Hydroptère for a Pacific crossing record attempt

L'Hydroptère DCNS

From Hydroptère

After a month-long delivery trip aboard a cargo ship, which left Toulon in southern France on 28 May 2012, l’Hydroptère DCNS made it safely into port in Los Angeles this Tuesday 5 July 2012.

The big carbon bird will be reassembled and relaunched in the Californian port of Long Beach, where she will be on weather stand-by for her Transpacific Record attempt.

photo Christophe Launay

The Transpac, or Transpacific, is one of the oldest yacht races in the world, since it was created back in 1906.

Every two years, for over a century, it has gathered together the greatest sailors on the planet, who come to do battle over the 2,215 nautical miles (4,102km), which separate Los Angeles from Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii.

This legendary course also forms the backdrop for a number of record attempts throughout the year.

To date, French sailor Olivier de Kersauson holds the transpacific record, which he set back in November 2005 at the helm of Geronimo, with a time of 4 days, 19 hours and 31 minutes, at an average speed of 19.17 knots (35.5km/hr on average).

As such, it is this nearly seven-year old benchmark, that Alain Thébault and his four crew – Luc Alphand, Jean Le Cam, Yves Parlier and Jacques Vincent – will be attempting to erase aboard l’Hydroptère DCNS.

The five sailors will initially position themselves in a ‘code red’ situation, as they await favourable conditions and prepare for the challenge on site.

As soon as a propitious weather window presents itself, they’ll switch to a ‘code orange’, which is synonymous with a departure within the next 72 hours.

Finally, if the weather window remains open, the ‘code green’ will be announced, with the crew readying themselves for a departure within the next 24 hours.

photo Christophe Launay

Alain Thébault gives his view of the situation: "I’m particularly happy to be able to attack this Transpacific record. After the long months of preparation and work, it’s a fantastic reward for the whole team and all those who are supporting us. We’re now going to be able to show what l'Hydroptère DCNS is made of."

Under the watchful eye of the inspectors from the WSSRC - the World Sailing Speed Record Council – who have to be on hand to approve the record, l’Hydroptère DCNS will then head out to the start line, which is situated offshore of the Point Fermin lighthouse, at the south-west tip of Los Angeles.

The moment the flying boat crosses the start line, the crew will have 4 days, 19 hours and 31 minutes, to make the finish, which is directly in line with the Diamond Head lighthouse, in the famous Waikiki Bay.

 photo Christophe Launay

To ensure l’Hydroptère DCNS has every chance of success, a team of engineers from DCNS is in Los Angeles working on the servo-control system for the aft stabiliser and completing the optimisation with a view to setting off on the record attempt.

This attempt is very much in keeping with l’Hydroptère DCNS’ offshore programme, whose aim is to demonstrate the offshore potential of ‘flying’ boats. Alain Thébault, her designer and skipper, has held the absolute speed sailing record over a nautical mile (an average speed of 50.17 knots or 95km/hr) since 2009 and eventually aims to develop a maxi-hydroptère capable of securing the greatest offshore records.

As such the Transpacific Record is another important step along the way.

Scientists point out reason behind North Atlantic phytoplankton bloom

In May 2010, peacock-hued swirls of blue and green in the North Atlantic contained tiny organisms, phytoplankton, that grow explosively in the North Atlantic—from Iceland to the shores of France—in the spring and summer.

(Photo: NASA/MODIS Rapid Response Team)

From RedOrbit

Scientists studying the annual growth of tiny plants in the North Atlantic Ocean have discovered that this year’s growth spurt began before the sun was able to offer the light needed to fuel the yearly phenomenon.

The annual growth spurt of plankton, which is known as the North Atlantic Bloom, takes place each Spring, and results in an immense number of phytoplankton bursting into existence — first “greening,” then “whitening” the sea as one or more species take the place of others.

In winter, cooling and strong winds generate mixing that pushes phytoplankton into deeper waters, robbing them of sunlight, but drawing up nutrients from depths.
As winter turns to spring, days become longer.
Phytoplankton are then exposed to more sunlight, fueling their growth.
But this year’s discovery initially puzzled researchers, since for decades the phytoplankton have required the longer days and calmer seas of Spring to fuel their growth.

Plankton blooms in the North Atlantic in this photo taken in spring, 2012.
(NASA Earth Observatory)

However, the current study suggests evidence of another trigger.
The researchers found that whirlpools, or eddies, that swirl across the North Atlantic sustain phytoplankton in the ocean’s shallower waters, where the plankton can get plenty of sunlight to fuel their growth even before the longer days of spring begin.
The eddies form when heavier, colder water from the north slips under the lighter, warmer water from the south.
The study revealed that the eddies cause the bloom to begin about three weeks earlier than would otherwise be the case if the growth was spurred only by the longer days of Spring.

“That timing makes a significant difference if you think about the animals that eat the phytoplankton,” said Eric D’Asaro of the University of Washington (UW), one of the study’s co-authors.
Many small sea animals spend the winter dozing in the deep ocean, emerging in the spring and summer to feed on the phytoplankton.
“If they get the timing wrong, they’ll starve,” Craig Lee of UW’s Applied Physics Laboratory and School of Oceanography said.
Since fish eat these tiny sea animals, any reduction in their number could harm the fish population.

The North Atlantic Bloom is also important to the global carbon cycle, since Springtime blooms of microscopic plants in the ocean absorb enormous quantities of carbon dioxide, emitting oxygen via photosynthesis.

Their growth contributes to the oceanic uptake of carbon dioxide, amounting globally to about one-third of the carbon dioxide we put into the air each year through the burning of fossil fuels. Indeed, the North Atlantic is critical to this process, and is responsible for more than 20 percent of the ocean’s uptake of CO2.

“Our results show that, due to eddies, the bloom starts even before the sun begins to warm the ocean,” said Amala Mahadevan, an oceanographer at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and lead author of a paper about the study published in the journal Science.
“Every undergraduate who takes an introductory oceanography course learns about the ecological and climate significance of the North Atlantic Bloom – as well as what causes it,” said Don Rice, program director in National Science Foundation’s Division of Ocean Sciences, which funded the research.
“This study reminds us that, when it comes to the ocean, the things we think we know hold some big surprises.”

 The satellite image, with eddies clearly visible, shows chlorophyll concentration in the North Atlantic during the spring phytoplankton bloom.

Scientists have long known that widespread springtime blooms take up enormous quantities of carbon dioxide, creating organic matter and emitting oxygen.

The North Atlantic is an especially crucial region, responsible for more than 20 percent of the entire ocean’s uptake of human-generated carbon dioxide.

New understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms of the annual blooms allows them to be represented more accurately in global models of the oceanic carbon cycle and improves the models' predictive capability.

(Courtesy of Bror Jonsson, Princeton University, and MODIS satellite data, NASA)

The newly discovered mechanism helps explain the timing of the spring and summer bloom, known to mariners and fishermen for centuries and clearly visible in satellite images. It also offers a new look at why the bloom has a patchy appearance: it is shaped by the eddies that modulate its formation.

But making the discovery was not without its challenges.
“Working in the North Atlantic Ocean is challenging, but we were able to track a patch of seawater off Iceland and follow the progression of the bloom in a way that hadn’t been done before,” said study co-author Mary Jane Perry of the University of Maine.
“Our field work was set up with floats, gliders and research ships that all worked tightly together,” said D’Asaro.
“They were in the same area, so we could put together a cohesive picture of the bloom.”

The scientists focused on phytoplankton known as diatoms, which live in glass houses — walls made of silica.
“When conditions are right, diatoms blooms spread across hundreds of miles of ocean, bringing life-sustaining food to sometimes barren waters,” said Lee.

In April, 2008, Lee, Perry and colleagues arrived in a storm-lashed North Atlantic aboard the Icelandic research vessel Bjarni Saemundsson.
They launched custom-designed robots in the rough seas, along with a float that hovered below the water’s surface to follow the motion of the sea.
Lurking alongside the float were six-foot-long, teardrop-shaped gliders that dove to depths of up to 3,000 ft. After each dive, the gliders, working in areas up to 30 miles around the float, rose to the surface, pointed their antennas skyward and transmitted their stored data back to shore.
The float and gliders measured the temperature, salinity and velocity of the water, and gathered information about the chemistry and biology of the bloom itself—oxygen, nitrate and the optical signatures of the phytoplankton.
In total, scientists aboard two ships, the WHOI-operated research vessel Knorr and the Bjarni Saemundsson, visited the area four times.

Soon after the measurements from the floats and gliders started coming in, the scientists perceived that the bloom had started even though surface conditions still looked winter-like.
“It was apparent that some new mechanism, other than surface warming, was behind the bloom initiation,” said D’Asaro.

Mahadevan used sophisticated three-dimensional computer modeling to analyze the information collected at sea by Perry, D’Asaro and Lee.
She generated eddies in the model from a south-to-north variation of temperature in the ocean. Without these, the bloom happened several weeks later, and didn’t have the space and time structures observed in the North Atlantic.

In the future, the scientists hope to put the North Atlantic bloom into a wider context.
They believe much can be learned by following the phytoplankton’s evolution across an entire year, especially with gliders and floats outfitted with new sensors.
The sensors would also look at the tiny animals that graze on the phytoplankton.

Ocean physics, particularly what we are learning about eddies, is intrinsic to life in the ocean, the researchers said.
They shape the oceanic ecosystem in numerous ways.
For instance, no phytoplankton means no zooplankton, and no zooplankton means no fish.

Furthermore, eddies and phytoplankton play an important role in the oceanic cycling of carbon, without which we would have a different climate on Earth, the researchers noted.
“We envision using the gliders and float to make measurements—and models—of ocean physics, chemistry and biology that span wide regions of the world ocean,” said D’Asaro.

That would spark a new understanding of the sea, all from a tiny plankton that each spring and summer blooms by the millions and millions, Lee added.
“What we’re learning about eddies is that they’re a critical part of life in the ocean,” said Perry.
“They shape ocean ecosystems in countless ways.”

Links :

• Phys : Scientists discover new trigger for immense North Atlantic Ocean spring plankton bloom

Beirut set sail in the 'The Rip TIde'

From RollingStone

The debut music video from director Houmam Abdallah combines the real with the surreal as we follow a wandering boat into a world where art and nature merge.

In the new video for "The Rip Tide," indie folk group Beirut present serene, mesmerizing scenery with a boat sailing on the sea.
As singer-songwriter Zach Condon sings over beautifully layered orchestral arrangements, the little boat continues on its way, drifting along the wind and the currents.
As the video approaches the end, gorgeous, ethereal clouds of crimson and blue envelop the sailboat, draping the ship in constantly changing colors.
The clip soothes until the climax, taking the video's visual reality to magical heights.

The new video for the title track of Beirut's current album, The Rip Tide was inspired by Salvador Dali, Georges Seurat and JMW Turner whose glorious use of light and colour is evoked in this nautical adventure.

Greenland: Like the most beautiful woman

From TheSailNews

A wise man once said that Greenland is just like the most beautiful woman you have ever seen. And she just keeps on surprising you

>>> geolocalization with the Marine GeoGarage <<<<

Haukur Sigurdsson boarded the Auroa in Kulusuk and immediately got to experience to the local traditions when a young local shoot his first whale just outside the 60 foot steel yacht.

Sigurdsson went with the adventure company Borea Adventures to the fjords on the east coast of Greenland, and he tells a story of  ”amazing views of high mountains, glaciers, huge icebergs everywhere, seals and whales.
We anchored in fjords and bays where we were all alone, places with names such as Sivinganeq, Ikasaulaq and Akiliaitseq.
We walked to the top of mountains, paddled on kayaks, picked mussels, fished for trout, and some swam in the sea.
In the evenings we drank wine, ate good food that usually was fresh from the local waters, played cards and told stories. One evening we even had a full moon beach party.”

You can read the full story here.

Introducing Mission Aquarius - Dive into an underwater laboratory

This may be the final mission to Aquarius Reef Base, the world's last remaining underwater science lab.

Since 1993, America's "inner space station" has helped us understand the disappearance of coral reefs, train NASA astronauts for space and research sea sponges, the source of two cancer drugs.

The discoveries made at Aquarius have opened our eyes to how little we really know about the vast complexity of the ocean.

It is one of the planet's most important brain trusts, and it is about to be closed.

From HuffingtonPost 

Four aquanauts have spent the last week living and working beneath the waves off Florida's coast, conducting research that could help future astronauts explore an asteroid in deep space.

The adventurers are living 62 feet (19 meters) underwater inside the Aquarius research station — which is about 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) from Key Largo — on an undersea mock asteroid mission that began June 11.
It's the 16th expedition of the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations program, or NEEMO.
The main goal of NEEMO 16, which wraps up on Friday (June 22), is to help NASA prepare for a manned mission to a near-Earth asteroid, a key priority for the space agency.
In 2010, President Barack Obama directed NASA to work toward getting astronauts to a space rock by 2025, then on to the vicinity of Mars by the mid-2030s.
"We are here to do science and to understand things here on Earth before we spend large amounts of money and go out into space," NASA astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, NEEMO 16's leader, told SPACE.com in an undersea interview last Friday (June 15).
"So we're learning a lot here, figuring out what works and what doesn't work before we go out into space." [Photos: NEEMO 16 Undersea 'Asteroid' Mission]

Undersea 'spacewalks'

Metcalf-Lindenburger talked to SPACE.com while outside Aquarius, on a simulated spacewalk.
She and the other three aquanauts — European Space Agency astronaut Timothy Peake, Japanese spaceflyer Kimiya Yui and Cornell University professor Steve Squyres — are spending a lot of time out in the water.
"We have a very aggressive spacewalk agenda," Metcalf-Lindenburger said.
"We are doing two people out the door in the morning and two in the afternoon, which requires at least one person being the crewmember inside speaking to the spacewalkers."

The crewmembers' activities during NEEMO 16 focus on three core areas, NASA officials have said: dealing with communication delays, figuring out optimum crew sizes and coming up with ways to attach to an asteroid.
"We've looked at tethers that were tightly pulled, and we've used what we call a boom, which is basically a long pole," Metcalf-Lindenburger said.
"I gotta tell you, it's a lot of fun." Squyres, who is the lead scientist for NASA's Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers, is also having a good time on NEEMO 16.
In a recent mock spacewalk, he fastened his feet to a small submarine, then was driven around from spot to spot.
This technique (with a spacecraft substituting for the sub, of course) could be used to help astronauts explore an asteroid while keeping their hands free.
So the exercise was a useful one — but it was also a lot of fun, Squyres said.
"I would be remiss if I didn't say something about the cool factor in all of this," he wrote in a NEEMO 16 blog post Sunday (June 17).
"At the start of today's EVA [extravehicular activity], I was floating above the bottom, listening to the voice communications in my headset and watching for the sub. Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, I saw the lights coming toward me through the blue mist. It was like being inside a science fiction movie. And then, once we were flying about the surface — man, I've never experienced anything like it."

Serious mission

Aquarius is the world's only undersea research station, according to NASA officials.
It's owned by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and managed by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
The research station sits on a sandy patch of seafloor next to coral reefs in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
So the aquanauts share the water with lots of intriguing wildlife, including colorful reef fish.
"I love being out here in the water," said Metcalf-Lindenburger, who flew on the space shuttle Discovery's STS-131 mission in 2010.
"Usually we're so focused when we're doing our work outside that we don't get to really appreciate the fish around us. But the fish out here this morning are just super-interesting, and it's really just a pleasure to be out here."
However, she stressed the serious nature of the aquanauts' work, and its potential importance to future generations of space explorers.
Before sending humans into deep space, "we would want to have a good plan," she said.
"We're doing some of that early work, so that we'll have a good plan when we go to explore an asteroid."

Links :

• NASASpaceFlight
• Blog GeoGarage : Aquanauts : space exploration starts at the bottom of the sea