Congratulations to Sophie Pierce, First Person to With Cystic Fibrosis to Row Across the Atlantic

Posted on by April 3, 2025
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Image: Atlantic Dash

Sophie Pierce did not believe she would live until she was 30 due to cystic fibrosis, a genetic illness affecting her ability to breathe. Remarkably, she has just completed a world record-breaking row, at age 32, becoming the first person with the condition to row the Atlantic.

As part of Cruising Free, a team of four women rowers from Neyland Rowing Club, Pembrokeshire, she set off on a 3200-mile unsupported row across the Atlantic from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands to Antigua in the Caribbean as part of the Atlantic Dash 2025.

Ms Pierce said the 53-day journey had been “incredibly tough” but “empowering”.
“If you had told me five years ago that I would be standing here in Antigua after rowing an ocean, I would have laughed,” Ms Pierce said.

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Expedition Ship Ocean Explorer Hit By 40′ Waves in Drake Passage

Posted on by April 2, 2025
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Quark Expeditions bills it as “The Ultimate Drake Passage Cruise” and it appears that passengers aboard Quark’s expedition cruise ship Ocean Explorer got their money’s worth as the ship was slammed by 30-to-40-foot waves in its crossing of the notorious Drake Passage, between the tip of South America and Antarctica. Fortunately, there were no reports of damage to the ship or injuries to those aboard.

Lesley Anne Murphy, a travel blogger, captured footage showing passengers falling into walls and sliding across the floor as giant waves crashed into the vessel during a return trip from Antarctica.

Murphy estimated some waves were 30 to 40 feet. The ship’s unique design, including paneled windows, allows passengers to see waves coming. 

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Update: Microalgal Bloom Causing Toxic Sea Foam on South Australian Beaches Identified

Posted on by March 28, 2025
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We recently posted about a mysterious foam on beaches of the Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia, that is being blamed for sickening more than 100 surfers and for the deaths of leafy seadragons, fish, and octopuses. Now, the Australian Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has received results from water tests identifying the species Karenia mikimotoi (Kar-een-ia mickey-mow-toy) as the cause of the microalgae bloom on the Fleurieu Peninsula.

Karenia mikimotoi is toxic to fish and invertebrates and can cause general allergic-type responses in humans.

The EPA says that the event has been driven by an ongoing marine heatwave, with marine water temperatures currently 2.5C warmer than usual, as well as relatively calm marine conditions with little wind and small swell.

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Tourist Submarine Sinks in Red Sea Off Egypt — 39 Rescued, 6 Dead

Posted on by March 27, 2025
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Reuters reports that on Thursday morning, six Russians died and 39 foreign passengers were rescued when a tourist submarine sank off the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada.

The Red Sea Governorate said the submarine, named Sindbad, had 50 people onboard: 45 tourists of different nationalities from Russia, India, Norway, and Sweden, and five Egyptian crew members. 

Four of the rescued tourists were reported to be in critical condition, receiving treatment in the intensive care units (ICU) of local hospitals.

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A Tale of Two “Code Talkers” — Marine Radioman Thomas Begay & Navy Wave Winnie Breegle

Posted on by March 25, 2025
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Last week, Trump’s Defense Department removed articles about Navajo code talkers from its websites amid an ongoing campaign to rid the military of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. Once again, under Trump, opposition to DEI was used as a tool for denying opportunities to people of color, women, and minorities—if not erasing them entirely from the history books.

After three days of public outcry and lobbying from the Navajo Nation president and the tribal council to the White House and the Pentagon, the Defense Department gave up on this part of its effort to whitewash the past and abruptly reversed itself.

Here is the story of two code talkers, Marine radioman Thomas Begay and Navy Wave Winnie Breegle, who deserve to be remembered and who serve as examples of how diversity, equity, and inclusion helped win World War II. 

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Sea Foam Sickens Over 100 Surfers on South Australian Beaches

Posted on by March 19, 2025
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Five years ago, we posted about a surge of sea foam stirred up by severe weather off the east coast of Australia that inundated several beaches. While that foam proved harmless and non-toxic, recent sea foam washing up on Australian beaches has been more problematic. 

The Guardian reports that mysterious foam on South Australian beaches is being blamed for more than 100 surfers becoming ill and for the deaths of leafy seadragons, fish, and octopuses.

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Peruvian Fisherman Rescued After 94 Days Missing at Sea

Posted on by March 17, 2025
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A remarkable story of survival against all odds. A Peruvian fisherman was found alive after drifting at sea for 94 days, a navy official said.  Maximo Napa, 61, was rescued in his small fishing boat on Tuesday after being spotted by an Ecuadoran vessel off the coast of Chimbote in northern Peru.

In a tearful interview, he told local media that he had survived at sea by eating cockroaches, birds, and turtles.

“Mr. Napa arrived in good physical condition. He could walk, and wash himself. Shocked, but in good physical condition,” said Peruvian Navy port captain Jorge Gonzalez.  Napa was discharged from the hospital on Saturday.

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Royal Navy’s Cetus, First Uncrewed Submarine, Launched

Posted on by March 16, 2025
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British unmanned systems manufacturer MSubs has launched Cetus, the UK Royal Navy’s first Extra Large Underwater Autonomous Vehicle (XLUAV) technology demonstrator.  At 12 m in length, 2.2 m in diameter, and weighing up to 25 tonnes with a full test payload, the demonstrator is claimed to be the largest and most complex crewless submersible procured by a European navy to date.  MSubs of Plymouth was awarded the £21.5 million contract to manufacture Cetus in November 2022.  

Once delivered, the vessel will be deployed independently to secure the country’s critical infrastructure and monitor sub-sea activities across its territories. The XLAUV will sail on other missions supporting the navy’s existing crewed submarines, including the Astute-class nuclear-powered submarines and their successors.

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China Building Fleet of ‘Invasion Barges’ Suitable For Taiwan Landings

Posted on by March 14, 2025
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Many have dismissed Chinese threats to invade Taiwan as saber-rattling. Recent imagery, however, suggests that the risk of invasion is very real.  The images show that the Chinese are building a fleet of “invasion barges” apparently designed to facilitate an amphibious assault on Taiwan. The self-propelled barges, built in several sizes and configurations, feature jack-up cylinder legs and long “Bailey Bridge” style bow ramps.

Once a barge is close ashore, the jack-up cylinder legs can be lowered, lifting the barge out of the water to create a secure pier platform.  With the bow bridge ramp lowered the barges could provide docks for China’s large fleet of civilian ferries. China’s roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferries are built to carry military vehicles including heavy main battle tanks. They are exercised in this role regularly. The new barges could provide a unique way to offload large numbers of tanks, trucks and other heavy equipment directly onto Taiwanese roads.

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Battleship USS Texas Finally Finds Home in Galveston

Posted on by March 13, 2025
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The battleship USS Texas, the oldest remaining dreadnought battleship, may finally have a permaneny home in Galveston, TX.

After decades of heglect, the venerable old ship was drydocked in 2022 to undergo $60 million in repairs and refurbishment, which was largely completed early this year. However, the USS Texas still lacked a secure place to dock. Last week, the Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees finally agreed to berth the battleship at Pier 15, securing a long-term home as a museum ship for the historic warship.

In a statement on Facebook, the non-profit Battleship Texas Foundation stated, “We’re thrilled to have the support of the Wharves Board to bring Texas to Pier 15 in Galveston- just a short walk from Pier 21 and the historic Galveston Strand. Texas, the last ship of its kind, will promote tourism, educate future generations, and create a visitor experience worthy of her crew and legacy.”

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Fire and Explosions After Container Ship Strikes Anchored Tanker Off Humber in North Sea

Posted on by March 10, 2025
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This morning, the 804 TEU Portuguese-flag container ship Solong struck the 49,729 DWT US-flag product tanker Stena Immaculate, at anchor in the North Sea, off the mouth of the River Humber. Multiple explosions were reported as the ships caught fire. 

Both crews abandoned ship after the allision. The 20 crew members onboard Stena Immaculate were all reported to have been accounted for and were taken to local hospitals but are not believed to be seriously harmed. One of the Solong’s crew remains missing, while the other 13 have been brought safely to shore, according to Ernst Russ, the manager of the container vessel.

The British Coast Guard is coordinating the emergency response casualty off the coast of East Yorkshire and reported that an alarm was first raised at 9:48 a.m. local time.

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Women’s History Month — Celebrating Admiral “Amazing Grace” Hopper

Posted on by March 7, 2025
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As the current administration launches a frontal attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion, it is a good time to remember Admiral Grace Hopper. Grace Hopper was a pioneering computer scientist and a United States Navy Rear Admiral. Hopper received a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Yale. She was nicknamed “Amazing Grace” and is often referred to as the “mother of computing.” An updated repost.

Since 1994, The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC) has honored Admiral Hopper hosting a series of conferences designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. It is the world’s largest gathering of women and non-binary technologists. This year the celebration will be held in Chicago.

In October of 2020, the U.S. Naval Academy officially opened Hopper Hall, the academy’s new center for cybersecurity studies, named in her honor.  The cybersecurity facility is the first building named after a woman at the three main service academies.

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The Long Goodbye — Preparing SS United States to be Sunk as an Artificial Reef

Posted on by March 6, 2025

The iconic passenger liner  SS United States arrived early Monday in Mobile, Alabama, nearly two weeks after departing under tow from South Philadelphia. She was docked at Modern American Recycling Service (MARS), where if all goes according to plan, she will be stripped of non-metal and potentially hazardous materials in preparation to be sunk as the world’s largest artificial reef, off the coast of Destin-Fort Walton Beach in the Gulf of Mexico. The remediation is expected to take until the end of this year.

The SS United States was taken out of service in 1969. Last year, Okaloosa County, FL purchased the ship for $1 million and budgeted an additional $8 million for remediation, transport, and deployment. The project also includes plans for a land-based museum dedicated to the ship.

A last minute attempt to save the ship from being sunk is being mounted by the New York Coalition to Save the SS United States. They propose mooring the ship in South Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY at the Gowanus Bay Terminal (GBX™) to be used as a public waterfront mixed-use center. 

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A23a, World’s Largest & Oldest Iceberg, Runs Aground 50 Miles Off South Georgia Island

Posted on by March 4, 2025

The world’s largest and oldest iceberg, designated A23a, has run aground in shallow water approximately 50 miles off the remote British island of South Georgia, in the South Atlantic. The island is home to millions of penguins and seals. The iceberg, which is larger than the state of Rhode Island, appears to be stuck and should start breaking up on the island’s southwest shores. 

The good news is that A23a did not directly collide with the remote island as had been previously feared, which had the potential to devastate the penguin and seal populations by blocking their access to food.

In 2004, the island was not as lucky. The huge berg A38 grounded at South Georgia leaving countless penguin chicks and seal pups dead on local beaches. 

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Trump’s DOGE Fires 800 More NOAA Scientists — Endangering the Economy & Public Safety

Posted on by February 28, 2025

Yesterday, hundreds of weather forecasters and other federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) employees were fired, lawmakers and weather experts said.  Federal workers who were not let go said the afternoon layoffs included meteorologists who do crucial local forecasts in National Weather Service offices across the country.

Cuts at NOAA appeared to be happening in two rounds, one of 500 and one of 800, said Craig McLean, a former NOAA chief scientist who said he got the information from someone with first-hand knowledge. That’s about 10% of NOAA’s workforce.

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Leaked Recordings Challenge Greek Coast Guard Account of Deadly Migrant Shipwreck

Posted on by February 27, 2025

On June 14, 2023, the Adriana, an aging fishing trawler overloaded with up to 750 people, capsized in international waters off the Greek town of Pylos. One hundred and four men were rescued, and eighty-two bodies were recovered.  An additional 500 people – including 100 women and children who were in the hold of the boat – are missing and believed to have died. The sinking was one of the worst disasters on record in the Mediterranean.

The BBC now reports that leaked audio instructions by Greek rescue co-ordinators have cast further doubt on Greece’s official version of events in the hours before a migrant boat sank along with up to 650 people onboard.

Survivors told the BBC that coastguard personnel had caused their overcrowded fishing boat to capsize in a botched attempt to tow it and then forced witnesses to stay silent.

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In Honor of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion During Black History Month — the Floating Freedom School

Posted on by February 26, 2025

The steamboat Ben Campbell commonly attributed as John Berry Meachum’s Floating Freedom School. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

At a time when programs supporting the American values of diversity, equity, and inclusion are being banned in schools across the nation, it is incumbent on the rest of us to keep alive the history that some are now seeking to suppress. Here is an account of how far we have come while also being a reminder of how far we still have to go — the story of Missouri’s Floating Freedom School.

The Floating Freedom School was an educational facility for free and enslaved African Americans on a steamboat on the Mississippi River. It was established in 1847 by the Baptist minister John Berry Meachum.

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Pacific Northwest Waterways Association Pushes Back Against DOGE Cuts of Corps of Engineers’ Critical Employees

Posted on by February 25, 2025

In a surreal moment, Elon Musk, who heads the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (DOGE), pranced around on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week in oversized sunglasses, a black gothic MAGA hat, a thick gold chain around his neck—and wielding a chainsaw that the unelected billionaire wants to use figuratively to cut down the size of the US government. 

In the wake of the chaotic and apparently indiscriminate firing of federal employees, Musk and his questionably legal department have begun to face pushback from those affected. 

The Pacific Northwest Waterways Association (PNWA) has written the Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington State congressional delegations expressing its “strong opposition to federal employee cuts being implemented by DOGE. Specifically, the letter signed by Neil Maunu, Executive Director of the PNWA, opposes plans to fire thousands of critical employees of the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)  who are vital to the entire region’s safety, efficiency, and economic vitality. 

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Remembering Wesley A. Brown — First Black Graduate of the United States Naval Academy

Posted on by February 24, 2025

In honor of Black History Month and in light of current events, it seems especially worthwhile to remember the pioneering career of Wesley A. Brown, who endured intense racial harassment to become the first black graduate of the United States Naval Academy in 1949.

Wesley Brown entered the Naval Academy in 1945 as the sixth black man admitted in the 100-year history of the Annapolis military college. He was the first to successfully withstand the intense racism that had forced the others to leave within a year, according to Navy historians.

The New York Times recounted that white midshipmen refused to sit next to Mr. Brown, racial epithets were whispered behind his back, and fellow plebes barred him from joining the choir — all of it mixed with and hidden behind a torrent of regular hazing that underclassmen were expected to bear. He told interviewers that not a day passed when he did not consider quitting.

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Black History Month Repost — John Henry Turpin : Pioneer, Survivor, and Overlooked Hero

Posted on by February 23, 2025

John Henry Turpin was among the first Black Chief Petty Officers to serve in the United States Navy. He was also a survivor of two naval disasters — the catastrophic explosions of the USS Maine in 1898, and USS Bennington in 1905.  He was one of 12 sailors nominated for the Medal of Honor for their efforts in rescuing their fellow crew members on the Bennington.

Turpin was born in Long Branch, NJ, in 1876. At age 20, he enlisted in the Navy as a messman, one of the only positions available to Black sailors at the time. 

Almost two years later, on February 15, 1898, Turpin was serving in the mess hall of the USS Maine at anchor in Havana Harbor, Cuba when it mysteriously blew up. He was picked up from the waters of the harbor along with 89 other crew members. They were the only survivors of the explosion out of 350 total crew.

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