An interesting bit of news from the Sea History Today, the National Maritime Historical Society’s newsletter. One of the more popular programs at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum (WMM) in Manitowoc involves arranging for youth groups to spend the night in … Continue reading
Category Archives: Lore of the Sea
Jeanne Baret is believed to be the first woman ever to circumnavigate the globe. Born in 1740 to a poor family in the Burgundy region of France, Baret became skilled in identifying local plants. While in her early 20s, she … Continue reading
Octopuses are often referred to as being akin to space aliens. With three hearts, nine brains, and blue blood, they are so different from us that they could be from another planet. They are also highly intelligent. While other intelligent … Continue reading
Barrons reports that Spanish police seized more than 30 tonnes of hashish, worth an estimated 63 million euros, stashed onboard four sailboats in what is described as its biggest-ever bust of such drugs at sea. The four boats were intercepted … Continue reading
The cruise ship industry effectively shut down in the middle of last March due to outbreaks of the coronavirus on several ships. The Center for Disease Control (C.D.C.) has issued a series of “No-Sail Orders” which have kept the ships … Continue reading
In recent protests in Portland, the white nationalist group Proud Boys assembled on the edge of town in Delta Park, while, close by, Black Lives Matters counter-protestors gathered, on the other side of the highway, in a section of the … Continue reading
Here are two short videos that provide a glimpse at the revolution in cargo shipping in the UK (and the world) over the last half-century. The first video, “Look at Life – Report on a River – The River Thames … Continue reading
The steam collier SS Ayrfield was 61 years old. Formally called the Corrimal, the 1,140-tonne ship, ran coal between Newcastle and Sydney before serving as a transport ship for Australia during World War II. After the war, she operated again … Continue reading
Genetic analysis of modern descendants shows that sailors from the Pacific Islands arrived in the Americas long before Europeans arrived. The question is how long? A recent study suggests Polynesians and Native Americans made contact some 800 years ago, well … Continue reading
Some sailors along Spain’s Galician coast must be saying “we’re gonna need a bigger boat.” There have been reports of up to 30 attacks by orcas directed at sailboats on the northwestern coast of Spain and Portugal. Now, the Spanish … Continue reading
The Danish Ministry of Defense has confirmed that the Russian Navy corvette, Kazanets, collided with the refrigerated cargo vessel, Ice Rose, in dense fog, near the Øresund Bridge, which spans the entrance to the Baltic. The Russian ship, a Parchim-class … Continue reading
Around 270 pilot whales have become stranded on a sandbar on the remote western coast of Tasmania. Rescuers in Australia say that at least a third of the whales have died and that more are dying. The BBC reports that … Continue reading
Here is the story of a very lucky kayaker saved by unexpected rescuers on Lake George. It seems a kayaker got into trouble and was rescued by a group of priests out for an afternoon excursion on a floating Tiki … Continue reading
This seems like a suitable post for a Sunday in 2020. On a morning in February 1948, a local beachcomber was walking the beautiful white sand beach in Clearwater, FL, and was shocked to find large three-toed footprints in the … Continue reading
Another 2020 story. Despite being dubbed killer whales, orcas in the wild have a long history of not attacking humans and rarely attacking boats. [Edited — see note at the end of the post.] (The situation with orcas in captivity … Continue reading