Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Robin Lee Graham sailed around the world with his cat


From History Defined by Carl Seaver

On March 5, 1949, Robin Lee Graham was born in California.
Though his childhood resembled most others, he took the world by surprise when, at age 16, he began a multi-year journey to circumnavigate the world in a 24-foot boat.
His age was not the only element of note; Robin also committed to sailing alone, save for the company of two cats.

Who was Robin Lee Graham?

Robin Lee Graham, by all accounts, was no conformist.
Struggling with the rigidity of school life and the expectations of what would come after, Graham sought freedom to forge his own path, even from an early age.
When his father purchased a sailboat for him in 1965, Graham saw his opportunity.

Why Circumnavigate, and How?

According to his own words, Graham simply sought freedom when he made the decision to depart.
He wanted to find himself and see what the world had to offer.
So, upon claiming the Dove, a 24-foot sailboat, he set out for his first stop: Hawaii.

This first westward leg of his journey was far from the longest he would face and served merely as a shakedown to test the performance of the boat, but he brought company: two cats named Joliette and Suzette.
They proved invaluable as he experienced the isolation of the sea for the first time.

Over the course of Graham’s journey around the world, he recruited many more cats as companions, and while the total number is not known, at least six named animals joined him on the trip at varying points.
Various accounts report other numbers, but never less than six.

His 24-foot ship, the Dove, faced minimal challenges on this first cruise given its short duration, and conditions remained largely favorable (or at least tolerable) until his approach on the Indian Ocean.
Then, the situation began to worsen quickly.

Challenges Along the Way

The reaches around Indonesia and Australia heading into the Indian Ocean are notorious for their rougher weather, and Graham was not excepted from such developments.
Graham turned southward for supplies rather than thread between North Australia and Indonesia. 
 

 
After suffering his first dismasting en route to Pago Pago in American Samoa, where the cat Suzette would choose to stay behind, the sailor was forced to jury rig the ship and proceed through storms until he could find a port to repair.

Using only the materials at his disposal, he crafted sufficient sail area and patched the ship enough to make progress toward Apia, the most viable nearby port.
During this time, Graham was also thrown overboard, barely climbing back onto his ship before it left him in the waves.
 

 
However, another, even more life-changing event took Graham by surprise during these months.
While briefly docked at Fiji, he met Patti Ratterree.
Like Graham, Ratterree had left home to explore the world in freedom and “live by her wits.”
The two took a liking to each other, spending a significant amount of time together, but Graham remained committed to his task and departed after five weeks despite his intense affection for Patti.
Unfortunately, Joliette the cat did not come with him.
Whether he sailed the next leg cat-less is not known.
 

 
Months later, having skirted past Indonesia and into the open Indian Ocean toward Madagascar, a brief and unexpected storm once again toppled the Dove’s mast.
For more than 2,000 nautical miles, Graham persisted with a hand-crafted emergency rig until he reached Mauritius for repairs.

When the Dove was once again ship-shape, Graham proceeded on course to conquer the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
He stopped briefly at Durban, and to his delight, Patti reunited with him during his visits to the South African ports.

They married, and Graham proceeded on his journey, though with Ratterree’s full support.
She followed his course, flying when necessary, as he progressed.
 


The voyage across the Atlantic passed as largely uneventful, and when Graham made port in Paramaribo on the northeastern coast of South America, the Dove had seen enough.
Her journey through intense conditions and multiple dismastings led Graham to sell her for the Return of Dove, a 33-foot sloop.
However, after Graham departed, the original Dove remained to sail the British Virgin Islands, finally succumbing to Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

Onward as the captain of Return of Dove, and now accompanied by Patti, Graham passed through the Panama Canal, homeward bound once again to California.
Joining him as he reached his final dock were the cats Kili, Pooh, and Piglet, welcomed aboard along the way.

Though reports vary on just how many cats came and went during the middle stages of his trip, Graham notes that he was rarely lacking in furry companions.
 

 
What Graham Is Doing Now
 
It did not take long for people to ask Graham’s opinion of his voyage.
He stated with certainty that he would never do such a thing again after discovering the intensity and sometimes near-insanity of isolation for such long stretches.
 
Choosing instead to live a calm life, Robin and his wife moved to a mountain home near Kalispell, Montana.
Two months after the voyage ended, the two welcomed their daughter, Quimby.
 

 
Graham’s quick learning under pressure during his voyage taught him essential skills, such as woodworking, that served him later.
He took up employment as a builder with a knack for making furniture, and after settling into this new life and line of work, the couple went on to have a son named Ben.

Graham later wrote numerous books about his experience.
Today, Robin and Patti continue to live a happy life together on the shore of a lake in the mountains.
As for the Return of Dove, she was restored in 2001, and though she was sold again three years later, it is believed that she has still found her home in Hawaii, the very port from which Graham’s circumnavigation began in earnest.


 
 






 
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Monday, April 13, 2026

The possibility of an island : in the middle of the Antarctic researchers stumble across an island that is not on any map

Island in the Weddell Sea not yet recorded on nautical charts
(Photo: Alfred Wegener Institute / Christian Haas)
 
From AWI
 
An expedition team from the Alfred Wegener Institute has accidentally discovered a previously unknown island in the Antarctic Weddell Sea.
 
Weddell Sea in the GeoGarage platform (NGA nautical raster chart)
 
A 93-strong international expedition team has been exploring the northwestern Weddell Sea in the Antarctic on board the Alfred Wegener Institute's icebreaker Polarstern since 8 February 2026.
 
A 93–strong team on board the Alfred Wegener Institute's (AWI) icebreaker, Polarstern, made the discovery after rough weather conditions forced them to seek shelter next to Joinville Island

In this key region for global ocean currents, the focus has been on the outflow of ice and water from the Larsen Ice Shelf and the astonishing sea ice retreat of recent years.
 
Joinville island in the Antarctic Peninsula in the NW of Weddell Sea
 in the GeoGarage platform (NGA nautical raster chart)
 
When the research work had to be interrupted due to rough weather conditions in order to seek shelter in the lee of Joinville Island, the scientists and ship's crew were surprised by the sudden appearance of an island that had previously only been marked as a danger zone on the available nautical charts.

Another view of the new island.
Credit: Alfred Wegener Institute / Simon Dreutter
 
“On our route, the nautical chart showed an area with unexplored dangers to navigation, but it wasn’t clear what it was or where the information came from,” reports Simon Dreutter from the Bathymetry section at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI).
As a specialist in underwater mapping, this aroused his curiosity. 
 
“I scoured all the coastlines we had here in the bathymetry lab and went back to the bridge. Looking out of the window, we saw an ‘iceberg’ that looked kind of dirty. On closer inspection, we realised that it was probably rock. We then changed course and headed in that direction and it became increasingly clear that we had an island in front of us!”

Island in the Weddell Sea not yet recorded on nautical charts
(Photo: Alfred Wegener Institute / Christian Haas)

The navigators on the bridge drove the Polarstern carefully towards the island, always with at least 50 metres of water under the keel.
This allowed the icebreaker to approach it to within 150 metres, circumnavigate it and survey the seabed with the onboard multibeam echo sounder.
 
A drone was also used and the image data was analysed photogrammetrically to obtain an elevation model and a georeferenced aerial image to measure the coastline.
This was the first time the island had been systematically surveyed and recorded.
The result: the island is about 130 metres long, 50 metres wide (slightly longer than the Polarstern with its 118 metres and about twice as wide) and protrudes about 16 metres out of the water.

It is unclear to the experts why the island is marked as a danger zone on the nautical chart but not as a coastline in other data sets and why the position shown on the nautical chart is about one nautical mile off the actual position.
On the satellite images analysed, the island could hardly be distinguished from the numerous icebergs drifting around in the immediate vicinity due to its ice cover.

Detail view of the new island and its “inhabitants”. 
Credit: Alfred Wegener Institute / Simon Dreutter

As there is no official international registration of the island by name, the task now is to go through the naming process for such a discovery.
Dr Boris Dorschel-Herr, head of AWI bathymetry and also on board the Polarstern, already has experience with this: In 2014, he and his team had ensured that two underwater mountains were plotted on the nautical charts of the South Atlantic and the Weddell Sea.
 
The team will publish the exact position of the island once the naming process is complete and will also ensure that the information is added to international nautical charts and other important data sets.
Such information is essential for bathymetric sea floor maps such as IBCSO (International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean) in particular, as the thin coverage of measurement data and interpolation means that such unmapped objects are simply erased.

Island in the Weddell Sea not yet recorded on nautical charts
(Photo: Alfred Wegener Institute / Simon Dreutter)

The bathymetry team works closely with other research groups on board, for example with physical oceanography.
This enabled the scientists to track various water masses along several sections from the deep sea to the continental shelf and investigate the colonisation of the sea floor.
In doing so, they gained important insights into the decline of Antarctic deep water in comparison to the long-term data collection that the AWI has been conducting in the region via oceanographic measurements as part of the Hybrid Antarctic Float Observing System (HAFOS) since 2002.
In addition, the outflow paths of cold water from the Larsen Ice Shelf have been narrowed down.
These water masses have a significant influence on global ocean currents and the melting of sea ice, particularly on the continental shelf.

Unlike the sea ice in the Arctic, the Antarctic sea ice was considered relatively stable for a long time.
However, the summer sea ice extent in the north-western Weddell Sea has declined sharply since 2017, presumably as a result of warmer surface water. Prof Dr Christian Haas, head of the Polarstern expedition and AWI Sea Ice Physics, comments on the initial results of SWOS (Summer Weddell Sea Outflow Study): “The ice thickness showed great regional variability. On the western, shallow continental shelf in particular, the ice was up to four metres thick, which we can attribute to strong deformation caused by the tides and the proximity to the coast. The ice further east came from the large Ronne and Filchner ice shelves and was less deformed with thicknesses of around one and a half metres.”


Overall, the sea ice showed surprisingly strong surface melting, which mainly affected the snow cover and the uppermost ice layers and led to almost Arctic conditions, where the ice is covered with many melt ponds.
 
Christian Haas reports: “Although we only found very few melt ponds, the ice was often almost free of snow and had a bluish or greyish surface. Thanks to novel measurements of the water directly under the ice using turbulence and biological probes, we found larger quantities of sweet meltwater in and under the ice. This has a strong effect on the biological colonisation of the ice and the interactions with the seawater under the ice, because such freshwater lenses keep the heat from the ocean away from the sea ice.”

Future analyses and modelling will show what contribution the organisms living in and under the sea ice make to the carbon cycle in the Southern Ocean, for example.
However, the researchers will only carry these out after the expedition, which is scheduled to end on the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) on 9 April 2026.
From there, the Polarstern will start its transit across the Atlantic and is expected to return to its home port of Bremerhaven in mid-May.

More information about the expedition can be found in the Polarstern App.  
 
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Sunday, April 12, 2026

Colossal coral in the Mariana Islands is largest of its kind


A NOAA researcher swims in front of the massive coral in the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument.
Credit: NOAA Fisheries.
 
From NOAA
 
 Researchers measure 14,500-square-foot coral structure in an underwater volcano 
 
In a time when coral bleaching, disease, and habitat loss are increasingly common, a hidden giant defies the odds. A majestic cathedral-like structure — built by colonies of Porites rus, a species of stony coral — rises from a submerged volcanic caldera in the Maug Islands in the Mariana archipelago.

“This coral was so big, we actually couldn’t easily measure it due to dive safety restrictions,” said Thomas Oliver, Ph.D., a chief scientist of NOAA’s National Coral Reef Monitoring Program.

While the coral’s existence was previously known to locals, NOAA scientists recently had the opportunity to take the first approximate measurements during the 2025 National Coral Reef Monitoring Program surveys.

Measurements suggest the colony covers roughly 14,500 square feet (1,347 square meters) — stretching more than 100 feet (31 meters) across the top and 200 feet (62 meters) at its base.
That’s wider than the length of two school buses at the top, and the length of four school buses at the bottom.


Approximate scale of the coral colony, measuring wider than the length of two school buses at the top and four school buses at the bottom. 
Credit: NOAA.

It is the largest Porites coral ever reported — measuring approximately 3.4 times larger than the massive Porites coral colony reported in 2020 in American Samoa. 
Size isn’t the only impressive thing about this Porites rus, so is its age.

“It is difficult to tell the true age of this coral because it doesn’t produce growth bands like other corals,” said Hannah Barkley, Ph.D., a chief scientist of NOAA’s National Coral Reef Monitoring Program. 
“We roughly estimate that Porites rusgrows outward about a centimeter per year, so one could imagine that a colony of that size is pretty old.”

At that rate, the coral could be more than 2,050 years old!


A top-down view of the coral’s wall (top), and a researcher swims over dome-shaped structures at the top of the coral structure (bottom). 
Credit: NOAA Fisheries. 

A unique underwater home

While this coral certainly is special, so is its home in the Maug caldera, which lies within the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument.
The Maug caldera has intrigued scientists trying to protect the ocean for decades — from sea floor mapping expeditions in 2003, in-depth ocean chemistry studies in 2014, as well as the coral reef monitoring program’s visits in 2017, 2022, and 2025.

The caldera is known as a “natural laboratory” because of its unique carbon dioxide vents.
In one area gas bubbles up from the vents and creates acidic oceanic conditions, allowing scientists to study how organisms, like coral, may respond to these conditions in the future.
Notably, the acidic conditions only impact habitats within a few meters of the vents, and do not impact the massive coral thriving just a few hundred meters away.

“It is remarkable to see both these extremes — a resilient and thriving mega coral, and a dead zone near the carbon dioxide vents — in the same area. Maug is truly such a special place,” said Barkley.



Chief Scientist Thomas Oliver prepares to recover an instrument that has been recording data at Maug’s carbon dioxide vent for 5 days, with visible carbon dioxide bubble trails (left), and floats by the massive coral with the recovered instrument (right). 
Credit: NOAA Fisheries.

The Mariana Trench Marine National Monument

The Mariana Trench Marine National Monument was established in 2009 and protects objects of scientific interest, including coral reef ecosystems, submerged volcanoes, and hydrothermal vents.
The Monument is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in coordination with NOAA and the government of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The Monument’s Advisory Council is working to assign a culturally appropriate name to the coral that will honor Indigenous Chamorro and Carolinian local heritage, while advancing stewardship of the marine ecosystems that support productive fisheries.


Map of Mariana Trench Marine National Monument.
Credit: NOAA.

Coral reef ecosystems play a major role in ocean health — which we depend on for reliable weather patterns, food, coastal protection, and more.
For the U.S. economy alone, coral reef ecosystems are worth more than $3.4 billion.

The National Coral Reef Monitoring Program is led by the National Ocean Service’s Coral Reef Conservation Program
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Saturday, April 11, 2026

Image of the week : moon in HR



Nasa has released the first photographs taken by the Artemis II astronauts during their fly-by of the Moon. The first image shows an 'Earthset', with the Earth suspended in the darkness behind a cratered lunar landscape, while the second image shows a spectacular solar eclipse.





 
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Friday, April 10, 2026

Iran ceasefire raises hopes for reopening key Strait of Hormuz

© NASA/Jeff Schmaltz
A satellite image shows the Strait of Hormuz. (far right)
 
From UN by Daniel Dickinson

Iran ceasefire raises hopes for reopening key Strait of Hormuz 
The announcement of a shaky two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran will, it is hoped, lead to the opening of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which one fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes.
The strait has become a global flashpoint which has driven up the price of oil, threatened the safety of ships and seafarers while rocking regional stability.
Early signs are mixed as of Wednesday night, but the US and Iran are due to hold negotiations on solidifying the truce in Pakistan at the weekend.

Why it matters

The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow maritime corridor between Iran and Oman which links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman through which countries including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates export oil and gas.
  • Even limited disruption can:Spike energy prices
  • Delay global supply chains
  • Increase geopolitical tensions
What’s happening to shipping right now?

Shipping through the strait – just 39 kilometres (21 nautical miles) at its narrowest point – has been severely disrupted since the beginning of the conflict at the end of February.

According to the UN’s specialized maritime agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), prior to the conflict, around 150 vessels passed through the waterway every day.

With the threat of attack once the conflict broke out, that figure dwindled to just four or five ships a day, and only ones which the Iranian authorities considered as “non-hostile.”

It is still not clear if or when the strait will reopen to all shipping, despite the announcement of the ceasefire.

How vulnerable are ships?

The IMO has estimated that there are some 2,000 ships including oil and gas tankers, bulk carriers, cargo ships – as well as six tourist cruise liners – stranded in the Persian Gulf, unable to pass through the strait.

Around 20,000 seafarers are thought to be currently aboard those vessels.

There have been 21 confirmed attacks on international shipping in the region with 10 seafarer fatalities and several seafarers injured, according to IMO. 


© IMO
Two seafarers work on the deck of a ship. (file)

“The ceasefire is welcome news for the 20,000 seafarers who are awaiting evacuation on the ships which remain in the Persian Gulf,” said Damien Chevallier, the Director, of IMO’s Maritime Safety Division adding that “they have spent more than one month in a tense and volatile situation, unable to leave their ships.”

Safe evacuation of seafarers

IMO is already working with the relevant parties to implement an “appropriate mechanism to ensure the safe transit of ships through the Strait of Hormuz,” said Mr. Chevallier. 
“The priority now is to ensure the safety of navigation to guarantee an evacuation. We do not wish to see a return to escalation. So, for now, we need to focus on evacuation,” he added.

What does international law say?

The legal framework for all maritime activities is set out in a multilateral treaty known as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Key principles
 
Ships have the right of “transit passage” through international straits
Coastal States must not block or disrupt navigation

In plain terms, the strait must remain open to international shipping.

There is one major caveat, however. Iran is not a Party to UNCLOS, but the transit passage system is generally considered part of international customary law.

Will shipping resume – and how?

There is the international will to reopen the strait but “ship operators will need to carefully assess the risk situation,” said IMO’s Damien Chevallier adding that the “resumption of routine trade will depend on the maritime security situation.”
 
  Iran's map for oil tankers to guide them past sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz
The new scheme purports to direct inbound traffic in between the islands of Qeshm and Larak - the so-called "Tehran toll booth" route overseen by the IRGC.
The new lane for outbound traffic passes just south of Larak, within Iranian waters and in easy reach for IRGC escorts, boardings and vessel identity verification procedures. 
Notably, the chart includes a designated "danger zone" with "transit prohibited" in the area where deep-sea navigation used to occur.
Its coordinates encompass the IMO-designated traffic separation scheme (TSS) just off the north end of the Musandam Peninsula.  
The warning zone also appears to cover the recently-launched, Omani-administered shipping lane at the far southern edge of the strait - an apparent contradiction of the much-discussed Omani-Iranian agreement on transits through Oman's territorial waters.
Source: Iran’s National Security
 
 
© IMO 
  
TSS in the GeoGarage platform (UKHO nautical raster chart)
 
ENC OM301219 
  
Vessels follow an internationally agreed route through the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, the UN and partners are engaging in diplomatic discussions to find a safe, secure and efficient way for ships to pass through the strait.

Shipping is expected to resume through long-established routes, the key mechanism for which is the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS). 

Proposed by Iran and Oman and adopted by the IMO in 1968, it designates shipping lanes for maritime traffic in order to:
  • Reduce collisions
  • Improve safety
  • Maintain predictable transit even during times of international tension
The few vessels that have transited through to the Gulf of Oman over the past month have taken a northern route close to Iran, reportedly so the authorities there can monitor their movements more closely. 

What next?
 
The successful reopening of the Strait of Hormuz ultimately depends on the ceasefire holding, diplomacy working, maritime coordination and full respect for internationally agreed navigation rules.
 
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