NOAA satellites aid in the rescue of 295 people in 2010

Cospas-Sarsat Programme - The First Generation

From NOAA

In 2010, NOAA satellites were critical in the rescues of 295 people from life-threatening situations throughout the United States and its surrounding waters.
The satellites picked up distress signals from emergency beacons carried by downed pilots, shipwrecked boaters and stranded hikers, and relayed the information about their location to first responders on the ground.


 
NOAA’s polar-orbiting and geostationary satellites, along with Russia’s COSPAS spacecraft, are part of the international Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking system, called COSPAS-SARSAT.
This system uses a network of satellites to quickly detect and locate distress signals from emergency beacons onboard aircraft and boats, and from smaller, handheld personal locator beacons called PLBs.

Alaska had the most people rescued last year with 77, followed by Florida with 37, and West Virginia with 17, who were aboard a downed Army Reserve helicopter.

“With each rescue, the COSPAS-SARSAT system performs the way it was intended — as a real, life-saving network,” said Chris O’Connors, program manager for NOAA SARSAT.

When a NOAA satellite finds the location of a distress signal within the United States or its surrounding waters, the information is relayed to the SARSAT Mission Control Center based at NOAA’s Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Md.
From there, the information is quickly sent to a Rescue Coordination Center, operated by either the U.S. Air Force, for land rescues, or the U.S. Coast Guard, for water rescues.

Now in its 29th year, COSPAS-SARSAT has been credited with supporting more than 28,000 rescues worldwide, including more than 6,500 in the United States and its surrounding waters.

2010 SARSAT Rescue Highlights

Of the 295 saves last year, 180 people were rescued from the water, 43 from aviation incidents, and 72 in land situations where they used their PLBs.

• In a joint U.S. Coast Guard-Navy operation, a man was rescued from his capsized boat, 250 miles off of Cape Hatteras, N.C.
• Although not included in the 295 count, Abby Sunderland, a California teen attempting to set a new record for youngest solo sail around the world, was rescued when she activated her emergency beacons. A storm took her mast — which also left her satellite phone inoperable — and left her boat adrift in the southern Indian Ocean over 2,000 miles from shore. Hers is among the non-U.S. rescues in 2010; those numbers will officially be released later this year.

By law, owners of emergency beacons are required to register them with NOAA at: www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov

That registration information often helps provide better or faster assistance to people in distress. It may also provide information about the location of the emergency situation, how many people need assistance, what type of help may be needed and other ways to contact the owner.
Links :

• YouTube : Why a Personal Locator Beacon
• Blog Marine GeoGarage : NASA develops enhanced search and rescue satellite system

AC45 wing-sailed catamaran under sail in Auckland

From AmericaCup

New Cat Class Centerpiece of 2011-2012 America’s Cup World Series

Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour (position on the Marine GeoGarage) showcased a glimpse into the future of the America’s Cup with the debut of the wing-sailed AC45 catamaran.
The forerunner to the next generation of America’s Cup boats, the AC45 made its maiden voyage, the first of many sea trials planned over the coming weeks.

“Thanks to the efficiency of the New Zealand boat building industry and a huge effort by our team, the first AC45 is now ready for sea trials just a mere four months after this exciting new multihull class was first conceptualized,” said Tim Smyth, co-construction manager for Core Builders Composites of Warkworth, New Zealand.

The AC45 will be the centerpiece of the 2011-2012 America’s Cup World Series, which will start mid-2011.
The high-tech carbon fibre catamaran is the first in a fleet of the new 45-foot one-designs that will be tested by America’s Cup teams before racing on the America’s Cup World Series circuit.

The AC45 is an essential element of the vision for the 34th America’s Cup, which will feature 72-foot catamarans raced on San Francisco Bay in 2013.
Focused on creating more on-the-water excitement for both the teams and the fans, the AC45 is designed for both speed and close racing.
While capable of closing speeds of up to 30 knots, the AC45 was designed to remain nimble enough to handle the tight race courses planned by America’s Cup Race Management (ACRM).

“The biggest challenge with multihulls is learning how much to anticipate.
With the AC45 being a big, powerful multihull capable of tripling the wind speed, your reactions and skills are accelerated.
It’s all about being ahead of the cycle,” said Oracle Racing skipper James Spithill.
“I think the AC45 will enable all teams to advance to hard-core race mentality very quickly.”

The AC45 was designed by the Oracle Racing design and engineering team, which developed the catamaran on behalf of the America’s Cup community.
At task was designing a boat that would not only meet the racing criteria, but could also fit inside a 40-foot container, which is the shipping vessel for the America’s Cup World Series.

“The boat was designed for all-around performance so it can be sailed in wide range of conditions, and that means the next America's Cup will see races start on time,” said Ian Burns, Oracle Racing design coordinator.
“Plus it’s a regatta boat, meant for lots of racing, so quick assembly and disassembly was a must to accommodate an active competition schedule.”

The AC45 had to be robust enough to sail through a wide wind range, from 5 to 30 knots, as well as survive in the event of collisions, which are foreseen as teams learn to adapt to multihull closing speeds.

Utilizing the same technology used in the aerospace industry, the hulls are built in carbon epoxy with honeycomb cores, making them extremely stiff and light structures.
The sandwich construction involves two carbon skins less than 1mm thick laminated over an ultra-light honeycomb core.

“The new America’s Cup is for those who are hungry for a challenge and the AC45 is really a fresh take on the multihull,” said Vincenzo Onorato, President, Mascalzone Latino.

“We plan to run tight race courses that will force boats to engage with each other, creating really close racing situations. Multihulls are very fast boats and will therefore reach the course boundaries sooner, so races will become a true test of skill and strategy, not just speed,” said Iain Murray, CEO, America’s Cup Race Management and Regatta Director.
“The AC45 will fast-track teams to state-of-the-art wingsail technology and crew technique in the first season, and will greatly prepare them for the AC72.”

Links :

• AmericaCupMedia : AC45 production in NZ
  
• YouTube : New America's Cup AC45 wing-sailed catamaran : first sailing session in Auckland / AC 45 Day 2 - clocked at over 27kts /
  

Global piracy costs billions, says study

Somalian Piracy Threat Map 2010 evolution from 2005 to 2010 (full resolution)

From BBCNews

Maritime piracy costs the global economy between $7bn (£4.4bn) and $12bn (£7.6bn) a year, a study says.

The report, compiled by US think-tank One Earth Future (Oceans beyond Piracy), calculated the amount from the costs of ransom, security equipment and the impact on trade.
The majority of costs came from piracy off Somalia, it says.

IMB Piracy Map 2010 (ICC Commercial Crime Service)
LIVE Piracy Map 2011

Although the costs are said to be difficult to assess, one researcher estimated they had increased roughly five-fold since 2005.
Despite an international effort to patrol waters, the number of reported incidents of piracy has risen over recent years, and the areas in which they operate has grown.

UKHO Q6099 Anti-Piracy planning chart (download)
showing transit corridor through Gulf of Aden
(position in the Marine GeoGarage)

'Treating the symptoms'

The study, launched at the offices of UK think-tank Chatham House, said there had been some 1,600 acts of piracy, causing the death of over 54 people, since 2006.

Looking at the problem in three regions - the Horn of Africa, Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea, and the Malacca Straits - the report suggests that the biggest costs arise from re-routing ships to avoid risky areas, which is estimated at between $2.4bn and $3bn.
Meanwhile, about $2bn is spent on naval operations off the coast of Somalia each year.

"Some of these costs are increasing astronomically," said researcher Anna Bowden from the Colorado-based One Earth Future Foundation, which conducted research for the study.
"What is even more concerning is that all these are simply treating the symptoms. Almost nothing is being done to treat the root cause."

At the start of this year, around 500 seafarers from more than 18 countries were being held hostage by pirates around the world.
Somalia has been ravaged by internal conflict for two decades, and pirates have flourished amid the lawlessness.

Links :

• Chatham-House : Piracy in Somalia
• BBCNews : Pirates seized record 1,181 hostages in 2010 - report
  
• AllAfrica : Somalia, pirates or protectors ?
• OceanusLIVE : Real-time secure collaboration
  
• Marine GeoGarage blog : 2009 worldwide piracy
  

My love affair with the manta ray

Swimming with a Manta Ray- Shark Therapy - Big Sharks- BBC Wildlife

From TheGuardian

Twenty-two years after first learning to dive, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall finally gets up close and personal with his hero animal.

Everyone interested in wildlife dreams of an encounter with their hero animal.
It might be an elephant, a leopard or a golden eagle.
For those of us who love the underwater wilderness, it might be dolphins, sharks or a giant octopus.
For me, obsessed with fish since I caught sticklebacks and kept them in a jam jar as a four-year-old, it's long been manta rays.

I learned to dive 22 years ago, in weekly sessions at a swimming pool in Swiss Cottage, north London.
The most exciting things to see, apart from the black lines along the bottom of the pool, were matted balls of hair and the occasional discarded corn plaster.
But from day one I was dreaming of swimming with mantas.

Since then, practically every foreign holiday I've taken has involved diving.

I've dived in the Red Sea, in Thailand, in the Seychelles, in Madagascar, Mauritius and Tanzania.
And I've dived on countless dive sites where seeing mantas was considered to be an occasional unexpected bonus – but always a long shot.
And not once did I win the manta lottery.
I've dived with sharks, played with octopuses and even snorkelled with whale sharks and basking sharks.
They have all thrilled me.
Not that I need the company of charismatic submarine megafauna to make a dive feel worthwhile.
Seeing tiny wrasse busying themselves in the tentacles of sea anemones, or a velvet swimming crab waving its claws at me from its hidey-hole in a Dorset wreck is quite enough to send me back to my land world feeling privileged and content.
But the manta itch has never been far away, and whenever I've arrived at a new destination, I've tentatively inquired whether mantas have been seen there in recent days/weeks/years/ever, often to be told, "You should have been here yesterday/last week/last month."

I went to the Maldives for the first time last September, to film pole and line tuna fishing as part of my new Channel 4 series, Hugh's Fish Fight.
The story of mantas is relevant to the story of how tuna gets in a tin and ends up in a supermarket near you.
This is partly because the vast majority of tinned tuna is caught by a method called purse seining.
This involves huge boats putting out several kilometres of net, to surround a shoal of skipjack tuna.

It's highly effective – even more so when the boats use something called a FAD.
A FAD is a fish aggregation device, which sounds pretty hi-tech, but in fact usually consists simply of a floating raft or a giant buoy, or collection of buoys, anchored to the sea floor.
By simply being present in the open ocean, and an object of curiosity for passing marine life, FADs attract fish – including large shoals of skipjack.
Unfortunately, they also attract many species that are not the target of the tuna fishermen, but will be caught in their nets anyway.
Such casualties are called by-catch.
Where FADs are used (and they are now used in the vast majority of fisheries that supply the UK with tinned tuna), the amount of unwanted by-catch increases from 1-2% of the catch to around 10%.
Of particular concern to marine conservationists are the numbers of sharks, turtles and rays caught by this method.
And oceanic manta rays fall victim to them, too.

By contrast, pole and line fishing is a remarkably clean method of catching tuna.
By targeting a feeding shoal of skipjack, and presenting small, shiny hooks on a short line attached to a long pole, hardly anything except the tuna is ever caught.
Turtles, sharks and rays are almost never killed.

What's remarkable about the Maldives is the way it has taken control of its marine resources and begun to manage them carefully for the benefit of the national economy and the local people.

Foreign purse seining boats (most are owned by companies based in France and Spain) were banned from Maldivian waters by the country's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, within months of his coming to power in late 2008.
The Maldives' tuna resource is now exclusively fished by local boats using the pole and line method.
This sustainable approach has encouraged supermarkets such as Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose to reject the purse-seined tuna, and its controversial by-catch, and stock only pole and line-caught tuna.
The pole and line-caught product is boldly labelled, and fetches a premium price – around £1.50 a tin, compared with 50p-£1 for the standard purse-seined tin.
But the conscientious fish consumer is catching on and pole and line tuna sales are growing all the time.

There's only one other fish species that could arguably run the tuna close in its importance to the Maldivian economy – and that's the manta ray.
Divers, who perhaps like me have begun to lose patience, or hope, for a chance encounter with a manta or two elsewhere in the world, book dive holidays in the Maldives on the understanding that seeing mantas is almost guaranteed – at least on certain sites at certain times of year.
More than $8m a year are spent on manta dives and manta safaris, and that doesn't include hotel bookings and "live-aboard" boat accommodation.

And so I tumble over the side of the dive boat, above a reef that is known to be a manta cleaning station, where mantas come to have little parasites nibbled off them by obliging wrasse.
I'm told that manta rays were seen here this very morning, and the day before, and every day before that for several weeks.
I try not to think about probabilities, and to resist the mental torment that is so easily induced by the word "almost".

We swim down to a reef that is no more than 15 metres below the surface.
It's pretty enough.
There is plenty of fish life, including some engaging sweetlips, a plump, friendly reef fish with a stunning tiger-cross-leopard pattern of spots and stripes, yellow on brown.
There's an almost preternaturally relaxed turtle that, when I get within touching distance, looks dolefully at me as if to say, "You're not really here to see me, are you?"
But right now, there's not much else to look at.
Or so it seems, in the glaring absence of manta rays.
I'm in danger, I think to myself, of undermining my own mantra, that "there's no such thing as a boring dive".
But try as I might, I just can't get engaged with the lovely local fauna.
I'm too busy scanning the edge of my vision for some shape, some sign, that the biggest ray in the world is about to join us on the reef.

It doesn't happen.
And I get to the point where I think there's clearly been a mistake.
We're on the wrong reef. It's just too ordinary. Why would a manta come here?
It's simply impossible to conceive of a creature of that size, and of that fabulousness, deigning to visit us on this very ordinary patch of rock and coral.
After 45 minutes of this anguish, my air is running low, and it's time to head slowly up to the surface and return to the boat.
My weak grin fails to hide my disappointment from my dive guide and the crew.
"Nice turtle…" I manage to mutter as I climb up the ladder.

I am jinxed.
Punished for some past act of fishy hubris.
Perhaps I shouldn't be such an enthusiastic catcher and eater of fish.
Perhaps I should never have imprisoned those sticklebacks in that jam jar…
That night, I drink too much whisky. Descending to my cabin, I hear every creak and rattle of the gently rocking boat. It's too hot. I can't sleep. Where is my manta?

The next morning as the sun comes up at 6.30am, we're approaching the same reef.
The usual pre-dive banter is absent as we pull on our gear.
I back-roll into the water, working on an absence of thought, a total lack of anticipation, a readiness to focus on whatever comes my way, rather than straining to seek out something that simply isn't there.

The sun's still low, and down on the reef it's a little gloomier than it was the previous afternoon.
I start to make friends with the sweetlips.
As they hang above their favourite rock, I'm trying to engage their wary eyes with a little waggle of my finger.
Behind them I notice a flutter of smaller fish rising off the reef, and I turn my attention to them.

I see it before I see it: a sultry, grey ghost-shape beyond the limit of clear vision.
I'm still unpixellating it into the manta I so desperately want it to be, even as it reveals itself to be exactly that, with a slow beat of its extraordinary pointed wings that brings it effortlessly within a few metres.
Ridiculously big, and impossibly graceful, it banks and turns within touching distance, just slowly enough for a dozen little cleaner wrasse to nuzzle up to its underside and start flitting around its broadly latticed gill-rakers, to take up their symbiotic task.

And then another looms into the light above the reef. And another.
Soon, I am in a slow-motion vortex of six of these flying paradoxes of bulk and beauty, each one the size of three big dining tables bolted together, yet each as graceful and weightless as a kestrel in a light breeze.

No one is sure if mantas have been coming here for hundreds, thousands or hundreds of thousands of years, but the latter is a distinct possibility.
Right here, right now, though, these creatures are impervious to my presence.
And that is the essence of the thrill of being with them.
It's a joy of a different order from playing with clever marine creatures such as dolphins and seals.
Self-awareness is erased in the moment, lost in the pure pleasure of observing without influence the perfect action of a wondrous, unknowable being.

Links :

• TheTelegraph : Maldives, diving with Manta rays
• BBCNews : Manta ray's secret life revealed
• YouTube : Rare Footage of Stingray, (Andrea Queen of Mantas, BBC2) / Manta rays in the Maldives, National GeoGraphic)

Canada CHS update in the Marine GeoGarage

Cap aux Meules (chart 4956)

58 charts have been updated for Canada (CHS update published January 03)

• 1202 CAP ETERNITE TO SAINT-FULGENCE
• 1235 POINTE AU BOISVERT TO CAP DE LA TETE AU CHIEN
• 1313 BATISCAN TO LAC SAINT-PIERRE
• 1315 QUEBEC TO DONNACONA
• 1316 PORT DE QUEBEC
• 1430 LAC SAINT-LOUIS
• 1510A LAC DES DEUX MONTAGNES
• 1510B LAC DES DEUX MONTAGNES
• 3001 VANCOUVER ISLAND JUAN DE FUCA STRAIT TO QUEEN CHARLOTTE SOUND
• 3442 NORTH PENDER ISLAND TO THETIS ISLAND
• 3443 THETIS ISLAND TO NANAIMO
• 3461 JUAN DE FUCA STRAIT EASTERN PORTION
• 3462 JUAN DE FUCA STRAIT TO STRAIT OF GEORGIA
• 3493 VANCOUVER HARBOUR WESTERN PORTION
• 3494 VANCOUVER HARBOUR CENTRAL POSITION
• 3550 APPROACHES TO SEYMOUR INLET AND BELIZE INLET
• 3602 APPROACHES TO JUAN DE FUCA STRAIT
• 3679 QUATSINO SOUND
• 3681 PLANS - QUATSINO SOUND
• 3921 FISH EGG INLET AND ALLISON HARBOUR
• 4001 GULF OF MAINE TO STRAIT OF BELLE ISLE
• 4011 APPROACHES TO BAY OF FUNDY
• 4016 SAINT-PIERRE TO ST JOHN'S
• 4017 CAPE RACE TO CAPE FREELS
• 4025 CAP WHITTLE TO HAVRE-SAINT-PIERRE AND ILE D'ANTICOSTI
• 4026 HARVE-SAINT-PIERRE AND CAP DES ROSIERS TO POINTE DES MONTS
• 4047 ST PIERRE BANK TO WHALE BANK
• 4115 PASSAMAQUODDY BAY AND ST CROIX RIVER
• 4116 APPROACHES TO SAINT JOHN
• 4117 SAINT JOHN HARBOUR AND APPROACHES
• 4141A SAINT JOHN TO EVANDALE
• 4141B GRAND BAY TO EVANDALE INCLUDING BELLE ISLE BAY
• 4202 HALIFAX HARBOUR POINT PLEASANT TO BEDFORD BASIN
• 4203 HALIFAX HARBOUR BLACK POINT TO POINT PLEASANT
• 4233 CAPE CANSO TO COUNTRY ISLAND
• 4281 CANSO HARBOUR AND APPROACHES
• 4307 CANSO HARBOUR TO STRAIT OF CANSO
• 4420 MURRAY HARBOUR
• 4456 BAIE PIASHTI TO PETITE ILE AU MARTEAU
• 4522 TILT COVE AND LA SCIE HARBOUR (APPROACHES TO LA SCIE HARBOUR)
• 4529 FOGO HARBOUR SEAL COVE AND APPORACHES
• 4530 HAMILTON SOUND EASTERN PORTION
• 4659 PORT AU PORT
• 4701 SHIP HARBOUR HEAD TO CAMP ISLANDS
• 4817 BAY BULLS TO ST MARY'S BAY
• 4820 CAPE FREELS TO EXPLOITS ISLANDS
• 4821 WHITE BAY AND NOTRE DAME BAY
• 4844 CAPE PINE TO RENEWS HARBOUR
• 4847 CONCEPTION BAY
• 4848 LONG POND
• 4862 CARMANVILLE TO BACALHAO ISLAND AND FOGO
• 4863 BACALHAO ISLAND TO BLACK ISLAND
• 4864 BACK ISLAND TO LITTLE DENIER ISLAND
• 4865 APPROACHES TO LEWISPORTE AND LOON BAY
• 4905 CAPE TORMENTINE TO WEST POINT
• 4920 PLANS CHALEUR BAY SOUTH SHORE
• 4956 CAP-AUX-MEULES
• 5001 LABRADOR SEA
• 5031 ST LEWIS SOUND AND INLET
• 5045 DOG ISLANDS TO CAPE MAKKOVIK

So 692 charts (1647 including sub-charts) are available in the Canada CHS layer. (see coverage)

Note : don't forget to visit 'Notices to Mariners' published monthly and available from the Canadian Coast Guard both online or through a free hardcopy subscription service.
This essential publication provides the latest information on changes to the aids to navigation system, as well as updates from CHS regarding CHS charts and publications.

UK & misc. update in the Marine GeoGarage

Today 951 charts (1810 including sub-charts) are available in the 'UK & misc.' chart layer

regrouping charts for different countries :

1. UK
2. Argentina
3. Belgium
4. Netherlands
5. Croatia
6. Oman
7. Portugal
8. Spain
9. Iceland
10. South Africa
11. Malta

642 charts for UK

Note : 1 chart has been withdrawn without replacement

• 741 Scotland - East Coast, Plans in the Firth of Forth and River Forth

8 charts for Argentina :

• 227 Church Point to Cape Longing including James Ross Island
• 2505 Approaches to the Falkland Islands
• 2517 North-Western Approaches to the Falkland Islands
• 2519 South-Western Approaches to the Falkland Islands
• 3213 Plans in Graham Land (new)
  
• 3560 Gerlache Strait Northern Part
• 3566 Gerlache Strait Southern Part
• 4207 Falkland Islands to Cabo Corrientes and Northeast Georgia Rise

26 charts for Belgium & Nederlands :

• 99 Entrances to Rivers in Guyana and Suriname
• 110 Westkapelle to Stellendam and Maasvlakte
• 112 Terschellinger Gronden to Harlingen
• 120 Westerschelde - Vlissingen to Baalhoek and Gent - Terneuzen Canal
• 122 Approaches to Europoort and Hoek van Holland
• 124 Noordzeekanaal including Ijmuiden, Zaandam and Amsterdam
• 125 North Sea Netherlands - Approaches to Scheveningen and Ijmuiden
• 126 North Sea, Netherlands, Approaches to Den Helder
• 128 Westerschelde, Valkenisse to Wintam
• 207 Hoek Van Holland to Vlaardingen
• 208 Rotterdam, Nieuwe Maas and Oude Maas
• 209 Krimpen a/d Lek to Moerdijk
• 266 North Sea Offshore Charts Sheet 11
• 572 Essequibo River to Corentyn River
• 702 Nederlandse Antillen, Aruba and Curacao
• 1187 Outer Silver Pit
• 1408 North Sea, Harwich and Rotterdam to Cromer and Terschelling.
• 1412 Caribbean Sea - Nederlandse Antillen, Ports in Aruba and Curacao
• 1414 Bonaire
• 1503 Outer Dowsing to Smiths Knoll including Indefatigable Banks.
• 1504 Cromer to Orford Ness
• 1546 Zeegat van Texel and Den Helder Roads
• 1630 West Hinder and Outer Gabbard to Vlissingen and Scheveningen
• 1631 DW Routes to Ijmuiden and Texel
• 1632 DW Routes and Friesland Junction to Vlieland
• 1874 North Sea, Westerschelde, Oostende to Westkapelle
• 2047 Approaches to Anguilla

14 charts for Croatia :

• 201 Rt Kamenjak to Novigrad
• 202 Kvarner, Kvarneric and Velebitski Kanal
• 269 Ploce and Split with Adjacent Harbours, Channels and Anchorages
• 515 Zadar to Luka Mali Losinj
• 683 Bar, Dubrovnik and Approaches and Peljeski Kanal
• 1574 Otok Glavat to Ploce and Makarska
• 1580 Otocic Veliki Skolj to Otocic Glavat
• 1582 Approaches to Bar and Boka Kotorska
• 1996 Ports in Rijecki Zaljev
• 2711 Rogoznica to Zadar
• 2712 Otok Susac to Split
• 2719 Rt Marlera to Senj including Approaches to Rijeka
• 2773 Sibenik, Pasmanski Kanal, Luka Telascica, Sedmovrace, Rijeka Krka
• 2774 Otok Vis to Sibenik

6 charts for Oman :

• 2851 Masirah to the Strait of Hormuz
• 2854 Northern approaches to Masirah
• 3171 Southern Approaches to the Strait of Hormuz
• 3409 Plans in Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates
• 3511 Wudam and Approaches
• 3518 Ports and Anchorages on the North East Coast of Oman

123 charts for Spain & Portugal :

• 73 Puerto de Huelva and Approaches
• 83 Ports on the South Coast of Portugal
• 85 Spain - south west coast, Rio Guadalquivir
• 86 Bahia de Cadiz
• 87 Cabo Finisterre to the Strait of Gibraltar
• 88 Cadiz
• 89 Cabo de Sao Vicente to Faro
• 91 Cabo de Sao Vicente to the Strait of Gibraltar
• 93 Cabo de Santa Maria to Cabo Trafalgar
• 142 Strait of Gibraltar
• 144 Mediterranean Sea, Gibraltar
• 307 Angola, Cabeca da Cobra to Cabo Ledo
• 308 Angola, Cabo Ledo to Lobito
• 309 Lobito to Ponta Grossa
• 312 Luanda to Baia dos Tigres
• 366 Arquipelago de Cabo Verde
• 369 Plans in the Arquipelago de Cabo Verde
• 469 Alicante
• 473 Approaches to Alicante
• 580 Al Hoceima, Melilla and Port Nador with Approaches
• 690 Cabo Delgado to Mikindani Bay
• 886 Estrecho de la Bocayna and Approaches to Arrecife
• 1094 Rias de Ferrol, Ares, Betanzos and La Coruna
• 1096 Ribadeo
• 1110 La Coruna and Approaches
• 1111 Punta de la Estaca de Bares to Cabo Finisterre
• 1113 Harbours on the North-West Coast of Spain
• 1117 Puerto de Ferrol
• 1118 Ria de Ferrol
• 1122 Ports on the North Coast of Spain
• 1133 Ports on the Western Part of the North Coast of Spain
• 1142 Ria de Aviles
• 1145 Spain - North Coast, Santander
• 1150 Ports on the North Coast of Spain
• 1153 Approaches to Gijon
• 1154 Spain, north coast, Gijon
• 1157 Pasaia (Pasajes) and Approaches
• 1172 Puertos de Bermeo and Mundaka
• 1173 Spain - North Coast, Bilbao
• 1174 Approaches to Bilbao
• 1180 Barcelona
• 1189 Approaches to Cartagena
• 1193 Spain - east coast, Tarragona
• 1194 Cartagena
• 1196 Approaches to Barcelona
• 1197 Plans on the West Coast of Africa
• 1215 Plans on the Coast of Angola
• 1216 Baia dos Tigres
• 1290 Cabo de San Lorenzo to Cabo Ortegal
• 1291 Santona to Gijon
• 1448 Gibraltar Bay
• 1453 Gandia
• 1455 Algeciras
• 1460 Sagunto
• 1514 Spain - East Coast, Castellon
• 1515 Ports on the East Coast of Spain
• 1589 Almeria
• 1595 Ilhas do Principe, de Sao Tome and Isla Pagalu
• 1684 Ilha da Madeira, Manchico and Canical
• 1685 Nisis Venetico to Nisos Spetsai including the Channels between Akra Maleas and Kriti
• 1689 Ports in the Arquipelago da Madeira
• 1701 Cabo de San Antonio to Vilanova I la Geltru including Islas de Ibiza and Formentera
• 1703 Mallorca and Menorca
• 1704 Punta de la Bana to Islas Medas
• 1724 Canal do Geba and Bissau
• 1726 Approaches to Canal do Geba and Rio Cacheu
• 1727 Bolama and Approaches
• 1730 Spain - West Coast, Ria de Vigo
• 1731 Vigo
• 1732 Spain - West Coast, Ria de Pontevedra
• 1733 Spain - West Coast, Marin and Pontevedra
• 1734 Approaches to Ria de Arousa
• 1740 Livingston Island, Bond Point to Brunow Bay including Juan Carlos 1 Base and Half Moon Island
• 1755 Plans in Ria de Arousa
• 1756 Ria de Muros
• 1762 Vilagarcia de Arosa
• 1764 Ria de Arousa
• 1831 Arquipelago da Madeira
• 1847 Santa Cruz de Tenerife
• 1850 Approaches to Malaga
• 1851 Malaga
• 1854 Motril and Adra
• 1856 Approaches to Puerto de La Luz (Las Palmas)
• 1858 Approaches to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Puerto de San Sebastian de la Gomera, Santa Cruz de la Palma and Approaches
• 1869 Gran Canaria to Hierro
• 1870 Lanzarote to Gran Canaria
• 1895 Ilha de Sao Miguel
• 1950 Arquipelago dos Acores
• 1956 Arquipelago dos Acores Central Group
• 1957 Harbours in the Arquipelago Dos Acores (Central Group)
• 1959 Flores,Corvo and Santa Maria with Banco Das Formigas
• 2742 Cueta
• 2761 Menorca
• 2762 Menorca, Mahon
• 2831 Punta Salinas to Cabo de Formentor including Canal de Menorca
• 2832 Punta Salinas to Punta Beca including Isla de Cabrera
• 2834 Ibiza and Formentera
• 2931 Baia de Inhambane to Cabo de Sao Sebastiao
• 2932 Cabo de Sao Sebastiao to Beira
• 2934 Africa - east coast, Mozambique, Beira to Rio Zambeze
• 2935 Quelimane to Ilha Epidendron
• 3034 Approaches to Palma
• 3035 Palma
• 3220 Entrance to Rio Tejo including Baia de Cascais
• 3221 Lisboa, Paco de Arcos to Terreiro do Trigo
• 3222 Lisboa, Alcantara to Canal do Montijo
• 3224 Approaches to Sines
• 3227 Aveiro and Approaches
  
• 3228 Approaches to Figueira da Foz
• 3257 Viana do Castelo and Approaches
• 3258 Approaches to Leixoes and Barra do Rio Douro
• 3259 Approaches to Setubal
• 3260 Carraca to Ilha do Cavalo
• 3448 Plans in Angola
• 3578 Eastern Approaches to the Strait of Gibraltar
• 3633 Islas Sisargas to Montedor
• 3634 Montedor to Cabo Mondego
• 3635 Cabo Mondego to Cabo Espichel
• 3636 Cabo Espichel to Cabo de Sao Vicente
• 3764 Cabo Torinana to Punta Carreiro
• 4114 Arquipelago dos Acores to Flemish Cap
• 4115 Arquipelago dos Acores to the Arquipelago de Cabo Verde
• Ilha de Madeira, Ponta Gorda de Sao Lourenco including the Port of Funchal

So 3 additional charts :

• 312 Luanda to Baia dos Tigres
• 1684 Ilha da Madeira, Manchico and Canical
• Ilha de Madeira, Ponta Gorda de Sao Lourenco including the Port of Funchal

and 3 charts withdrawn :

• 518 Spain East Coast, Approaches to Valencia
• 562 Valencia
• 627 Luanda to Baia dos Tigres

13 charts for Iceland :

• 2733 Dyrholaey to Snaefellsjokull
• 2734 Approaches to Reykjavik
• 2735 Iceland - South West Coast, Reykjavik
• 2897 Iceland
• 2898 Vestfirdir
• 2899 Iceland, Noth Coast, Horn to Rauoinupur
• 2900 Iceland, North East Coast, Rauoinupur to Glettinganes
• 2901 Iceland, East Coast, Glettinganes to Stokksnes
• 2902 Stokksnes to Dyrholaey
• 2955 Iceland, North Coast, Akureyri
• 2956 Iceland, North Coast, Eyjafjordur
• 2937 Hlada to Glettinganes
• 2938 Reydarfjordur

45 charts for South Africa :

• 578 Cape Columbine to Cape Seal
• 632 Hollandsbird Island to Cape Columbine
• 643 Durban Harbour
• 1236 Saldanha Bay
• 1769 Islands and Anchorages in the South Atlantic Ocean
• 1806 Baia dos Tigres to Conception Bay
• 1846 Table Bay Docks and Approaches
• 1922 RSA - Simon's Bay
• 2078 Port Nolloth to Island Point
• 2086 East London to Port S Johns
• 2087 Port St John's to Durban
• 2088 Durban to Cape Vidal
• 2095 Cape St Blaize to Port S. John's
• 3793 Shixini Point to Port S Johns
• 3794 Port S Johns to Port Shepstone
• 3795 Port Shepstone to Cooper Light
• 3797 Green Point to Tongaat Bluff
• 3859 Cape Cross to Conception Bay
• 3860 Mutzel Bay to Spencer Bay
• 3870 Chamais Bay to Port Nolloth
• 4132 Kunene River to Sand Table Hill
• 4133 Sand Table Hill to Cape Cross
• 4136 Harbours on the West Coasts of Namibia and South Africa
• 4141 Island Point to Cape Deseada
• 4142 Saldanha Bay Harbour
• 4145 Approaches to Saldanha Bay
• 4146 Cape Columbine to Table Bay
• 4148 Approaches to Table Bay
• 4150 Republic of South Africa, South West Coast, Table Bay to Valsbaai
• 4151 Cape Deseada to Table Bay
• 4152 Republic of South Africa, South West Coast, Table Bay to Cape Agulhas
• 4153 Republic of South Africa, South Coast, Cape Agulhas to Cape St. Blaize
• 4154 Mossel Bay
• 4155 Cape St Blaize to Cape St Francis
• 4156 South Africa, Cape St Francis to Great Fish Point
• 4157 South Africa, Approaches to Port Elizabeth
• 4158 Republic of South Africa - South Coast, Plans in Algoa Bay.
• 4159 Great Fish Point to Mbashe Point
• 4162 Approaches to East London
• 4170 Approaches to Durban
• 4172 Tugela River to Ponta do Ouro
• 4173 Approaches to Richards Bay
• 4174 Richards Bay Harbour
• 4204 Walvis Bay to Maputo
• 4205 Agulhas Plateau to Discovery Seamounts
• 4160 Ngqura Harbour

Note : 2 charts withdrawn

• 4204 Walvis Bay to Maputo
• 4700 Port Elizabeth to Mauritius

5 charts for Malta :

• 36 Marsaxlokk
• 177 Valletta Harbours
• 211 Plans in the Maltese Islands
• 2537 Ghawdex (Gozo), Kemmuna (Comino) and the Northern Part of Malta
• 2538 Malta

66 international charts from NGA

• 3 Chagos Archipelago
• 82 Outer Approaches to Port Sudan
• 100 Raas Caseyr to Suqutra
• 255 Eastern Approaches to Jamaica
• 256 Western Approaches to Jamaica
• 260 Pedro Bank to the South Coast of Jamaica
• 333 Offshore Installations in the Gulf of Suez
• 334 North Atlantic Ocean, Bermuda
• 386 Yadua Island to Yaqaga Island
• 390 Bahamas, Grand Bahama Island, Approaches to Freeport
• 398 Grand Bahama Island, Freeport Roads, Freeport Harbour
• 457 Portland Bight
• 462 The Cayman Islands
• 486 Jamaica and the Pedro Bank
• 493 Approaches to Trinidad including the Gulf of Paria
• 766 Ellice Islands
• 868 Eastern and Western Approaches to The Narrows including Murray's Anchorage
• 920 Chagos Archipelago, Diego Garcia
• 928 Sulu Archipelago
• 959 Colson Point to Belize City including Lighthouse Reef and Turneffe Islands
• 1043 Saint Lucia to Grenada and Barbados
• 1225 Gulf of Campeche
• 1265 Approaches to Shatt Al 'Arab or Arvand Rud, Khawr Al Amaya and Khawr Al Kafka
• 1450 Turks and Caicos Islands, Turks Island Passage and Mouchoir Passage
• 1638 Plans in Northern Vanuatu
• 2006 West Indies, Virgin Islands, Anegada to Saint Thomas
• 2009 Sheet 2 From 23 deg 40 min North Latitude to Old Bahama Channel
• 2065 Northern Antigua
• 2133 Approaches to Suez Bay (Bahr el Qulzum)
• 2373 Bahr el Qulzum (Suez Bay) to Ras Sheratib
• 2374 Ra's Sharatib to Juzur Ashrafi
• 2441 Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg to Jazireh-ye Forur
• 2658 Outer Approaches to Mina` al Jeddah (Jiddah)
• 2847 Qatar to Shatt al `Arab
• 2858 Gulf of Oman to Shatt al `Arab
• 2888 Jask to Dubayy and Jazireh-ye Qeshm
• 2889 Dubayy to Jabal Az Zannah and Jazirat Das
• 3043 Red Sea, Ports on the coast of Egypt.
• 3172 Strait of Hormuz
• 3174 Western Approaches to the Strait of Hormuz
• 3175 Jazirat al Hamra' to Dubai (Dubayy) and Jazireh-ye Sirri
• 3179 UAE and Qatar, Jazirat Das to Ar Ru' Ays
• 3310 Africa - east coast, Mafia Island to Pemba Island
• 3361 Wasin Island to Malindi
• 3432 Saltpond to Tema
• 3519 Southern Approaches to Masirah
• 3520 Khawr Kalba and Dawhat Diba to Gahha Shoal
• 3522 Approaches to Masqat and Mina' al Fahl
• 3526 Ports of Khawr Fakkan and Fujairah (Fujayrah) including the Offshore Anchorages
• 3530 Approaches to Berbera
• 3785 Mina' Raysut to Al Masirah
• 3907 Bahama Islands and Hispaniola, Passages between Mayaguana Island and Turks and Caicos Islands.
• 3908 Passages between Turks and Caicos Islands and Dominican Republic
• 3910 Little Bahama Bank including North West Providence Channel
• 3912 Bahamas, North East Providence Channel and Tongue of the Ocean
• 3913 Bahamas, Crooked Island Passage and Exuma Sound
• 3914 Turks and Caicos Islands and Bahamas, Caicos Passage and Mayaguana Passage
• 3951 Sir Bani Yas to Khawr al `Udayd
• 501 South East Approaches to Trinidad
• 302 Approaches to El Iskandariya (Alexandria)
• 332 Grassy Bay and Great Sound including Little Sound
• 700 Maiana to Marakei
• 1266 South-Eastern Portion of the Bahama Islands
• 2710 Delaware Bay to Straits of Florida
• 2837 Strait of Hormuz to Qatar
• 3310 Africa - east coast, Mafia Island to Pemba Island

Note : 1 chart has been withdrawn :

• 979 Islands between 160 degrees East & 150 degrees West Longitude

Don't forget to visit the UKHO Notices to Mariners : NTM for 2011

So today, for a cost of 9.9 € / month ('Premium Charts' subscription),

you can have access to 3658 updated charts coming from 7 international Hydrographic Services.

Dramatic ocean circulation changes revealed

From CardiffUniversity

The unusually cold weather this winter has been caused by a change in the winds.

Instead of the typical westerly winds warmed by Atlantic surface ocean currents, cold northerly Arctic winds are influencing much of Europe.

However, scientists have long suspected that far more severe and longer-lasting cold intervals have been caused by changes to the circulation of the warm Atlantic ocean currents themselves.

Now new research led by Cardiff University, with scientists in the UK and US, reveals that these ocean circulation changes may have been more dramatic than previously thought.

The findings, published (14 January) in the journal Science, show that as the last Ice Age came to an end (10,000 - 20,000 years ago) the formation of deep water in the North-East Atlantic repeatedly switched on and off.
This caused the climate to warm and cool for centuries at a time.

The circulation of the world’s ocean helps to regulate the global climate.
One way it does this is through the transport of heat carried by vast ocean currents, which together form the ‘Great ocean conveyor’.
Key to this conveyor is the sinking of water in the North-East Atlantic, a process that causes warm tropical waters to flow northwards in order to replace the sinking water.
Europe is kept warmer by this circulation, so that a strong reduction in the rate at which deep water forms can cause widespread cooling of up to 10 degrees Celsius.

Lead author Dr David Thornalley, Cardiff School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, explains how the scientists studied changes in ocean circulation:
"We retrieved ocean sediment cores from the seafloor of the Northeast Atlantic which contained the shells of small organisms. We used these shells to examine the past distribution of radiocarbon in the ocean. Radiocarbon is a radioactive form of carbon that acts like a natural stopwatch, timing how long it has been since water was last at the sea surface. This allows us to determine how quickly deep water was forming in the Northeast Atlantic at different times in the past."

The team of scientists found that each time deep water formation switched off, the Northeast Atlantic did not fill with water that sank locally.
Instead it became inundated with water that had originally formed near Antarctica and then spread rapidly northwards.
The new results suggest that the Atlantic ocean is capable of radical changes in how it circulates on timescales as short as a few decades.

Dr Thornalley said: "These insights highlight just how dynamic and sensitive ocean circulation can be. Whilst the circulation of the modern ocean is probably much more stable than it was at the end of the last Ice Age, and therefore much less likely to undergo such dramatic changes, it is important that we keep developing our understanding of the climate system and how it responds when given a push."

Links :

• YouTube : The great ocean conveyor / Thermohaline circulation
• TheIndependant : Scientists find 'drastic' weather-related Atlantic shifts
  

Climate secrets of Mariana Trench probed

From BBCNews

The climate secrets of the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean, have been probed by scientists.

The international team used a submersible, designed to withstand immense pressures, to study the bottom of the 10.9km-deep underwater canyon.

Their early results reveal that ocean trenches are acting as carbon sinks.
This suggests that they play a larger role in regulating the Earth's chemistry and climate than was thought.

Although two explorers, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh, reached the deepest part of the Marianas Trench - a point called the Challenger Deep - in 1960, no humans have been back since.

And the handful of scientific missions, including this recent visit to this deepest spot, have been carried out using unmanned underwater vehicles.

Lead researcher Professor Ronnie Glud, from the University of Southern Denmark and the Scottish Association for Marine Science (Sams), said that working at more than 1,000 atmospheres of pressure was challenging, but advances in technology had made it possible.

He told BBC News: "This is the first time we have been able to set down sophisticated instruments at these depths to measure how much carbon is buried there."

Under pressure

Professor Glud, working with scientists from the Japan Agency for Marine Earth Science and Technology (Jamstec) and from the UK and Germany, used a lander equipped with special sensors packed in a titanium cylinder that was able to resist the remarkable pressures.

The lander was launched from a ship and took three hours to free-fall to the sea bottom, where it carried out pre-programmed experiments before releasing its ballast and returning to the surface.
The tests helped the scientists to assess the abundance of carbon at those murky depths.

Professor Glud said: "Basically, we are interested in understanding how much organic material - that is all the material produced by algae or fish in the water above - settles at the sea bed, and is either eaten by bacteria and degraded or is buried.

"The ratio that is either degraded or buried is the ultimate process determining what are the oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations of the oceans and the atmosphere, and this gives us an overall picture of how efficiently the sea can capture and sequester carbon in the global carbon cycle."

While this has been studied in other parts of the ocean, such as the abyssal plain - the large flat area of the ocean that lies between 4.6km and 5.5km of depth - the role deep sea trenches play in the carbon cycle has until now remained largely unknown.

Professor Glud said: "Although these trenches cover just 2% of the ocean, we thought they might be disproportionately important, because it was likely that they would accumulate much more carbon because they would act as a trap, with more organic matter drifting to the bottom of them than in other parts of the ocean."

He explained that preliminary data from his experiments suggested that this was the case.
He said: "Our results very strongly suggest that the trenches do act as sediment traps. And they also had high activity, meaning that more carbon is turned over by bacteria in the trenches than is turned over at 6,000m of depth in the abyssal plain.
"What it means is that we have carbon storage going on in these trenches that is higher than we thought before, and this really means that we have a carbon dioxide sink in the deep ocean that wasn't recognised before."

The next stage for the team is to quantify their results and work out exactly how much more carbon is stored in deep sea trenches compared with other parts of the sea, and how much carbon turnover by bacteria is being carried out.

This, the researchers said, should help them to better establish the role of the ocean trenches in regulating climate.

Surprising finds

This is not the first time deep sea trenches have surprised scientists.

Recent studies by University of Aberdeen's Oceanlab team have revealed that marine life is much more abundant in this hostile habitat than was previously thought.

In 2008, they filmed the deepest living fish ever to be caught on camera - a 17-strong shoal found at depths of 7.7km in the Japan Trench, and the revealed other animals such as amphipods were present in large numbers even deeper.

Dr Alan Jamieson, from Oceanlab, said the new study was helping researchers to build up a better idea of what happens in the deepest of the deep.

He said: "The trenches continue to amaze us."

And to see an experiment such as this carried out at these extreme depths is a great leap forward in deep-sea science.

"These studies will greatly enhance our understanding of how the deep trenches contribute to carbon cycling in the world's oceans."

Links :

• BBCNews : Meet the creatures that live beyond the abyss
• BBCNews : 'Deepest ever' living fish filmed (YouTube)
• Blog Marine GeoGarage : James Cameron to dive very deep into Pacific Mariana Trench for 'Avatar' sequel
  

Massive Waimea Bay - XXL big wave surfing this week

Big wave surfing at Waimea Bay

The world famous Waimea bay, when it starts breaking in El Niño wintertime, it's the premier big wave spot, you'll find a lot of pro's and big wave legends in the water.

Not the longest wave, or the most perfect. But big.

In winter time it's home for the famous Eddie Aikau Big wave classic on the North Shore of Oahu.
-> location on the Marine GeoGarage

Another solid swell hit the islands Sunday night, and the Bay was firing on Monday morning, January 11th. (video Jan 16th)
Lots of wipe outs, a tow-in ride at first light, heavy barrels.

Links :

• SurferMag : Waimea Bay, a century of change
• NYTimes : As Hawaii’s seas roil, surfers await the big one
• SaveTheSurfers.org : keeping the spirit alive
• YouTube : I / II / III / IV