Covid-19 Fears & the Alaskan Salmon Season in Bristol Bay

Posted on by June 25, 2020

Every year, the Alaskan fishing industry attracts tens of thousands of migrant workers. In remote Bristol Bay, Alaska, between 10,000 and 15,000 fishermen come to work on the salmon boats plying the Bering Sea, while another 6,000 workers or so arrive to process the salmon brought ashore. Salmon fishing brings in $700 million each year to this remote, sparsely populated area. But, as reported by the Counter, with only 15 hospital beds and limited medical resources, local tribal leaders are wondering: Are the risks worth it?  

As of June 23rd, Alaska Public Media reports that 12 seafood workers in Dillingham, a Bristol Bay hub town, have tested positive for COVID-19 while under quarantine, sparking anxiety in the small community. The Bristol Bay region didn’t have a single Covid-19 case until May 16. The salmon fishing season starts at the beginning of June.

Continue reading →

Sahara Dust Plume May Temporarily Damp Down Atlantic Hurricanes

Posted on by June 24, 2020

A huge cloud of desert dust has blown off the Sahara and is bound across the Atlantic Ocean heading toward the United States. While dust plumes are not uncommon, this plume is exceptionally large and dense with the highest concentration of dust particles observed in 50 to 60 years.

The plume has already turned blue Caribbean skies a hazy brownish gray and is expected to arrive on the US Gulf Coast later this week after traveling 5,000 miles from Africa. 

The plume could have a  range of impacts on local weather in the South-East. Sunsets and sunrises may look  brighter and more vibrant, with orange and red hues showing up more clearly as the dust scatters the sun’s rays.

The dust should also bring drier air which has the benefit that tropical storms and hurricanes in this already busy hurricane season may be temporarily less active while the plume is around. 

Continue reading →

Will the Cruise Industry Survive the Pandemic Headwinds?

Posted on by June 23, 2020

Pullmantur Cruceros, a joint venture between Royal Caribbean and Cruises Investment Holding, has filed for reorganization under Spanish insolvency laws. Cruises Investment Holding owns 51 percent of the three-ship Spanish cruise line, while Royal Caribbean owns the remaining 49 percent. 

Pullmantur’s board of directors issued a statement that reads in part, “Despite the great progress the company made to achieve a turnaround in 2019, … the headwinds caused by the pandemic are too strong for Pullmantur to overcome without a reorganization.”

While the bankruptcy filing impacts only a small cruise operation, it does raise the question — what impact will the pandemic headwinds have on the cruise industry as a whole?

Continue reading →

Cruise Lines Delay US Port Restart Again, Until at Least September 15th

Posted on by June 22, 2020

In mid-March, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) announced that the major cruise lines were shutting down operations from all US ports for at least 30 days in response to the coronavirus pandemic. A month later, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) extended its “No Sail Order” fro up to 100 days. Nevertheless, by mid-May, the major cruise lines were planning restarting operations in July and August.

Now, reality has set in, once again and the CLIA announced last Friday that the major cruise lines will not attempt starting operations from the US until September 15th.

Whether the latest date is any more likely than the previous targets remains to be seen. Recently, a White House advisor raised concerns about a second wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic this fall, as 29 states and U.S. territories logged an increase in their seven-day average of newly reported cases after many lifted restrictions in recent weeks.

Approaching the 50th Anniversay of the Exploding Whale — Exploding Whale Park

Posted on by June 21, 2020

Fifty years ago this November,  the residents of Florence, Oregon learned how not to dispose of a dead whale. Now, a half-century later they have named a park after that lesson. The residents have recently chosen to name a local recreational area “Exploding Whale Memorial Park.”

On November 9, 1970, a 45-foot  long, 8-ton whale, described variously as a gray or sperm whale, washed ashore at Florence on the central Oregon Coast.  At the time, Oregon beaches were under the jurisdiction of the state’s Highway Division, which, after consulting with the United States Navy, decided to remove the whale using dynamite – assuming that the resulting pieces would be small enough for scavenger animals to consume.

It turned out to be a really, really bad idea. Continue reading →

Navy Refuses to Reinstate Captain Crozier, Despite Earlier Recommendation

Posted on by June 20, 2020

The US government has now reversed the recommendation made by high ranking Navy officials that Capt. Brett Crozier, commander of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, be reinstated.  

In April, the coronavirus was spreading out of control on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.  When a letter he wrote seeking help for his ship’s crew was leaked to the press, Captain Crozier was fired. Notwithstanding his dismissal, the Navy acted on Capt. Crozier’s recommendations and requests. 

In late April, the Navy reviewed the firing and recommended that Captain Crozier be reinstated. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday presented the recommendations to the acting secretary of the Navy James McPherson who forwarded them to Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. Esper chose not to accept the recommendations and reopened the investigation, which was supposed to be finished by May.

Now in late June, the Navy has reversed its position and has decided not to reinstate Captain Crozier but also to recommend additional administrative punishment. 

Continue reading →

Happy Juneteenth! When Emancipation Arrived by Steamship, 155 Years Ago Today

Posted on by June 17, 2021

USS Cornubia, ex lady Davis

Today is Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States, when 155 years ago, emancipation arrived in Galveston, Texas by steamship. Here is an updated repost from a few years ago.

Although the surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia signaled the end of the nation’s Civil War on April 9, 1865, emancipation did not arrive in Texas until two ex-Confederate steamships sailed into Galveston Harbor two months later. 

Continue reading →

Clearwater’s 2020 Virtual Great Hudson River Revival: An Epic Stream to Save the River

Posted on by June 18, 2020

The Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival is a music and environmental summer festival held yearly since 1966, on the banks of the Hudson River. It is said to be America’s oldest and the largest annual festival of its kind. 

In the year of a pandemic,  the things have changed. This year’s Revival will be a series of online performances and events streamed live on Saturday, June 20th, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on the Clearwater’s website, YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Performers will include Judy Collins; Peter Yarrow; Tom Chapin and the Chapin Sisters; Guy Davis; Kyle Tigges; The Mammals; Reggie Harris; David Amram; John McCutcheon; Jay Ungar and Molly Mason; Noel Paul Stookey; Tom Paxton and more. All proceeds benefit Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit environmental organization. 

Continue reading →

Eighty Years Ago Today — Sinking of the HMT Lancastria, the Worst Maritime Disaster in British History

Posted on by June 17, 2020

On June 17, 1940, the HMT Lancastria was sunk by German bombers near the French port of Saint-Nazaire. An estimated 4,000 people died in the sinking. Fewer than 2,500 survived. It was the worst maritime disaster in British history, worse than the Titanic and the Lusitania combined. While often described as forgotten history, that is not accurate. Rather than being forgotten, the tragic sinking was largely covered up for almost 70 years. 

Several weeks after the evacuation at Dunkirk, there were still more than 100,000 troops and civilians in need of evacuation from France. The Cunard passenger liner Lancastria had been requisitioned by the British government. Although the ship configured as a troopship had a capacity of 2,180 including 330 crew, the captain was ordered to take as many people aboard as possible. Estimates of passengers embarked range from 5,000 to 7,200. 

Continue reading →

USS Gerald R. Ford — Almost a Carrier or Still a Berthing Barge?

Posted on by June 16, 2020

The $13 billion dollar aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford  is the most expensive warship the world has ever seen. Commissioned in 2017, the ship is still not ready for deployment.  Is the Ford almost ready for combat service or is it still what critics have called a $13 billion berthing barge? It all depends on who you ask — the Navy or the General Accounting Office (GAO).

According to the Navy, things are going well. The National Interest reports that the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) recently completed the tests to prove that the latest aircraft carrier to enter service can launch and recover jets. Now the U.S. Navy has announced that it has the largest air wing embark to date. In addition, the Ford completed its first ordnance movement from a lower deck magazine to the carrier’s F/A-18E Super Hornets using the ship’s state-of-the-art Advanced Weapons Elevators.

A GAO Report issued at roughly the same time as the Navy announcement has a somewhat different view. Continue reading →

Remembering the General Slocum Disaster of June 15, 1904

Posted on by June 15, 2020

An updated repost from a few year’s back. One hundred and sixteen years ago today, the disaster on the General Slocum resulted in the largest loss of life in New York City prior to the attacks of 9/11/01.

At around 9AM on June 15, 1904, approximately 1,350 passengers, mostly women and children from the German-American community of New York’s Lower East Side, boarded the Knickerbocker Steamship Company paddle steamer General Slocum for an annual end-of-school outing to Locust Grove Picnic Ground at Eatons Neck on Long Island.  The trip was sponsored by the St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Instead of a fun-filled day away from the city, the trip shortly turned into a nightmare. Continue reading →

After Three Years, USS Fitzgerald Returns to Service

Posted on by June 15, 2020

USS Fitzgerald after collision

On June 17, 2017, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, USS Fitzgerald, collided with the container ship  ACX Crystal near Toyko Bay off the coast of Japan. Seven US sailors died in the collision and at least three more were injured, including the destroyer’s commanding officer. 

Now, almost three years to the day after the collision, the USS Fitzgerald has finally returned to service, sailing from Ingalls Shipbuilding bound for her homeport of San Diego. The ship was transported by heavy-lift ship to the Mississippi shipyard almost a year after the collision, where it underwent two years of repairs and upgrading, impacting every aspect of the ship, including hull structure, machinery, electrical, combat systems, comms, intelligence and command, and control systems.

A US Navy investigation of the collision determined that Fitzgerald’s watch teams “disregarded established norms of basic contact management and, more importantly, leadership failed to adhere to well-established protocols in place to prevent collisions,” concluding that the accident was avoidable.

Trailer ‘The Restoration of Centaur’ — Insights on Horse Dung and Coal Tar

Posted on by June 14, 2020

Centaur is one of three sailing barges owned and operated by the Thames Sailing Barge Trust. Launched in  February 1895 at John and Herbert Cann’s Bathside yard in Harwich, Centaur was built as a coasting barge – able to trade all around the British coast and to the near continent.

In the most recent restoration of the historic barge, filmmaker Simon North shot a documentary of the process, ‘The Restoration of Centaur‘. Here is a short video that highlights the traditional, but certainly new to me, use of horse dung and coal tar in replanking the barge. Thanks to David Rye for passing it along.

Trailer ‘The Restoration of Centaur’

Drone Footage Captures Biggest Gathering of Sea Turtles Ever Caught on Camera

Posted on by June 13, 2020

Raine Island, Australia, on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef, is one of the world’s largest nesting sites for green sea turtles. Researchers have found that drone cameras are the best way to count the young sea turtles.  Using the drone footage researchers have estimated that there were around 64,000 of the endangered green sea turtles at the rookery or almost twice as many as previously estimated. Thanks to Phil Leon for contributing to this post.

Great Barrier Reef: drone footage allows researchers to count 64,000 green sea turtles

Gulf of Mexico ‘Dead Zone’ Will Be Large This Summer, But Maybe Smaller than Last Year

Posted on by June 14, 2020

The bad news is that the annual summer “hypoxic” or “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico this year may be larger than average. The good news is that it will be about 15% smaller than last year’s model prediction and roughly 20% smaller than the record “dead zone” in 2017. Nevertheless, at 6,700 square miles, this year’s “dead zone” is still larger than the State of Connecticut.

The “dead zone” forms every year due to an algae bloom which deprives the Gulf waters of oxygen. The little or no oxygen in the water can kill fish and other marine life. NOAA explains that the algae bloom is caused “by excess nutrient pollution from human activities, such as urbanization and agriculture, occurring throughout the Mississippi River watershed. Once the excess nutrients reach the Gulf they stimulate an overgrowth of algae, which eventually die, then sink and decompose in the water. The resulting low oxygen levels near the bottom are insufficient to support most marine life and have long-term impacts to living marine resources that are unable to leave the area. Considered one of the world’s largest, the Gulf of Mexico dead zone occurs every summer.

Continue reading →