Ecologists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Ontario's York University along with colleagues from Japan and Finland have been studying long-term lake ice records in Japan and Finland to document variations in climate over the last several centuries. Recently, the team has reconstructed the annual record of the development of ice ridges on the frozen surface of central Japan's Lake Suwa on an annual basis. This lake ice record has been maintained continuously since 1443 by Shinto priests and it appears to be the longest such record in existence. Another long ice chronology record the team has investigated is one that involves the date of the spring ice breakup on the Torne River, Finland since the early 18th century. Since lake and river ice seasonality (dates of ice freeze and breakup) responds sensitively to climatic change and variability, the team is relating the interannual variability and long-term changes in the ice with corresponding variations in climate. [National Geographic]
• An All-Hazards Monitor -- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA's National Weather Service, FAA and FEMA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAA/NWS Daily Briefing]
• Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

• 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)
• 7 May 1774...Sir Francis Beaufort, inventor of the Beaufort Wind Scale, was born in County Meath, Ireland. (National Weather Service files) -- OR was it 27 May 1774??
  
• 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)

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Prepared by DS Ocean Central Staff and Edward J. Hopkins, Ph.D.,
email hopkins@aos.wisc.edu
© Copyright, 2016, The American Meteorological Society.