The Long Strange Voyage of Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle, Johnny Vasco da Gama

Posted on by December 27, 2011

Photo: Mote Marine Laboratory

In 2008, a young Kemp’s ridley sea turtle washed up, stranded, in the Netherlands.  Kemp’s ridleys are the smallest and rarest of all sea turtles and are a critically endangered species.  The Kemp’s ridley turtles typically live in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the southern East Coast of the United States.  On rare occasion, young turtles are swept across the Atlantic on the Gulf Stream.  This turtle was taken to the Rotterdam zoo where its condition was stabilized and was given the nickname “Johnny.” The following summer it was sent to the aquarium Oceanário de Lisboa in Portugal, and then to Zoomarine for rehabilitation. While in Portugal, it was also given the moniker “Vasco da Gama,” in honor of the well traveled Portuguese explorer.

“Johnny Vasco da Gama” recently crossed the Atlantic for a second time – this time on a TAP airliner. He was taken to the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota on Nov. 29 to complete his rehabilitation at the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital and to be outfitted with a satellite tracking device. This morning, Johnny Vasco da Gama was released back into the Gulf of Mexico. “The most exciting part of Johnny’s journey is yet to come,” said Sheryan Epperly, sea turtle program leader from the Southeast Fisheries Science Center of NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service.

Turtle stranded in Europe in 2008 to be released by Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota

Washington Crossing the Delaware and the Durham Boats

Posted on by December 27, 2011

More accurate? Really?

On Christmas Day in 1776, George Washington led what was left of his army across the Delaware River in the middle of a blizzard to attack a Hessian outpost in Trenton, NJ.  In one bold stroke, he turned almost certain defeat into at the least the promise of eventual victory. Washington’s crossing was immortalized in the painting, Washington Crossing the Delaware, by Emanuel Leutze in 1851. Everyone agrees that while Emanuel Leutze’s painting is dramatic, it has a number of historical inaccuracies, including the width of the river, the time of day, the weather  and the design of the boats used in the crossing.

The New York Times recently featured an article, Crossing the Delaware, More Accurately, describing the work of modern painter, Mort Künstler, who has painted what he claims is a more accurate representation of Washington making the crossing. His painting shows Washington on a flat bottomed ferry connected to both shores by a rope cable. While I make no claim to expertise on Washington’s crossing, it looks to me that Künstler’s version ignores the historical record just as Emanuel Leutze’s painting does.
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Sparta Rescue in Ross Sea Delayed by Sister Ship

Posted on by December 28, 2011

Russian Fishing Vessel Sparta

The plan was for the South Korean icebreaker Araon accompanied by the fishing vessel Chiyo Maru No 3 to break through the ice to reach the stricken Russian fishing vessel Sparta today on Christmas Day. The Sparta was holed below the waterline by ice a week ago last Friday in the Ross Sea off Antarctica. The rescue plan has broken down as Chiyo Maru No 3, a sister ship to the Sparta, has had to turn back as it proved to be too slow and incapable of passing through the ice even with the assistance of the icebreaker Araon. The Aroan is escorting the Chiyo Maru No 3 back to open water and is now expected to reach the Sparta on Monday. The delay due to the sister ship once again raises the question of why non-ice strengthened fishing vessels have been granted permits to fish in the heavy ice of the Ross Sea.

Sparta’s Christmas recovery delayed

Scuba Santa Swimming with Sharks – A New Holiday Tradition?

Posted on by December 25, 2011

Newport Aquarium PHOTO BY ERNEST COLEMAN

Scuba Santa swimming with sharks may be a relatively new Christmas tradition but it is remarkably widespread. From the Newport Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky; to the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores and the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston;  to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, WA.  There are also Scuba Santas at the Holland Aquatic Center, in Holland, Michigan; and the Tennessee Aquarium, in Chattanooga, TN. Then there is the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ;  Oklahoma Aquarium,  in Tulsa Oklahoma; the Virginia Aquarium, in Virginia Beach, Virgina; and the South Texas Aquarium, Corpus Christi – all with Scuba Santas.  Not all Scuba Santas swim in aquarium tanks. Here are Scuba Santas diving California’s Channel Islands and in Florida’s Keys.  Scuba Santas also make appearances Sports Chalet dive shops at locations throughout California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah.

Scuba Santa
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Santa in the Sand – World’s Largest Sand Sculpture Santa Claus

Posted on by December 24, 2011

I love walking the beach in the wintertime, though I would be surprised to come across a 100 foot long Santa Claus. In 2008, sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik and his team created a sand sculpture of Santa Claus at Puri beach on India’s East Coast, measuring 100 feet long, 30 feet wide and 15 feet high. The sculpture used 1,000 tones of sand and holds the title as the Tallest sand sculpture of Santa Claus.

The next year Sudarshan Patnaik sculpted 100 Santa Claus figures on the beach at Puri to spread awareness about global warming.

India sand Santa sculptures spread green message

Update: Christmas Day Rescue for Russian Fishing Vessel Sparta?

Posted on by December 24, 2011

South Korean icebreaker Araon

The South Korean icebreaker Araon and the fishing vessel Chiyo Maru No 3 may reach the stricken Russian fishing vessel Sparta on Christmas Day. The Sparta is a 157 feet long fishing vessel with a crew of 32 aboard which was holed below the waterline after striking sea ice in the Ross Sea off Antarctica on December 16th. Supplies, including two pumps and material to patch the damaged hull, have been air-dropped to the ship by the Royal New Zealand Air Force. With the new pumps and repairs made by the crew the Sparta is reportedly no longer in danger of sinking.  The icebreaker Araon will clear a path through the ice for Sparta and the Chiyo Maru No 3, which is a sister vessel to the Sparta.

Christmas rescue possible for Sparta

Maxi Banque Populaire V Rounds Cape Horn in Race for the Jules Verne Trophy

Posted on by December 23, 2011

The maxi-trimaran Banque Populaire V has now rounded all three of the major capes; Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and now Cape Horn; in its quest to set the record for the fastest non-stop sail around the world. This morning Banque Populaire V rounded Cape Horn traveling at a speed of close to 30 knots. The maxi-tri rounded the Horn 30 days and 22 hours after departing from France. To claim the Jules Verne Trophy, the Banque Populaire V team will have to arrive back at the starting line no later than Monday, January 9th. The current record was set by the trimaran Groupma 3 at 48 days 7 hours 44 minutes 52 seconds. Banque Populaire V currently has roughly 30 hour lead over Groupma 3‘s time on rounding the Horn. The long leg north up the South Atlantic and across the doldrums will determine if Banque Populaire V succeeds in setting anew record.

FLASH: The Maxi Banque Populaire has passed Cape Horn!

Lobster Trap Christmas Trees – Christmas Tradition & Friendly Competition

Posted on by December 24, 2016

A lobster trap tree from Cape Porpoise, Maine

Lobster traps, also known as lobster pots, are ubiquitous around the coastal towns of New England. Around this time of year, Christmas trees built from stacked lobster pots rise in many towns along the coast. With fishermen being fishermen, a friendly competition between the communities has broken out over who has the best, most attractive or tallest lobster trap tree.  This year, Beals, just across Moosabec Reach from Jonesport,Maine appears to have the tallest trap tree, topping out at 60 feet. Rockland’s tree is only 30 feet tall but is decorated with garlands and lobster pot buoys.  It was also featured on the Discovery Channel’s “Extreme Christmas Trees.” See the trailer below for a glimpse of Rockland’s lobster trap tree.

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The Halcyon Days – Not So Peaceful This Year

Posted on by December 22, 2011

Kingfishers and Calm Seas

According to an ancient sailors’ legend, we are in the middle of the Halcyon days – seven days of calm on either side of the winter solstice. The legend says that the halycon bird lays its eggs on the winter solstice in a floating nest. The halcyon is said to have the ability to calm the seas so as to be undisturbed when laying its eggs. The halcyon is generally associated with the kingfisher.  For a more detailed version of the legend – The Myth of Halcyon – The Halcyon Days.

Unfortunately,  this year’s week before the solstice has been anything but calm.  Hurricane force winds forced the cargo ship, TK Bremen, ashore on the beach on Brittany; a storm sank an overloaded boat off Indonesia with the loss of 200; and the Russian jack-up drilling rig, Kolskaya, capsized under tow in a storm in the Sea of Okhotsk killing at least 50. So far the legend hasn’t worked out too well.

Ancient legends notwithstanding, on this winter solstice, we at the Old Salt Blog hope that the rest of your holiday season and the entire new year prove to be peaceful and prosperous.

Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge – “The World’s Roughest Rowing Race” Living Up to Its Name

Posted on by December 21, 2011

The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge  which bills itself as “The World’s Roughest Rowing Race” is living up to its name. As we posted previously, seventeen boats set off December 4th to row across the Atlantic from Spain’s San Sebastian de la Gomera in the Canary Islands, following the ‘Columbus Route’ westbound to Port St Charles in Barbados. That number has now fallen to 12 boats as five have withdrawn from the race. The two most recent, H2Row and Boogie Woogie retired over the weekend.

The most dramatic moment in the race thus far came last week when Team Tom’s boat PS Vita sank from under them after being struck by a 30 foot wave. The rowers were rescued by the cruise ship Crystal Serenity which changed course to pick up the rowers who spent 10 hours in a life raft. The Corinthian Team, a four man boat now in fifth place, also encountered 30 foot swells but successfully weathered them. The leader in the race is currently Andrew Brown, a single rower in the boat JJ. Box Number 8 and Row to Recovery are in second and third places respectively.

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The Long Voyage of Laura Dekker – Reaching the End or Starting Again ?

Posted on by December 21, 2011

Laura Dekker, the 16 year old solo sailor, is on the last leg of her voyage around the world.   She is bound not for Europe but back to Sint Maarten in the Caribbean, from which she sailed on January 5, 2011. On her arrival, she will be the youngest ever to circumnavigate the globe alone.  As she noted on her blog yesterday, with typical understated good humor, “ Now I only have some 4800 nautical miles to go until I reach the Caribbean and finish my circumnavigation of the world. That sounds so incredibly close in view of all the miles Guppy already has under the keel, but at the same time it seems quite far away for I am still in the southern hemisphere. ..”

Her voyage may not end in the Caribbean. In a recent interview Laura commented “I will make my way back to Whangarei in New Zealand where I hope to settle and maybe call home.”  Laura was born in Whangarei, fittingly enough, on a sailboat.  It has always seemed that Laura’s focus has been on the voyage itself and not on setting records.
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Mariners Respond to 9/11- a PortSide NewYork Exhibit

Posted on by December 21, 2011

Last September, PortSide New York mounted a multi-media exhibit on the historic buoy tender, Lilac,  about the extraordinary and little-known maritime role played in the recovery from the attacks of 9/11, from the evacuation to refuse removal and rebuilding.  A video about the exhibit:

Mariners Respond to 9/11- a PortSide NewYork Exhibit

Dr. Edith Widder – Using Bioluminescence to Fight Pollution

Posted on by December 20, 2011

A fascinating glimpse in today’s New York Times at the work of Dr. Edith Widder who is using bioluminescence to measure the level of pollution in coastal sediments.

Illuminating the Perils of Pollution, Nature’s Way

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More Volvo Ocean Race Boat Failures – Team Sanya Sails for Madagascar

Posted on by December 20, 2011

The Volvo Ocean Race is a big money around the world race, with corporate or state sponsored teams, racing with professional crews on Open 70 sailboats. With that much money, expertise and hardware, what could go wrong? Quite a lot actually.

Two of a fleet of six boats, Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing‘s Azzam and China’s Team Sanya, dropped out within the first 24 hours of the first leg of the race with rigging or hull failures. Puma’s Mar Mostro would later also lose her rig. In all, half the Volvo fleet traveled to the start of the second leg of the race as deck cargo on ships. Azzam and Mar Mostro were given new rigs in Cape Town and Team Sanya’s boat had a damaged bow replaced. Yesterday, while in the lead on the second leg of the race, the crew of Team Sanya noticed a problem with their rigging. They avoided losing the mast but pulled out of the race and sailed for the closest port in Southern Madagascar. They have officially suspended racing until parts arrive and repairs can be made but have not pulled out of the second leg yet.

Sanya is beset by troubles again in Volvo Ocean Race

Stricken Fishing Vessel Sparta Not Fit for Antarctic Ice

Posted on by December 19, 2011

The Russian fishing vessel Sparta is afloat, though just barely after being holed by ice at the edge of the Ross ice shelf in Antarctica.  Why was an non-ice strengthened fishing boat fishing in such treacherous waters in the first place?  That is the question being raised by the Vyacheslav Martyanov, the deputy head of the Russian Antarctic expedition at the research institute of the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

Troubled fishing boat ‘not suitable for ice’

“The area where the Russian fishing vessel has been in distress is one of the most difficult icy zones of Antarctica,” he told state-controlled Voice of Russia.

 “Only ice-strengthened vessels or icebreakers can sail there. We can only guess how such a small and unfitted vessel came to that area.”
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Timelapse of the Building of the Lugger Grayhound

Posted on by December 19, 2011

Perhaps if I worked as fast as the folks in this video, I might get something done.

Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing along the link to the building of the lugger Grayhound. In March of 2010, we posted about the lugger Spirit of Mystery returning home to Cornwall after recreating the epic voyage by seven Cornishmen, several of whom had never been out of sight of land, who set sail in 1854 bound for the gold fields of Australia in Mystery, a 37′ Mounts Bay Lugger. The building of the lugger Grayhound is being directed by Chris Rees who led the building of Spirit of Mystery. The new lugger is a based on a 158 ton vessel built in 1776 by a boat builder from Cawsand, John Parkin. There is some mystery as to the full history of the vessel, but it is known she acted as both excise vessel and privateer.

The construction should take about 18 months to complete with a further year of fitting out.

Timelapse film of the building of the Grayhound

More than 200 Missing as Asylum Seeker’s Ship Sinks Off Indonesia

Posted on by December 18, 2011

On December 15th last year a boat loaded with asylum seekers wrecked on Australia’s Christmas Island, killing 48 or more than half of the passengers aboard.   On Saturday, a boat bound for Christmas Island sank off Indonesia roughly 50 miles off East Java. At least 240 people were aboard, though some reports put the figure at closer to 400 . Fewer than 50 people have been rescued thus far.  Rescue boats continue to search for the over 200 missing.

Asylum boat sinking

Indonesia Says 217 Asylum Seekers Missing After Boat Sinks
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Russian Oil Rig, Kolskaya, Capsizes off Sakhalin – 4 Dead & 49 Missing

Posted on by December 18, 2011

The Russian jack-up drilling rig, Kolskaya, capsized while under tow in a storm in the Sea of Okhotsk, 200 KM off Sakhalin Island at 12.45 local time (0145 GMT) Sunday.  Of the 67 crew on board, 14 were rescued,  four are reported to have died and 49 are missing.

The air temperature was reported to be -17C and rescue efforts by boat and helicopter are being limited by the severity of the weather.  The rig, built in Finland in 1985, was under contract to Gazprom.  The Kolskaya was being towed to Kholmsk on the western side of Sakhalin island when it capsized and sank in 20 minutes into waters more than 1,000 meters deep.  Thanks to Alaric Bond for passing on the news.

Russian drilling rig sinks off Sakhalin, 49 missing

Update: Sparta’s Condition Precarious with Help Days Away

Posted on by December 18, 2011

On Friday we posted about the Russian fishing vessel, Sparta, which was in danger of sinking off the Ross Ice shelf in Antarctica.  The ship with a crew of 32 had been holed five feet below the water line and was listing to 13 degrees.  Since then the news has been mixed.  A New Zealand Air Force Hercules flew over the Sparta late Saturday and dropped an emergency pump and fuel to help stabilize the ship. The second pump was able to slow the flooding but patches which the crew had placed on the hull  failed.  They are now attempting to re-secure the patches to the hull.

The Sparta’s owners have chartered the RV Aron, a South Korean icebreaker, to aid the stricken ship, but it could take eight days for the Aron to reach the Sparta.  The New Zealand fishing vessel, San Aspiring, gave up an attempt to reach the Sparta due to the ice. The Norwegian vessel Sel Jevaer is only 19 nautical miles away but is  currently blocked in by ice.  Sparta‘s sister ship, Chiyo Maru No. 3 is slowly making its way towards the stricken vessel but is still days away.

Ocean rescue hampered by ice