Dugong “Functionally Extinct” in China, Researchers Report

Posted on by August 25, 2022

Researchers writing in the journal Royal Society Open Science have concluded that the dugong, a mammal related to the manatee – said to have inspired ancient tales of mermaids and sirens – is now extinct in China. 

Only three people surveyed from coastal communities in China reported seeing the dugong in the past five years.

Known as the ocean’s most gentle giant, the dugong’s slow, relaxed behaviour is likely to have made it vulnerable to overfishing and shipping accidents. It still exists elsewhere in the world but is facing similar threats.

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Superyacht Axioma Auctioned in Gibraltar — First Sale of an Oligarch’s Yacht Since Ukraine Invasion

Posted on by August 25, 2022

Axioma, a $75-million superyacht linked to a sanctioned Russian steel billionaire, was auctioned on Tuesday in Gibraltar, court sources said, in what is understood to be the first sale of its kind since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

The 72.5-meter yacht was impounded by the Gibraltar authorities in March after U.S. bank JP Morgan said its alleged owner Dmitry Pumpyansky had defaulted on the terms of a $20 million loan.

The Office of the Admiralty Marshal in Gibraltar said on Tuesday that “63 bids have been received” for Axioma but refused to detail the value of the bids for the yacht, which features six luxurious guest cabins, a swimming pool, a 3D cinema room, gym, jacuzzi and a fully equipped spa. The bid selection process is expected to take 10 to 14 days.

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Robot Boat Maxlimer Maps Underwater Tongan Volcano That Erupted Last January

Posted on by August 24, 2022

Last January, a major underwater eruption of the Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Haʻapai (HTHH) volcano caused a tsunami that hit the Pacific country of Tonga. Now, the BBC reports that a robot vessel, the 12m-long Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV) Maxlimer, has returned from an initial survey, having completed a partial mapping of the opening, or caldera, of the underwater volcano.

The Maxlimer may be in Tonga, but it is being remotely controlled from 16,000km away in the small coastal village of Tollesbury in Essex. Everything is done over a satellite link.

In a dark control room, several large screens display live feed images from the 10 cameras on board Maxlimer. Operators, who work in shifts around the clock, watch as real-time data gets beamed in from the South Pacific.

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The Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race — the Virtual Race & the Bay Race

Posted on by August 23, 2022

Graphic: GCBSR.org

For more than 30 years, participants in the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race have been “racing to save the bay.” The race is intended to promote public awareness of the Chesapeake Bay’s maritime heritage and to encourage the preservation and improvement of the Chesapeake’s natural resources. Funds raised by the race help support a variety of conservation and education work on the Chesapeake Bay.

This year there will be two races — a Virtual Race and the Bay Race.
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Dolmen of Guadalperal, AKA the Spanish Stonehenge, Emerge From Drought-Stricken Reservoir

Posted on by August 22, 2022

We recently posted about “hunger stones” revealed by falling water levels in the Rhine and Elbe rivers, as well as the emergence of a graveyard of sunken German warships filled with explosives and ammunition in the Serbian section of the Danube River, all caused by a near-record European drought.

In the Extremadura region of Spain, a far less threatening historical structure has emerged from the receding waters of Valdecanas reservoir — a megalithic monument officially known as the Dolmen of Guadalperal but dubbed the Spanish Stonehenge, comprising a circle of dozens of stones believed to date back to 5000 BC.

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Wrecks of Dozens of Explosive-Laden Nazi Ships Exposed By Drought in Serbian Danube

Posted on by August 21, 2022

One of the worst droughts in European history has exposed a graveyard of sunken German warships filled with explosives and ammunition in the Serbian section of the Danube River. More than 20 hulks have emerged near the port town of Prahovo, part of a Nazi Black Sea fleet that was sunk in 1944 while fleeing Soviet forces. More ships are expected to be found lodged in the river’s sandbanks, loaded with unexploded ordnance.

“The German flotilla has left behind a big ecological disaster that threatens us, people of Prahovo,” said Velimir Trajilovic, 74, a pensioner from Prahovo who wrote a book about the German ships.

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Third Replica of Maryland Dove Sets Sail to Historic St. Mary’s City

Posted on by August 20, 2022

Photo by George Sass.

A bit over a year ago, we posted about the construction of a new Maryland Dove by the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum shipyard. The ship, a reproduction of the 17th-century trading ship that accompanied the first settlers to what is now Maryland in 1634, has been completed after three years of construction and is on her way to her homeport of Historic St. Mary’s City.

The new Maryland Dove is the third replica of the historic ship to be built. The first was built in 1934 to commemorate Maryland’s tercentenary. The second, in 1977, has served as a floating exhibit for Historic St. Mary’s City. 

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Reports that China Has Developed Prototype Submarine Flying Drones

Posted on by August 19, 2022

There are reports that researchers from Nanjing University of Aeronautics in eastern China have developed a prototype flying submarine drone capable of operating underwater or in the air.

According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the flying submarine can support various military missions, including the detection of underwater mines.

Chinese professor Ji Wanfeng says the new drone will make it possible to disrupt the defense systems of enemy aircraft carriers. The drone can dive underwater to avoid radar. When detected by sonar, the drone can take off into the air. According to the professor, the simultaneous use of several such drones could overwhelm the computer systems of aircraft carriers.

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Update: Submarine Secrets Espionage Plea Deal Falls Through

Posted on by August 18, 2022

Virginia Class Submarine

The Washington Post reports that a federal judge rejected plea bargains for a Navy engineer and his wife who allegedly tried to sell military secrets, saying the prison terms called for by the deals were too lenient for a couple accused of offering U.S. nuclear submarine data to a foreign government.

Last October, we posted about Navy nuclear engineer Jonathan Toebbe, and his wife, Diana Toebbe, who were arrested after attempting to pass detailed secret information about the US Navy’s Virginia-class submarine reactors to foreign agents. The Toebbes left a 16 GB memory card containing submarine documents and plans, hidden in half of a peanut butter sandwich in a plastic bag at an agreed location in West Virginia. They thought that they were giving the information to a foreign country in exchange for cryptocurrency payments. Instead, the FBI had intercepted their correspondence and impersonated foreign agents.

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Hunger Stones Emerge as Extreme Drought Drops Water Levels of Rhine & Other European Rivers

Posted on by August 17, 2022

Rhine river at low water levels in Bonn, Germany, August 16, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Benjamin Westhoff

Extreme drought has dramatically lowered water levers in major European rivers, including the Rhine, Elbe, Loire, Danube, and Po. On the Rhine, river depths have dropped close to levels seen in the record drought of 2018. The shallow water resulting have prevented many vessels from navigating the critical European shipping route fully loaded. Barges are operating at roughly 25 % of full load capacity to avoid running aground.  Experts warn that the low water on major rivers could significantly damage Germany’s economy.

The Guardian notes that the Rhine, which runs about 760 miles from the Swiss Alps to the North Sea, is the second largest river in central and western Europe after the Danube. The majority of nearly 200 million tons of cargo shipped on German rivers – from coal to car parts, food to chemicals – is transported on the Rhine.

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Remains of Two Sailors Missing Since Pearl Harbor Attack Are Finally Identified

Posted on by August 15, 2022

Battleship West Virginia

Eighty-one years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the identification of fallen US sailors is ongoing. Recently, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified the remains of two sailors missing in action since Dec. 7, 1941. 

Petty Ofc. 2nd Class Claude Ralph Garcia died at age 25 while serving as a ship fitter aboard the USS West Virginia when Japanese forces attacked the U.S. naval base near Honolulu. Petty Ofc. 1st Class Keith Warren Tipsword, died at age 27, on the same ship.

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Wreck of USS Jacob Jones Found Off Isles of Scilly — First US Destroyer Lost to Enemy Action

Posted on by August 14, 2022

British divers have located the wreck of the USS Jacob Jones in over 100 meters of water, 40 miles off the Isles of Scilly. The ship, a Tucker Class destroyer, was sunk during World War I by a German U-boat on December 6, 1917. USS Jacob Jones was the first US destroyer ever to be lost to enemy action and went down in 8 minutes. 64 of her crew of 110 were lost in the attack.

As recounted by the Naval History and Heritage Command: Approximately one month after the United States declared war on Germany, the destroyer steamed to Queenstown [Cobh], Ireland, under Lieutenant Commander David W. Bagley with Division Seven of the Destroyer Force, the second group of destroyers to enter the war zone. Arriving at the British base on 17 May 1917, Jacob Jones operated out of Queenstown, patrolling the U-boat-infested western approaches to the British Isles. Later, as the Entente Powers instituted a worldwide convoy system, the destroyer escorted inbound and outbound convoys through the submarine danger zone.

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Update: Restoration of Ex-Presidential Yacht Sequoia to Begin Soon in Belfast, Maine

Posted on by August 13, 2022

Good news. The Bangor Daily News is reporting that the restoration of the ex-presidential yacht Sequoia will begin soon in Belfast, Maine.

We first posted about the saga of the ex-presidential yacht in 2016 when Delaware judge Sam Glasscock describes her then-current condition. “The Sequoia, an elderly and vulnerable wooden yacht, is sitting on an inadequate cradle on an undersized marine railway in a moribund boatyard on the western shore of the Chesapeake, deteriorating and, lately, home to raccoons.”

Three years later we posted again, about the 104′ long motor vessel being loaded aboard a barge to be transported to Maine for restoration.

Now, following the pandemic and supply chain issues, Todd French of French & Webb, a local custom boat building company described the progress in the restoration of the historic yacht to the Bangor Daily News. Continue reading →

Arctic Warming Four Times Faster Than the Rest of the World

Posted on by August 12, 2022

The rapid warming of the Arctic, a definitive sign of climate change, is occurring even faster than previously described. A new report by the Finnish Meteorological Institute concludes that the Arctic has warmed at about four times the global average rate over the last 43 years. Specifically, Arctic Circle — the area located above 66.5 degrees latitude — has warmed by more than 5 degrees Fahrenheit since 1979.

The Scientific American also reports that a separate group of scientists presented research at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union last December with similar findings. And just in June, another study by a different research team also cited a four-times Arctic warming figure (Climatewire, July 11).

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The Mortar Wreck: Oldest Surviving UK Shipwreck Near Dorset Coast

Posted on by August 11, 2022

Over 750 years ago, a medieval ship loaded with a cargo of limestone, carved gravestones, and mortars for grinding, sank off the Dorset coast a mile away from the nearest harbor.  Now the so-called Mortar Wreck has been granted the highest level of protection on the advice of Historic England.

The 13th-century wreck, discovered in Poole Bay in Dorset, is the oldest known protected wreck in English waters where hull remains can be seen. Tree ring dating of the wreck indicates that the timbers used to construct the hull are from Irish oak trees, felled between 1242-1265, during the reign of King Henry III.

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Update: Wayward Beluga Whale in Seine Dies in Rescue Attempt

Posted on by August 10, 2022

Photo: Twitter / Préfet de l’Eure

Sad news. We recently posted about a wayward beluga whale that had been found swimming over 100 km up the River Seine in France. After the dangerously thin whale refused food, an attempt to rescue the whale was undertaken. Sadly, the beluga died in the attempt.

BBC reports that rescuers spent nearly six hours lifting the 800kg (1,763lb) whale from the river using a crane and nets.

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Orcas Continue to Attack Sailboats Off Portugal & Spain — First Boat Sunk in Attack

Posted on by August 9, 2022

In 2020 and 2021, orca whales started attacking sailboats and fishing boats cruising off the Iberian peninsula and in the Mediterranian near the Strait of Gibraltar. Pods of juvenile orcas rammed sailboats and often grabbed their rudders or keels. More than 50 rogue orca attacks were reported in 2020 and 2021. So far, scientists are at a loss to explain the behavior.

This year, the attacks have continued. Last week, there was a report of a sailboat being sunk in an attack by a pod of orcas, 11 km off the port of Sines, Portugal. Five crew members were rescued by a fishing vessel in the coordination of the Portuguese Navy. This was the first reported case of a boat being sunk by an orca attack in the Atlantic.

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Update: Video of Jeff Bezos’ Yacht With Masts Stepped

Posted on by August 8, 2022

Last week, we posted about how the 417-foot-long, three-masted sailing yacht built for billionaire Jeff Bezos was towed out of the Oceanco shipyard in Rotterdam under the cover of darkness and moved to a shipyard in Greenport. The three masts were moved separately by barge. The yacht had been the center of months of controversy after the shipyard wanted to dismantle the center span of a historic railroad bridge to allow the yacht to access the North Sea. The superyacht with her masts stepped has too great an air draft to safely fit beneath the Koningshaven Bridge, known locally as De Hef.

Here is a video by Dutch Yachting of the yacht with the three masts stepped. From the Dutch Yachting:

As you might know, Jeff Bezos’s controversial Y721 yacht arrived at Greenport in Rotterdam without her masts last Tuesday. The fore, main and mizzen mast of the 127m/ 417ft schooner were transported and stepped last week, so we took the opportunity to have a closer look at Holland’s largest yacht and the World’s largest sailing yacht by boat yesterday. Footage by The Nautical Lady & Dutch Yachting.

Jeff Bezos’s 127m/ 417ft Y721 with her masts set

Thanks to David Rye for contributing to this post.

Béluga Perdu — Fears for Wayward Beluga Whale Lost in River Seine

Posted on by August 7, 2022

Photo: Twitter / Préfet de l’Eure

Thousands of miles from its natural habitat, a wayward beluga whale has been found swimming 160 km up the River Seine between the French capital Paris and the city of Rouen in Normandy. The dangerously thin whale is refusing food amid fears it could starve to death. The beluga has been offered herring and a cocktail of vitamins to help bring it back to health by stimulating its appetite.

The all-white beluga normally live in Arctic and sub-Arctic oceans, although they are known to sometimes venture into more southern waters and can survive for a short while in freshwater.

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62 Yr Old Sailor Rescued, Trapped for 16 Hours in Capsized Sailboat Off Spanish Coast, After Loss of Keel

Posted on by August 5, 2022

It has happened again. While sailing in a qualifying race for the upcoming transatlantic solo sailing contest Route du Rhum, 62-year-old French sailor Laurent Camprubi found himself trapped inside his sailboat after it capsized. The keel on his boat, the Jeanne Solo Sailor, sheared off and the boat capsized 14 miles (22 kilometers) from the Sisargas Islands off Spain’s northwestern Galician coast.

Camprubi sent out a distress signal and, remarkably, was able to survive in a pocket of trapped air for 16 hours until he was rescued by a Spanish search and rescue team. 

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