Update: Weddell Sea Expedition 2019 Abandons Search for Shackleton’s Endurance

Posted on by February 15, 2019

Endurance caught in the ice

It was a long-shot from the beginning. The Weddell Sea Expedition 2019 had dispatched the icebreaking polar-supply and research-vessel SA Agulhas II to study Antarctica’s Larsen C ice sheet. While in the area, the expedition attempted to locate Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, which sank after being crushed in the ice in 1915. Not only did they not succeed in the finding the shipwreck, but also lost the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) which was being used to conduct the search. 

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Review: Disasters at Sea — Deadly Neglect, the Loss of the Marine Electric

Posted on by February 13, 2019

Originally posted in gCaptain. Reposted with permission.

Thirty-six years ago this week, the SS Marine Electric sank off the coast of Virginia with the loss of 34 officers and crew. There were only three survivors. The tragedy resulted in major reforms in ship inspections and operations and ultimately saved many lives. Last month, a new documentary series premiered on the Smithsonian Channel, Disasters at Sea. The second episode of the series, Deadly Neglect, examines the sinking and subsequent investigation and aftermath of the loss of the SS Marine Electric. Here is a review.

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Tallship Oliver Hazard Perry in Drydock with Uncertain Future

Posted on by February 12, 2019

The Oliver Hazard Perry, the largest civilian Sailing School Vessel in the United States, has offered programs in New England in the Summer and headed south in colder months. Recently, however, the operation ran a deficit approaching $1 million.

Rather than sail the ship south again this winter, the Oliver Hazard Perry Rhode Island organization board put the ship in drydock and has decided to take a “strategic pause” to rethinks its strategy for the ship’s financial sustainability. The goal is to refocus the organization’s activities to cut expenses, which would likely limit the ship’s operations to New England’s waters in the foreseeable future. 

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Walter H. Munk — Pioneering Oceanographer Dies at 101

Posted on by February 11, 2019

Walter H. Munk, world-renowned oceanographer and geophysicist, has died at 101 at his home in San Diego. Referred to by many as “Einstein of the sea“, Dr. Munk’s work ranged from predicting wave heights on beaches for an amphibious landing in World War II to pioneering research on oceanic sound transmission to measure changes in water temperatures, forecast waves and seek signs of global warming.  

From the Scripps Institution obituary:  As a geophysicist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, Munk made groundbreaking observations of waves, ocean temperature, tidal energy in the deep ocean, ocean acoustics and the rotation of the earth. As an advocate of science and broader scholarship, Munk served as an advisor to presidents and the Pentagon and conferred with public figures including the Dalai Lama and Pope Francis. His convictions led him to refuse to sign a loyalty oath required by the University of California during the peak of anti-communist fervor in the early 1950s and his passion helped create the architecture that would become the defining style of the Scripps Oceanography campus.

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MERMAIDS and Magma Plumes

Posted on by February 10, 2019

Credit: Princeton University

Scientists have identified a huge magma plume under the Galapagos archipelago using an array of floating robotic seismometers. In other news, the acronym writers have been working overtime. The robotic seismometers used in study have been named Mobile Earthquake Recording in Marine Areas by Independent Divers, or MERMAIDS.

The EuerkaAlert! reports:  The researchers, from institutions in the United States, France, Ecuador and China, found that the volcanoes on Galápagos are fed by a source 1,200 miles (1,900 km) deep, via a narrow conduit that is bringing hot rock to the surface. Such “mantle plumes” were first proposed in 1971 by one of the fathers of plate tectonics, Princeton geophysicist W. Jason Morgan, but they have resisted attempts at detailed seismic imaging because they are found in the oceans, rarely near any seismic stations.

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First Antiguan Team in Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge — World’s Toughest Row

Posted on by February 9, 2019

The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge is billed as the world’s toughest row, 3,000 miles across the Atlantic from San Sebastian in La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain to Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour, Antigua & Barbuda. This year an all-female Antiguan team made history by becoming the first all-women team to represent the island and as the first Black team to row across an ocean. 

The Island Girls team; Elvira Bell, Christal Clashing, Kevinia Francis, and Samara Emmanuel; departed La Gomera on December 12 and arrived in English Harbour 47 days, eight hours and 25 minutes later, on January 28th.  They placed 13th out of 28 teams competing. As of this morning, six boats are still at sea bound for Antigua. 

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State of Hawaii Files Notice of Public Auction for the Falls of Clyde

Posted on by February 8, 2019

Even though it was expected, it still comes as a shock. Yesterday, the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) Harbors Division filed a public notification that the historic windjammer, Falls of Clyde, is being offered for sale by auction. 

Those who wish to bid on the ship must post a performance bond in the amount of $1.5 million guaranteeing removal of the vessel from Honolulu Harbor within 60 calendar days from the bill of sale. The 280 foot long, iron-hulled, four-masted ship will be available for inspection to potential bidders on February 15. Sealed bids are due by 11 AM on February 28th. The winning bidder will be announced later that day. If no bids are received the State reserves the right to sell the ship by negotiation, to scrap it or to dispose of it by any other legal means.

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Leopard Seal Poop, the USB Drive, and Kayaking Video

Posted on by February 7, 2019

Did you, by any chance, lose a USB memory stick while kayaking sometime before November 2017, near Oreti Beach in Invercargill, a city on the southern tip of New Zealand’s southern island? If you did, the memory stick has been found and it is still functioning. There are some nice photos and video footage of sea lions and a kayak.  The finders are willing to return the stick to you in exchange for some leopard seal poop. And no, I am not making this up.

Several weeks ago, researchers in New Zealand were analyzing a pile of leopard seal poop. (Note to self, be very grateful that I don’t have that job.) Buried in the poop was a USB memory stick. 

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Magnetic North Pole on the Move — How Big a Deal?

Posted on by February 6, 2019

Recently, the media has somewhat breathlessly reported that the usually slow drift of the magnetic north pole has sped up dramatically. My favorite headline is from NPR which reads, “As Magnetic North Pole Zooms Toward Siberia, Scientists Update World Magnetic Model.” Is the magnetic pole really zooming?

Where magnetic north had been moving at an average speed of around 9 miles per year for some time, it has recently sped up to 34 miles per year. The increase was significant enough require a revision to the World Magnetic Model, (WMM) maintained jointly by the UK and the US. The model is typically updated every five years but was given a quick tweak recently to account for increased motion. 

While the increased motion is notable, to say that it is zooming is more than a bit hyperbolic. Even at 34 miles per year, the rate of drift is still ten times slower than the speed of an average garden snail. So call it a very slow zoom. 

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Sailing Tankers — From the Falls of Clyde to the Maersk Pelican

Posted on by February 5, 2019

According to a saying often attributed to Mark Twain, “History may not repeat itself. But it often rhymes.” This came to mind recently when posting about the sad state of the windjammer Falls of Clyde, which recently nearly sank at the dock in Hawaii.  In addition being the last surviving iron-hulled, four-masted full-rigged ship, the Falls of Clyde is also the only remaining sail-driven oil tanker. 

After an almost 30-year career carrying general and bulk cargos around the world, in 1907, the Falls of Clyde was converted into a tanker by Standard Oil, one of the firm’s 16 sail driven tankers.  The Falls of Clyde would operate as a tanker carrying oil to Hawaii and molasses to California for another twenty years until 1927.

Why a sail-powered tanker? The economics made sense. Sailing ships cost less to operate than motor ships of the day.

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First Baby Giant Tortoises Hatched on Galapagos’ Pinzón Island in 150 Years

Posted on by February 4, 2019

For the first time in 150 years, baby giant tortoises have been born on the Galapagos island of Pinzón. Biologists reported that they had observed ten tiny, newly hatched saddleback tortoises on the island early last month. They commented that there may be many more because their size and camouflage makes them hard to spot. The discovery indicates that the giant tortoise is once again able to reproduce on its own in the wild.

In the 1600s, there were an estimated 250,000 giant tortoises on the islands of the Galapagos archipelago. Indeed, around 1535, Bishop Tomás de Berlanga christened the islands, Galapagos, an archaic Spanish word for turtle or tortoise. By the 1970s, the number had dropped to only around 3,000, accompanied by predictions of the extinction of the tortoises which had given the islands their name.

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Popeye the Sailorman at 90

Posted on by February 3, 2019

We are a few days late in wishing the iconic cartoon character, Popeye the sailorman, a happy birthday. (Frankly, I am not sure how one sends birthday wishes to a cartoon character, in any case.)

Popeye first appeared on January 17, 1929, as a bit player in E.C. Segar’s comic strip “Thimble Theatre” in the New York Journal-American newspaper. He turned out to be highly popular and a few years later was given his own comic strip. 

Exactly How Old is Popeye? 

Popeye the sailor made his comic strip debut 1929, however, according to the artist, when he was created the character was 34 years old, born in a typhoon in Santa Monica, California. So, does that make him 90 or 124? Your choice.

Who Inspired Popeye and OliveOyl? Continue reading →

Polar Star in the Antarctic — Still Hanging On Despite Repeated Breakdowns

Posted on by February 3, 2019

We recently posted an incomplete list of some of the great things that the US Coast Guard was doing while not getting paid during the government shutdown. One of the missions was the resupply of the US McMurdo Station in Antartica by the US heavy icebreaker USCGC Polar Star. The Polar Star broke through ice as thick as 21 feet to clear a path to allow a resupply ship to get to the outpost. This is the sixth year that the Polar Star has successfully undertaken the mission, dubbed Operation Deep Freeze. 

Unfortunately, after 43 years of demanding and often brutal service, the Polar Star is continually breaking down. Only the hard work, skill, and ingenuity of the 141 officers and crew keep the old ship going.

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Historic Tall Ship Falls of Clyde Almost Sinks at Dock

Posted on by February 1, 2019

More bad news for the Falls of Clyde. The 1878 built windjammer, the last surviving iron-hulled, four-masted full-rigged ship, recently came close to sinking at the dock in Honolulu, Hawaii. On Thursday, the ship began taking on water by the bow, at Pier 7, where it has been docked for over a decade. The State Department of Transportation dispatched contractors with pumps and divers to attempt to stop the ship from sinking. Divers located and repaired four or five open seams through which the water was flooding.

HawaiiNewsNow.com reports: “I was here on Saturday and the vessel was laying flush like this here. When I got here this morning the whole bow was tilted forward,” said Ken Otebo, who was contracted to transfer water off of the ship onto his boat, the SOS Minnow. By 1 p.m. he said 60,000 gallons had been removed ― with plenty more to go.

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Court Rules for Blue Water Navy Veterans Victims of Agent Orange

Posted on by January 31, 2019

For the “blue water” Navy veterans suffering from the effects of Agent Orange from their service in Vietnam, a federal appeals court in Washington has done what the politicians have refused to do. 

As reported by the Washington Post: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled overwhelmingly for these sailors, finding they are eligible for the same disability benefits as those who put boots on the ground or patrolled Vietnam’s inland rivers.

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Seeking Shackleton’s Endurance Beneath the Larsen C Ice Shelf

Posted on by February 15, 2019

Last April, we posted about a planned expedition to the Antarctic’s Weddell Sea on the icebreaking polar-supply and research-vessel SA Agulhas II. The Weddell Sea Expedition 2019 is now underway, and scientists have spent the past two weeks investigating the Larsen C Ice Shelf and the continent’s biggest iceberg, known as A68. The iceberg is estimated to be four times the size of Greater London. 

The expedition is now within a few hundred kilometers from where, in November 1915, Sir Ernest Shackleton‘s ship, the Endurance, was crushed by pack ice and sank, in waters 3,000 meters deep. Whether the SA Agulhas II will be able to reach the location of the sunken ship is an open question.

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Jean-Luc Van Den Heede Wins Golden Globe Race After 221 Days at Sea

Posted on by January 29, 2019

After 221 days alone at sea, 73-year-old French sailor, Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, returned to where he started, Les Sables d’Olonne, France, winning the Golden Globe Race. He crossed the finish line at 0900 local time this morning aboard his Rustler 36, Matmut.  The veteran sailor now holds the record for being the oldest person to complete a solo round the world yacht race. 

Van Den Heed was met on his arrival by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, who won the original 1968-1969 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race.  Of nine sailors who began the original race, only Knox-Johnson finished in 1969. Of the 18 sailors who began the current Golden Globe, four sailors are still competing to complete the race.

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EL Dorado, Hard-Luck Casino Boat to Sleep with the Fishes

Posted on by January 28, 2019

The El Dorado,  a 157 foot-long, 300-ton, casino boat broke free from her moorings when Hurricane Ivan ripped through Panama City, FL in 2004. She ran aground in Southport, FL. where she sat for several years. A new owner was in the process of restoring the boat when it was carried away by Hurricane Michael last October. The boat ended up across West Bay, sitting on its side just offshore behind the campus of Florida State University Panama City.

Now, the boat’s owner, Lee Irwin, has donated the hard-luck casino boat to become an artificial reef. The plan is to move the boat within the next two months and to sink it in around 100 feet of water, approximately 12 nautical miles south of St. Andrew Bay Pass. The gambler’s loss will be the fish’s gain. The EL Dorado will be an important addition to the region’s artificial reefs, many of which were destroyed by the recent hurricane.

Ice Jams on the Hudson River Break Moorings, Shut Down Bridges

Posted on by January 27, 2019

No doubt about it. Winter is with us with a vengeance. On Friday rising waters and ice jams on the Hudson River between Albany and Troy, New York tore eight vessels from their moorings. Five barges, one tugboat, a “dock system” and a 300′ long cruise ship were set adrift in the current.

The cruise ship, Captain JP III, which had been laid up of the winter, drifted into and became jammed underneath a the Livingston Avenue Bridge, a railroad bridge used by Amtrak. A video shows that while jammed beneath the bridge trestle, the ship was nearly hit by a drifting hopper barge, which had also been broken from its moorings by drifting ice. 

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