Remembering Mocha Dick, the Real Rogue White Whale Who Inspired Moby Dick

Posted on by March 24, 2024

An updated repost. Melville’s masterpiece, Moby-Dick, was inspired, at least in part, by the sinking of the whaleship Essex by a sperm whale in 1820.  The fate of the Essex unquestionably supplied Melville with ending to his novel. Nevertheless, the core of Moby-Dick appears to have been inspired by another rogue white sperm whale, known for attacking whale boats and ships. Nicknamed Mocha Dick, he was often sighted near the island of Mocha, off southern Chile. Mocha Dick was said to have killed more than 30 men, and to have attacked and damaged 14 whaleboats and three whaling ships.

In May 1839 the Knickerbocker Magazine, a popular publication in New York City, published a lengthy article about Mocha Dick by Jeremiah N. Reynolds, an American journalist, and explorer. Reynolds would later publish a book-length version of his account.

MOCHA DICK: OR THE WHITE WHALE OF THE PACIFIC: A LEAF FROM A MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL.
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Bloody Rain — Murder, Madness and the Monsoon : Free on Amazon & B&N

Posted on by March 22, 2024

My short story Bloody Rain — Murder, Madness and the Monsoon, set on a sailing ship in the 1880s, is free as an ebook on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  That’s right — free.  Feel free to grab a copy.

About the short story: Queen Charlotte was a fine, three-masted iron bark; trim, low and fast on a reach – in all respects, the perfection of the shipbuilder’s art. If she had a single great flaw, it was on her quarterdeck in the man that the owners had chosen as captain. Captain John McPherson maintains absolute control over his ship and those who sail upon her. The only one that he cannot control is himself, slipping into murder and madness in the face of the relentless monsoon.

If you like Bloody Rain, (or even if you don’t,) a short review is always appreciated. You may also want to check out my award-winning novels, Hell Around the Horn; The Shantyman; and my latest, Evening Gray, Morning Red.

Sailing on a Milky Sea — Sailboat & Satellites Confirm Sailors’ Glowing Ocean Lore

Posted on by March 22, 2024

Digital photography of the 2019 Java milky sea, captured by Ganesha’s crew, showing a view of (A) the ship’s prow and (B) a color-adjusted to human perception

An updated repost. For thousands of years, sailors have told of nighttime seas that mysteriously glowed a milky white or luminescent blue, stretching out to the horizon. Referred to as a “milky sea,” the tales date back at least to Greece and Roman times and may have provided inspiration for the “ocean of milk” from Hindu mythology.

As with so many sea stories, the challenge for scientists has been to document and study what sailors had observed far from land in remote stretches of the world’s oceans.

Now, scientists using light-sensing satellites have been able to track milky sea luminescence. And by happenstance, they now have sea level confirmation of their observations from a private sailing yacht that happened to find itself sailing in a glowing sea that coincided with the satellite observations. 

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Krill Joy — Drone Video of Blue Whale Feeding

Posted on by March 21, 2024

Something to take one’s mind off the unpleasantness of current events. A repost.

Krill Joy
From Slate:This video catches a rare glimpse of a gigantic, lunge-feeding blue whale deciding on what’s for lunch. A nonintrusive drone from Oregon State University quietly observed the world’s largest animal in the Southern Ocean off Australia. Cruising along at 6.7 mph—according to Leigh Torres of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State, who led the expedition—it spots a worthy mass of krill and flips on its side, mouth wide open, to plow into its unlucky meal at 1.1 mph.

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King Harald “Blåtand” Gormsson, Bluetooth & the Jelling Stone Ship

Posted on by March 21, 2024

Remember King Harald “Blåtand” Gormsson? No? The king of Denmark and later Norway in the late 10th century. The name still doesn’t ring a bell?  His rune mark is embedded in your phone and possibly your earbuds and speakers. His nickname, “Blåtand,” means “Bluetooth” in English.  

King Harald Bluetooth’s claim to fame is that he united Denmark and Norway. When Intel engineer, Jim Kardach, was working on a new wireless technology he was also reading a book about Viking history. He decided to name the new technology after the Danish king. Kardach was later quoted as saying, “Bluetooth was borrowed from the 10th-century, second king of Denmark, King Harald Bluetooth; who was famous for uniting Scandinavia just as we intended to unite the PC and cellular industries with a short-range wireless link.”

The Bluetooth symbol adopted for short-range wireless communications is made of King Harold Bluetooth’s initials, B and T in Viking runes.

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WWI Anti-Submarine Warfare with Seagulls, Sacks and Hammers

Posted on by March 22, 2024

Anti-submarine warriors?

One of the great things about writing historical fiction is discovering odd sets of facts, often buried in the archives, that capture both the desperation and the madness of a given time. Often, as the cliche goes, you just can’t make this stuff up. Here is an account of how the Royal Navy attempted to fight back against German submarines in World War I using trained seagulls and hammers. The schemes worked about as well as one might expect. An updated repost.

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Blue Dragon Sea Slugs — Tiny, Beautiful and Dangerous — Washing Ashore on Texas Beaches

Posted on by March 21, 2024

Tiny, beautiful, and dangerous blue dragon sea slugs are washing ashore on Texas beaches.

The 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 nasty sting three to five times more powerful than the Man o’ War. Humans handling the blue dragon may receive a very painful and potentially dangerous sting causing vomiting and disorientation. There is a video about this remarkable sea slug, after the page break.

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Red Tide, Blue Waves

Posted on by March 22, 2024

Photo: Patrick Coyne

With the advent of climate change red tide outbreaks have grown more frequent. A red tide occurs when certain types of algae grow out of control. The name “red tide” comes from the fact that overgrowth of algae can cause the color of the water to turn red, (as well as green or brown.) Red tides can be hazardous to human health and sea life.

Some, though not all, red tides can be bioluminescent, putting on an amazing light show that turns the ocean waves a vivid neon blue.  A few years back, an outbreak of red tide off Newport Beach, California discolored the Pacific waters during daylight and then, once the sun had set, exploded into a blue light when stirred by the action of the waves. A trio of photographers captured the display. To see more check out their Instagram.

Red tides and blue waves have been occurring on the California coast for a number of years. Here is a video from San Diego in 2014.

Bioluminescent waves in San Diego, Red Tide Blue Waves

Strictly Scottish Dance ‘Battle of Trafalgar’ Medley

Posted on by March 24, 2024

I like it, even if I am not sure I understand it. Here is the Strictly Scottish dance team dancing a ‘Battle of Trafalgar’ medley at the BC Highland Games of 2023. Thanks to Frank Hanavan for pointing it out.

Strictly Scottish dance ‘Battle of Trafalgar’ Medley at BC Highland Games 2023

Nautical Coincidence & Lifeboat Morality – Richard Parker and the Mignonette

Posted on by March 21, 2024

Here is another old favorite, a companion repost to yesterday’s repost of “The Unsinkable Hugh Williams – Truth Behind the Legend?”

We recently posted in response to a video, “The Strangest Coincidence Ever Recorded?.”  It recounted how three men named Hugh Williams were each the only survivors of shipwrecks in the treacherousness Menai Straits off North Wales. More remarkably, two of the Hugh Williams escaped from shipwrecks on the same day,  December 5th separated by over a hundred years.  The video claimed that all three Hugh Williams’ ships sank on December 5th, but that was not the case.  And Hugh Williams is a very common name in North Wales, so while it is a remarkable coincidence, it doesn’t quite rank as the “strangest ever recorded.”

On the topic of nautical coincidences, Chris Quigley at the Quigley’s Cabinet blog, mentioned the Mignonette coincidence.  All that we can say is, Hugh Williams meet Richard Parker.  The case of Richard Parker and the Mignonette does indeed involve coincidence but the story remains compelling because it raises issues of morality that are very tricky to address, even to this day.

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Repost: The Unsinkable Hugh Williams – Truth Behind the Legend?

Posted on by March 21, 2024

I am traveling this week, so it seems like a good time to repost an old blog favorite, the remarkable story of the unsinkable Hugh Williams.

There is a video bouncing around the web these days called “The Strangest Coincidence Ever Recorded?”   (The video is embedded at the bottom of the post.) It tells the story of a ship that sank in the Menai Strait off the coast of Wales on December 5, 1664. All 81 passengers died, except one. His name was Hugh Williams. Then on December 5th, 1785 another ship with 60 aboard sank in the Menai Strait. The only survivor – a man named Hugh Williams. In 1820 on December 5th, a third vessel sank in the Menai Strait. All 25 aboard were drowned except, you guessed it, a man named Hugh Williams.

An amazing tale, but is it history or just an oft retold sea story?   It could easily be a bit of each.

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Guest Post by Robin Denny: The Five-Masted Full-Rigged Ship Preussen

Posted on by March 21, 2024

Preussen under full sail

We recently posted about the five-masted full-rigged cruise ship Royal Clipper, a modern sailing ship designed as an homage to the great five-masted windjammer Preussen. Here is a repost of a guest post by Robin Denny about the mighty windjammer: 

With the Peking now back in her home port of Hamburg, perhaps it is opportune to mention another of the Flying P sailing ships, the great Preussen. A five-masted full-rigged ship, 482′ LOA, with square sails on all masts, she was one of the fastest sailing ships, matching the Clippers with speeds up to 20 knots.

Built in Geestemünde, Germany, she was launched in May, 1902 with her hull, masts, spars and rigging, both cable and rods, all being of steel. She proved to be a well found and weatherly, sailing, among other destinations, to Chile, Japan and New York, where most of New York turned out to welcome her.

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The Mighty Windjammer Preussen — Animation From Mariner’s Mirror Podcast

Posted on by March 24, 2024

My wife and I are currently sailing as passengers on the cruise ship Royal Clipper, the second of only two five-masted full-rigged steel ships ever built. The first such ship was the mighty windjammer, Preussen, of 1902. The Royal Clipper, launched in 2000, was inspired by the Preussen. An updated repost.

Here is an animation from a Mariner’s Mirror podcast about the Preussen, perhaps the greatest windjammer of the early twentieth century. One of the Flying P-Liners, built for the F. Laeisz shipping company in 1902, she was then the only five-masted full-rigged steel commercial sailing ship ever built. 

The animation is designed to accompany an episode of the Mariner’s Mirror Podcast in which Dr Sam Willis speaks with Frank Scott, a retired naval aviator and qualified square rig ship-master, who commanded various square riggers ranging from 80 to 800 gross tonnes. In his long sail training career he served in fourteen square riggers, under seven different national flags.

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When Did the Wine Dark Sea Turn Blue?

Posted on by March 22, 2024

For the next fortnight, I will be a passenger on a sailing ship crossing the briny blue of the Atlantic.  This seems like a good time to make an updated repost on the color blue.

Homer referred to the famously blue Aegean as the “wine dark sea.” When did the wine dark sea turn blue?

In the Iliad and the Odyssey, Homer never uses the word “blue” once. William Gladstone, the British prime minister, was also a classical scholar, who wrote 1700-page study of Homer’s epic poetry. In one chapter, he describes Homer’s strange choice of colors. Sheep wool and ox skin are purple. Honey is green, while horses and lions are red. The sky is filled with copper or iron colored stars, but neither the sky, nor the sea, nor anything else in his poetry is ever “blue.”  

Gladstone was so baffled by this confused yet incomplete rainbow that he theorized that the ancient Greeks must have been not capable of distinguishing color. Science does not support his theory, which, in its day, was met largely with derision.

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Lubec’s Gold from Sea Water Hoax of 1898

Posted on by March 21, 2024

Prospectus for The Electrolytic Marine Salts Company

On April Fool’s Day, a repost about not an April Fool’s Day prank but a hoax and a swindle. In October of 1897, at the height of the Alaskan Gold Rush, two men, Prescott Ford Jernegan, a Baptist minister, and Charles Fisher, both from Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard, arrived in Lubec, Maine to establish a facility to extract gold from seawater.

Klondike: Lubec’s Gold from Sea Water Hoax

The two newcomers leased Hiram Comstock’s tidal grist mill located at Mill Creek in North Lubec. According to Reverend Jernegan in the prospectus, he prepared for potential investors, “Millions of dollars in gold were flowing through Lubec Narrows every single day.”

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Women’s History Month — Remembering Mary Patten, Clipper Ship Captain

Posted on by March 24, 2024

As Women’s History Month comes to a close, it seems a good time to remember Mary Ann Brown Patten, the first woman to command an American merchant ship. An updated repost.

The year was 1856. The ship was the clipper ship Neptune’s Car, bound for San Francisco from New York City. Mary’s husband Captain Joshua had collapsed, suffering from “brain fever.”  For 56 days, Mary took over the command and navigation of the ship. She faced down a mutiny and successfully brought the clipper into San Francisco. On her arrival, Mary was 19 years old and pregnant with her first child.

Mary was 16 when she married Captain Joshua Patten in 1853. He was 25 and a captain in the coastwise trade. The next year he was offered the captain’s berth on the clipper ship Neptune’s Car after the previous captain fell ill. He asked and was granted permission to bring his young wife on the voyage. With Mary at this side, Captain Patten made a fast passage from New York to San Francisco, then onward to China, London, and back to New York.

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Saving the Songs of Korea’s Sea Women, the Haenyeo

Posted on by March 24, 2024

An updated repost in honor of Women’s History month. 

Since at least the 17th century, on the Korean island of Jeju, the haenyeo, Korean for “sea women” have worked free diving in the clear island waters. Using an ancient breathing technique called sumbisori, the women dive as deep as 32 feet to harvest octopus, abalone, conch, sea urchins, clams and edible seaweeds.

To pass the time and ease the boredom while rowing in open boats to choice diving spots, the haenyeo would sing songs with simple melodies, to the rhythm of the ocean waves. Atlas Obscura notes that there is no sheet music for haenyeo songs, and few of the nearly 10,000 known tunes have titles. The song lyrics varied, but often women sang lamenting the day they were born, complaining about their incompetent husbands, and in protest of the government.

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She Sells Seashells by the Seashore — Remembering Mary Anning

Posted on by March 26, 2024

Mary Anning

Remember the old tongue twister, “She sells seashells by the seashore?” (Try saying that three times fast.) The tongue twisting seashell seller was inspired by a real woman named Mary Anning, an English fossil collector, dealer, and paleontologist, who did indeed sell seashells by the seashore, as well as accomplishing much, much more. 

This month, it was announced that a set of stamps are being issued to recognize Mary Anning’s contribution to the modern understanding of dinosaurs. 

Despite a lack of education and a life of poverty, Mary Anning became known as the “the greatest fossilist the world ever knew.” She is credited with the finding the first correctly identified ichthyosaur skeleton as well as the first nearly complete Plesiosaurus.  She also found the first British Pterodactylus macronyx, a fossil flying reptile; the Squaloraja fossil fish, a transitional link between sharks and rays; and the Plesiosaurus macrocephalus.

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Baltimore Key Bridge Collapses After Being Struck by Container Ship MV Dali

Posted on by March 26, 2024

At approximately 1:30 AM this morning, the Singapore-flagged, 10,000 TEU container ship, MV Dali struck the southern support pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, spanning the Patapsco River at the entrance to the Port of Baltimore, Maryland. The impact collapsed the main spans of the 1.6-mile-long bridge.

There are no reported injuries aboard the ship. Maintenance workers on the bridge and an unknown number of vehicles were thrown into the river when the bridge collapsed. Two were rescued from the water while at least seven are reported to be missing.

The crew of the container ship issued a “mayday” saying that it had lost power and propulsion before hitting the bridge, the authorities said, calling it an accident. Video just before the collision shows the ship’s lights going out twice before veering off course. The ship had two pilots onboard, according to a statement by its owners.

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Navy Fires at Least 3 Commanding Officers for DUIs so Far in 2024

Posted on by March 24, 2024

Task & Purpose reports that three of the five Navy commanding officers who have been fired so far this year, including a Navy SEAL and two submarine captains, were relieved after being arrested off-base for driving under the influence.

Navy Capt. Richard A. Zaszewski, who was relieved this week as commander of Naval Special Warfare Group Eight, was arrested on Jan. 19 in Virginia, according to online court records. His Blood Alcohol Content was measured at 0.15%, nearly double Virginia’s legal limit of 0.08%.

Navy Times first reported that Zaszewski did not report his arrest to his superiors until March, after which he was relieved of command.

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