National Oceanographic And Atmospheric Administration News

An emerging technology to fish for lobsters virtually ropeless to prevent whale entanglements is exciting conservationists, but getting a frigid reception from harvesters worried it will drive them out of business and upend their way of life.Injuries to endangered North Atlantic Right Whales ensnared in fishing gear have fueled a prominent campaign by environmental groups to pressure the industry to adopt on-demand equipment that only suspends ropes in the water briefly before traps are pulled from the water.The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch…

The Biden administration on Tuesday said it was taking steps to designate a national marine sanctuary off the coast of central California. President Joe Biden has set a goal of safeguarding 30% of U.S. land and water over the next decade. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration said the proposal would protect a 7,000-square-mile area. The waters are important to the heritage of the Native American Chumash people who once lived in coastal villages that are now submerged.

U.S. commercial fishing practices must change to prevent the extinction of North Atlantic right whales, the administration of President Joe Biden said on Thursday, as it prepares a list of new regulations to prevent whale entanglements in lobster and crab gear.The scientific assessment from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries unit is a milestone in finalizing a handful of proposed reforms of commercial fishermen mainly intended to reduce the amount of vertical rope in whale habitat.The lobster industry…

The Arctic had its second-hottest year on record in 2018, part of a warming trend that may be dramatically changing earth's weather patterns, according to a report released on Tuesday by the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration."Arctic air temperatures for the past five years have exceeded all previous records since 1900," according to the annual NOAA study, the 2018 Arctic Report Card, which said the year was second only to 2016 in overall warmth in the region.It marks the latest in a series of warnings about climate change from U.S.

Hundreds of gallons of mineral oil has been released from a leaking underwater utility line in Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac, this week. Initial reports from the responsible party, American Transmission Company (ATC), indicate that approximately 600 gallons of product has been released, with maximum spill potential of more than 4,000 gallons. The U.S. Coast Guard said it has established a Unified Command comprised of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, county emergency managers, local tribes, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S.

The ocean has gotten noisier for decades, with man-made racket from oil drilling, shipping and construction linked to signs of stress in marine life that include beached whales and baby crabs with scrambled navigational signals. The United States aims to change that as a federal agency prepares a plan that could force reductions in noise-making activities, including oil exploration, dredging and shipping off the nation's coast. "We've been worried about ocean noise for decades, since the 1970s," said Richard Merrick, chief science adviser to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fisheries agency and a key author of the agency's more detailed 10-year plan to be released publicly later this year.

Webb Institute announced Michael T. Martin, PE as its new Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering. Prof. Martin has over 23 years of experience as a marine electrical engineer with a broad background in electrical systems including, electrical propulsion, power generation, power distribution, lighting systems, communications, navigation and internal communication systems. For the past five years, Prof. Martin has been the Vice President and principal engineer at Marine Design Dynamics, Inc.

The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) informs that it has entered into a new Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) establishing the policies and procedures regarding the survey and classification of the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF). The agreement expands the working relationship that has existed between ABS and MARAD since the agency's inception in 1950, updating the last MOA signed in 1999. The new agreement, signed by Maritime Administrator Paul N. Jaenichen and ABS Chairman, President and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki, lays out several significant changes that will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the ABS-MARAD relationship.

Coast Guard Sector Honolulu received an official request from the Hawaii Department of Health to assist with the response to the molasses spill in Honolulu Harbor Friday. “The Coast Guard is prepared to bring all the requested resources to this incident to support our state and local partner agencies” said Capt. Shannon Gilreath, captain of the port Honolulu. “We have been working closely with state partners since the spill occurred to offer advice and resources. The Coast Guard began supporting the response Monday morning when investigators from Sector Honolulu responded to a report of discolored water in the harbor. Since then, the Coast Guard has held daily meetings with the lead State agency, Hawaii Department of Health.

State officials in Hawaii consider there's little they can do to clean up a 223,000-gallon molasses spill that has killed thousands of fish, as swimmers, surfers and snorkelers were being warned that the massive die-off could attract sharks. A cracked pipe on a loading jetty caused the spill, according to NPR. The request for federal assistance allows the Coast Guard to support the lead agency with a wide variety of resources to include specialized response personnel, boats and equipment from the Coast Guard and other Federal Agencies. The captain of the port requested support from the Coast Guard’s National Strike Force for water sampling and monitoring and is currently coordinating with technical specialists from the EPA to help assess additional response mitigation strategies.

The U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center (RDC) plans to test and evaluate oil spill detection and recovery technologies in the Arctic Ocean as part of Operation Arctic Shield 2013. A multi-agency team of engineers and scientists led by RDC researchers will conduct a series of demonstrations in September 2013 aboard Coast Guard Cutter Healy to test and evaluate capabilities of various unmanned aerial systems (UAS), an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to search for simulated oil spills.

The U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center (RDC) plans to test and evaluate oil spill detection and recovery technologies in the Arctic Ocean as part of Operation Arctic Shield 2013. A multi-agency team of engineers and scientists led by RDC researchers will conduct a series of demonstrations in September aboard Coast Guard Cutter Healy to test and evaluate capabilities of various unmanned aerial systems (UAS), an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to search for simulated oil spills.

The lower section of the Neches River from just north of DuPont plant to the Veteran’s Bridge remains closed as the oil spill clean up continues. "The safety of our responders, and the restoration and opening of the Neches River as quickly as possible are our main goals," said Capt. Sharon Richey, Commanding Officer of Marine Safety Officer Port Arthur and Captain of the Port. "We have more than 175 responders now on scene working to clean the river. The recovered oil is being taken to a holding tank at the local UNOCAL facility, where it will be recycled. The oiled snare boom and adsorbent pads are being stored in roll-off boxes to be disposed of later. Initial clean up costs are estimated to be $700,000. The costs will rise as clean up continues.

Divers from Mobile Underwater Diving Salvage Unit (MUDSU) 1 based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, will soon descend into a Pacific lagoon to stop a recent oil leak and assess the material condition of a World War II Navy oil tanker that sank in 1944. USS Mississinewa (AO 59), a 553-foot auxiliary oiler, was commissioned May 18, 1944, and supported the ships of the 3rd Fleet in the Central and South Pacific. The huge lagoon at Ulithi Atoll was an anchorage for hundreds of Pacific Fleet ships and major staging area for campaigns at Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Mississinewa was anchored in Ulithi's lagoon when it was struck by a Japanese-manned suicide torpedo, or "kaiten," on the morning of Nov. 20, 1944. The ship burst into flames and sank, killing 63 American Sailors.

Racal Pelagos, a unit of the Racal Survey Group of companies, has been awarded a $40 million, four-year hydrographic survey contract in Alaska by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This agreement, which continues an existing two-year, $12 million contract awarded by NOAA in 1998, began work in 1999, which was conducted by Racal Pelagos. During this time the Alaskan-based team, which was supported by an international crew was immersed on a round-the-clock basis for five months - eventually producing 6,276 linear n.m. of data - which generated an area of 158 square n.m. of quality data.

Halter Marine, Inc, a subsidiary of Friede Goldman Halter, has started construction of NOAA’s (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) newest vessel the M/V Oscar Dyson. The vessel is scheduled for delivery in 36 months at a price of $38.3 million. It is anticipated that options for additional vessels will be exercised as Congress incrementally appropriates funds. NOAA may build up to three additional Fishing Research Vessels (RFV) under the terms of the contract, pushing its value to more than $165 million. The M/V “Oscar Dyson” is a state-of-the-art Fishing Research Vessel named in honor of Oscar Dyson, of Kodiak, Alaska Dyson, a well-known fishing activist served as an industry advisor to government officials, including a congressional delegation.

The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are jointly requesting proposals for ballast water technology demonstration projects. Nearly $2.1 million, and/or the use of MARAD’s Ready Reserve Force ships as test platforms, will be made available for successful proposals. Interested parties may apply for funding, for use of a vessel, or both. Every day, large quantities of ballast water from areas all around the world are discharged from ships into the waters of the United States. In this ballast water are plants, animals, bacteria and pathogens that are not native to our nation’s ecosystems. Some of these organisms are microscopic; others may be large plants or free-swimming fish.

The Naval Historical Center’s (NHC) search for Revolutionary War naval hero John Paul Jones' ship Bonhomme Richard received further support in early February, when it was recommended for funding through the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office of Ocean Exploration's competitive grant process. The NHC and Ocean Technology Foundation (OTF) plan to launch a search for Bonhomme Richard off the coast of England in July. "You cannot find an underwater archaeological site more important to the U.S. Navy than that of John Paul Jones' Bonhomme Richard," said Dr. Robert Neyland, head of the NHC's Underwater Archaeology Branch. "Locating and identifying the remains of this great ship would validate Jones' accomplishments, do great service for U.S.

Local, state and federal agencies are holding an oil spill response exercise at the Port of Houston, April 25-26. The exercise scenario simulates an explosion, fire onboard the ship Cape Trinity, and a 252,000 gallon oil spill in the turning basin of the Houston Ship Channel. The Cape Trinity is a Maritime Administration (MARAD) ship used for transporting military equipment and supplies overseas. The exercise, called Trinity 2006, will be used to train and test local responders and response plans. Agencies participating in the exercise include: U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Texas General Land Office, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration…

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued three key documents June 27 that support the critical international naval exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) while carefully protecting marine life. These documents enable naval forces from eight nations gathering this week in Pearl Harbor to begin RIMPAC 2006. The exercise, including 21 days of anti-submarine warfare training, is critical to national security and preservation of unobstructed sea lanes. The NOAA documents also establish specific steps that will be taken to avoid and minimize any potential effects to marine life. Director, U.S. Navy Environmental Programs Rear Adm. James A. A “Finding of No Significant Impact” under the National Environmental Policy Act.

The U. S. Coast Guard continues to coordinate the response to the grounding of the 645-ft. cargo ship Clipper Lasco just west of the designated anchorage area off Fort Lauderdale Beach, Fla. The vessel remains aground this evening as members of the unified command work to ensure that planned salvage operations do not cause further disruption to the ocean floor, are conducted as safely as possible, provide adequate resources for any contingencies that could arise and mitigate the risk of damaging the ship. Divers from Resolve Marine Group, the salvor contracted by representatives for the Clipper Lasco, surveyed the ship's hull and the ocean bottom. The survey revealed that the vessel did impact the reef and some coral.

SeaMobile Enterprises connectivity been awarded two major contracts by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). SeaMobile has signed a three-year contract to provide global VSAT satellite services to the entire fleet of ships operated by NOAA throughout the globe. SeaMobile has also been awarded the integration, installation, operations and maintenance of a 3.7m VSAT terminal system for the new NOAA ship, Okeanos Explorer. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce and conducts environmental research and serves as the primary source of expert information on weather data, forecasts, warnings and climate change.

SeaMobile Enterprises has beeen awarded two major contracts by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). SeaMobile has signed a three-year contract to provide global VSAT satellite services to the entire fleet of ships operated by NOAA throughout the globe. SeaMobile has also been awarded the integration, installation, operations and maintenance of a 3.7m VSAT terminal system for the new NOAA ship, Okeanos Explorer. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce and conducts environmental research and serves as the primary source of expert information on weather data, forecasts, warnings and climate change. SeaMobile will provide up to 21 ships in the NOAA fleet with voice and data access as a critical link while the ships are on research missions at sea.