Fukushima Radiation Found in Tuna Off California Coast

Posted on by February 1, 2013

It is really all just one big ocean. Low levels of nuclear radiation from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima power plant have turned up in bluefin tuna off the California coast, 6,000 miles from the damaged Japanese nuclear reactors.  Small amounts of cesium-137 and cesium-134 were detected in 15 tuna caught near San Diego in August 2011.  The radiation levels were 10 times higher than those found in tuna in the same area in previous years, but still low enough so that the tuna are considered to be safe for human consumption.  The tuna, which spawn off the coast of Japan and the Philippines often migrate to the coast of California.

Bluefin tuna caught off California contains radiation from Japan’s Fukushima plant

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For the Love of Sea Music – Mystic Seaport’s 33rd Annual Sea Music Festival

Posted on by May 28, 2012

Mystic Seaport has put together a wonderful short video where lovers of sea music speak of just it means to them, just in time for the Seaport’s upcoming 33rd Annual Sea Music Festival from June 7-10, 2012 in Mystic, Connecticut.  The three day festival features music from maritime cultures around the world and includes concerts, special performances for children, instructional workshops, and a unique opportunity to witness sea music at work aboard the Museum’s historic vessels.

For the Love of Sea Music

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The Pearl No. 7 and the Bridge Too Low

Posted on by May 28, 2012

This seems like a suitable post for a Monday morning. The tide was high, the bridge was low and the ship was light.   Captain Guo Lai, 48, was in command of the brand new luxury cruise liner, Pearl No 7, on her maiden voyage from the shipyard, when they passed under a suspension bridge on the Oujiang River near Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China.  Or at least most of the ship made it under. The ship’s two funnels were sheared off when the clearance between the ship and the bridge turned out to be negative. The Pearl No. 7 has the capacity for 1,000 passengers and cost $44 million to build.   She has now returned to the shipyard, Wenzhou Mingzhu Yacht Co., Ltd., for funnel repairs.

Bridge too far: Bungling cruise liner captain crashes luxury liner on maiden voyage after ‘not realising how tall ship was’

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The Unfortunate Economics of Tall Ships

Posted on by May 27, 2012

The old cliche that a boat is a hole in the water into which you pour money applies far too well to tall ships. They are expensive to build or restore and chronically costly to maintain and keep running.  It should come as no surprise that most of the ships in the recent Parade of Sail at OpSail New York were training vessels funded by the navies of various governments.

Recently, the schooners Virginia and the Spirit of South Carolina have fallen on hard times. The historic schooner Ernestina ex. Effie M. Morrissey, the official “tall ship of Massachusetts” is in dire straits, needing significant repairs to keep her afloat. The  replica HMS Bounty has been actively for sale for some time and the brigantine Pelican is also actively for sale. The list of vessels in financial distress or actively for sale, goes on and on.  Recently Aaron Applegate,  writing for HamptonRooads.com, looked at the economics of “tall ships.”

Economically, tall ships are a tall order
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Whales Give Dolphins a Lift

Posted on by May 27, 2012

Scientists have observed, in two different locations off the Hawaiian islands, humpback whales giving dolphins “rides” on their heads. A dolphin will swim up over the top of the humpback whale’s head. The humpback will then gently lift its head allowing the dolphin to slide down its back. In one encounter the dolphin and the whale repeated the “ride” six times in succession. The actions of both dolphins and whales appeared to be slow and gentle showing no signs of aggression. They appeared to be involved in inter-species play, which is extremely rare in the natural world.  Thanks to Wojtek ‘Voytec’ Wacowski for pointing it out on Facebook.

Science Bulletins: Whales Give Dolphins a Lift

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Update: MV Rena – Cover-up Revealed and Jail Time for Captain and Second Officer

Posted on by May 26, 2012

On October 5, 2011, the containership MV Rena ran aground on Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga, resulting in one of the worst maritime environmental disasters in New Zealand history.  Yesterday, in a New Zealand court, the captain, Mauro Balomaga, and second officer, Leonil Relon, were found guilty of a total of eleven charges and each was sentenced to seven months in jail.   In addition to poor seamanship, the captain and second officer attempted to cover up their actions by altering the ship’s GPS log, its passage plan and its computer records to mislead the investigators.

Rena: The cover-up revealed
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Weird Beachcombing News – Beach Rocks Set Woman’s Shorts On Fire

Posted on by May 26, 2012

Not quite too sure what to make of this. Of all sports, beachcombing seems like one of the safest.  Apparently, a woman, beachcombing with her family on a San Clemente Beach in Southern California, pocketed a few rocks which may have contained naturally occurring white phosphorus.  Friction between the rocks may have caused an ignition, setting the woman’s shorts on fire and resulting in severe burns to the woman’s leg.

Rocks Set Fire In Pocket: Woman Burned By Beach Rocks That Spontaneously Combusted In Her Pants

 

The “Gresham Ship’’ – Elizabethan Shipwreck on the Move

Posted on by May 28, 2012

Cannon showing the mark of Sir Thomas Gresham

Shipwrecks tend to be pretty stationary. They are not prone to wandering about.  Now, however, an Elizabethan shipwreck dating from 1574, which was recovered from the River Thames in 2003, is on the move.  The remains of  the 16th-century “Gresham Ship’’ are set to be transported 160 miles to Stoney Cove in Leicestershire on June 1 and lowered into a lake.  The move is being  co-ordinated by the Nautical Archaeological Society, which will use the ship as an “underwater classroom’’ to train the next generation of nautical archaeologists.

Elizabethan shipwreck to be moved to Leicestershire
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The Navy’s MMOWGLI (Massive Multiplayer Online Wargame Leveraging the Internet)

Posted on by May 25, 2012

The US Navy’s newest strategic weapon may be a Massive Multiplayer Online Wargame.  If it works for HALO and gears of War, why not the Navy?  The project is a joint effort between the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) and Institute for the Future (IFTF).  The approach is to “crowdsource ideas and strategies that may provide insight to some of the Navy’s toughest problems.”

The game’s first round was “piracyMMOWGLI” in Summer of 2011 and focused on countering Somali piracy. The next round, energyMMOWGLI, is launching this month.  As the name suggests, this game deals with energy, specifically asking the question, “How can the Navy best meet future energy demands?” The game is focused on reducing fossil fuel dependency.  ironically, as pointed out by TPM, “the timing of the new game’s launch is somewhat unfortunate given that the Republican-led House Armed Services Committee voted last week to effectively prohibit the Department of Defense from purchasing any alternative fuel that costs more than petroleum. That effectively eliminates biofuels, at least for the near future.”  Of course, biofuels are only one component of energy policy, but they could play an important role.
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Maersk Texas Attacked by Pirates, Probably – Pirates Driven off by Somebody

Posted on by May 24, 2012

Photo: Maksim Ivanov MarineTraffic.com

Simply trying to keep up with what is going on the battle against piracy is not as easy as it might appear.

For example, Maersk Texas, a US flag cargo ship came under attack by pirates in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday around noon local time, or at least that is what Maersk says.  The European Union’s counter-piracy force said it had reviewed the incident and determined there was “no case of piracy and it’s a false alarm,” according to Timo Lange, a spokesman for the Northwood, England-based EU Navfor.  Maersk says that the pirates, attacking in multiple skiffs, were driven off by armed guards aboard the ship.   The Iranian Navy, however, says that they drove off the pirates, who fled only after Iranian naval vessels appeared on the scene.

Everyone does agree that no one was hurt aboard the Maersk Texas and that she proceeded on her voyage.  We hope that the rest of the voyage proves uneventful. Thanks to Phil Leon for the heads up.

Greenport Tall Ships Challenge 2012 – Memorial Day Weekend

Posted on by May 24, 2012

New York harbor is not the only port on the North-Eastern coast of the United States with a wealth of tall ships over Memorial Day Weekend.  Greenport, New York  is hosting the Greenport Tallships Challenge 2012.   Greenport, on the easterly tip of Long Island, is the second stop on the Tall Ships America’s 2012 TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE Race Series. The sail began in Savannah, Georgia. The participating ships raced up the East Coast to Greenport, Long Island, and then will head off to Newport, Rhode Island (July 6-9) and Halifax, Nova Scotia (July 19-23).

The ships participating include HMS Bounty, Picton Castle, the privateer schooner Lynx, the privateer schooner Pride of Baltimore II, as well as the schooners Roseway, Unicorn, and Summerwind.    All vessels will be open to visitors and the Roseway will offer sail excursions.
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Fire on Nuclear Submarine USS Miami in Maine Shipyard

Posted on by May 24, 2012

Photo:Elizabeth Dinan/www.seacoastonline.com

Crew responded to a fire on the nuclear submarine, USS Miami,  at around 5:40 PM last night at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.  This morning, the Navy reports that the fire has been put put. Three shipyard firefighters, two civilian firefighters and two crew members are reported to have received minor injuries.  There were no weapons aboard the submarine and the reactor had been shut down for several months prior to the fire breaking out.  The USS Miami (SSN-755) is a United States Navy attack submarine of the Los Angeles class. She was commissioned in 1990. Groton, CT is her home port.

Fire on nuclear sub at Maine shipyard hurts 7

OpSail New York – Parade of Sail

Posted on by May 23, 2012

The fleet began to appear from the harbor haze around 9 AM and headed north up the inner harbor and the Hudson River. They were a mix of full rigged ships, barques, barquentines, topsail schooners and schooners.  Most were naval vessels, but without guns or missiles. (The only gunfire was a salute by the replica privateer, Pride of Baltimore II.)  The navies of the world understand the value of sail training if their young naval officers are to truly understand the sea.  Naval training ships from Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, Spain, France, Ecuador and the United States joined in the grand parade of sail.

OpSail New York 2012 – Parade of Sail 5/23/12

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The Legendary Ensign Chuck Hord, Born in 1959, Lost at Sea in 1908

Posted on by May 22, 2012

A portrait of a naval ensign, in a heavy gilt frame, hung in a lonely corridor in the labyrinth that is the Pentagon.   The plaque on the portrait read:

ENS CHUCK HORD, USNA,
CIRCA 1898, LOST AT SEA 1908

Fortunately for Ensign Hord, he was not lost at sea in 1908. He was, in fact, born in 1959 and currently lives in Burke, VA.   How his portrait came to be hung at the Pentagon is the story of an extended series of practical jokes played on an officer who himself was known as a jokester.  Unfortunately, the portrait’s blown-dried hair finally gave it away. The portrait no longer graces the Pentagon hallway.  Thanks to Phil Leon for passing the story along. As reported by the Wall Street Journal:

Walk the Prank: Secret Story of Mysterious Portrait at Pentagon

OpSail Fleet in New York’s Outer Harbor

Posted on by May 14, 2013

Last night I went out to see some of the participating OpSail tall ships in New York’s Outer Harbor.  The trip was organized by the Working Harbor Committee with commentary provided by Richard Taylor and Captain Richard Dorfman.  Click on the thumbnails for a larger image.