Kainos

Kainos - Teaser from Jeff Dotson

Dolphins protect long-distance swimmer from shark

From ABC news

A long-distance swimmer seeking to become the first British man to complete the Ocean’s Seven, a group of seven long-distance swims around the world, was protected on his journey by a pod of dolphins who scared off a shark, according to the swimmer’s support team.

Adam Walker was swimming the approximately 16-mile long Cook Strait off the New Zealand coast last Tuesday when he spotted a shark in the water below him.
Just as his fears began to rise, Walker said he was surrounded by a pod of around 10 dolphins that swam with him for more than an hour.
“I’d like to think they were protecting me and guiding me home,” Walker wrote on his Facebook page.
“This swim will stay with me forever.”

Walker finished the Cook Strait swim in eight hours and 36 minutes.
He has already conquered the English Channel, Gibraltar Straits, Catalina Channel, Molokai Strait and Tsugaru Strait.

Ocean's Seven is a group of 7 long distance swims scattered across the globe: Irish Channel, the Cook Strait, the Molokai Channel, the English Channel, the Catalina Channel, the Tsugaru Strait and the Strait of Gibraltar.

It has only been completed by one person ever: on Saturday July 14th 2012, Mr Redmond from Ballydehob, Co. Cork, Ireland became the first person to complete the Ocean 7's Challenge when he successfully crossed the Tsugaru Strait in Japan.

Adam Walker will be the next...

With the Cook Strait now under his swim cap, Walker has only the North Channel in the Irish Sea left to swim to complete the Ocean’s Seven.
He will take that on this August, according to his YouTube page, and, if successful, complete the Ocean’s Seven.
In a fitting coincidence, given the animals he encountered in Cook Strait, Walker is swimming to raise money for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, an organization that bills itself as “the leading global charity dedicated to the conservation and protection of whales and dolphins.”

Links :

• Stuff.co.nz : Swimmer knocks another strait off

Slow life

Slow Life from Daniel Stoupin

"Slow" marine animals show their secret life under high magnification.

Corals and sponges are very mobile creatures, but their motion is only detectable at different time scales compared to ours and requires time lapses to be seen.

These animals build coral reefs and play crucial roles in the biosphere, yet we know almost nothing about their daily lives.
Learn more about what you see in my post:

notes-from-dreamworlds.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/slow-life.html

EDIT - answer to a common question: yes, colors are real, no digital enhancement, just white balance correction with curves.

When photographers use white light on corals, they simply miss the vast majority of colors.

To make this little clip I took 150000 shots.

Why so many?

Because macro photography involves shallow depth of field.

To extend it, I used focus stacking. Each frame of the video is actually a stack that consists of 3-12 shots where in-focus areas are merged.

Just the intro and last scene are regular real-time footage.

One frame required about 10 minutes of processing time (raw conversion + stacking).

Mystery of 'ocean quack sound' solved

The bizarre noise was first heard 50 years ago but now scientists say the Antarctic minke whale is its source

From BBC

The mystery of a bizarre quacking sound heard in the ocean has finally been solved, scientists report. 

The noise - nicknamed "the bio-duck" - appears in the winter and spring in the Southern Ocean. However, its source has baffled researchers for decades.

Now acoustic recorders have revealed that the sound is in fact the underwater chatter of the Antarctic minke whale.
The findings are published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.
Lead researcher Denise Risch, from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Massachusetts, said: "It was hard to find the source of the signal.
"Over the years there have been several suggestions... but no-one was able to really show this species was producing the sound until now."

Lars Kindermann and Ilse Van Opzeeland of the Alfred Wegener Institute obtained this sound recording, which -- although it sounds like the quack of a mechanical waterfowl -- is actually a minke whale.

 The researchers attached acoustic monitoring tags to the whales to eavesdrop on them

If it quacks like a duck

The strange sound was first detected by submarines about 50 years ago.
Those who heard it were surprised by its quack-like qualities.

Since then, the repetitive, low frequency noise has been recorded many times in the waters around the Antarctic and western Australia.
Suggestions for its source have ranged from fish to ships.

The researchers now say they have "conclusive evidence" that the bio-duck is produced by the Antarctic minke whale.
In 2013, acoustic recorders were attached to two of the marine mammals and recorded the whales making the strange noise.
Dr Risch said: "It was either the animal carrying the tag or a close-by animal of the same species producing the sound."
The researchers do not yet know under what circumstances the minke whales make their distinctive vocalisations, although the sounds that were recorded were produced close to the surface and before the mammals made deep dives to feed.

The team says solving this long-standing mystery will help them to learn more about these little-studied animals.
Dr Risch said: "Identifying their sounds will allow us to use passive acoustic monitoring to study this species.
"That can give us the timing of their migration - the exact timing of when the animals appear in Antarctic waters and when they leave again - so we can learn about migratory patterns, about their relative abundance in different areas and their movement patterns between the areas."

The team will be analysing data from the PALAOA station, the Alfred Wegener Institute's (AWI) permanent acoustic recording station in Antarctica, which has been recording in the Southern Ocean continuously in the last few years.
This is not the only acoustic puzzle that scientists have recently shed light on
Another baffling low frequency noise - called The Bloop - turned out to be the sound of Antarctica's ice cracking.

Links :

• NOAA : Scientists Identify Source of Mysterious Low-Frequency Sound Heard for Decades in the Southern Ocean

Slow slosh of warm water across Pacific hints El Niño is brewing

The maps show a cross-sectional view of five-day-average temperature in the top 300 meters* of the Pacific Ocean in mid-February, mid-March, and mid-April 2014 compared to the long-term average (1981-2010). 
Warmer than average waters are red; cooler than average waters are blue.
Each map represents a 5-day average centered on the date shown.

From NOAA

The El Niño / La Niña climate pattern that alternately warms and cools the eastern tropical Pacific is the 800-pound gorilla of Earth’s climate system.
On a global scale, no other single phenomenon has a greater influence on whether a year will be warmer, cooler, wetter, or drier than average.
Naturally, then, the ears of seasonal forecasters and natural resource managers around the world perked up back in early March when NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center issued an “El Niño Watch.”

 NOAA info

The “watch” means that oceanic and atmospheric conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean are favorable for the development of El Niño within the next six months.
These maps reveal one of the most significant of those favorable signs: a deep pool of warm water sliding eastward along the equator since late January.
 
The pool of warm water was lurking in the western Pacific in mid-February, but it shifted progressively eastward in the subsequent two months.
By mid-April, the unusually warm water was close to breaching the surface in the eastern Pacific off South America.
NOAA declares El Niño underway when the monthly average temperature in the eastern Pacific is 0.5° Celsius or more above average.

 Forecasts depending on different models

Such warm surface waters are unusual in the eastern Pacific because the prevailing wind direction across the tropics is east to west: from South America to Indonesia.
The easterly winds pile up sun-warmed surface waters in the western Pacific like gusty winds build snow into drifts.
Average sea level is literally higher in the western Pacific than the eastern Pacific.

As the warm surface water is pushed westward by the prevailing winds, cool water from deeper in the ocean rises to the surface near South America.
This temperature gradient—warm waters around Indonesia and cooler waters off South America—lasts only as long as the easterly winds are blowing.
If those winds go slack or reverse direction in the western Pacific, the warm pool of water around Indonesia is released and begins a slow slosh back toward South America.
The slosh is called a Kelvin wave.
If the Kelvin wave has a strong impact on the surface waters in the central and eastern Pacific, then it can help change the atmospheric circulation and trigger a cascade of climatic side effects that reverberate across the globe.

Will the odds of an El Niño event increase or decrease as summer arrives?
How can one climate pattern have such a powerful effect on weather far away?
For answers to these and other questions, keep an eye out for a new blog planned for launch on Climate.gov in coming weeks.
Produced by scientists from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society, the blog will follow the developing El Niño from the perspective of scientists at the United States’ operational climate prediction center.

Links :

• Wired : If El Niño comes this year, it could be a monster
• NOAA : El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Technical Discussion

Donut holes in international waters

EEZ Exclusive Economic Zones

The "Donut holes in International Waters" map
shows "no man's water," the water that no country owns 

http://donutholes.ch

From Gizmodo by Leslie Horn

Cool map alert: Donut Holes in International Waters is an interactive map that shows which countries have sovereignty over the high seas.
It shows how we've diced up the waters with international law-and what all the left-over bits and pieces look like.

Gulf of Mexico

Simply put, the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea established that an area stretching 200 nautical miles from a seashore is an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the respective state.
In practical terms, this convention is important as it grants the state an exclusive right to exploitation of marine life (think fishery) and natural resources (oil and gas).
But what if (a) littoral states are closer than 200 miles (how would they divide the sea?); (b) coastal shelf extends 200 n.m. from the coastline (when would the EEZ end?).
An exciting legal loophole emerges when you combine these questions.
The figure above shows two states with such seabed profile that area beyond 200 n.m. belongs to neither of them.
Who owns this area then?
International Law is unequivocal: this is international waters.

For the most part, you know what the borders of different countries look like.

 Barents Sea

But you're probably a lot less familiar with nautical sovereignty, the rights of which were formalized as recently as 1982.
A nation can claim rights to the area 200 nautical miles from its coast.
As the site points out, this is called an Exclusive Economic Zone.

Bering Sea
CHS map

But where it gets interesting is in the no man's land-the areas that are too far out for any one nation to claim.

 Philippine Sea

These are the so-called donut holes-aka international waters.

 Sea of Okhotsk

Thanks to the 200 mile rule that dictates EEZ zones, these little bits of leftover sea take on bizarre and arbitrary shapes-that you can bet pirates know like the back of their hands.

Links :

• Continental Shelf Limits: The Scientific and Legal Interface
• Mexico and USA agree to talk about oil rights in the Gulf of Mexico’s “Western Doughnut Hole”
• Uncharted waters
• Arctic donut hole

UK & misc. update in the Marine GeoGarage

As our public viewer is not yet available

(currently under construction, upgrading to Google Maps API v3 as v2 is officially no more supported),

this info is primarily intended to our B2B customers which use our nautical charts layers in their own webmapping applications through our GeoGarage API.

Today 953 charts (1813 including sub-charts) from UKHO
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

 8 charts have been withdrawn (766, 886, 1869, 1870, 2006, 2087, 2088, 4634) since the last update
and 6 charts have been added (1861, 1862, 1863, 3582, 3595, 4171)

638 charts for UK
(2 charts added
3582 South Atlantic Ocean, Harbours and Anchorages in South Georgia, Sheet 3
3595 South Atlantic Ocean, South Georgia, Central Sheet)

24 charts for Argentina :

• 226    International Chart Series, Antarctica - South Shetlands Islands, Deception Island.
• 227    Church Point to Cape Longing including James Ross Island
• 531    Plans on the Coast of Argentina
• 552    Plans on the Coast of Argentina
• 557    Mar del Plata to Comodoro Rivadavia
• 1302    Cabo Guardian to Punta Nava
• 1331    Argentina, Approaches to Bahia Blanca
• 1332    Isla de los Estados and Estrecho de le Maire
• 1751    Puerto de Buenos Aires
• 1982B    Rio Parana - Rosario to Parana
• 2505    Approaches to the Falkland Islands
• 2517    North-Western Approaches to the Falkland Islands
• 2519    South-Western Approaches to the Falkland Islands
• 3065    Punta Piedras to Quequen
• 3066    Quequen to Rio Negro
• 3067    Rio Negro to Isla Leones
• 3106    Isla Leones to Pto San Julian
• 3213    Plans in Graham Land
• 3560    Gerlache Strait  Northern Part
• 3566    Gerlache Strait  Southern Part
• 3755    Bahia Blanca
• 4063    Bellingshausen Sea to Valdivia
• 4200    Rio de la Plata to Cabo de Hornos
• 4207    Falkland Islands to Cabo Corrientes and Northeast Georgia Rise

27 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

13 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
• 680 Dubrovnik
• 1574 Otok Glavat to Ploce and Makarska
• 1580 Otocic Veliki Skolj to Otocic Glavat
• 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

 7 charts for Oman :

• 2853 Gulf of Oman, approaches to Sohar       
• 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
• 3762 Oman - South East coast, Ad Duqm

124 charts for Spain & Portugal :

• 45 Gibraltar Harbour
• 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
• 469 Alicante
• 473 Approaches to Alicante
• 518 Spain East Coast, Approaches to Valencia
• 562 Mediterranean Sea, Spain - East Coast, Valencia.
• 580 Al Hoceima, Melilla and Port Nador with Approaches
• 659 Angola, Port of Soyo and Approaches
• 690 Cabo Delgado to Mikindani Bay
• 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 Ilha de Madeira, Ponta Gorda de Sao Lourenco including the Port of Funchal
• 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 Bissau, 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
• 1861 North Atlantic Ocean – Islas Canarias, Gran Canaria to El Hierro   NEW
• 1862 North Atlantic Ocean – Islas Canarias, Lanzarote to Cabo Bojador   NEW
• 1863 Islas Canarias, Puerto de los Marmoles to Puerto del Rosario   NEW
• 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
• 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 Rio Mino
• 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

14 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
• 4112 North Atlantic Ocean, Iceland to Greenland

48 charts for South Africa :

• 578    Cape Columbine to Cape Seal
• 632    Hollandsbird Island to Cape Columbine
• 643    Durban Harbour
• 665    Approaches to Zanzibar
• 1236    Saldanha Bay
• 1806    Baia dos Tigres to Conception Bay
• 1846    Table Bay Docks and Approaches
• 1922    RSA - Simon's Bay
• 2078    Port Nolloth to Island Point
• 2095    Cape St Blaize to Port S. John's
• 3211    Zanzibar Harbour
• 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
• 3861    Namibia, Approaches to Luderitz
• 3869    Hottentot Point to Chamais 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
• 4160    Ngqura Harbour
• 4162    Approaches to East London
• 4163    Republic of South Africa, South East Coast, Mbashe Point to Port Shepstone
• 4170    Approaches to Durban
• 4171    Republic of South Africa – South East Coast, Port Shepstone to Tugela River   NEW
• 4172    Tugela River to Ponta do Ouro
• 4173    Approaches to Richards Bay
• 4174    Richards Bay Harbour
• 4205    Agulhas Plateau to Discovery Seamounts
• 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


55 international charts from NGA
( withdrawn :
766 Ellice Islands
2006 West Indies, Virgin Islands, Anegada to Saint Thomas)

•  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
• 501 South East Approaches to Trinidad
• 700 Maiana to Marakei
• 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
• 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
• 2658 Outer Approaches to Mina` al Jeddah (Jiddah)
• 2837 Strait of Hormuz to Qatar
• 2847 Qatar to Shatt al `Arab
• 3043 Red Sea, Ports on the coast of Egypt.
• 3102 Takoradi and Sekondi Bays
• 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
• 3493 Red Sea - Sudan, Bashayer Oil Terminals and Approaches.
• 3519 Southern Approaches to Masirah
• 3520 Khawr Kalba and Dawhat Diba to Gahha Shoal
• 3522 Approaches to Masqat and Mina' al Fahl
• 3530 Approaches to Berbera
• 3709 Gulf of Oman, United Arab Emirates, Port of Fujairah (Fujayrah) and Offshore Terminals.
• 3723 Gulf of Oman, United Arab Emirates, Approaches to Khawr Fakkan and Fujairah (Fujayrah).
• 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

Don't forget to visit the UKHO Notices to Mariners : NTM for 2014


UKHO chart catalogue availability


So today, for a cost of 9.9 € / month ('Premium Charts' subscription), you can have access to 2588 additional updated charts (4332 including sub-charts) coming from 3 international Hydrographic Services (UKHO, CHS, AHS and France).

Discovering the Ocean of childhood dreams

A Tale of Two Atolls from Save Our Seas Foundation

Save Our Seas Foundation's director of conservation and National Geographic Magazine photographer, Thomas P. Peschak, has always been fascinated by the ocean.

He has spent much of his career as a scientist and and photojournalist searching for a pristine marine wilderness.

He discovered his "holy grail" of marine environments in a remote section of the Mozambique Channel when he joined a Save Our Seas Foundation Expedition to Bassas Da India and Europa attols.

In this video he shares his experiences of some of the last perfect underwater ecosystems on the planet.

To compliment the National Geographic "A Tale of Two Attols" story in their April 2014 issue, the Save Our Seas Foundation is dedicating the month of April to an exploration of this pristine marine environment, showcasing this incredible habitat and looking at broader issues surrounding conservation in the Western Indian Ocean.
Follow the Journey to the Western Indian Ocean at: sosf.me/1kD1usT

Thomas Peschak documented the remote atolls of Bassas da India and Europa, which are among of the last vestiges of pristine seascape in the Indian Ocean, for the April issue of National Geographic magazine.

Together with cameraman Dan Beecham and writer Sunnye Collins, he created a behind the scenes video highlighting the process of photographing in this rare ecosystem.

As a kid, I used to dream about the ocean.

It was a wild place full of color and life.

I pictured dense shivers of sharks ruling over the food chain and herds of turtles paddling through reefs and seagrass.

As a marine biologist turned photographer, I have spent most of my career looking for the places I used to dream about when I was little.

I invite you all to travel back in time, to a place where my quest to experience my childhood dreams of a healthy and vibrant ocean became reality 30 years later.

I hope you let the ocean’s wonders nourish your heart and soul.

But above all, be inspired to engage and to do everything in your power to ensure that more seascapes recover and once again resemble the marine realm of Bassas da India and Europa.