The Battle of Midway, fought from June 4 — 7, 1942, eighty years ago this week, was a major American victory in the Pacific theater in World War II. Military historian John Keegan called it “the most stunning and decisive … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Pacific
Tsunami waves caused by a major underwater eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano have hit the Pacific country of Tonga. A tsunami warning sent residents scrambling to higher ground. Tonga’s capital lies just 65km north of the volcano, on … Continue reading
In early October, a crack in a pipeline off the coast of Huntington Beach, California spilled some 3,000 barrels (126,000 gallons) of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean. On Saturday, the US Coast Guard announced that it had determined that … Continue reading
We recently posted about neon blue waves in Newport Beach, CA caused by the action of the moving water on a phytoplankton bloom. Here is a short video of dolphins swimming at night lit by the bioluminescent plankton. Stunning. Thanks … Continue reading
Back in 2012, we posted about a series of photos that were floating around the internet. The photos were taken from a yacht that had encountered what appeared to be a beach, stretching as far as the eye could see … Continue reading
Mitsuhiro Iwamoto, 52, sailed 8,700-miles across the Pacific non-stop, becoming the first visually impaired person to do so. He was assisted by his sighted navigator, Doug Smith. The two left California in late February on a 12m (40 ft) sailboat and … Continue reading
Around 1,800 nautical miles northwest of Oahu, the car carrier Sincerity Ace is adrift and on fire. Sixteen of her Philippine crew have been rescued, while four are feared dead and one remains missing. The fire broke on on Monday on the Panamanian … Continue reading
Two monster storms are bearing down on vulnerable coastlines on opposite sides of the globe. In the Atlantic, Hurricane Florence, now a Category 2 storm, is sending lashing winds, powerful rains and the threat of major flooding as it approaches the … Continue reading
Another good news-bad news story. The good news is that the fears of radiation spreading across the Pacific from the Fukushima meltdown following the Japanese tsunami of 2011, have been wildly overstated. Yes, trace elements of radiation traceable to Fukushima have been recorded in Pacific … Continue reading
The good news is that Hurricane Lane has been downgraded to a Category 4 hurricane. The bad news is that it is still heading straight for the Hawaiian islands. The storm’s outer bands have been pounding parts of Hawaii’s Big … Continue reading
For many years, scientists had thought that great white sharks traveled north and south along the Pacific coast of America, feeding in waters close to shore. Then researchers at Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station began tagging white sharks with satellite tracking tags. Rather … Continue reading
French-born swimmer Ben Lecomte has set off on a 5,500-mile record attempt to swim across the Pacific Ocean from Japan to California. The 51-year-old professional distance swimmer will swim for eight hours a day for more than six months as … Continue reading
The Pacific Ocean appears to under attack by a horde of sea-pickles. The bumpy, translucent, pickle-shaped organisms called pyrosomes are filling fishing nets, clogging hooks and washing up on beaches along the coast of the Pacific Northwest of the US and … Continue reading
I guess if you are going to be stupid, it is also good to be lucky. A few days ago, two kayakers, a man and a woman, paddled out several miles into the Pacific ocean off Goleta, CA, 15 miles … Continue reading
It is easy to get caught up in the bad news. The oceans are filling with plastic. Coral reefs are dying due to ocean acidification caused by climate change. Overfishing will wipe out all currently fished seafood by 2050. And … Continue reading
This summer, the French 60′ foiling trimaran Hydroptere sailed 2215 nautical miles from Los Angeles to Hawaii. The winds were not favorable and the passage was not terribly fast at about 11 days, compared to the four day record set by the 110-foot … Continue reading
In March of 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was hit by a tsunami triggered by the magnitude 9.0 Tōhoku earthquake. Three operating nuclear reactors suffered partial meltdowns and a fourth reactor which was not in service suffered hydrogen explosions which … Continue reading
A man recently drifted ashore in a 24′ fiberglass boat on Ebon Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the northern Pacific. He speaks only Spanish and says his name is Jose Ivan. He claims to have set off from Mexico heading … Continue reading
Roughly two hundred years ago, Lord Byron published Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, which contains a stanza that today seems sadly dated: Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean–roll! Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain; Man marks the earth … Continue reading
Tropical cyclone Marwar ended attempts by two solo British rowers to row across the Pacific this week. Sarah Outen, 27, was attempting to traverse the globe using only human power, by either rowing, kayaking or cycling. She began her … Continue reading