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