The Wonderfully Alien Octopus

Posted on by December 3, 2015
California two-spot octopus

California two-spot octopus

The octopus is a strange and amazing creature, the most intelligent and agile of all invertebrates. (In May, we posted How Does an Octopus Keep Track of Eight Arms?) Recently, scientists mapped the octopus genetic code and discovered that it is so strange that it could actually be termed “alien”.   As reported by the Irish Examiner: “The octopus appears to be utterly different from all other animals, even other molluscs, with its eight prehensile arms, its large brain and its clever problem-solving abilities,” said US researcher Dr Clifton Ragsdale, from the University of Chicago. 

“The late British zoologist Martin Wells said the octopus is an alien. In this sense, then, our paper describes the first sequenced genome from an alien.”

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Replica Viking Longship? Stop by the Gift Shop

Posted on by December 2, 2015

vikingshipLooking for the perfect holiday gift?  How about an authentic replica Viking longship?  A great way to impress the relatives or perhaps get together with 60 close friends to raid a neighboring village.  You either can hire a team of researchers and book time in a specialist boat yard or you can stop by the gift shop in the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark and place your order.

As reported by The Daily Mail: The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark, is now offering a number of Viking ships for sale, ranging from a ‘modest’ €33,000 (£27,000 and $72,000) to a slightly more expensive €400,000 (£325,000 and $545,000). The longboats are each individually crafted and allow you to experience the sea like the Norse warriors of old. The ships are meticulously built to mimic those used by the Vikings who inhabited Scandinavia from about 700 to 1100 AD.

New High Tech Zumwalt-Class Destroyer — Is it Seaworthy?

Posted on by December 1, 2015

zumwalt1The new $7.5 billion DDG-1000 destroyer, USS Zumwalt, expected to be delivered by Bath Iron Works sometime in 2016, is incredibly high tech and innovative. It features advanced weapons and propulsion systems as well as an inward sloping hull with a ram bow to make it more stealthy to radar. The only area of controversy is whether it will be seaworthy.

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Can Big Data Stop Overfishing? Will Google’s Global Fishing Watch Succeed?

Posted on by December 17, 2015

gfw1Overfishing of the world’s oceans is a huge and immediate problem. Back in 2002, the nations participating in the World Summit on Sustainable Development agreed to end overfishing by 2015. Suffice it say, it didn’t happen.  Indeed, some scientists are predicting the complete collapse of commercial fisheries by 2050, if the rate of worldwide overfishing is not addressed.

Not all news is bad, however. We recently posted about how roughly 1.3 million square miles of the ocean have been protected by new maritime sanctuaries in the last year alone. This raises the question, however, “how can these new sanctuaries be protected from illegal fishing?”  It takes a lot of fisheries vessels to adequately patrol over a million square miles of ocean.  One answer may be by using “big data”.  Google has partnered with SkyTruth and Oceana to produce a new tool to track global fishing activity. Known as Global Fishing Watch, the interactive web tool uses satellite data to provide detailed vessel tracking and aims to harness the power of citizen engagement to tackle the issue of overfishing.

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Project to Build Cutty Sark II

Posted on by November 29, 2015

cs11A group of tall ship enthusiasts are attempting raise money to build and sail an exact replica of the great composite clipper ship, Cutty Sark.  The goal is to launch the Cutty Sark II  by November 2019, the 150th anniversary of the launching of the original ship. The group is led by Vladimir Martus, a naval architect previously involved in two large wooden replica sailing ship projects — the 80′ long schooner St Peter  in 1991 and the 110′  long Russian frigate Shtandart built in 1999. He also served as the captain of the Shtandart.   Vladimir Martus narrates the video about the project:

Cutty Sark #Reborn2Sail. Go For Your Adventure!

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Ghost Fleet Washes Ashore on Japan’s Coast — 11 Boats, 25 Bodies

Posted on by November 28, 2015

ghostshipIn the last two months, eleven wooden fishing vessels have drifted ashore from the Sea of Japan on the Japanese coast. On board were 25 badly decomposed bodies. The vessels contained nets and fishing gear and are believed to have come from the Korean peninsula. A scrap of cloth secured to a mast might have been part of a North Korean flag and markings on one vessel in Hangul read, “Korean People’s Army.”  It is unclear whether the boats and the bodies are related to a new fishing initiative by Kim Jong-un, or whether the boats were used in a failed attempt to defect from North Korea.

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Blue Dragon Sea Slug — Tiny, Beautiful and Dangerous

Posted on by November 27, 2015

bluedragonThe words “blue dragon” and “sea slug” do not seem to go together. The image of a dragon, of any color, and a slug just do not seem to overlap. Nevertheless, the sea slug glaucus atlanticus known as the blue dragon (as well as the sea swallow, blue angel, and the blue ocean slug) does look and act more ferociously than its size or designation might suggest.

The strangely beautiful but tiny sea slug only grows to about an inch and a half long. It floats on the surface of the ocean and is known to prey on the much larger Portuguese Man o’ War. The blue dragon is immune to the Man o’ War’s toxins. Indeed, the blue dragon concentrates its toxins so that it can produce a more powerful and deadly sting than the Man o’ War. Humans handling the blue dragon may receive a very painful and potentially dangerous sting. There is a video about this remarkable sea slug, after the page break.

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Coast Guard Pumps Benzene from Argo, 78 Year Old Lake Erie Toxic Wreck

Posted on by November 25, 2015

argoThis weekend the US Coast Guard recovered 10,000 gallons of benzene from the wreck of a tank barge that sank 78 years ago in Lake Erie. The Coast Guard has pumped the first of 8 tanks on the wrecked barge.

In August, Tom Kowalczk, a member of the Cleveland Underwater Explorers (CLUE), discovered the wreck of the 125′ long tank barge Argo in 45 feet of water 8 miles east of Kelley’s Island Shoal. The divers noted a strong chemical odor in the water. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Argo sank intact carrying more than 100,000 gallons of crude oil and benzol.  Benzol is a coal-tar product consisting mainly of benzene and toluene. The National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo says that the 4,700 barrel barge was operating illegally when it sank on Oct. 20, 1937, while under tow by the tug Syosset.

Michigan Live.com reports: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has described the Argo as the worst pollution threat from a Great Lakes shipwreck.

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Donations Help Keep SS United States Afloat Well into Next Year

Posted on by November 25, 2015

Great news from the SS United States Conservancy.  At the beginning of October, the  Conservancy announced that its board had retained the services of a broker to explore selling the SS United States for scrap “over concerns about the organization’s long-term ability to continue financing the upkeep of the ship in the absence of firm redevelopment commitments and capital.”  Since then the Conservancy has raised sufficient funds to keep the ship afloat well into next year. From the Conservancy press release:

Thanks to several major donations, as well as additional contributions from more than 800 supporters, the Conservancy’s Board of Directors voted late Monday not to accept any of the three bids submitted by the recyclers. The Conservancy has now raised well over $600,000 since it issued last month’s SOS, including two $100,000 gifts and a $250,000 donation. 

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Pre-Fab Marble Church to be Assembled after 1500 Years on Sea Floor

Posted on by November 23, 2015

prefabchurchAround 1847, Henry Manning, a London carpenter, started building houses in components that could be easily stowed on ships and reassembled by emigrants on the other side of an ocean. Several hundred “Manning cottages” were shipped to Australia. It turns out, however, that Manning was a late-comer to prefabricated buildings. Byzantine Emperor Justinian, over a thousand years before, was dispatching ships carrying prefabricated marble churches from quarries around the Sea of Marmara to sites in Italy and North Africa. Some of the ships never made it to port. As reported by the Belfast Telegraph:  In the 1960s, German archaeologist Gerhard Kapitan excavated a shipwreck off the south-east coast of Sicily. Hundreds of prefabricated marble elements of the basilica were brought to the surface, including 28 columns, slabs and pieces of a pulpit. Much still remains on the seabed and the site has been under investigation again since 2012.

Now the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford will assemble  marble pieces of the church from the shipwreck as a part o f their exhibition called Storms, War And Shipwrecks: Treasures From The Sicilian Seas. The museum’s director has joked that he hopes putting the church together will be “easier than an Ikea wardrobe“.

Largest Mass Whale Stranding Ever Reported in Patagonia

Posted on by November 22, 2015
PHOTO: CAROLINA SIMON GUTSTEIN

PHOTO: CAROLINA SIMON GUTSTEIN

Scientists have reported the largest whale stranding on record — 337 dead whales were discovered in a remote fiord in the Patagonia, southern Chile.  The discovery was made using aerial and satellite photography last June but was first leaked the Chilean press last Friday.  As reported by National Geographic:

Because of the remoteness of the area and the roughness of the seas, scientists have not been able to examine the whales directly, but aerial and satellite photography identified 305 bodies and 32 skeletons in an area between the Gulf of Penas and Puerto Natales, toward the southern tip of the continent.

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Help Save the Ada C. Lore

Posted on by November 21, 2015

adacloreLast year we posted about a very bad night for the schooner, Ada C. Lore. In the early morning hours of December 4, 2014, the Eastport, Maine breakwater pier where she was berthed suddenly collapsed onto the Ada C. Lore, doing considerable damage to the 1923 built converted oyster dredger.  The good news is that the historic schooner is being restored, which will take approximately 6-8 months. Ada C. Lore is a near-sister vessel to the A.J. Meerwald, New Jersey’s official Tall Ship.

The restoration will include all or partial replacement of: top timbers, topside planks, covering board, cap rail, rub rail, decking, cabin tops, running and standing rigging, center board trunk, helm and steering gear, quarter bits, electrical wiring and components, plumbing associated with firefighting, re-caulking, and paint. To ensure the highest quality standards, the restoration crew will be working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard through every step of the process.

To help out in the restoration process, go to the Ada C. Lore donation page. Thanks to Jesse Briggs on Facebook for the heads up.

Remembering the MS St. Louis and the “Voyage of the Damned”

Posted on by November 20, 2015

stlouisGiven the current heated debate over Syrian refugees, it seems worthwhile to remember the ill-fated voyage of the German ocean liner St. Louis in 1939. The ship carried 908 Jewish refugees who were fleeing from Nazi Germany. The ship and its passengers were denied entry to Cuba, the United States and Canada. Finally, the ship turned around and returned to Europe. Despite the US government’s refusal to accept the refugees, private Jewish aid groups in the United States did manage to place most of the refugees in Belgium, France and Holland, to avoid returning them to Nazi Germany. Tragically, many were later captured when the Nazis invaded. Two-hundred-and-fifty-four of the refugees are believed to have died in the German death camps. The voyage has been the subject of at least one book and two movies. The movie, Voyage of the Damned, in 1974 was based on the book of the same name by Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts.  A second movie, The Voyage of the St. Louis, was released in 1995.

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Engine Room Fire on Expedition Cruise Ship Le Boreal, Passengers Evacuated

Posted on by November 19, 2015
Photo: Mathieu Gesta, Ponant

Photo: Mathieu Gesta, Ponant

The expedition cruise ship, Le Boreal, operated by French line Ponant, has been evacuated after a fire in the engine room.  Fire broke out on the 264-passenger ship as she was sailing off the Falkland Islands early Wednesday.  The passengers were transferred to a sister ship, L’Austral, which was nearby. They will be taken to Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands to be sent home. The remainder of the cruise has been cancelled. Le Boreal was built in 2011 by Fincantieri.

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Over One Million Square Miles of New Ocean Sanctuaries

Posted on by November 18, 2015
Photo: Jim Maragos/AP

Photo: Jim Maragos/AP

It is easy to get caught up in the bad news. The oceans are filling with plastic. Coral reefs are dying due to ocean acidification caused by climate change.  Overfishing will wipe out all currently fished seafood by 2050. And so on.  With all the bad news, there is still some good. This has been a great year or so for the creation of  marine reserves, also known as marine protected areas or ocean sanctuaries.  In just over a year’s time, roughly 1.3 million square miles of the ocean have been protected by new sanctuaries.

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El Faro Search Ends — Black Box Not Found

Posted on by November 17, 2015

We know that the ro/ro El Faro sank with all hands after it lost power in the path of Hurricane Joaquin in early October. The captain reported a hull breach. All 33 crew were lost.  We may never know too much more. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has announced that it has completed its search and video documentation of the sunken El Faro, which was located at a depth of 15,000 feet underwater.  The Voyage Data Recorder (VDR), the so-called “black box,” which might have provided answers to additional questions about the sinking, was not found,  however. From the NTSB press release:

On Nov. 11, the navigation bridge was found but neither the mast nor the VDR was found in the vicinity of the navigation bridge structure.

After five more days of searching with CURV-21, it was determined that the VDR could not be located. The search and video documentation efforts of El Faro were completed on Nov. 15. No further search missions are planned.

Windjammer Peking Returning to Hamburg

Posted on by November 15, 2015

Good, if rather bittersweet, news for those of us around New York harbor. The windjammer Peking, a fixture of New York’s South Street Seaport for over 40 years, will be returning to its original home port in Hamburg, Germany for restoration and display. The steel-hulled four-masted barque built in 1911 will be the centerpiece of a new Hamburg harbor museum for which the German government has allocated 120 million euros. A reported 30 million euros are allocated to transport and restore the Peking.

Peking was one of the last generation of the great windjammers — iron and steel ships built as bulk carriers to sail the long windy passages around Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope where steamships could not economically operate. Peking was one of the Flying-P Line, owned and operated by the German shipping company F. Laeisz of Hamburg. They continued building steel sailing ships into the mid-1920s. Peking carried wheat and nitrates around Cape Horn between 1911 and 1932, when she was converted to a children’s home and training school. In 1975, the ship was acquired by New York’s South Street Seaport Museum and brought to New York.

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Schooner Spirit of South Carolina Returning to Charleston

Posted on by November 14, 2015

Great news. The schooner Spirit of South Carolina is on her way home to Charleston, South Carolina.  We recently heard from Meryl Huckabey:

“As a long-time reader of oldsaltblog.com I am pleased to tell you that the Spirit of South Carolina, tall ship out of Charleston, South Carolina just finished sea trials and Coast Guard inspection in Newport, Rhode Island. The Spirit will leave for her home port of Charleston, SC in the next day or so. She is skippered by Christopher Trandell, recently the captain of Spirit of Bermuda. The Spirit is a two-masted, 140-foot-long wooden ship built in a field near Charleston harbor, modeled after a 19th century, Charleston-built pilot schooner. She was launched in 2007, running educational programs until financial difficulties stopped her from sailing. The Spirit was bought by local businessmen Tommy Baker and Michael Bennett to keep her in Charleston harbor. Plans for educational programs, recreational trips, and dock tours are being considered, although “teaching children will still be our focus” according to Director Ashley Bridges.”

Congratulations to all involved with the schooner Spirit of South Carolina.