There is some very interesting beachcombing going on these days in the UK. Two weeks ago, we posted about four large, barrel-shaped pieces of lard that washed up on the beach at St.Cyrus nature reserve in Scotland. Locals opined that … Continue reading
Category Archives: Current
New energy is coming to Fukushima, the region in Japan best known for a nuclear disaster following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami of 11 March 2011. The nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi was largest nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl … Continue reading
Every year in the village of Taiji, Japan there is a yearly hunt which results in the slaughter of over a thousand dolphins. Despite international protest including a 2009 documentary film, the Cove, which graphically displayed the mass dolphin killing, and won … Continue reading
The Navy has announced that the minesweeper, USS Guardian, which ran up on Tubbataha reef in the Philippines Sula Sea two weeks ago, will be cut up in place and hauled away. The reason given is that the approach will “involve … Continue reading
The Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara is said to have broken his own world record for the largest wave surfed when he caught a wave reported to be around 100ft off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal. McNamara set the previous record in 2011 also off Nazaré. … Continue reading
The Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley is credited as the first successful submarine, in that it was the first submarine to sink an enemy warship in combat. New findings, however, might cause some to reconsider this “success.” The Hunley may have been sunk … Continue reading
Last Saturday, in the Northern Atlantic to the south of Iceland, the extratropical storm Jolle, intensified dramatically. Meteorologists use central pressure as a proxy for measuring the strength of a given storm. The lower the barometric pressure, the more intense the storm. By this standard, Jolle, … Continue reading
François Gabart, sailing MACIF, won the Vendée Globe round-the-world single-handed race in 78 days and two hours, shattering the previous record of 84 days and three hours, set in 2009 by Michel Desjoyeaux. Ending what has been a round-the-world match-race between the … Continue reading
Tomorrow, January 27th, at 8 PM ET & PT, the Discovery Channel is airing Monster Squid: The Giant is Real featuring the first video ever recorded of a live giant squid in its natural habitat. (See our recent post Giant Squid Filmed for … Continue reading
François Gabart sailing MCIF in the Vendée Globe is less than 700 miles from the finish line, 76 days after setting out in the singled-handed around-the-world race. Armel Le Cléac´h sailing Banque Populaire is roughly one hundred miles behind Gabart. The third place contender, Jean-Pierre Dick … Continue reading
Update: Dolphin Dies in Gowanus Canal Crowds of onlookers gathered today in the bitter cold on the Union Street Bridge to see an apparently injured dolphin stuck in shallow water in New York’s Gowanus Canal. The canal is one of the … Continue reading
In the Antarctic winter of 1916, Ernest Shackleton and a crew of five sailed in a decked over lifeboat from Elephant Island to South Georgia. They were on a desperate rescue mission across 800 miles of the roughest ocean in … Continue reading
Only on rare occasional does one find a boat that would be significantly improved if run hard aground. Here is one example, however. Many large yachts have hot tubs onboard. This 16′ boat, however, is simply a floating hot tub with a … Continue reading
The minesweeper USS Guardian ran aground on a reef at the Tubbataha marine park in the Sula Sea last Thursday. The ship is still there. So far there has been no reported leaks of fuel leaks though the Navy has confirmed … Continue reading
Happy Bounty Day! On Pitcairn Island, Bounty Day is celebrated yearly on January 23, in commemoration of the burning of the HMS Bounty by the mutineers in 1790. The sail training ship Picton Castle arrived just in time to partake in the celebrations. … Continue reading
The three masted iron barque Elissa, built in 1877, will be returning to her pier this Saturday at the Texas Seaport Museum in Galveston after completing a $3 million repair and replacement of hull plating. Congratulations to Jamie White and all the staff, … Continue reading
In February 2001, we posted about the problem that the US Navy has been having with the “synthetic marijuana” often referred to as “spice.” Since then the Navy has discharged over 200 sailors for use of the “spice.” Earlier this month, … Continue reading
In 2005, when the Greenpeace flagship, Rainbow Warrior, ran aground on Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea, the captain claimed that the reef was incorrectly plotted on his charts. As reported by the UK’s Guardian in November 1, 2005: Red Constantino of Greenpeace Southeast Asia blamed the incident on a … Continue reading
We should probably add a new category to the blog, something along the lines of “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up.” This post would certainly fit. The Norwegian Seafood Council has sponsored Human Sushi, a series of dances to interpret sushi … Continue reading
Four years ago, the luxury liner Queen Elizabeth 2 was sold to financial interests in Dubai who planned on converting her to a luxury hotel. Unfortunately, the arrival of the ship coincided with a credit crunch and near financial melt-down in the emirate. Last July, … Continue reading