Now that's living art: British sculptor's underwater creations are transformed by coral and sea-life off the coast of Mexico

From DailyMail

• British sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor co-founded the Museo Subacuatico de Arte in Cancun, Mexico, in 2009.
• Over the years he has installed more than 450 works of art in the underwater museum
• Some sculptures are barely recognisable after coral, sea urchins and other marine life have made them their homes

Transformation: Jason deCaires Taylor's sculpture of Brian, the owner of a Harley Davidson showroom in Canada, has been taken over by marine life in the Museum of Subaquatic Art in Cancun, Mexico 

While most artists would be distraught at their work being vandalised, one sculptor believes the erosion of his underwater pieces by marine life has only made them better.
More than 450 figurative sculptures have been installed in the underwater museum, the Museo Subacuatico de Arte, since British sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor co-founded it back in 2009 off the coast of Cancun, Mexico.
But many of the artworks, all part of 'The Silent Evolution' project', are unrecognisable today after coral, sea urchins and other marine life have taken them over as their new home.
 

Underwater artwork: A sculpture based on a local school teacher called Veronica, pictured left, is now encrusted with coral and covered in sea urchins.

Pictured above is another piece from 'The Silent Evolution' project which has been transformed by sea-life over the years

New home: This work by deCaires Taylor is based on Paz, a local fisherman from Acapulco.

It is located 10 metres below the sea surface in the Museum of Subaquatic Art in Cancun, Mexico, and is now home to a vast array of sea-life

The 39-year-old said: 'When I place them underwater it is the beginning of their lifecycle. For me they only come alive when they have their underwater patina.

'They are made from inert cement but when you see the skin of capillaries and tubular networks of the marine life and sponges colonising them, it makes them feel immortal.'

The sculptures are all based on real-life people including Brian, the owner of a Harley Davidson showroom in Canada; Paz, a fisherman from Acapulco, Mexico; and Veronica, a local school teacher.

Over time the works have become encrusted with hundreds of luridly-coloured sea sponges, spiny sea urchins and marine plants called hydroids, capable of delivering a nasty sting when touched.

Coming to life: Jason deCaires Taylor believes the sculptures only come alive when they are covered in marine life

Life below the surface: 'The Anchors', a sculpture by Jason deCaires Taylor, sits in a bed of sea grass
The spiny sea urchins crawl across the faces of the sculptures, 10 metres below the surface, and provide a useful service to deCaires Taylor by eating the algae that can prevent coral from forming.
Asked if he has any plans to prune back the growth on his works to ensure they do not become obscured, the artist is resolute.
'No, the plan is leave them as they are,' deCaires Taylor said.
'The human figure is so embedded in our psyche that even a small reference to our anatomy helps us comprehend the artwork.'
Despite their foreboding appearance of the sculptures, deCaires Taylor says that to him they feel 'almost feel like family', although he admits that visitors to the museum are occasionally spooked.
'Some times people get a little scared, it depends on the conditions of the day,' deCaires Taylor said. 'If the water is clear with bright sun the figures have a slightly euphoric feel, other days when it is cloudy or the water murky the encounter can be quite startling.
'Each character has a unique story and it is very exciting for me watching nature take over.'

Under the sea: Jason deCaires Taylor's underwater sculpture 'Vein Man' at the Museo Subacu·tico de Arte.
Over time bright yellow fire coral will travel along the stainless steel lattice and look like blood through veins

Living art: An underwater sculpture by artist Jason deCaires Taylor, entitled 'Resurrection'.
The work uses live purple Gorgonian fan coral (Gorgonia flabellum), which had been displaced from the reef system in a storm

Man on fire: The artist's sculpture 'Self-Immolation', is made from black pH neutral marine cement, and depicts a solitary burning figure.
Over time it will be overrun with fast-growing, bright yellow live fire coral.

The artist is happy to abandon his works to the waves, but does acknowledge that there can be downsides to working in an underwater environment.
He said: 'Sometimes when diving at night my dive lights attract thousands of tiny swimming sea worms.
Recently one crawled inside my ear canal and felt like it had entered my brain.
'I was on my own at the time and found it quite disturbing, although fortunately after 20 minutes it found its way out!'
DeCaires Taylor has previously created a real life city of Atlantis, sunk a life-size sculpture of a Volkswagen Beetle and even a house.
He also unveiled a series of new sculptures last month including one called No Turning Back, a cement cast of a hunched-over woman, which alludes to the loss of Caribbean coral reefs, while another, Self-Immolation, depicts a solitary burning figure - a reference to the practice of setting yourself on fire as a form of political protest.
A real-life Atlantis: Stunning sculpture city under the sea off...

Talking art: 'The Speaker' stands in a bed of sea grass. The sculpture is planted with more than 200 cuttings of rare Acropora Prolifera coral

Stunning: The sculpture is planted with more than 200 cuttings of the rare Acropora Prolifera coral, in Cancun, Mexico

Prolific: DeCaires Taylor now has 510 sculptural works permanently on display at the site, many of which feature live coral

Latest additions: The 39-year-old unveiled a new series of works last month in the Museo Subacuatico de Arte, the subaquatic museum he co-founded back in 2009 off the coast of Cancun, Mexico

Made from black pH neutral marine cement, the work is augmented with stainless steel spines, and over time it will be overrun with fast-growing, bright yellow live fire coral which will mimic flames.
DeCaires Taylor said: 'I try to use the work to highlight the huge losses we're having and how our blue planet is changing quite dramatically.
'Future generations aren't going to see the same number of species and fantastic pristine reefs.
'But I want to balance that sadness - in order to inspire people, you have to offer them hope as well.'
Another of deCaires Taylor's sculptures is Resurrection, a winged angelic-looking figure, which uses live purple Gorgonian fan coral and had to be rescued after being displaced from the reef system and damaged during a recent storm.

Art with a message: A number of the new works deal with the devastation of the natural marine habitat

Natural subject: 'No Turning Back' in the Museo Subacuatico de Arte in Cancun, Mexico, a cement cast of a hunched-over woman, alludes to the tragic loss of Caribbean coral reefs
Artistic installation: One of the artist's latest sculptures is pictured being lowered down into the water at the submarine park

Last light: The sculpture gets one last glimpse of daylight before being completely submerged by the water
Getting wet: No turning back is carefully winched into the water and placed on a rock at the bottom of the ocean
Strong currents around the museum meant that the sculptures had to be craned from a bridge into a nearby canal and then toed out to the site.
The Dover, Kent, born artist said: 'Some of these were much more delicate than pieces I've made before, so it was difficult working in tough conditions.
'I had to box some of them up in crates and then sink them underwater in their crates. Believe me, taking a crate apart underwater is difficult.'
DeCaires Taylor now has 510 sculptural works permanently on display at the site, although these are his final additions for the time being as he prepares to relocate back to Europe.
However, the museum has been a huge success, receiving 250,000 visitors each year, and deCaires Taylor is trying to secure funding to eventually expand it to include 8,000 figures - more than the famous Terracotta Army.
He said: 'I'm leaving Mexico, but I've got this legacy here, that my daughter can come back in twenty years time and it will still be there.'
Some of his more creative works include a life-size version of a Volkswagen Beetle and an underwater 'city' of homes.

Hands on: Vein Man sticks out of the top of the water as it is lowered down by a crane hook, left, while artist Jason deCaires Taylor gets into the water himself to help lower one of his sculptures into place, right

Preparation work: Jason deCaires Taylor works on his sculpture 'Self-Immolation' in his studio in Cancun

Expanding: The museum has been a huge success, receiving 250,000 visitors each year, and deCaires Taylor is trying to secure funding to eventually expand the site to 8,000 figures

Links :

• GeoGarage blog : Transcendent underwater sculpture acting as artificial reefs

Maidentrip : Youngest ever solo circumnavigating sailor - now the film

From Sail-World

Sometimes it just warms your heart to see a film finally getting the attention it deserves.
It has just been announced that the wonderful SXSW Audience Award-winning documentary MAIDENTRIP, about the circumnavigation of the globe by solo sailor and 16-year-old Laura Dekker, will be setting sail from First Run Features in New York on January 17th.

Who knows when it will come to the Southern Hemisphere, but the trailer is at the end of this story.
This has been a labor of love by director Jillian Schlesinger and producer Emily McAllister and the release news is a huge step towards helping this film find its surely adoring audience.

Directed, produced and shot by a team of young female filmmakers, the new highly acclaimed documentary film MAIDENTRIP celebrates the accomplishments of the intrepid young woman Laura Dekker and brings her complex and inspiring real-life story to the big screen.

In 1995 Laura Dekker was born on a boat in the port of Whangarei, New Zealand during her parents' seven-year voyage around the world on their sailboat.
At just six years of age, Laura sailed her own dinghy alone across the lake where she lived.
At the age of ten, she took a multi-week trip to Friesland, Netherlands accompanied only by her dog Spot.
Then, in 2009, at the age of 13 Laura announced her plans to sail solo around the globe.

 Laura Dekker arrives Sint Maarten 1
Photograph courtesy of www.HeliPhotoCarib.com

After a year-long court battle with Dutch authorities who attempted to stop her voyage and the unwanted global media scrutiny it sparked, 14-year-old Laura Dekker finally set out--camera in hand--on a two-year solo voyage in pursuit of her dream, alone without a follow boat or a support team, on her transformative 27,000 mile global odyssey.
During the longest leg of her trip across the Indian Ocean, Laura spent 47 days alone at sea.

Laura's dream was 'to be the youngest ever to sail around the world alone,' but she didn't want to set a speed record.
Instead, she sought to experience the remote and wonderful corners of the planet on her own,stopping to explore along the way.

Jillian Schlesinger's debut feature film MAIDENTRIP captures Laura's journey as she explores the world in search of freedom, adventure, and distant dreams of her early youth at sea.
Schlesinger's filmmaking amplifies Laura's mature, brave and defiant voice through a mix of Laura's own video and voice recordings from sea and the intimate vérité footage shot at the stunning stops along the route, including the Galapagos Islands, French Polynesia, Australia, and South Africa.

Links :

• GeoGarage blog : Youth solo sailing circumnavigations
• Laura Dekker : "I am not going to say much about the film Maidentrip, but I won't be representing it as I am not fully standing behind it."

Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of strongest storms ever, plows across Philippines

From CNN

Super Typhoon Haiyan -- one of the strongest storms recorded on the planet -- smashed into island after island as it plowed across the central Philippines on Friday, threatening millions of people.

It left devastation in its wake, flooding streets and knocking out power and communication networks in many areas.

Three people were reported dead, more than 100,000 took refuge in evacuation centers and hundreds of flights were canceled.

 >>> geolocalization with the Marine GeoGarage <<<

The storm brought tremendously powerful winds roaring ashore as it made landfall on Samar, a hilly island in the region of Eastern Visayas.

With sustained winds of 315 kph (195 mph) and gusts as strong as 380 kph (235 mph), Haiyan was probably the strongest tropical cyclone to hit land anywhere in the world in recorded history.

It will take further analysis after the storm passes to establish whether it is a record.

Track the typhoon

After Samar, the typhoon slammed into four other Philippine islands as it barreled across the archipelago.

Maryann Zamora, a field communications specialist for the charity World Vision, said her organization "has been working through so many disasters, so many typhoons -- but this is quite different."

"This is the strongest I ever felt so far," she said by phone from the island of Cebu.

Category 5 strength

Satellite picture

Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Yolanda, appeared to retain much of its terrifying force as it moved west over the country, with sustained winds of 295 kph (185 mph), gusts as strong as 360 kph (225 mph).

Haiyan's wind strength makes it equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane.

Video footage from on the ground in the Philippines showed streets flooded with debris and howling winds hurling metal sheets through the air.

Gov. Roger Mercado of Southern Leyte, a province in Eastern Visayas close to the storm's path, said Friday morning that "all roads" were impassable because of fallen trees.

He said it was too soon to gauge the level of devastation caused by Haiyan.

"We don't know the extent of the damage," Mercado said.

"We are trying to estimate this. We are prepared, but this is really a wallop."

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Friday that so far three people had been confirmed dead and seven injured. With sea travel suspended in large parts of the country, more than 3,000 travelers were stranded in ports, the council said.

The typhoon was forecast to move away from the Philippines late Friday or early Saturday and head out into the South China Sea in the direction of Vietnam

Forecasters predicted that it would maintain super typhoon intensity throughout its passage over the Philippines.

A super typhoon has surface winds that sustain speeds of more than 240 kph (150 mph) for at least a minute, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Haiyan was so large in diameter that at one point, its clouds were affecting two-thirds of the country, which stretches more than 1,850 kilometers (1,150 miles).

Tropical-storm-force winds extended 240 kilometers from the typhoon's center.

Photos: Super Typhoon Haiyan

iReport: Heavy rains as Philippines braces for typhoon

'Very real danger'

Ahead of the typhoon's arrival, thousands of people had been relocated away from particularly vulnerable areas in Tacloban City, which is situated in a coastal area of the region that bore the initial brunt of the storm.

Communications with Tacloban, which has a population of around 200,000, were disrupted after the typhoon struck.

Video aired by CNN affiliate ABS-CBN showed streets in the city flooded with water and debris.

In a speech Thursday, President Benigno S. Aquino III warned residents of the "calamity our countrymen will face in these coming days."

"Let me repeat myself: This is a very real danger, and we can mitigate and lessen its effects if we use the information available to prepare," he said.

Authorities have aircraft ready to respond, and officials have placed relief supplies in the areas that are expected to get hit, Aquino said.

"The effects of this storm can be eased through solidarity," he said.

 Rate of sea level rise near Philippines 3 or 4 times global average

Earthquake survivors vulnerable

Authorities warned provinces across the country to be prepared for possible flash floods, landslides and a storm surge as high as seven meters (23 feet).

About 125,000 people nationwide were moved to evacuation centers

Some of the most vulnerable people are those living in temporary shelters on the central Philippine island of Bohol, which experienced heavy wind and rain Friday but was spared a direct hit by Haiyan.

 >>> geolocalization with the Marine GeoGarage <<<

Last month, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit the island, killing at least 222 people, injuring nearly 1,000 and displacing about 350,000, according to authorities.

"This has been a quake hit area, for the past three weeks people are still experiencing aftershocks," said Aaron Aspi, a communications specialist in Bohol for World Vision. "and at the same time these rains are giving them a really hard time."

"Most of them are advised to evacuate to sturdy structures," he said.

"But there are a few thousand displaced families in quake hit areas that are still staying in makeshift tents and now that the super typhoon is here it is really heart breaking to see them struggling."

Aspi said many peoples' tents were drenched but they were still too afraid to relocate to enclosed structures because of the aftershocks.

Beach resort threatened

  >>> geolocalization with the Marine GeoGarage <<<

Another island near the storm's path is the popular beach resort of Boracay.

Some tourists there were cutting their vacations short Thursday to get away from the possible danger.

Ross Evans, an aviation professional from Florida, said there was "a definite urgency and panic" among the long lines of holidaymakers waiting for boats to get off Boracay on Thursday.

Speaking by phone before his flight to Manila took off, he said he felt "horrible" for those who may end up stuck in the storm's path.

Evans said he and his travel companions, who are leaving the Philippines two days earlier than planned, "feel very fortunate to have the ability to make arrangements to be safe."

Situated near an area of the Pacific Ocean where tropical cyclones form, the Philippines regularly suffers severe storm damage.

An average of 20 typhoons hit the archipelagic nation every year, and several of those cause serious damage.

In December, Typhoon Bopha wreaked widespread devastation on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

The storm, the most powerful to hit the country that year, is estimated to have killed as many as 1,900 people.

Links :

• WashingtonPost : Super typhoon Haiyan strikes Philippines, among strongest storms ever 
• BBC :  Monster storm roars into Philippines
• Force13 : Western Pacific typhoon tracking
• TheWeatherChannel : Super Typhoon Haiyan, strongest of season, slams the Philippines
• WeatherUnderground : interactive map and radar

The Climate Mapping Tool you've been waiting for

Introducing "NOAAView", a new online tool from NOAA Satellite and Information Service:
Explore a world of data!
http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/view/


Now you can visualize Earth's land, skies, seas and ice-cover conditions over time through just a few clicks. Want to see the extent of dissolved oxygen in the Atlantic Ocean in November?
Or the amount of vegetation in the Midwest in February?
NOAA put more than 60 data sets and a map of the world in the palm of your hand.

From TheAtlanticCities (by John Metcalfe)

Weather geeks, say goodbye to your morning productivity.
The data conjurers at NOAA have rolled their latest environmental visualization out of the hanger, and it is bursting with every possible thing you'd want to know about the planet's health, from past to present to worrisome future.

Want to know what the clouds like looked during your city's last nasty storm?
The "NOAA View" portal has crisp satellite images stretching 5 years back.
Curious where snow and ice have accumulated this year?
The frozen stuff is splashed about the globe like splattered white frosting.
How hot will the weather soon be if humanity doesn't rein in its emissions?
One of the several simulations crammed into this Swiss Army climate tool has this prediction: It will be blastedly warm, despite our best attempts to stop burning fossil fuels.

 An animation made in NOAA View showing monthly shifts

in sea surface temperatures around the globe.

Here's a closer look at that particular climate model.
It displays expected temperature anomalies above the 20th-century average as angry red areas, with the darkest-crimson hues representing warm spikes as high as 6 degrees Celsius above average.
(Blue regions are below-average abnormalities, but you won't be seeing many of those.)
These are the predicted air temperatures in 2100 under a "low" emissions scenario; notice the hot zones have pooled in the United States and parts of central Asia:

And the world is positively choking in torrid air by 2100 under a "very-high emissions scenario":

On Tuesday, NOAA pitched its new visualization tool this way:

The NOAA View imagery portal provides a single point for experiencing NOAA data from satellites, models, and in-situ analyses. The site allows for seamless browse, animate, and download capability of high resolution images and Google Earth formatted files. With over 60 datasets (and growing) that go as far back as 1880 and out to 2100, NOAA View provides the ability to see our dynamic planet and how it changes over weeks, months, years and even decades.

Given our instinctive desire to not, you know, suffer, it's natural to want to use this tool to root out the most pressing threats to the planet.
NOAA has done a good job with one of those, ocean acidification, in this simulation:

What you're looking at is how the seas' chemistry could turn toxic for many organisms by the end of the century.

Explains NOAA:

The two globes illustrate the changes in ocean acidification that are expected as the ocean continually absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. As more and more carbon dioxide reacts with water, the building blocks of the calcium carbonate shells used by so many marine organisms either dissolve or cannot form to begin with. The availability of these building blocks (called aragonite; a form of calcium carbonate) is shown here. Areas of the ocean colored green are sufficiently saturated with aragonite to support shell formation; areas colored yellowish-brown are under-saturated, and shell dissolution occurs. A climate model, run by CESM in collaboration with scientists at NOAA PMEL, shows the change in ocean aragonite saturation from 1885 to what is expected in 2094. Most of the ocean in the image on the right is uninhabitable by organisms using calcium carbonate, such as corals, pteropods, oysters, and many others.

What other fun, doom-laden stuff can you find with NOAA View?
Let's take a brief tour, beginning with sea-surface temperature anomalies for late October to the present day.
Researchers have plucked out the abnormally warmer and cooler regions in red and blue, respectively.
Many researchers believe that the oceans have acted like a vast sponge for the emissions that humans have been pumping out, with some areas of the Pacific warming 15 times faster in the past six decades than in the previous 10,000 years, according to one study in Science.
 A scientist told USA Today: "We may have underestimated the efficiency of the oceans as a storehouse for heat and energy. It may buy us some time – how much time, I don't really know. But it's not going to stop climate change":

This map shows the concentrations of dissolved phosphates in the water.

That big purple blotch at center is the Black Sea, a vast septic tank of phosphates thanks in part to fertilizer leaching from farmlands and municipal sewage discharges (geography also plays a role):

And here's Superstorm Sandy bombing the East Coast last October.
There's no consensus among climate scientists about whether more greenhouse gas means more hurricanes and major Sandy-like storms, according to NOAA, although these systems will probably grow to hold more precipitation.

And as the big spinners continue to pound America, they'll likely cause more damage due to higher sea levels pushing the tides farther inland:

These are just a few random things I found interesting while poking around in NOAA View.
Snap crackle pop – here are fires that were active at the end of October:

Snow and ice cover in the U.S. for the first week of November:

This is the current global rainfall as seen by satellites.
"This rainfall data is especially important for monitoring offshore precipitation events before they impact land," NOAA says.
"In general, the highest rainfall totals are found in tropical areas, where warm water and air temperatures create belts of precipitation":

Rainfall is quite different from the amount of moisture in the atmosphere, seen here for this week (lighter blues are really dripping-wet air):

And finally, travel down to the deepest part of the ocean with this bathymetric landscape of the sea floor.
The black, sythe-shaped fissure to the south of Japan is the Mariana Trench, which sinks to depths of about 6.8 miles:

Images courtesy of NOAA View Data Imagery Portal

Links :

• MarineExplore : the Ocean's Big Data Platform making sense of 4-dimensional marine data at scale

Ortho littorale France Méditerrannée v2

Ortho littorale v2 (2011) MEDDE

All the aerial stitched pictures were made in the quest of optimum viewing
with the specific conditions:
no swell, no rain for 48 hours, large tide (foreshore) and lower low water (water depth less than 1m), ...

Porquerolles, baie de l'Alycastre (OrthoLittorale v2 view)
>>> geolocalization with the Marine GeoGarage <<<

Note : this layer can be accessible as any GeoGarage georeferenced layer for external webmapping applications via the GeoGarage API.
So don't hesitate to contact us if your are interested.