Running shoe that contained a mystery foot
A human foot wearing a running shoe washed ashore in British Columbia recently. It is the eleventh foot to have washed up on the coast of the Salish Sea, the coastal waterways surrounding southern Vancouver Island and Puget Sound, since 2007. Eight feet have washed up around Vancouver and three feet have come ashore in Washington state.
Foot Washes Ashore in Canada, the 11th Since 2007
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I love the odd confluence of elements in this story. It seems a young couple, Kim & Kevin, decided to get married at Mystic Aquarium, in Mystic,Connecticut. They decided that the service would be held directly in front of the beluga tank. For music, they chose a marachi band, “Los Trovadores de America.” It seems that a beluga named Juna became very interested in the mariachi band and/or their music and began to move along with the music. Someone caught it on video (of course), put it up on Youtube. Juna being serenaded by the mariachi band has become an internet sensation getting almost 1.8 million views.
Three US Navy amphibious assault and transport ships; the USS Wasp, the USS San Antonio, and the USS New York; are just offshore of New York harbor as of this morning to provide assistance, if needed, to the states of New York, Connecticut or New Jersey after Hurricane Irene. If no assistance is required the deployment will serve as a training mission.
Navy Warships Stationed Along East Coast To Help After Irene
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K4, one of the submarines sunk in the Isle of May debacle. Photograph: The Royal Navy Submarine Museum
There was no actual battle at the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth off Scotland. Nevertheless, on the night of January 31st and the morning of February 1st, 1918, 270 sailors of the Royal Navy lost their lives off the Isle of May in five collisions between eight different vessels. Two submarines sank and three more subs and a destroyer escort were damaged. No enemy vessels were involved. The ships involved in the collisions were among 40 naval vessels which left Rosyth, Scotland for exercises in the North Sea. The accidents were kept secret and many of the details of the incident were not revealed until the 1990s. A memorial cairn was finally erected 84 years later, in 2002 at Anstruther harbor opposite the Isle of May.
Now the site of the accidents is being surveyed by divers to ensure that a planned offshore wind farm does not disturb the wreckage.
Divers survey Scottish graveyard of first world war submarine disaster
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These are strange days in the lobster fisheries. Depending on where you are on the US East Coast, lobster fishing either is in trouble or is booming. Even where thing are going well, there are serious concerns about the future.
Earlier this year, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission proposed a five year ban on commercial and recreational lobster fishing from Cape Cod to Virginia, due to depleted lobster stocks.
For the third year of a three year program, Parks Canada archaeologists have failed in their attempt at finding the wrecks of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. This year they searched an area west of King William Island, where Sir John Franklin and his expedition became stranded in ice.
Hurricane Irene has swept past, not as bad as she could have been, but bad enough, nevertheless. Downgraded to a tropical storm by 9AM this morning, she still caused significant flooding on the East coast, hitting Philadelphia particularly hard. The city, situated between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, saw the rivers rise to 15 feet above normal levels. In New York, the tide at the Battery was the sixth highest ever recorded at 9.5′. There was considerable local flooding on both sides of the Hudson. An estimated $4.5 million people are without power, at least 18 have died and property damage is estimated to approach $7 billion. Even in the Catskill Mountains, the town of Margarettville was flooded when the Eastern Branch of the Delaware rampaged through the center of town..
Here is a informal and incomplete roundup of how some of our favorite vessels, from New York harbor to Maine, weathered the storm, gathered from the news and social media sites.
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Given the arrival of Hurricane Irene to the East Coast of the US, it seems worthwhile to take a look back at the Hurricane of 1938, also known as the Long Island Express, the Yankee Clipper and the Great New England Hurricane. It was the first major hurricane to hit New England since 1869. The hurricane was estimated to have killed between 682 and 800 people, damaged or destroyed over 57,000 homes, and caused property losses estimated at US$306 million ($4.77 billion in 2011). Thanks to Jersey City Frankie for pointing out this documentary about the storm. By WGBH for PBS.
Watch the full episode. See more American Experience.
Hurricane Irene made landfall on around 8 a.m. this morning, near Cape Lookout, North Carolina. Below is a video of a pier at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina collapsing in the storm.
With Hurricane Irene slamming into North Carolina and bearing down on New York harbor, this seems quite timely. Here is an article for anyone who may forget how fundamentally the sea effects us all. A new study suggests that “El Nino,” the periodic warming of a large patch of the Pacific, doubles the risk of civil wars in 90 tropical countries.
Almost exactly a year ago, we posted about the “Top 5 Hurricane Vulnerable & Overdue Cities.” Number 2 on the list was New York City. After Sunday, New York harbor may still be vulnerable but we will no longer be overdue. Hurricane Irene is coming to call.
By 9 AM this morning Capt. Linda Fagan, Coast Guard Captain of the Port declared Hurricane Port Condition “Whiskey” for the Port of New York and New Jersey, indicating that gale force winds were expected within 72 hours. By 4 PM., this afternoon, Capt. Fagan increased the port condition to X-Ray, indicating expected gale force winds within 48 hours.” All vessels in the harbor over 500 GRT have to either depart expeditiously or submit their plans to stay moored to the Coast Guard for approval.
The last major hurricane to hit New York harbor directly was in 1821.
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A new trailer for William C. Hammond’s Cutler family Chronicles.
The Cutler Family Chronicals Trailer
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The Cutler Family Chronicles is a projected seven-book series profiling the best of American duty, honor and courage during the Age of Fighting Sail. Years covered in the series are 1774 to 1815, from the American Revolution to the Second Barbary War. All seven novels have as a backdrop the creation of the U.S. Navy and the emergence of the United States on the world stage.
The Battleship USS New Jersey has survived a lot. Commissioned in 1943, she fought in World War II, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War and supported U.S. operations during the Lebanese Civil War in 1983. Despite her success in combat, recent years have been difficult. Since 2004 she has been a museum ship in Camden, New Jersey on the Delaware River. Camden suffers from high crime and political corruption and the Battleship New Jersey Museum has had difficulty attracting visors in numbers sufficient to support operations. Now New Jersey’s Governor Christie has used his line item veto power to cut $1.7 million, roughly 40% of the museum’s operating budget. The museum staff, which in 2006 numbered 52, is now down to 5. The USS New Jersey, never defeated in combat, may yet be sunk by a governor’s pen.
Battleship New Jersey, historical museums face cuts in N.J. Gov. Christie’s budget
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Sail Training International, in partnership with the Sultanate of Oman, will be providing funding for up to 100 tall ship sail trainees yearly. The focus will be on young people who are who are financially disadvantaged or with a physical disability.
Yankee Ferry, left; Mary Whalen, right
Two articles within two days are making me wonder if re-purposed historic vessels might be becoming trendy in design circles around New York City. Curbed, a New York real estate blog featured the 1907 Yankee Ferry in “Hudson River’s Coolest, Oldest Floating Home” – “Taking transportation nostalgia to the next level, a couple has retrofitted an old Ellis Island Ferry as their very own floating home. Photographer Navid Baraty boarded the good ship last month to shoot what may be one of the best styled abodes west of on the Hudson.“
“The 1907 Yankee Ferry was affixed with guns and canons and was first used by the U.S. Army to patrol the Boston Harbor during World War I. In the 1920s, the Yankee was used by Ellis Island to transport newly arrived immigrants from the island to Manhattan, many of whom were kept below decks on their transatlantic voyage and are said to have obtained their first views of New York City from the decks of the [ship].”
Yesterday, Wendy Goodman’s Design Hunting blog in New York magazine featured the Tanker Mary Whalen, which the PortSide New York organization uses as headquarters and offices, in Behind Closed Doors: Good Views, Spacious Deck, Loads of Natural Light. The blog is described as “inside access to the city’s most exciting homes, design studios, parties and more from New York magazine’s design editor.” Who knew a coastal tanker would be so interesting to a design editor? The Mary Whalen is indeed lovely but we never expected the design cognoscenti to figure that out.
Screen Capture from 'XO Movie Night'
Last January we posted that Captain Owen Honors had been relieved of duty on USS Enterprise after it was revealed that he produced a series of lewd videos when he was XO (Executive Officer) on the nuclear powered aircraft carrier. Today a Navy panel voted to allow Captain Honors to stay in the Navy.
Panel: Captain Ensnarled in Lewd Video Scandal Can Stay in Navy
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Photo by Carolina Salguero
Two years ago we posted about the largely overlooked maritime evacuation of lower Manhattan on 9/11. With the bridges and tunnels shut down, between 350,000 and 500,000 people were evacuated by water in just a few hours. It was the largest maritime evacuation since Dunkirk and has gone largely unreported in the media. Now on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11attacks, PortSide NewYork is mounting a multi-media exhibit (photography, videos and oral history) about the extraordinary and little-known maritime role in 9/11, from evacuation to rubble removal.
The exhibit and presentations will be held on the historic 1933 U.S. Lighthouse Tender Lilac docked at Hudson River Park’s Pier 25 in Manhattan. The exhibit opens Thursday, September 8th and will feature presentations by Carolina Salguero, photojournalist on 9/11 and now Director of PortSide NewYork and engineer and journalist Jessica DuLong, who was chief engineer of retired New York City Fireboat John J. Harvey, the first fireboat to respond at Ground Zero on on 9/11.
PortSide NewYork is a waterfront-themed non-profit organization. More about the exhibit here.
I am trying to decide whether this story is more funny or scary. As there were no serious injuries, I am leaning toward funny. Thanks to Dirk Bal for passing it along.
Finnish ferry ran aground while the captain was stuck in the loo
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Photo: Lance Iversen / The Chronicle
The National Park Service has decided to dismantle the 96-year-old steam lumber schooner, Wapama, a National Historic Landmark. The ship is the last of of some 225 steam schooners that served the lumber trade and other coastal services along the Pacific Coast.
Lumber schooner Wapama, last of kind, is condemned
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Five years ago, a three month old dolphin’s tale became caught in a blue crab trap off the coast of Florida. The blood supply to her tail was cut off by the trap rope. The dolphin, which was given the name Winter, was rescued and transported to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Winter recovered, but subsequently lost her tail. She was, however, fitted with a series of prosthetic tales. Winter has become the most popular dolphin at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and has now had a movie inspired by her story, called fittingly enough, Dolphin Tale. The movie stars Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jr. and Winter, who plays herself. Dolphin Tale will be in theaters in late September.