Image of the week : tidal flats and channels, Long Island, Bahamas

Astronaut photography acquired on November 27, 2010 by Expedition 26 crew

From NASA

The islands of the Bahamas are situated on large depositional platforms—the Great and Little Bahama Banks—composed mainly of carbonate sediments ringed by reefs.
The islands are the only parts of the platform currently exposed above sea level.
The sediments were formed mostly from the skeletal remains of organisms settling to the sea floor; over geologic time, these sediments consolidated to form carbonate sedimentary rocks such as limestone.

This astronaut photograph provides a view of tidal flats and channels near Sandy Cay, on the western side of Long Island and along the eastern margin of the Great Bahama Bank.

-> Location with the Marine GeoGarage and Bahamas nautical charts layer

The continuously exposed parts of the island are brown, a result of soil formation and vegetation growth.
To the north of Sandy Cay, an off-white tidal flat composed of carbonate sediments is visible; light blue-green regions indicate shallow water on the tidal flat.
The tidal flow of seawater is concentrated through gaps in the land surface, leading to the formation of relatively deep channels that cut into the sediments.
The channels and areas to the south of the island have a vivid blue color that indicates deeper water.

'Iceberg cowboy' finds archway in the middle of ocean

A strange sight greeted biologists recently:
an iceberg archway, floating in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

From FoxNews

Forget moving mountains.
Marine biologist Andrew Perry moves icebergs.
And his latest adventure led to the discovery of an icy archway, right in the middle of the ocean.
Perry was out trawling for icebergs with Oceans Limited, a Canadian company that identifies which of the tremendous floaters are drifting towards stationary deep-water oil rigs, when he found the arch -- think Stargate meets portal to Narnia.

"It was a beautiful day, hardly a wave on the water. And then there it was -- a big beautiful arch," Perry told.
"No one had seen anything like this. We thought it was amazing."
Icebergs routinely break off Greenland and float down the Labrador coast, Perry explained, a corridor he called "iceberg alley".
Along the way, they post a direct threat to deep-water oil installations.
Though they don't move particularly quickly -- typically one to four knots -- they've got enough bulk to do major damage if they hit anything, he explained.
"We recorded some upwards of 350,000 tons" Perry said.
Oceans Limited moves smaller icebergs by training water cannons on them for hours.
"That's for the smaller ones, we call them growlers".
It's much cheaper to move the icebergs, even the very large ones, than to disconnect the oil rig and move it, he pointed out: moving a rig costs millions, while operating a small boat costs about $25,000 per day.

So Perry's company either lassos the big boys with a single boat or corrals them with a net dragged between two boats.
Icebergs don't move particularly fast, Perry explained, so changing their course can take quite a while, but they don't have to move too many each year.

"Depending on the ice season, they may have to tow 10 to 20 ... during the 2009 season we profiled around 60 icebergs to get computer generated 3D images," Perry said.
But he had never run into an iceberg like this one before.
Icebergs are often seen as just giant chunks of compressed water, not stunning works of natural art.
Yet beautifully sculpted icebergs like the one Perry found are actually fairly common, thanks to the natural forces of the seas and the skies, explained Ted Scambos, lead scientist for the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
"Complex, sculptured icebergs like this are usually formed from ice that broke off of fast-flowing glaciers," Scambos said.
"It starts off as a rugged piece of ice that waves and sunshine then sculpt."
Sure, but how did this iceberg form in such a stunning fashion?
Wave action, Scambos explained, and it's more common than you might think.
"As the waves begin to pound out a dimple in the ice facewall, it focuses the wave energy, leading to more rapid erosion at the center.
So, with time, the waves carve through the face to the other side.
"It's not the first one I've seen, but it's the most artistic."
Icebergs are surprisingly noisy as well, according to Perry. They're constantly moving and cracking, he said. The arch "sounded like shotguns being fired off all the time, due to the ice cracking."

And what to do with all of that ice?
Perry and his fellow biologists have a unique use for icebergs: they put them in cocktails.
"To be honest it's the cleanest water you can get. The air bubbles trapped in it are under so much pressure the ice fizzes when it melts."
"Who doesn't want 500,000-year-old ice in their drink?" he joked.

Happy New Year 2011

2011 is a prime number.

So this year will be a prime year.
What to wish, then ?
A sea of love and love of the sea.

Bye 2010

Good bye waves

End of holidays at Guétary.
See you in 2011.

Barcelona WR : second edition for the two-handed world race

Imagine two skippers on a boat (IMOCA Open 60), fighting alongside other skippers as they compete in a crazy race of… 46,300 km !
A true round the world, non-stop sailing tour, with the start and finish line in the same place – Barcelona !

Presentation

The Barcelona World Race 2010 is the second edition of an excitingly mad race that takes place every four years.
The first was held in 2007/08, the third will (logically) take place in 2014.
To know more about the previous edition, click here.
Absolutely unique the Barcelona World Race is the only round the world yacht race that is double-handed (two co-skippers per boat) in which no external assistance is permitted or there is a penalty.
Read : solo and two-handed, two similar but not equal ways to sail
The race is organized by the Fundació Navegació Oceànica in Barcelona, and starts on 31st December 2010 at 13 h just in front of the Hotel W in the port of Barcelona.
The arrival is estimated for the end of March 2011!

The route

The departure and arrival will be in Barcelona with three different points of passage at the three Capes (Good Hope, Leeuwin, Horn) and the Cook Strait.
The approximate length of the course is 25,000 nautical miles or for non-sailing minds, 46,300 km !

The teams

Once again this year the best skippers in the world will line up at the start for the Barcelona World Race.

There are 15 teams registered, 6 more than in 2007 that proves just how successful the race has become :
- Central Lechera Asturiana with Juan Merediz and Fran Palacio (Spain)
- Estrella Damm Saling Team with Alex Pella and Pepe Ribes, the 2 Barcelona residents in the competition
- Mapfre with Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez (Spain)
- Foncia, the 100% French team with François Gabart and the Star Michel Desjoyeaux
- Forum Maritim Catala with Gerard Marin and Ludovic Aglaor (Spain)
- Fruit with Krzysztof Owczarek (Poland) and Armand Coursodon (France)
- Gaes Centros Auditivos, the only female team in the competition with Barcelona local Anna Corbella and English woman Dee Caffari
- Groupe Bel, another French team with Kito de Pavant and Sébastien Audigane
- Hugo Boss with Alex Thomson (UK) and Andy Meiklejohn (New-Zealand)
- Mirabaud the only couple taking part in the competition, Dominique Wavre (Switzerland) and his real life partner Michèle Paret (France)
- Neutrogena Formula Noruega with Boris Herrmann (Germany) and Ryan Breymaier (USA)
- Président with Frenchman Jean le Cam and Barcelona’s Bruno Garcia
- Renault, 100% Spanish team with Antonio Piris and Pachi Rivero, the only Spaniard who will be taking the start line for the second time in the Barcelona World Race
- Virbac-Paprec 3 a very well-known French duo of Jean-Pierre Dick and the famous Loïck Peyron
- We Are Water with the surprising Barcelona duo Jaume Mumbru and Cali Sanmarti

Links :

• BWR 2010 : First International Congress of Ocean Sailing and the Environment