US Destroyer Wreckage Discovered off Remote Alaskan Island
For almost 75 years, the stern of the destroyer USS Abner Read lay somewhere below the dark surface of the Bering Sea off the Aleutian island of Kiska, where it sank after being torn off by an explosion while conducting an anti-submarine patrol. Seventy-one U.S. Navy Sailors were lost in the aftermath of the blast, during a brutal and largely overlooked early campaign of World War II.Heroic action by the crew saved the ship, but for the families of the doomed Sailors, the final resting place of loved ones lost in the predawn hours of Aug. 18, 1943 remained unknown.On July 17, a NOAA-funded team of
NOAA Releases 2018 Hydrographic Survey Plans
of the inlet last surveyed in 1917. This project provides contemporary surveys for the area. Southwest Alaskan Peninsula – This survey project updates nautical charting products to support the increase in vessel traffic in Unimak Passage. Fishing fleets in Bristol Bay and Bering Sea frequent this area. Morzhovoi Bay – With parts of the bay last surveyed in the 1920s and 1950s, this survey project focuses on areas inadequate for safe navigation. Point Hope and Vicinity – Vessel traffic is increasing each year as sea ice recedes
Alaska Requests Limits on US Offshore Drilling
in the effort to achieve a vibrant offshore program in Alaska is creating the false impression that there is an imminent attempt to foster development along our entire coast,” Walker said in a statement. Proposed lease sales for other offshore regions in Alaska, in areas spanning the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, should be removed from the plan, Walker said. The Interior Department should also maintain long-established buffers for Native Inupiat whalers and a traditional 25-mile no-leasing buffer along the Chukchi coast, the statement said. Walker's comments echo those of the
Meet the CARTHE Drifter
recently deployed in two large scale experiments (named LASER and SPLASH) conducted by CARTHE to study the upper ocean processes that control the transport of hydrocarbons in the environment. The CARTHE drifters have also been used in various projects from sea turtle research to Arctic research in the Bering Sea, as well as source pollution monitoring in inlets and Port of Miami. The CARTHE drifter is manufactured by GreenWave Instruments LLC (Miami) and distributed by Pacific Gyre LLC (San Diego). The CARTHE consortium is funded by the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GOMRI). Specification
First Ever USV-supported Cable Route Survey
For the first time ever, a seabed cable route survey has been performed with support from an unmanned surface vehicle (USV). The survey route included various water depths and strong currents, while facing difficult wind and sea conditions in the Bering Sea offshore Alaska. The project was mobilized immediately following a 9,000km nautical charting survey by Terrasond, of which 4,750km (53 percent) was executed by an ASV Global C-Worker 5 autonomous surface vehicle (ASV). The cable route survey required a new payload including a hull mounted multibeam sonar, a sub-bottom profiler, and a towed
NOAA to Deploy Saildrones for Climate Study
, reaching some areas never before surveyed with such specialized technology. In mid-July, scientists will send off the first unmanned, wind and solar-powered vehicles from Dutch Harbor, Alaska, with two sailing north through the Bering Strait into the Arctic Ocean and another transiting the Bering Sea. Traversing Alaska’s inhospitable waters, the remote-controlled vehicles will track melting ice, measure carbon dioxide in the ocean and count fish, seals and whales. For the first time, the vehicles will journey through the Bering Strait into the Arctic with a newly adapted
US Coast Guard Shipwreck Found – 100 Years Later
17 knots. The cutter’s armament included four 6-pounder 3-inch rapid firing guns and one 15-inch torpedo tube. Following the Spanish-American War, McCulloch patrolled out of its homeport of San Francisco, cruising the Pacific Ocean from the Mexican border to Cape Blanco, Ore. Built for Bering Sea patrols, the cutter deployed to enforce fur seal regulations in the Pribilof Islands off Alaska and served as a floating courthouse for far-flung Alaskan towns. Last October, a joint NOAA and Coast Guard training mission confirmed the location of McCulloch’s remains. Working off
Modernization of The U.S. Fishing Fleet
the ubiquitous Pacific Northwest. Modernization of the North Pacific Fishing Fleet, a study by The McDowell Group for the Port of Seattle, has made the rounds and given weight to the idea that a major fleet upgrade really is underway. With average 2014 gross revenues having run between $2 million for Bering Sea/Aleutian Island trawl vessels to $16 million for some catcher-processors, there’s a feeling that owners can afford new vessels that might cost $15 million for the first group or $130 million for the second. Despite the big harvests, just one large vessel a year has been built or
New Vessel Aims to Transform the Fishing Industry
,” Downs said. In order to improve working conditions for the crew, all fishing gear is inside and hauled through an interior moon pool – another first for the U.S. – so the fishermen are no longer exposed to unpredictable weather and associated risks of fishing in the Bering Sea. This also helps extend the time of fishing operations under severe weather conditions and gives high maneuverability and station keeping capabilities, according to the designer. Additionally, the shipbuilder said the vessel has been built with a heavily weighted box keel design to keep weight
ASV Global, TerraSond Complete First Unmanned Hydrographic Survey
ASV Global and TerraSond have completed a 5172 nautical mile hydrographic survey in the Bering Sea, off Alaska. TerraSond used the C-Worker 5 Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) alongside its Q105 survey ship for a duration of 36 days. The C-Worker 5 completed 2275 nautical miles of survey lines operating as a force multiplier, running parallel survey lines to the Q105. Both vessels ran multibeam sonars and simultaneously towed side scan sonars. The C-Worker 5 was operated using ASV Global’s ASView control system from a control station on the Q105 vessel. ASView used exported survey lines
Webinar to Exhibit R/V Langseth
with OBSIP that manages the Ocean Bottom Seismometer pool that consists of instruments from SIO, WHOI, and L-DEO). The Langseth began operations in 2008 and has successfully carried out more than 27 marine seismic projects around the globe. This has included work in the Arctic Ocean (Chukchi Sea), Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Aleutians, offshore northwestern U.S., Marianas, Taiwan, Azores, Spain, Northwest and Central Pacific, Costa Rica, N. Atlantic, US East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Altogether, our science missions since 2008 encompass almost 1500 operational days. These cruises have science parties
Admiral Vladimirsky on Round-the-world Voyage
the head of navigation and oceanography of the Russian Ministry of Defence, captain of 1st rank, Sergey Travin. According to him, preparation of the training vessel is fully complete. The route of the ship will include the Baltic, North and Barents Seas, the waters of the Northern Sea Route, the Bering Sea, and northern part of the Pacific Ocean. The ship will pass through the Panama Canal into the Atlantic Ocean, cross it, pass through the English Channel, the North Sea, and the southern part of the Danish straits, and will complete the route on the Baltic Sea. "The most important stage
Bering Sea Early Sea Ice Break-Up 2014
on March 21, Arctic sea ice extent has declined somewhat unevenly, but has consistently been well below its average 1981 to 2010 extent. While the rate of Arctic-wide retreat was rapid through the first half of April, it has subsequently slowed down. However, ice breakup was quite early in the Bering Sea, presenting difficulties for gold dredging operations and seal hunters in the region. In the Antarctic, sea ice continued to reach record high extents. April 2014 compared to previous years Average ice extent for April 2014 was the fifth lowest for the month in the satellite record. Through
NOAA Begins Hydrographic Survey Season
commercial fishing industries. Rainier will also work in Cold Bay, charting potential areas of refuge for ships approaching the harbor when currents are strong. Additionally, one of NOAA's hydrographic services contractors will survey Bechevin Bay, the easternmost passage through the Aleutians from the Bering Sea to the Gulf of Alaska. Before heading to Alaska, the Fairweather will survey south of Washington's San Juan Islands and investigate reported shoaling in Friday Harbor. Coast Survey's navigation response teams (NRTs), small 2- or 3-person boats equipped with both multibeam and side scan sonar
Three NOAA scientists honored by White House
. He has developed innovative models that help explain and predict fisher behavior amid changing environment, market conditions and management systems. Haynie has also worked with diverse stakeholders to create and implement new programs to reduce unintended catch of salmon, called bycatch, in the Bering Sea pollock fishery. Haynie has organized numerous workshops with scientists and stakeholders, and has served as a mentor to many students and other researchers. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Washington, where he was a NOAA Fisheries/Sea Grant Marine Resource Economics Fellow
Ocean Biodiversity US$5-Million Protection Grant for Oceana
Increasing by 30 percent the amount of European marine areas that are protected by national and/or regional governments, with a special focus on Spain, Portugal, Italy, Malta, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Poland Protecting more than 50,000 square miles of U.S. seafloor habitat, including Bering Sea canyons and skate nurseries; critical habitat for North Pacific loggerhead sea turtles; and habitat in the Western Aleutian Islands to for the endangered Steller sea lions Closing newly identified rich and fragile Chilean marine habitats to bottom trawling and creating new or expanded marine
Subsea Cable Project: Tokyo to London via NW Passage
km (9,424 mile) subsea fibre optic cable; North Alaska Slope residents to benefit. Arctic Fibre announce that it will partner with Anchorage-based Quintillion Networks, LLC to provide broadband telecommunications services to more than 26,500 Alaska residents living along the Alaskan North Slope and Bering Sea coastline, and to provide a geographically diverse alternate fibre route for traffic from the United States to Europe and Asia. Arctic Fibre was established in 2009 to explore deploying a fibre optic telecommunications system through the Canadian Arctic. Arctic Fibre plans to construct a 15,167
