The moon is wobbling. This is nothing new. First observed in 1728, the wobble is a cyclical shifting of the moon’s orbit around the earth that takes 18.6 years to complete. In half of this lunar cycle, Earth’s regular daily … Continue reading
Category Archives: Lore of the Sea
In 2013, a male gray whale was spotted in Walvis Bay off Namibia, which was odd, as no gray whale had ever been seen in the Southern Hemisphere. Where did he come from? It took several years of research to … Continue reading
Crowley Maritime Corporation has announced that it will build and operate eWolf, the first all-electric powered harbor tugboat in the United States. The electric ship assist and escort tug will be 200 GRT, 82 feet long, with a main propulsion … Continue reading
A recent editorial headline in the Tampa Bay Times read “In St. Petersburg, climate change smells like rotting fish” and was subtitled “A massive fish kill reminds us how climate change can suddenly wash up on our shores.” The latest … Continue reading
The Italian government is banning large cruise ships from calling on the Venice lagoon after declaring the lagoon a national monument. Italy had come under pressure from Unesco, the UN’s heritage agency, that threatened to put Venice on its endangered … Continue reading
US Today reports that American Cruise Lines has canceled the next Alaska cruise on its American Constellation after three people tested positive for COVID-19. The ship took off for a 10-night cruise from Juneau, Alaska on July 4, but the trip … Continue reading
The fourth rowing of the Great Pacific Race has shattered transPacific records. The race departed from the Golden Gate Bridge on May 30, bound for Honolulu. The teams are competing in identical boats, rowing entirely self-supported and unassisted across 2,400 miles … Continue reading
Last September, we posted about the wreck of the steam collier SS Ayrfield, abandoned in Homebush Bay, near Sydney, Australia, before it could be scrapped, that has now been taken over by a mangrove forest. A reader pointed out a similar … Continue reading
For more than a decade the Navy has labored to develop a workable rail gun, a futuristic weapon that fires projectiles at up to seven times the speed of sound using electricity. It failed. The Washington Post quotes Matthew Caris, … Continue reading
The recent heat wave in the Pacific Northwest and Canada has proven deadly. The death toll from the record-breaking heatwave that struck the US Pacific Northwest last week has risen to nearly 200. British Columbia reported at least 719 people … Continue reading
Last month, we posted that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced the construction of a new national flagship intended to promote British businesses around the world. So far the proposal to replace the royal yacht Britannia, has been greeted … Continue reading
Congratulations to Captain William D. “Bill” Pinkney, who has been inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame with a Lifetime Achievement Award as an “Enthusiastic Trend Setter.” Captain Pinkney was the first African American to solo-circumnavigate the world via … Continue reading
Reuters is reporting that an Egyptian court has lifted the detention order on the Ever Given container ship, allowing its expected release from the Suez Canal on Wednesday, according to a lawyer and judicial sources. The Ever Given’s owners and … Continue reading
Fifty-one years ago today, 100,000 people lined the banks of the River Avon in Bristol as the SS Great Britain returned to her birthplace. In the intervening years, the rusting hulk was meticulously restored to her former glory and now … Continue reading
An updated repost from several years ago, still fitting for the day. Happy 4th of July! Those of us in the United States celebrate the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th 1776. Immediately after declaring independence from Great Britain, the representatives in the … Continue reading
Early Friday, bright orange flames boiled from the Gulf of Mexico off the Yucatan peninsula caused by a gas leak in an underwater pipeline. Resembling molten lava, the eruption of flames was dubbed an “eye of fire” on social media. … Continue reading
As an American reading British Royal Navy history, I will admit to being initially confused, more than once, by “stone frigates“, naval establishments on land named as ships. HMS Collingwood, for example, is a stone frigate (shore establishment) of the … Continue reading
One hundred and five years ago today, Americans learned to be afraid of sharks. An updated repost. On the evening of July 1, 1916, Charles Vansant, 25, of Philadelphia was on vacation with his family at the beach-side resort town … Continue reading
The salvors attempting to cut up the shipwreck of the car-carrier Golden Ray have run into new problems. For the last seven months, the salvors have attempted to cut the ship up using a heavy-lift catamaran VB-10,000, nicknamed the “Golden … Continue reading
There will be some changes for anyone subscribing to the Old Salt Blog by email. We have been using Google’s Feedburner email feed, which, over the years, has worked more or less. Google, however, is discontinuing the Feedburner email feed … Continue reading