Weekly Ocean News

WEEK TEN: 10 - 14 November 2014

For Your Information

Interview with a scientist studying ancient living fossils -- NOAA Fisheries interviewed a doctoral candidate at the City University of New York who is studying nautilus, one of the oldest known living fossils on Earth. [NOAA Fisheries]
Participate in helping document satellite cloud pictures from ground level -- Scientists from NASA's Langley Research Center are inviting the public to participate in a "citizen science" effort to provide "ground truth" for satellite cloud images by taking photographs of clouds from ground level. The cloud pictures taken and documented by location by the public will be compared with satellite based cloud observations made simultaneously by at least one of the NASA satellites, such as CloudSat, CALIPSO, Aqua, Terra and the Suomi NPP. [NASA Earth Observatory]
Newest IPCC report for policy makers released -- During this past week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its IPCC 5th Assessment Synthesis Report for Policy makers, a document that distills and integrates the findings of the three working group contributions to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. This comprehensive assessment of climate change was produced by hundreds of scientists from around the world. The 40-page Synthesis Report (in pdf format) is available for download. [IPCC Fifth Assessment Report]
Hydrothermal vent organisms -- You are invited to read this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth that describes how geoscientists have investigated the deep-sea environment in the vicinity of hydrothermal vents that form along the oceanic ridges nearly 3000 meters below the ocean surface. Interestingly, a diverse and abundant community of marine organisms has been found to live in these extreme oceanic conditions.

Ocean in the News:

Eye on the Tropics --Several named tropical cyclones were tracked across the ocean basins of the Northern Hemisphere during the last week:
- In the eastern North Pacific basin Hurricane Vance intensified into a category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale early last week as it travelled to the north and north-northeast toward the western coast of Mexico. By midweek, Vance weakened to become a tropical storm and then a tropical depression before making landfall along the Mexican coast south of Mazatlan. For me more information on Hurricane Vance, consult the NASA Hurricane Page.
- In the western North Pacific basin, Super typhoon Nuri had become a super typhoon at the start of last week with a strength equivalent to a category 5 typhoon as maximum sustained winds reached at least 175 mph as passed 600 miles to the southeast of Okinawa. During the early part of the week, Nuri weakened as it traveled toward the north-northeast well off the main Japanese Islands. By midweek, Nuri lost its tropical characteristics and became a powerful midlatitude storm headed toward Alaska's Aleutian Islands. See the NASA Hurricane Page for additional information on Super Typhoon Nuri.
- In the northern Indian basin, Tropical Cyclone 5B formed during the second half of last week over the southern Bay of Bengal to the southeast of Visakhapatnam, India . This system, which had the intensity of a tropical storm weakened within two days after meandering across the Bay of Bengal. Additional information on Tropical Cyclone 5B along with satellite imagery can be found on the NASA Hurricane Page.
Remnants of super typhoon become a major maritime storm over Bering Sea....-- A major midlatitude storm system moved across the northwestern Pacific Ocean and the western Aleutian Islands late last week. This storm contained the remnants of Super Typhoon Nuri, which had become a major category 5 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson Scale during the previous week, merged with another low pressure system. This storm had deepened with the minimum central pressure as of late Friday falling to 924 mb (27.28 inches of mercury) as it was off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. An image made by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite showed an image of Tropical Storm Nuri earlier as it tracked northeast off the coast of Japan. [NASA Earth Observatory]
The winds surrounding this major storm gusted to 96 mph at Shemya in the Aleutians on Friday morning. These winds were generating extremely large waves over the Bering Sea. On Friday, NOAA's WaveWatch III ocean model was predicting that some waves could exceed 60 feet in height across the Bering Sea on Sunday morning. [NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory]
New coral reef species discovered off California coast -- A research team led by NOAA scientists recently reported discovering a new species of deep-sea coral and a nursery area for catsharks and skates during September in the underwater canyons located in northern California's coastal waters near the Gulf of Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries. [NOAA News]
Protections increased for Pacific bluefin tuna -- At last week's Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission meeting, the United States, Mexico and Japan developed a joint proposal designed to reduce the catch limit of the overfished Pacific bluefin tuna in the eastern Pacific Ocean in 2015 and 2016 in order to rebuild the population of this tuna species. [NOAA Fisheries ]
National goals released for annual International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas meeting -- The United States recently released its national goals that will be proposed at this upcoming week's International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) annual meeting to be held in Genoa, Italy. The goals include reaching agreement on science-based management measures for shared stocks and applying a precautionary approach where appropriate, while preserving commercial and recreational fishing opportunities for US fishermen. [NOAA Fisheries]
Common ground sought between fishing industry and state partners to protect whales -- NOAA Fisheries is proposing to make additional changes to its Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan designed to help reduce large whale serious injuries and deaths due to entanglement in fishing gear. These changes are based upon a request made from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries that had support from the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team, consisting of fishermen, state and federal resource managers, scientists and gear specialists. [NOAA Fisheries]
Offshore islands may not offer much buffer from tsunamis -- Computer simulations run by an international team of scientists indicate that contrary to common wisdom, offshore islands do not appear capable of providing a buffer to mainland coastal areas from the destructive power generated by tsunamis. These simulations were run for a variety of different offshore island geometry arrangement. [University of Southern California News]
Updated El Niño outlook released -- Late last week forecasters at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center released their monthly El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion in which they still maintained their El Niño watch, lowering the odds of an El Niño this upcoming Northern Hemisphere winter (December through February) to 58 percent from their previous month's outlook of a 65 percent chance. They envision that an El Niño event that could emerge late this year would likely be weak and last into the Northern hemisphere spring (March through May) 2015. A description of the forecasters' reasoning for the slightly reduced probability levels is provided. [NOAA Climate Prediction Center]
Examination of early satellite images shows variability in Antarctic sea ice in the 1960s -- Researchers at the National Snow and Ice Data Center recently completed a recovery process of long-lost satellite images of Antarctic sea ice generated from data collected by the first Nimbus satellites in the mid-1960s, more than a decade prior to the beginning of the modern-day satellite record in 1979. The satellite images, which were on black-and-white file reels and data tapes stored at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, were digitized by the team. NOAA has since released a report based on these earlier images showing the interannual variability of the sea ice extent, noting that the recently declared record maximum extent of Antarctic sea ice in September 2014 just surpassed the level of sea ice detected back in September 1964. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
Life in Earth's ancient oceans was starved for sulfate -- An international team from Canada, the US and Denmark analyzed rocks older than 2.5 billion years and found that the Earth's primordial oceans contained much lower concentrations of sulfate, a key biological nutrient, than previously thought. Since organisms require sulfur as a nutrient, the finding of lower concentrations of sulfate would have had an impact on the planet's early biosphere and primitive marine life. Organisms played a central role in regulating atmospheric chemistry and global climate. [University of British Columbia News]
News from North Carolina -- Terri Kirby Hathaway, Marine Education Specialist for the North Carolina Sea Grant and the Local Implementation Team Leader for the AMS DataStreme Oceans Course in Manteo, NC provided links to several articles of interest to residents along the Middle Atlantic Coast. (Thank you, Terri. EJH):
- Non-toxic "red tide" event on the Outer Banks -- Residents of North Carolina's Outer Banks became concerned when reports were made of a "red tide" of red-colored water caused by a bloom of Mesodinium rubrum , a ciliated protozoan common in coastal waters, not usually nontoxic to humans and marine life. [North Carolina Sea Grant News] [The Outer Banks Voice]
- Chesapeake Bay oyster saga continues --Oyster farming (or aquaculture) is becoming a big business along Maryland's western shore to Chesapeake Bay. However, not all residents are happy with the thriving oyster farming, especially "watermen" who fish and harvest crabs and for some residents who have waterfront homes. [New York Times]
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] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Concept of the Week: Solving the Mystery of Seamount Ecosystems

The United States Commission on Ocean Policy reports that less than 5% of the ocean floor has been explored. This is beginning to change as scientists and engineers develop and apply new technologies to investigate deep ocean waters and the sea bottom (refer to Chapter 13 in your DataStreme Ocean textbook). Consider, for example, the effort to obtain a better understanding of seamount ecosystems.

A seamount is a submarine mountain of volcanic origin (now extinct) that rises more than 1000 m (3300 ft) above the ocean floor. Usually a seamount summit is 1000 to 2000 m (3300 to 6600 ft) below sea level. They occur as isolated peaks, chains (e.g., Emperor Seamounts in the North Pacific; New England chain in the North Atlantic), or clusters. The term "seamount" was first applied in 1936 to the Davidson Seamount located off the coast of Southern California. Scientists estimate that perhaps 30,000 dot the ocean floor with as many as two-thirds located on the Pacific Ocean bottom. However, fewer than one thousand seamounts have been named and only a handful of seamounts has received detailed scientific study.

In recent years, discovery of unique life forms on seamounts has spurred scientific interest in seamount ecosystems. Many nations, including the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, are supporting scientific cruises to observe and collect specimens from seamount ecosystems. Seamount ecosystems are unusually productive and are home to unique species. Some seamount surveys have found that certain seamount species are endemic, that is, they live on only one seamount or a few nearby peaks. For example, up to one-third of all species living on some seamounts off New Caledonia are endemic while up to half of the invertebrates and fish on the Nazca seamount off Chile are endemic. In the northeast Pacific, large-scale eddies may transport larval fish from coastal environments to isolated seamounts located out at sea. Furthermore, some scientists argue that seamounts may function as stepping stones that allow for migration of species over lengthy periods--perhaps over millions of years. In addition, some seamounts may serve as aids to navigation for fish that migrate over long distances. For example, hammerhead sharks may use the magnetic field surrounding seamounts to find their way.

The recent effort to survey and explore seamount ecosystems has reached new urgency with the realization of the devastating impact of commercial fish trawlers on those ecosystems. In some cases, trawling has striped off most marine life (e.g., coral gardens) from the surface of seamounts leaving behind mostly bare rock. Typically, trawled seamounts have only half the biomass and considerably fewer species than undisturbed seamounts. Scientists anticipate that a better understanding of seamount ecosystems will help make the case for their conservation and inform the most effective strategies for their protection. Australia is one of the first nations to protect seamount ecosystems, establishing the Tasmanian Seamount Marine Reserve in 1999. The reserve covers 370 square km (140 square mi) and includes more than a dozen seamounts.

Concept of the Week: Questions

Seamounts are extinct submarine volcanoes that occur primarily in the [(Atlantic) (Pacific)(Southern)] Ocean.
Commercial fish trawling has [(little if any)(a devastating)] impact on seamount ecosystems.

Historical Events:

10 November 1835...A severe storm crossed the Great Lakes and "swept the lakes clear of sail" as 19 ships were lost and 254 sailors killed on Lakes Erie, Ontario and Michigan. (Intellicast)
10 November 1975...Another "freshwater fury" hit the Great Lakes. A large ore carrier on Lake Superior, the Edmund Fitzgerald, sank near Crisp Point with the loss of its crew of 29 men. Eastern Upper Michigan and coastal Lower Michigan were hardest hit by the storm, which produced wind gusts to 71 mph at Sault Ste Marie, MI and gusts to 78 mph at Grand Rapids, MI. Severe land and road erosion occurred along the Lake Michigan shoreline. A popular song by Gordon Lightfoot was inspired by the storm. (David Ludlum) (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
Editors note: In 2000, the NOAA National Weather Service Forecast Office at Marquette, MI created a web page commemorating the 25^th anniversary of the sinking and describing the advances in marine weather forecasting over the last quarter century. EJH
10 November 1993...Violent storm over the Black Sea closed the Russian oil terminal port of Novorossisk for 20 days. "Bora" winds reported as high as 112 mph sank at least seven ships. (The Weather Doctor)
11 November 1099...Violent storm in the North Sea killed 100,000 people in England and The Netherlands. (The Weather Doctor)
12 November 1956...(date approximate) The crew on the icebreaker USCGC Glacier saw what may have been the world's largest iceberg. Observed about 150 mi west of Antarctica's Scott Island, the iceberg was about 60 mi wide by 208 mi long, or roughly the size of Maryland. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
12 November 1974...A salmon was caught in the River Thames, England - the first in more than 130 years. (Today in Science History)
13 November 1970...A cyclone swept over Bangladesh, then known as East Pakistan, pushing a 49-ft storm surge against the coast at high tide. Flooding killed 500,000. Over 50 million people were affected by the storm rain, wind and surge. (The Weather Doctor)
13 November 2002...The single-hulled oil tanker Prestige sank off Spain's Galician coast, causing a huge oil spill. (Wikipedia)
14 November 1825...The Codorus, the first ship made in the U.S. with sheet iron, was tested on the Susquehanna River at York, PA. The ship weighted five tons, of which two tons was for the coal- and wood- fueled boiler which provided power for an 8-hp engine. With a keel length of 60-ft and a 9-ft beam, the ship drew about seven inches of water. (Today in Science History)
14-21 November 1991...Tropical Cyclone Tia spent most of its life near the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. However, it completely destroyed 90 percent of all dwellings on Tikopia Island. The remaining 10 percent of the buildings sustained collapsed walls or roofs that had been blown off. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
15 November 1860...The light in the massive stone Minots Ledge Lighthouse at the entrance to Boston Harbor, which was built on the original site of the one lost in 1851, was exhibited. Work on the new lighthouse commenced in 1855 and was finished in 1860. "It ranks, by the engineering difficulties surrounding its erection and by the skill and science shown in the details of its construction, among the chief of the great sea-rock lighthouses of the world." (USCG Historians Office)
15 November 1888...The Norwegian oceanographer and meteorologist Harald Ulrik Sverdrup was born on this date. He was known for his studies of the physics, chemistry, and biology of the ocean. He died in August 1957. (Today in Science History)
15 November 1854...In Egypt, a royal concession from Said was made that ultimately permitted construction of the Suez Canal linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. (Wikipedia)