Marc van der Donck Receives 2022 Alexander Dalrymple Award
Rhett Hatcher at the UKHO’s office in Taunton, England. The 2022 presentation took place this year due to delays in awarding previous winners caused by Covid-19.The 2022 award recognizes Capt Marc’s positive impact on hydrography since 2014, when he first attended the Meso-American and Caribbean Sea Hydrographic Commission’s (MACHC) Regional Hydrographic Council meetings (RHC).Since then, Capt Marc – who as well as chairing the IC-ENC from 2016 was also National Hydrographer for the Netherlands Hydrographic Office – has helped improve data sharing between members of the
First North Brazil Current Ring of 2022 Forms Offshore Suriname and French Guiana
can exceed 1.0 m/s (Figure 3). Significant subsurface currents associated with these rings can extend as deep as 400 m. Their structure begins to disintegrate as they encounter Trinidad, Tobago, and the Windward Islands, with their energy ultimately filtering in between the islands and into the Caribbean Sea.A seasonal cycle is observed in the formation and migration of NBC rings with the deepest, strongest rings forming in the boreal fall and winter months (October to February) when the NBC transport is at its strongest and deepest. In contrast, the rings shed in the spring and summer months (March
RDSEA "Pic of the Week": RDSEA Coastal MetOcean Hybrid
RDSEA Coastal MetOcean Hybrid; Surface Meteorology, water column currents (ADCP), turbidity, and density. Caribbean Sea, Moin, Costa Rica. In partnership with Campbell Scientific Carib (San Jose), Centro Cientifico Tropical (CCT, San Jose), and APM Terminals S.A., Terminal de Contenders de Moin (TCM), is the largest infrastructure project in Costa Rican history. Developed to support Costa Rica’s growing agricultural export industry as well as an active manufacturing sector. RDSEA'steam was responsible for maintaining MetOcean data parameters in near-real-time during the dredging phase of the
Scientists Come Closer to Solving Caribbean Seaweed Mystery
Nature Communications.Nitrogen is found in human and animal waste and in fertilizers. The results suggest that sewage and farm runoff that’s flowing into rivers throughout the Americas and then on to the ocean is feeding offshore sargassum growth. Currents carry much of this seaweed to the Caribbean Sea, where it’s bedeviling the region’s tourism-dependent coastal economies.The samples also showed, for example, a 111% rise in the ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus during the same time frame. That ratio has been nearly constant across the world’s oceans going back decades. The
Treasures of the Deep
controls.”Hollywood has made movies about the thrills of treasure hunting for decades, and JW Fishers’ search equipment has been a part of numerous high-profile films. Paul Walker and Jessica Alba used the Pulse 8X in multiple scenes of “Into the Blue” in search of gold in the Caribbean Sea. Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson both used the detectors looking for a sunken Spanish galleon called the Aurelia in “Fool’s Gold.” JW Fishers has also been featured on “Rob Riggle Global Investigators” and on “The Curse of Oak Islands” Series multiple
This Underwater Base Could Become the ISS of the Ocean
will have access to a laboratory, a medical bay, and even a hydroponic greenhouse where they can grow fresh food — assuming Proteus comes to fruition.Cousteau told Forbes he expects it'll take three years and $135 million to build the underwater base 60 feet below the surface of the Caribbean Sea, just off the coast of Curaçao.If he can raise the money to do that, the facility will then cost about $3 million per year to run, but he anticipates renting space on the facility to universities and private companies, which will help offset that expense.For now, though, he's just
Ocean Influencer: Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, President, World Maritime University (WMU)
equality in ocean-related fields. She is a distinguished academic in the field of international law, justice drives her motivation for social and environmental change on a global scale.Born and raised in the Commonwealth of Dominica, Doumbia-Henry grew up surrounded by maritime culture, where the Caribbean Sea and the shipping industry have a large impact on the economy and daily life. Her professional interests and successes can be credited to both her island upbringing and paternal guidance and support. Cited as a source of inspiration, Doumbia-Henry’s father was a farmer, educator, and politician
U.S. Navy, NOAA Strike Deal to Fast-Track Unmanned Maritime Systems
, academia and private enterprise. A timely example of how NOAA and the Navy are working together with unmanned systems is the ocean unmanned glider project to improve hurricane prediction. For the third year, NOAA, the Navy, academia and private industry are deploying unmanned ocean gliders from the Caribbean Sea to the eastern seaboard that demonstrate unmanned maritime system’s observations can improve hurricane intensity forecasts.The new pact formalizes the Commercial Engagement Through Ocean Technology Act of 2018, that directs NOAA to coordinate with the Navy on a wide range of functions including
Forecasters Expect Busy 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season
the Atlantic this year. El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions are expected to either remain neutral or to trend toward La Nina, meaning there will not be an El Nino present to suppress hurricane activity. Also, warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, coupled with reduced vertical wind shear, weaker tropical Atlantic trade winds, and an enhanced west African monsoon all increase the likelihood for an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season. Similar conditions have been producing more active seasons since the current high-activity era began
February 2024
