New Marine Reserves

Palymra Atoll

President Obama recently created the largest protected marine reserve in the world.  Other countries have protected part of the ocean as well.  Now Gabon is following suit.

Here's an interesting article and a great map from National Geographic:

Marine Reserves

Here's the article from National Geographic:

Enlarging Remote islands Marine Reserve

The reserve was originally created by then President Bus around 2006.

Acidifying Ocean

Ocean Carbon Cycle

Here's an interesting blog post from Scientific American.  It includes a map of surface ocean pH.  Water chemistry is something we talked about extensively at the beginning of the year.

Blog - Acid Ocean Map

Touchdown!!

After an amazing journey, ESA's Rosetta Probe has planted its lander Philae on the surface of Comet 67P.  Check out the resources below:

- ScienceDaily.com article - ScienceDaily - Rosetta

The Pacific Garbage Patch

Masked Angelfish

The Pacific Ocean, and every ocean for that matter, is filled with floating trash.  Trash from careless people, trash from material washed overboard in storms, and derelict (lost/abandoned) fishing gear.

I just saw this article on the NOAA website.  It's about the NOAA Fisheries program to remove this debris from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine Sanctuary.  This is one of (if not the) the largest protected areas in the world ocean.

The article is a little disappointing due to the amount of debris found and removed each year.  However, take some time to explore the area using Google Earth.  Make sure you have the Panoramio layer turned on for some amazing pictures.

Read on for more...NOAA Article - Removing Derelict Fishing Gear

Here's the homepage for the sanctuary: http://www.fpir.noaa.gov/MNM/mnm_papahanaumokuakea.html

New Coral Species Discovered

Map of Gulf of the Farallones Nat. Marine Sanctuary
Image Credit - NOAA

California state and federal marine scientists have discovered new species of deep-sea coral while doing explorations near the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank marine sanctuaries.

Read on for more...

NOAA - New Deep Sea Corals

Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Home

Continent-Building in Action

Most people don't realize, but Iceland's largest volcanic eruption in the past few centuries has been taking place.  It's gone mostly unnoticed due to its remote location and that its really an effusive eruption - massive volumes of lava.

Bardarbunga Eruption

The Wasp

Later on this year we'll learn about how hurricanes have an effect on the world ocean and vice versa. Here's some pretty amazing images of Typhoon Vongfong...

Here's a picture of Typhoon Vongfong from the ISS.  Vongfong translates into English as, "The Wasp."  It's been wreaking havoc in the Mariana Islands and Okinawa.  Mainland Japan is next.

Typhoon Vongfong

Video from the ISS of Supertyphoon Vongfong

Here Come the Glorious Colors of Autumn!

Autumn Foliage - Reading, VT
Image Credit - Reading Government

I know this isn't oceanography, but I couldn't resist...autumn is my favorite season.  The colors and the crisp weather have a lot to do with that.

Here's a great article from NOAA on the 'true colors' of autumn.

NOAA Article - Autumn Foliage Colors

Wetness

Water Drop
Image Credit - Wikipedia

Very cool article here from ScienceDaily.com on why 'wet' feels 'wet.'

Science Daily - Wetness

Colorful Sand

Green Sand (Olivine) Beach

I think many Long Islanders just assume that every place in the world has fabulous wide quartz sand beaches just like our home island's ocean beaches.  While Long Island has been blessed with some of the most beautiful sandy beaches in the world along our Atlantic beaches, there isn't a huge variety of color in them.  Lots of that cream/white color of quartz.  The black of some magnetite and hornblende.  The red of garnet and some iron oxide concretions.  Along our bluffs we have some brilliantly colored clays.  Yes, we have been blessed with great beaches.

But in other parts of the world, there are some really colorful beaches.  Smithsonian Magazine showcases a few for us in this great article...
Smithsonian - Colorful Beaches

A Resumption of Whaling?

Image Courtesy of Animal Planet

I just saw this article on the Environmental News Service news feed.  Too bad.  Although I'm sure it's only for "scientific" purposes.

Japan's Resumption of Whaling

Australian Shark Attack

A shark attack left one man dead in Australia.  Australia's relatively large number of annual shark attacks led the government to undertake a shark hunt last year, despite the fact that so many shark populations are crashing and that we are the ones invading sharks' "turf" (not vice cersa).

Here's the link to the BBC:
BBC - Australia

National Geographic Website

I was just exploring a bit more in National Geographic's website, and discovered their page devoted to things going on in the world ocean.  Like everything NatGeo does, it is really well done.

Definitely worth checking out.
Nat Geo - Ocean

School's almost here...

Arctic Sea Ice Concentration - 8/17/14
Image Credit - Cryosphere Today

It's hard to believe, but here in NY the beginning of the school year is fast approaching.  Time to end the summer 'blogging hiatus' and get back to work.

This article from Dr. Jeff Masters at Weather Underground caught my eye this morning  The main point of his blog post is that this past July (2014) was recently ranked the 4th and 11th warmest July on record according to NCDC and NASA, respectively.  He provides lots of examples.

So why is this in Chaminade's oceanography blog? Scroll down in his post to where he mentions the Arctic sea ice concentration, along with the status of the Northeast and Northwest Passages.

Dr. Jeff Masters - Weather Underground

Here's the link to the Cryosphere Today website.  Great stuff.  Cryosphere Today

Gone Fishin'

Paralichthys dentatus (Summer Founder)
Image from Supertock.com

Great article here on summer flounder, otherwise known as fluke.  The article also addresses a warming North Atlantic Ocean and fisheries management.  Summer flounder are a nice success story in terms of fisheries management.  After the collapse of stocks in the late 1980s due to overfishing (of course; what else?), NOAA imposed strict quotas.  While those quotas were painful for quite some time, they did allow time for the summer flounder stocks to rebound.  And they've rebounded rather nicely.

Scientific American - Fluke

And here a great short video on flounder & fluke camoiflage skills.

ENSO - El Nino Brewing in the Pacific

Sea Surface Temperatures.  Image Credit - NOAA

Follow the link to superb article about the various effects of El Ni o from NOAA:

NOAA Climate - El Nino

And a NASA video:

Here's a link to a new article posted on Scientific American's webstie regarding the relationship between this potentially strong El Nino and the fire-ravaged areas of the western United States.
Scientific American - El Nino and Severe Flooding Potential

Shark Skin

Sharks have been  around for a long long time, about 400+ million years including their most ancient ancestors.  They are amazingly adapted to their environments.

I just read this awesome article on 3D printed shark skin done by a group of researchers at Harvard.  Amazing stuff!

Click to the BBC article for all of the details...
BBC - 3D Shark Skin

Image Credit - Wired.com

El Nino Coming?

Image Credit: CIRES.colorado.edu


More and more NOAA thinks an El Nino event may be developing.  Click to the linked article from NASA's Earth Observatory.

Earth Observatory - El Nino

Arctic Oil Spills?

Image Credit - Geology.com


With the sea ice decreasing in the Arctic Ocean, the possibilities of realistic gas, oil, and minerals  exploration increase.  Well, with any oil drilling in the marine environment, spills become a potential hazard.

Great linked article from Scientific American on a novel method for finding future Arctic oil spills beneath a 'shield' of ice.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sonar-spots-invisible-arctic-oil-spills/?&WT.mc_id=SA_DD_20140508

Ocean Acidification

Click on the link to a fascinating article about the disappearing shells of a type of snail.

National Geographic - Snail Shells

Sailfish Hunting

Video Credit - BBC Worldwide

Here's a link to a great article from Scientific American on the dexterity of sailfish.

Scientific American - Sailfish

The Gulf of St. Lawrence

Map credit - ESRI

Great article from National Geographic on the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the Canadian Maritimes.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/05/gulf-of-st-lawrence/dunn-text

Killer Sponges...

No, silly, not the sponge sitting next to your kitchen sink.  Real sponges.

Researches from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, after discovering a carnivorous sponge a few years ago, have discovered four more.  The discoveries were made using an ROV.

The video appears below.  Very cool.

Turtle Tots

Hawksbill Sea Turtle.  Image Credit - National Geographic

No, the title should not be 'tater tots.'  A long mysterious portion of sea turtles' life cycles has finally had some light shed on it.  I find sea turtles and their evolution one of the most fascinating topics in marine biology.  And they're really graceful in the water, too.

Well, we don't know much about their years between hatching and the reaching of sexual maturity.  This study/experiment has given us more insight as to what happens.

Check out this brief article from Discover:
Discover Blog - Newborn Turtles

Awesome Picture

Take a look at this amazing picture, courtesy of James Morgan, Cunard Line.

It's a picture of the ship's captain standing on its bulbous bow.  A bulbous bow decreases drag on the ship and achieves a higher fuel efficiency.

Here's the link to the article, which has some additional pictures:
http://twistedsifter.com/2014/04/standing-on-the-bulbous-bow-of-queen-mary-2/

Forecasting Sea Ice

Latest Snow and Ice Chart - Credit NOAA


I've heard of and read many sea ice observations/summaries, but I don't remember every reading a sea ice forecast.  The linked article refers to Arctic ice forecasts for the coming melting season and their accuracy (or lack thereof).

Science Daily - Forecasting Ice

Major Oil Spill - Houston Ship Channel

Damaged Barge.  Image Credit - ABC


A tanker and barge collided in the Houston ship channel around midday yesterday.  The barge was seriously damaged and began leaking some of its 900,000+ gallons of marine fuel oil.  Reports estimate the breached tank having a volume of about 170,000 gallons max.

As a result of the spill the channel remains closed and the 'traffic jam' of ships is increasing since there is currently no traffic into our out of Galveston Bay.

Read on for more details:
Environmental News Service - Houston Spill

European Climate

Image credit - ucsd.edu


We recently finished studying ocean circulation - surface currents and thermohaline circulation.  I just came across this interesting article regarding climate in Europe over the past millenium.

Science Daily - Warming Europe

The Sky Is Blue (Well, not always...)

Image Credit - NASA MODIS; Via accuweather.com

Yes, the sky does appear blue.  Blue, that is, except when it's filled with wind-borne dust.  Check out this awesome image from NASA's Earth Observatory site.

"How do dust and the oceans have anything to do with each other?" you might be wondering.  Well, wind-borne dust (otherwise known as Aeolian Transport) contributes significantly to the formation of marine sediments, especially in remote areas.

Hmmmm...How did that get there?

You can never quite tell what's under your feet.  Well, anytime we have a strong nor'easter here on Long Island, it can expose some interesting formations along the shores.  That was all too obvious after Superstorm Sandy.

Well, NW Europe has had a brutal winter.  They are not so much dealing with intense cold, but rather with storm after storm after storm.  Powerful storms, too; with winds powerful enough (>100 mph) to make it unsafe for train travel at times.  The waves from these powerful storms have ravaged the English and Irish coasts.

Read on to the linked National Geographic article for some interesting exposed trees.

Welsh Forest Exposed - Nat Geo

Free Oxygen and the Early Ocean & Atmosphere

Recently some new evidence has been uncovered about when the earth's atmosphere began to be oxygenated.  In addition to obviously affecting the composition of the atmosphere, that oxygenation event would have impacted ocean chemistry as well.  It's thought that this oxygenation was brought about by simple cyanobacteria, amongst the simplest photosynthetic organisms on the planet.



Earth Oxygenation

NASA's MODIS - Behind the Scenes

Images credit - NASA.

MODIS...you've probably never heard of these instruments before.  Yet, they are two of NASA's workhorse satellite sensors.  They ride aboard NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites.  You may be wondering, "How do these instruments affect oceanography? (This is pretty much the same post I made for the earth science blog too.)  Well, these instruments are responsible for accumulating lots of data about the world ocean's state as well.

By the way...who says NASA is dead? NASA is alive and well.

Accuweather.com has an excellent description of their capabilities here:Accuweather - MODIS Article

Here's the link to NASA's homepage for it: NASA - MODIS Homepage  Great stuff here.

The Orca - 'Wolf of the Sea'

Orca skeleton.  Image credit: Wikipedia.

Recent research suggests that even the killer whale, the 'wolf of the sea,' may have seen population crashes during the most recent ice age.  Productivity (photosynthetic) is critical to the survival of the smallest animals in the world ocean through the largest.

Read on for more info from Science Daily: Article - Orca Populations

Here's another link to BBC Nature Video Collection - Killer Whales

Let the Carnage (and the stupidity) Begin (Unfortunately)

The shark cull in Australia has begun.  What a shame.

Here's an update from Scientific American:
Shark Cull Begins - Scientific American

Palau's Reefs

Map showing location of Palau.  Image Credit: Wikipedia

You may be wondering, "Where is Palau?" Have you even heard of Palau? It forms the westernmost portion of the Caroline Islands in the western Pacific Ocean.  Well, this tiny island nation's coral reefs are surprisingly good shape say scientists.  The water in the area is more acidic than they thought.  And the reefs seem well equipped to deal with it.

Read on for more info from WHOI (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: WHOI - Palau Corals

Outrageous...

Baby Hammerhead Shark.  Image Credit - National Geographic.

Australia's 'shark cull' plan is just that...outrageous.  So many species of cartilaginous fish are suffering drastic declines.  I feel for any shark attack victim's family, but this cull is not supported by science.  Shark attacks of humans are cases of 'mistaken identity

Perhaps they should talk to Peter Benchley, author of the novel 'Jaws', about his conversion to shark protector after penning the iconic novel.

Read on for more from ENS - Shark Cull Plan

Shrimp and Lobster Anyone?

Here's the link to an interesting piece on the Gulf of Maine shrimp and lobster fisheries.

Scientific American - Shrimp and Lobster

Pristine Reefs, First Divers

Divers recently explorred an area of coral reefs around the island of New Caledonia, near eastern Australia.  It's thought that these divers are probably the first humans to dive at this reef.

Follow the link to National Geographic for more:
New Caledonia Reef