Four years ago, we posted about an attempt to use “big data” to crack down on illegal fishing. Google partnered with SkyTruth and Oceana to produce a new tool, Global Fishing Watch, to track global fishing activity. The problem is that to avoid detection, boats fishing illegally often turn off their AIS (Automatic Identification System) to avoid detection. The Google project uses satellite data to provide detailed vessel tracking and aims to harness the power of citizen engagement to tackle overfishing.
A recent study led by Henri Weimerskirch, a marine ornithologist at the French National Center for Scientific Research, takes a more hands-on, or perhaps, wings-on approach. Weimerskirch and his colleagues have outfitted nearly 200 albatrosses with tiny 65-gram GPS trackers that detect marine radar signals. While illegal fishing boats may choose to turn off their AIS transponders, it seems likely that they will keep their radars on for navigation.
On January 28, 1915, the US flag four-masted bark 
More than thirty years ago, I sat on the rotting planks of the old Pier 17 in the East River in Manhattan and listened to Bernie Clay and the X-Seaman’s Institute sing a song about the schooner Alice S. Wentworth. The song became known as the “
On New Year’s Eve, in 20-foot seas and high winds, the 130′ crab boat 
The 
Today, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the US Navy officially named the newest of the future 
Congratulations to 
Will the Titanic II ever be built? And if so, when will it sail?
On Tuesday around 3:35 PM the Coast Guard in Galveston, TX was notified that a fishing boat, the 82′ long 
We are having a relatively warm January with significantly fluctuating temperatures. Similar weather conditions 101 years ago, coupled with a shoddily built storage tank, caused the Great Boston Molasses Flood, which inundated Boston’s North End sending a wall of molasses, killing 21 and injuring 150. A repost about the tragedy.