Last August we asked “Will The Maine Lobster Boom End in a Bust?” It doesn’t necessarily look like a bust, but scientists say that they now are seeing a drop in the number of baby lobsters on the bottom of … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
When the Cunard liner RMS Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine during World War I, on May 7, 1915, with the loss of 1,198 passengers and crew, the Germans claimed that the ship was carrying high explosives, which the British … Continue reading
Update: CNN is now reporting that there are three dead blue whales on nearby beaches in Newfoundland. Thanks to Phil Leon for the heads-up. In case you missed the news, a dead 25m (81ft) blue whale has drifted ashore on the … Continue reading
A breathtaking short film by James Aiken, featuring Siggi the Icelandic sailor and Dines the Greenlandic hunter set against the stark majesty of sea, stone and ice. Home Ground from James Aiken on Vimeo. … Continue reading
This year, the Working Harbor Committee’s annual spring program is “Getting It Up! The Fascinating World of Marine Salvage” on Tuesday, May 6th at the Community Church of New York, 40 E. 35th Street, New York, NY 10016. If you are anywhere near New … Continue reading
Would the world’s first purpose-built oceangoing roll-on/roll-off ship make a good museum? The Maritime Administration (MARAD) is offering the USNS Comet to a qualified public and non-profit organization for use as a memorial, a museum and/or in “other non-commercial enterprises.” Built at … Continue reading
This Saturday, the South Street Seaport Museum celebrated its Spring Revival with the grand re-opening of Pier 16 and the Street of Ships. The ceremony began with the ringing of the bell on the historic lightship Ambrose built in 1907. The … Continue reading
We have noted before the paradox of ocean shipping — it is simultaneously the most energy efficient means of transportation with the lowest carbon footprint while at the same time, it is a major polluter. (See our post from back … Continue reading
For roughly fifty years, scientists have listened to an unidentified sound in the Southern Ocean, which has been described as a sort of mechanical quacking noise. It has been come to be known as the bio-duck. The bio-duck quack was first detected by sonar … Continue reading
The death toll in the sinking of the Korean passenger ro-ro ferry Sewol has risen to 171 with 130 still missing. The ferry capsized and sank in the Yellow Sea last Wednesday, April 16th, on a voyage from Incheon to … Continue reading
Last week, stories started appearing on the Internet about a satellite image on Apple maps, of what was described as something large swimming just below the surface in Loch Ness. Had satellite photography captured an image of the Loch Ness … Continue reading
Happy Earth Day! Then again, I have always thought that we lived on a misnamed planet. The word “earth” is a synonym for dirt while 71% of the planet is covered by water. Perhaps we should be saying Happy Ocean Day! … Continue reading
Are passenger ro-ro ferries inherently unsafe? No one knows why the passenger ro-ro ferry Sewol capsized last Wednesday off the south-west coast of Korea. There are indications that poor crew training and inadequate safety and evacuation procedures may have contributed … Continue reading
Recently the folks at Sailing Scuttlebutt commented that it looked as if the boats in the Stark Raving Mad 2014 Heineken Regatta were being sailed by “peeps,” the ubiquitous, if largely inedible, marshmallow candies, sold in the United States and … Continue reading
If you are in the New York area on Saturday, April 26th, be sure to stop by the South Street Seaport to celebrate a Spring revival with the grand reopening of Pier 16 and the Street of Ships. Capt. Jonathan Boulware, … Continue reading
The gillnetter Phyllis A., built in 1925, is the oldest fishing vessel in Gloucester, Massachusetts, which calls itself, America’s oldest seaport. The Phyllis A. Marine Association, Inc.is raising money to promote the history of gillnetting in Gloucester, Massachusetts, through the … Continue reading
Whale sightings in and around New York harbor are getting less and less unusual. Unfortunately, the most recent sighting was of a dead fin whale caught on the bow of a container ship near Port Elizabeth. A necropsy is being … Continue reading
What was intended as a four-day field trip to the Korean resort island of Jeju for high school students and their teachers ended in tragedy when the ferry sank off several miles north of Byeongpung Island, on the west coast of … Continue reading
We posted recently about a rare lunar eclipse tetrad, a sequence of four total lunar eclipses, each six months apart. The first of these total lunar eclipses was last night around 2:30 AM EST. I confess. I didn’t stay up. Fortunately … Continue reading
In March, we posted about “The Captain Rose House of 1773 & Kit Burns Rat Pit of 1870,” at 273 Water Street in Lower Manhattan. In addition to being the third oldest building in Manhattan, the building has a rich … Continue reading