From shimmering sunsets to raging seas: a year of RNLI life saving caught on camera from coasts around UK

A compilation of genuine rescue footage taken from the RNLI's lifeboats, lifeguards and Flood Rescue Team at work around the UK and Republic of Ireland throughout 2012.

RNLI YouTube videos

From DailMail

The bravery of our nation's lifeboat crew members has been captured in this dramatic set of pictures taken around the UK's coast.

The photos show the courageous life-saving duties of volunteers and crew in the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

Lifeboats submerged in stormy seas, crews returning from a weary night of work and boats battling against the waves were all entries in the annual RNLI photo competition.

Calm before the storm: Crew member Bob Warick's photograph captures a Royal National Lifeboat Institution boat at sunset in New Brighton and won him a place in the final

Heroic: John Julian's photograph shows a rescue boat crashing against rough water off the coast of St Agnes, in Cornwall. The photo made the final of RNLI competition

Winning photo: Neville Murphy won the Royal National Lifeboat Institution photography competition with his photo, The Calm, showing kit belonging to crew members

Volunteer crew member Neville Murphy, originally from Dunmore East in the Republic of Ireland, was the overall winner with his photo, The Calm, showing yellow lifeboat crew kit hanging up ready for action.
A picture of a boat's bow protruding from the sea won second place in the competition by volunteer crew member Paul Collins, from Abersoch, Wales.

His photo shows a rescue when three people had to jump overboard after their powerboat started taking on water. 
When the crew arrived there was just 2ft of the boat left on view.

Rare sight: Noel Packer, a shore-helper, captured the calm after the storm as the crew arrived home after a rescue mission with a rainbow in the sky

Brave: Paul Collins came second in the Royal National Lifeboat Institution photography competition with this picture showing an up tuned boat in Abersoch, Wales

A Helping Hand, taken by Jake Clifford during a major first aid incident on Weymouth beach, came third in the in the competition which captured work of brave lifeboat crew

Undaunted: Paul Ashworth who is based in Fleetword captured a lifeboat tilting at 45 degrees as it powered through rough seas in Blackpool

Jake Clifford, RNLI supervisor for Weymouth and West Dorset, won third place for his dramatic photo, A Helping Hand, taken during a major first aid incident on Weymouth beach. 
Jake and the other members of the crew cleared the landing site for a rescue helicopter to take the casualty to hospital.

Other photos include a lifeboat tilting at 45 degrees as it powers through the rough seas in Blackpool, taken by coxswain Paul Ashworth, based in Fleetwood.
Another has been taken at an angle by second coxswain Stuart Tibbett through a sea-splattered lens as the lifeboat rushes to an incident in Bridlington, East Yorkshire.

Courageous: Lifeguard Phil Taylor snapped this photo of a yacht being towed in Weymouth beach, Dorset , in stormy seas, which made it to the final of the competition

class="blkBorder" height="576" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/01/10/article-2260075-16D9AA3C000005DC-558_470x423.jpg" width="640" />
Lifesavers: Tim Royall's photo (above) shows a RNLI boat at night in St Ives, in Cornwall,

while Jamie McHale snapped the side of his lifeboat in Bridlington 

Second Coxswain Stuart Tibbett took this picture through a sea-splattered lens as the lifeboat rushes to an incident in Bridlington, East Yorkshire

Noel Packer, a shore-helper in Dungeness, Kent, has captured the calm after the storm as the crew arrives home after a rescue mission, with a rainbow in the sky behind them.
While inshore crew member Phil Taylor's photo shows a boat being towed in at Weymouth beach in Dorset.

The RNLI is a charity which provides a 24-hour lifeboat search and rescue service.
It has saved more than 139,000 lives since its foundation in 1824 as the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck.
The name was changed to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1854, and cork life jackets were first issued to crew members in the same year.
The 20th century saw the RNLI continue to save lives at sea through two world wars.
Lifeboats moved from sail and oar power to petrol and diesel and the first women joined their crews.
Recent years have seen a significant expansion of the service with the introduction of RNLI lifeguards.
A spokesman for the RNLI said: 'The RNLI encourages its volunteer crews and lifeguards to take photos when possible, to illustrate the lifesaving work they do and help build public support for the charity.'

Australia AHS update in the Marine GeoGarage

Aus132 Port Augusta

8 charts have been added in the Marine GeoGarage (AHS update 20/12/2012)

• Aus67 Australia West Coast - Western Australia - Barrow Island Wapet Landing
• Aus132 Australia South Coast - South Australia - Approaches to Port Augusta
• Aus196 Australia East Coast - New South Wales - Port Botany
• Aus842 Australia - Papua New Guinea - Torres Strait - Varzin Passage to Unji Point
• Aus841 Australia- Papua New Guinea - Torres Strait - Kirkaldie Reef to Boigu Island
• Aus83 Australia - West Coast - Plans in Western Australia (Sheet5)
• Aus485 Australia South Coast - South Australia - Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent
• Aus129 Australia - South Coast - South Australia - Approaches to Nepean Bay

32 charts have been updated in the Marine GeoGarage (AHS update 20/12/2012)

• Aus318    Australia North West Coast - Western Australia - Pelican Island to Penguin Shoal
• Aus4722    Australia North West Coast - Adele Island to Dampier including Adjacent Waters
• Aus829    Australia East Coast - Queensland - Brook Islands to Russell Island
• Aus328    Australia North West Coast - Western Australia - Montebello Islands to North West Cape
• Aus329    Australia North West Coast - Western Australia - North West Cape to Point Cloates
• Aus4723    Australia - North West Coast - Java to North West Cape
• Aus325    Australia - North West Coast - Western Australia - Rowley Shoals to Bedout Islet
• Aus326    Australia North West Coast - Western Australia - Bedout Islet to Port Walcott
• Aus327    Australia North West Coast - Western Australia - Port Walcott to Montebello Islands
• Aus367    Australia East Coast - Queensland - North Reef to Pine Peak Island
• Aus728    Australia North West Coast - Western Australia - Eclipse Islands to Cape Voltaire
• Aus745    Australia West Coast - Western Australia - North West Cape to Point Maud
• Aus828    Australia East Coast - Queensland - Palm Isles to Brook Islands and Palm Passage
• Aus242    Australia East Coast - Queensland - Port Bundaberg including Burnett River
• Aus739    Australia North West Coast - Western Australia - Bedout Islet to Port Hedland
• Aus740    Australia North West Coast - Western Australia - Port Hedland to Port Walcott
• Aus741    Australia North West Coast - Western Australia - Approaches to Dampier Archipelago
• Aus742    Australia Nortth West Coast - Western Australia - Rosemary Island to Barrow Island
• Aus259    Australia East Coast - Queensland - Hinchinbrook Channel
• Aus840    Australia - Papua New Guinea - Torres Strait - Arden Islet to East Cay
• Aus920    Indian Ocean - Plans in Christmas Island
• Aus751    Australia West Coast - Western Australia - Houtman Abrolhos and Geelvink Channel
• Aus208    Australia East Coast - New South Wales - Newcastle Harbour
• Aus120    Australia South Coast - South Australia - Approaches to Thevenard
• Aus125    Australia South Coast - Plans in South Australia (Sheet 1)
• Aus837    Australia East Coast - Queensland - Olinda Entrance to Meer Island
• Aus674    Papua New Guinea - New Britain - North Coast - Approaches To Kimbe including Buluma
• Aus777    Australia South Coast - South Australia - Winceby Island to Point Riley
• Aus839    Australia North East Coast - Queensland - Cairncross Islets to Arden Island

• Aus4   Australia North Coast - Queensland - Approaches to Weipa
• Aus296   Australia North Coast - Torres Strait - Prince of Wales Channel to Varzvin Passage
• Aus646   Papua New Guinea - North Coast - Approaches to Madang

 20 charts have been withdrawn since the last update :

• Aus289   Gannet and Varzin Passages
  
• Aus308   Goulburn Islands to Melville Island
• Aus345   Gulf of St. Vincent and Approaches
• Aus364   Clarence River to Cape Moreton
• Aus365   Cape Moreton to Sandy Cape
• Aus366   Sandy Cape to Keppel Isles
• Aus402   Casey Bay to Cape Darnley
• Aus414   Rowley Shoals to Lombok Strait
• Aus415   Cape Leveque to North West Cape
• Aus416   Montebello Islands to Geraldton
• Aus417   Geraldton to Cape Leeuwin
• Aus422   Cape Otway to Gabo Island - including Tasmania
• Aus423   Eddystone Point to Port Jackson
• Aus424   Port Jackson to Fraser Island
• Aus426   Fraser Island to Cumberland Islands
• Aus442   Australia North Coast - Cape Don to Cape Wessel
• Aus444   South Australia - St Vincent and Spencer Gulfs
• Aus462   North Cape, New Ireland to Wuvulu Island
• Aus654   Plans In Papua New Guinea
• Aus676   Plans In New Britain

Today 459 AHS raster charts (778 including sub-charts) are included in the Marine GeoGarage viewer. 
Note : AHS updates their nautical charts with corrections published in:

• Australian Notices to Mariners

Brazil DHN update in the Marine GeoGarage

new charts for Rio Paraguai

23 charts have been added since the last update :
(DHN update January 4, 2013)

• 3335      DO RIACHO GUAICURUS À ILHA SANTA MARIA
• 3339      DA ILHA CAMBÁ NUPÁ À ILHA JOSÉ KIRÁ
• 3342      DE FORTE OLIMPO AO PASSO CURUÇU CANCHA
• 3344      DA ILHA DO RABO DA EMA À ILHA DO ALGODOAL
• 3345      DA ILHA DO ALGODOAL À VOLTA RÁPIDA
• 3346      DA VOLTA RÁPIDA À ILHA DO CHAPÉU
• 3347      DA ILHA PORTO NOVO À ILHA CAPÃO QUEIMADO
• 3348      DO PUERTO ESPERANZA À ILHA CABEÇA DE BOI
• 3349      DA ILHA SEPUTÁ À FOZ DO RIO NEGRO
• 3350      DA FOZ DO RIO NEGRO À ISLA PATATIVA
• 3351      DA ILHA SANTA FÉ AO PASSO REBOJO GRANDE
• 3352      DO PASSO DO REBOJO GRANDE À ILHA DO MARCO
• 3353      DO ESTIRÃO DE COIMBRA À ILHA PARATUDAL
• 3354      DO PASSO PIÚVA INFERIOR À ILHA DOS BUGRES
• 3355      DA ILHA DOS BUGRES À ILHA NABILEQUE
• 3356      DO PASSO DO CONSELHO À VOLTA DO ACURIZAL
• 3357      DA VOLTA DO ACURIZAL AO RIACHO DO ABRIGO
• 3358      DA ORÇADA DE SÃO JOSÉ À ILHA CARAGUATÁ
• 3359      DA ILHA CARAGUATÁ À ILHA CAMBARÁ FERRADO
• 3360      DO ESTIRÃO CAMBARÁ FERRADO AO PASSO ABOBRAL
• 2791      LAGO DE BRASÍLIA - PARTE CENTRAL  (02/10/2012)
• 2792      LAGO DE BRASÍLIA  (02/10/2012)
• 21400      DO CABO MAGUARI À PONTA BOIUÇUCANGA   (28/09/2012)

Today 356 charts (406 including sub-charts) from DHN are displayed in the Marine GeoGarage
Don't forget to visit the NtM Notices to Mariners (Avisos aos Navegantes)

Global mercury pollution in oceans top layer doubled in last century

There's a tight and surprising link between the ocean's health and ours, says marine biologist Stephen Palumbi.

He shows how toxins at the bottom of the ocean food chain find their way into our bodies, with a shocking story of toxic contamination from a Japanese fish market.

His work points a way forward for saving the oceans' health -- and humanity's.

From HuffingtonPost

Mercury pollution in the top layer of the world's oceans has doubled in the past century, part of a man-made problem that will require international cooperation to fix, the U.N.'s environment agency said Thursday.

The report by the U.N. Environment Program showed for the first time that hundreds of tons of mercury have leaked from the soil into rivers and lakes around the world.

As a result of rising emissions, communities in developing countries face increasing health and environmental risks linked to exposure to mercury, the U.N. agency says.

Fish are often contaminated with mercury, a toxic metal that builds up as it climbs the food chain.

Here are the average levels for 33 fish species, in parts per million

(source : MNN)

Mercury, a toxic metal, is widely used in chemical production and small-scale mining, particularly gold. It is a naturally occurring element that is found in air, water and soil, and it cannot be created or destroyed.

Mercury emissions come from sources such as coal burning and the use of mercury to separate metal from ore in small-scale gold mining, and mercury pollution also comes from discarded electronic and other consumer products.
Mercury in the air settles into soil from where it can then seep into water.

The report, an update on its previous global tallies of mercury in 2002 and 2007, comes in advance of talks in Geneva next week between nations negotiating a new legally binding treaty to reduce mercury emissions worldwide.

Such a treaty would represent a major reversal from previous years when major powers including the United States, China and India sought voluntary reductions.

Mercury concentrations accumulate in fish and go up the food chain, posing the greatest risk of nerve damage to pregnant women, women of childbearing age and young children.

The report says parts of Africa, Asia and South America could see increasing emissions of mercury into the environment mainly due to small-scale gold mining, and through coal burning for electricity. It found that mercury emissions from artisanal gold mining had doubled since 2005 due to factors such as rising gold prices and better reporting on the emissions.

Asia accounts for just under half of all global releases of mercury, the report said.

Over the past 100 years, mercury found in the top 100 meters of the world's oceans has doubled and concentrations in waters deeper than that have gone up by 25 percent, the U.N. agency said, while rivers and lakes contain an estimated 260 metric tons of mercury that was previously held in soils.

UNEP's executive director, Achim Steiner, said mercury pollution remains "a major global, regional and national challenge in terms of threats to human health and the environment" but new technologies can reduce the risks.

Links :

• TheGuardian : Mercury poisoning is a growing global menace we have to address
• BBC : UN: Rising mercury emissions increase risk to humans
• IEDE : Treaty “Insufficient” to Reduce Global Mercury Levels
  

 

NOAA chart reveals underwater hazard for proposed anchorage area

>>> geolocalization with the Marine GeoGarage <<<

From NOAA

Similar to a road map, nautical charts provide basic navigation information for mariners – such as water depths and the locations of hazards – to support safe navigation. 

Cartographers from NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey recently flagged a potentially dangerous situation during their review of a proposed federal rule establishing new anchorage areas on the Mississippi River.

The proposed anchorage areas were based on non-NOAA charts that did not depict the underwater pipelines.

The pipelines, which carry benzene, posed a potential danger if ships dropped anchor on top of them.

The pipeline areas are depicted on the NOAA nautical chart (#11370 Mississippi River-New Orleans to Baton Rouge 1:40,000)

That chart data and original source files led to the cancellation of the proposed anchorage area.

The Office of Coast Survey is the US nation's nautical chart maker, providing traditional paper charts as well as the charts used by commercial electronic navigational systems.

The suite of nearly a thousand nautical charts covers 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline.