NZ Linz 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 iPhone/iPad universal mobile application users
(Marine NZ on the App Store) 
and our B2B customers which use our nautical charts layers
in their own webmapping applications through our GeoGarage API.  

9 charts have been updated in the Marine GeoGarage

(Linz February update published March 7, 2014) 

• NZ53 Bream Head to Slipper Island including Hauraki Gulf
• NZ62 Cape Palliser to Kaikoura Peninsula
• NZ522 Bream Tail to Kawau Island including Great Barrier Island
• NZ532 Approaches to Auckland
• NZ614 Tasman Bay
• NZ5227 Goat Island to Waiwera River
• NZ6144 Abel Tasman
• NZ6212 Plans on the North East Coast of South Island
• NZ6821 Bluff Harbour and Entrance

Today NZ Linz charts (180 charts / 313 including sub-charts) are displayed in the Marine GeoGarage.

Note :  LINZ produces official nautical charts to aid safe navigation in New Zealand waters and certain areas of Antarctica and the South-West Pacific.

Using charts safely involves keeping them up-to-date using Notices to Mariners
Reporting a Hazard to Navigation - H Note :
Mariners are requested to advise the New Zealand Hydrographic Authority at LINZ of the discovery of new or suspected dangers to navigation, or shortcomings in charts or publications.

Ukrainian crisis: Situation map

source : NGA nautical chart with the Marine GeoGarage

 Map of Crimea (Samuel Mitchell, 1859)
David Rumsey collection

From Washington Post by Gene Thorp and Denise Lu

Russia has seized control of the Crimean peninsula, where armed forces wearing unidentified uniforms have surrounded Ukrainian military facilities and air bases.
Key airports and naval headquarters have been blocked.
Although Kremlin has said the troops are needed to protect civilians in the region, many of whom are ethnically Russian, Russian troops essentially outnumber Ukrainian forces in Crimea.
Read related story.

Blockade continues

Russian naval vessels cruising Sevastopol Harbor continue to block in three Ukrainian ships.

The Russian Black Sea Fleet is based in the same port.

see Pleiades satellite image (Airbus)

source : NGA nautical chart with the Marine GeoGarage

Major ships of the Soviet and Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol.

 Ukrainian airfield closed

Russian troops have occupied Belbek Airbase.
About 200 unarmed Ukrainian airmen tried to enter the base on Tuesday, but were turned away after warning shots were fired by pro-Russia militia.

Crossing seized

Russian troops reportedly seized the Ukrainian ferry at Kerch Monday. Russian navy ships blocked off both ends of the Kerch Strait Tuesday and armored vehicles were seen gathering on the Russian side.

source : NGA nautical chart with the Marine GeoGarage

Links :

• National Geographic :  300 years of embattled Crimea history in 6 maps
• NY Times : Ukraine crisis in maps
• Mashable : A story map of the place everyone's watching
• The Moscow Times : Russia Scuttles Old Ship to Block Ukrainian Vessels Accessing The Black Sea, Report Says
  

Sailing in Andrea storm

Nicolas Lunven and Eric Peron

Nicolas Lunven photos

Brazil DHN 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 Phone/iPad universal mobile application users
(Marine Brazil on the App Store)
and also to our B2B customers which use our nautical charts layers in their own webmapping applications
through our GeoGarage API.

17 charts have been updated since the last update

DHN update February 18, 2014

• 1905   PORTO DE FLORIANÓPOLIS
• 206   CANAL DE SANTANA
• 1803   BAÍA DE GUARATUBA
• 1804   PORTO DE SÃO FRANCISCO DO SUL
• 1911   DO CABO DE SANTA MARTA GRANDE A ARARANGUÁ
• 720   DE AREIA BRANCA A GUAMARÉ
• 1420   PROXIMIDADES DE BARRA DO RIACHO
• 1410   PROXIMIDADES DOS PORTOS DE VITORIA E TUBARÃO
• 1820   PROXIMIDADES DA BARRA DE PARANAGUÁ
• 413   TERMINAL DA PONTA DA MADEIRA E PORTO DE ITAQUI
• 1503   ENSEADA DO CABO FRIO
• 302   DE SALINOPOLIS AO CANAL DO ESPADARTE
• 412   BAÍA DE SÃO MARCOS PROXIMIDADES DO TERMINAL DA PONTA DA MADEIRA E ITAQUI
• 201   BARRA NORTE DO RIO AMAZONAS
• 19002   DA AMÉRICA DO SUL À ÁFRICA
• 1637   BAÍA DA RIBEIRA
• 1701   PORTO DE SANTOS

Today 434 charts (481 including sub-charts) from DHN are displayed in the Marine GeoGarage
Don't forget to visit the NtM Notices to Mariners (Avisos aos Navegantes)

Ninety-five per cent of world's fish hide in mesopelagic zone

Scientists find deep sea species untouched by fishing makes up 95% of all fish in the world

Pictured: The mesopelagic ‘ocean sunfish’ (Mola mola).
Credit: Chris Zielecki

From Phys.org

An international team of marine biologists has found mesopelagic fish in the earth's oceans constitute 10 to 30 times more biomass than previously thought.
UWA Professor Carlos Duarte says mesopelagic fish – fish that live between 100 and 1000m below the surface – must therefore constitute 95 per cent of the world's fish biomass.

 Most mesopelagic species tend to feed near the surface at night, and move to deeper layers in the daytime to avoid birds.

"Because the stock is much larger it means this layer must play a more significant role in the functioning of the ocean and affecting the flow of carbon and oxygen in the ocean," he says.

Prof Duarte led a seven-month circumnavigation of the globe in the Spanish research vessel Hesperides, with a team of scientists collecting echo-soundings of mesopelagic fish.
He says most mesopelagic species tend to feed near the surface at night, and move to deeper layers in the daytime to avoid birds.
They have large eyes to see in the dim light, and also enhanced pressure-sensitivity.
"They are able to detect nets from at least five metres and avoid them," he says.
"Because the fish are very skilled at avoiding nets, every previous attempt to quantify them in terms of biomass that fishing nets have delivered are very low estimates.
"So instead of different nets what we used were acoustics … sonar and echo sounders."

The findings have significant implications.
The sheer amount of biomass means they may respire about 10 per cent of primary production in deep waters.
Prof Duarte says research into the five ocean gyres, where vast amounts of flotsam collect, turned up surprising results.
"We actually called them oceanic deserts," he says.
"They are not desert at all, they are very vibrant ecosystems that support a very high biomass.
"The largest fish stock in the ocean is not in the coastal areas … but actually in the central gyres of the oceans.
"The food web … in the central gyres of the ocean … it's a lot more efficient than we thought."
He says the survey also showed the oceans were healthier than previously thought.
"This very large stock of fish that we have just discovered, that holds 95 per cent of all the fish biomass in the world, is untouched by fishers," he says.
"They can't harvest them with nets.
"In the 21st Century we have still a pristine stock of fish which happens to be 95 per cent of all the fish in oceans.
"And that also changes our views on ocean health."

Links :

• Phys.org : Fish biomass in the ocean is ten times higher than estimated