Discarded plastic is a major problem in today’s oceans. Plastics leach toxic chemicals into the seawater while otherwise not degrading. Recently researchers at Harvard University have announced they have created a new bio-degrable plastic based on, of all things, shrimp shells. We have posted … Continue reading
Category Archives: Lore of the Sea
A few years ago we posted about a grand piano which rather mysteriously showed up on a sandbar in Biscayne Bay near Miami. A few days ago, a grand piano showed up on a sand beach beneath the Brooklyn Bridge … Continue reading
There is a magic to ship’s figureheads. In Conrad’s Mirror of the Sea who wrote about the ships and figureheads that he saw on London’s docks: It was a noble gathering of the fairest and the swiftest, each bearing … Continue reading
UPDATE: Between the effects of the explosion, fire, and water put aboard in firefighting the Shoko Maru subsequently sank. The 2,242 DWT Japanese product tanker, Shoko Maru, exploded and caught fire Thursday morning, local time, while anchored about 5 kilometers off … Continue reading
Yesterday, we posted about the Big Rubber Duck, which is scheduled to lead the Tall Ships Grand Parade of Sail at the Tall Ships Festival L.A., August 20, 2014. One commenter suggested that we needed more rubber ducks while another suggested … Continue reading
We have followed the peripatetic wanderings of the Big Rubber Duck as it has made its way around the globe. The series of inflatable sculptures by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, is named “Spreading Joy Around the World” but is universally known simply as … Continue reading
Last week, the brig Unicorn sank after apparently hitting a submerged object on her way from St. Lucia to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for dry docking. The captain and nine crew escaped by boat and were rescued by the … Continue reading
April is usually the month for “floaters” in New York harbor. This year, after a particularly brutal winter, most seem to be popping up in May. “Floaters” are the bodies of the dead who ended up in the harbor over … Continue reading
In a statement Friday afternoon, the US Coast Guard announced that a U.S. Navy warship helicopter crew located the overturned hull of the Cheeki Rafiki 1,000 miles offshore Massachusetts and within the U.S. Coast Guard’s search area. A Navy surface swimmer … Continue reading
Good News — the State of Pennsylvania has committed $4.8 million for a major overhaul of the Brig Niagara. As reported by YourErie.com: “Maintaining the Brig Niagara, a sea-going legacy of American freedom and the sacrifices of the men who sailed her … Continue reading
The Sailing School Vessel Spirit of South Carolina is finally going to auction. As we posted in late 2011, the now defunct South Carolina Maritime Foundation ran into financial problems only a few years after the 90′ on-deck schooner went … Continue reading
How is your day going? It has to be better than the unfortunate folks at Northern Marine in Anacortes, Washington, who had a 90′ expedition motor yacht roll over and sink when it was launched last Sunday. Rescuers and first responders had … Continue reading
If the sea were influenced by public support and social media, the four missing sailors on the lost Beneteau 40.7, Cheeki Rafiki, would be home with their families by now. Unfortunately, that is not the case. One week ago today, the captain of … Continue reading
Sailors in the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will face more than just tough competition. They will be sailing in Guanabara Bay, a body of water thoroughly befouled with garbage and sewage. Falling overboard is not recommended. As reported by the … Continue reading
UPDATE: The US Coast Guard has resumed the search for the missing crew from the Cheeki Rafiki. Over 200,000 signed petitions asking that the search be resumed. British Prime Minister David Cameron thanked the Coast Guard on Twitter after it made … Continue reading