Marine Technology Reporter Blogs - images: wickimedia

A privately funded group has located a sunken WWII German U-Boat off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Using side scan sonar the group located the wreck about 70 miles south of Nantucket. After covering approximately 100 square miles between last years expedition and this year the group found the U-550, which was clearly visible on sonar. The group confirmed the find with a dive to the wreck to collect photographic evidence. On April 16, 1944, the U-550 torpedoed the gasoline tanker SS Pan Pennsylvania, which had lagged behind its protective convoy as it set out with 140,000 barrels of gasoline for Great Britain. The U-boat took cover beneath the sinking ship, but one of the tanker's three escorts, the USS Joyce, saw it on sonar and severely damaged it by dropping depth charges.

Basking sharks have been highly sought after for their fins, and because of this their population has been greatly diminished. The second largest fish in the ocean, second only to the whale shark, the basking shark is now included on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and are considered vulnerable to endangered. Scientists have little information about the species, and are working toward changing that. In order for conservation efforts to be effective some very basic knowledge is needed about the species including mating, birthing and where the animals spend their time. Scientists have very little knowledge regarding any of this as the animals disappear for nearly half the year, and juveniles and pregnant females have never been spotted.

The R/P Flip is an open ocean research vessel owned by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and is operated by Scripps Institution of Oceanography. This year marks the 50 anniversary of the unusual vessel. FLIP is designed to study wave height, acoustic signals, water temperature and density, and for the collection of metoerlogical data. Because of the potential interference with the acoustic instruments, FLIP has no engines or other means of propulsion. It must be towed to open water, where it drifts freely or is anchored. In tow, FLIP can reach speeds of 7–10 knots. FLIP weighs 700 long tons (711 tons) and carries a crew of five, plus up to eleven scientists.

More than 80 percent of seafood consumed in the United States is imported from other countries and in most cases is farm raised. Farm raised seafood may come from other countries with less stringent health and environmental regulations. The United States is falling behind. The world is turning to aquaculture due to the decline in wild populations with half of the world’s seafood coming from aquaculture production. In the US only 10 percent of seafood is produced by aquaculture with 80 percent imported causing a seafood trade deficit. Although the US could provide seafood through aquaculture there are a host of policy issues including health, environmental, and economic concerns.

WHOI’s Ocean and Climate Change Institute (OCCI) is conducting research in the ocean’s role in climate change. The institute supports a wide range of activities including seeding basic research, supporting long-term goals, as well as supporting research with implications for federal policy. One of the programs currently under study at the institute is the research being conducted linking the loss of sea ice with declines in polar bear populations. Hal Caswell of Woods hole Oceanographic institute and Christine Hunter of the University of Alaska led a study that concluded that melting Arctic ice is a critical threat to the bears survival and reproductive rates. The bears use the ice as a platform to hunt seals, their main food source.

Deep-sea mining has increased over the past decade due to demand for precious metals and phosphorus nodule mining, which is the best source for artificial fertilizer. The deposits are mined using either hydraulic pumps or bucket systems that take ore to the surface to be processed. Polymetallic nodules, which contain nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese, are found at depth of 4000 – 6000 meter. Manganese crusts are available at 800-2400 meter. Mainly cobalt, some vanadium, molybdenum and platinum are found in it. Sulfide deposits are found at an average depth of 1400-3700, which contains copper, lead, zinc, some gold and silver. Diamonds are also mined from the seabed. Remotely Operated Vehicles are used equipped with drills to gather samples that are then analyzed for precious metals.

ExxonMobil and the Russian company Rosneft are joining forces to tap into West Siberia’s oil reserves. The approach to tapping the oil reserves will be two pronged using a tight oil strategy aimed for low-permeability reservoirs and establishing an Arctic design center. A pilot study will be conducted to find out the technical feasibility of developing oil reserves in Western Siberia. Work will be focused on Rosneft's Bazhenov and Achimov reservoirs in Western Siberia and drilling is scheduled to begin in 2013. Technology successfully employed by ExxonMobil in North America will be used as part of the program. The two companies will also oversee the establishment of a technical research center for Arctic exploration and development.