When Diana Nyad was stopped by repeated jellyfish stings in her most recent attempt to swim between Cuba and Florida, it brought to mind two articles, one about the discovery of the “immortal jellyfish” and another which raised the question … Continue reading
Rick Spilman
Almost three miles beneath the surface of the Atlantic, deeper than the Titanic, Odyssey Marine has located the wreck of the S.S. Gairsoppa, which was torpedoed in February of 1941 by a German U-boat. When she sank, the ship was loaded with silver, … Continue reading
In August, Diana Nyard attempted to become the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the aid of a shark cage. She gave up that attempt after 29 hours of swimming when adverse winds blew her off course. … Continue reading
A fascinating look at the research of Denise Herzing, who has been studying dolphins in the Bahamas for 25years. Next year she is beginning an attempt to use technology to engage in two way communication with dolphins. The Wild Dolphin Project [iframe: width=”480″ … Continue reading
Ann Weaver is a researcher who has been studying dolphins in Boca Ciega Bay, with a particular focus on how to to minimize the impact of local construction projects on the dolphins. The Dolphin Lady of John’s Pass … Continue reading
Today, we have three posts about dolphins and humans interacting. I went to high school on the Gulf Coast of Florida, which has some of the largest bottlenose dolphin populations in the world. When I am in Florida visiting family, I … Continue reading
Tommorrow, the Charente-Maritime/Bahia Transat 6.50 sets off from La Rochelle, France bound for Salvador de Bahia, Brazil via Funchal, Madeira. Roughly eighty sailors from sixteen countries will sail the Open/Mini 6.5, a 21 foot long ocean racer, across the Atlantic. … Continue reading
What is interesting about this story is how it has been reported. Here is what we know: The fishing boat, Donets, ran into the Russian nuclear submarine, Svyatoy Georgiy Pobedonosets (St. George the Victor,) in the Avachino Bay on the … Continue reading
Happy autumnal equinox. The first day of Fall. I know of no good sailor’s tradition for the autumnal equinox. It seems to be too busy a time to stop for such foolishness. Everyone is trying to get the last trips … Continue reading
I recently learned a new figure of speech – “like painting the Forth Bridge,” which refers to a job which is never completed. Or at least it used to mean that. The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge over … Continue reading
The US military’s previous policy toward gay service members; “don’t ask, don’t tell; officially came to an end yesterday. Naval officer, Lt. Gary Ross, chose the day to marry his partner of eleven years, Dan Swezy, in Duxbury, Vt. In Tulsa, … Continue reading
Updates on three previous posts: On Monday, Able Seaman Ryan Donovan was sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to murdering a senior officer on board the HMS Astute last April. Submariner’s grudge turned proud day into tragedy British tourist Judith Tebbutt, … Continue reading
For something so relatively new, we take the internet very much for granted. The first graphical web browser is less than 20 years old. Nevertheless, the internet seems ubiquitous in most of our lives. But on a world that is over 70% ocean, how … Continue reading
Fifteen years ago, a group of sea shanty enthusiasts got together for an old fashioned shanty sing. Their first meeting was, fittingly enough on the windjammer Peking at South Street Seaport. For many years they met monthly at the Seaman’s Church … Continue reading
The folks at Jack Tar Magazine are sponsoring a writing contest, “The New Conrads” Storytelling Challenge, with some serious prize money attached. Whether you enter or not, it is an interesting exercise to consider what the world of shipping would look like in a … Continue reading