High-tech Buoy Launched in New York Bight
A high-tech, specialized buoy has been launched to collect useful information for developing wind farms offshore the U.S. East Coast.Equinor Wind US said it deployed the cutting-edge buoy as it works to develop its offshore wind lease site in the New York Bight.The Floating LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) device will measure wind speed, wind direction, wave conditions and several other marine characteristics that help inform critical decisions in regard to the resource potential and eventual development of the wind farm. It will be deployed to record this information for two years.The floating
US Government Sued Over Atlantic Seismic Testing
Environmental groups opposed to offshore drilling sued the federal government on Tuesday to prevent future seismic tests for oil and gas deposits in Atlantic waters off the U.S. East Coast.Seismic testing, which uses air gun blasts, violates federal laws that protect marine mammals, endangered species, and national environmental policy, according the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Charleston, South Carolina, against U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and the National Marine Fisheries Service.The U.S. fisheries service in November gave initial permission to five companies to conduct
Orsted Expands US Business with $510 Mln Acquisition
."With this transaction we're creating the number one offshore wind platform in North America," Orsted's offshore wind chief Martin Neubert in a statement.The drive to open America's offshore wind industry has attracted Europe's biggest renewable energy companies, who see the U.S. East Coast as a new frontier after years of success across the Atlantic.Orsted said the acquisition increased its capital expenditure guidance to 23-25 billion Danish crowns ($3.55-3.86 billion) this year from previous guidance of 16-18 billion.The new guidance includes the acquisition price of Deepwater
Algoma Joins Whale Conservation Efforts
and to acquire more knowledge about these animals. Many of Algoma’s vessels operate in the Saint Lawrence Estuary, where they may come across beluga, harbor porpoise, minke, blue, fin, and humpback whales. Several vessels also navigate in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and on the Canadian and U.S. East Coast, where they could also come across dolphins, pilot whales, and North Atlantic right whales.MMON initiated the maritime industry’s participation in the data collection about marine mammals in 2015 with Groupe Desgagnés and Canada Steamship Lines, a division of the CSL Group. Green
Atlantic Ocean Circulation at Weakest Point in 1,600 Years
years, as suggested by new research led by University College London (UCL) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). If the system continues to weaken, it could disrupt weather patterns from the United States and Europe to the African Sahel, and cause more rapid increase in sea level on the U.S. East Coast.When it comes to regulating global climate, the circulation of the Atlantic Ocean plays a key role. The constantly moving system of deep-water circulation, sometimes referred to as the Global Ocean Conveyor Belt, sends warm, salty Gulf Stream water to the North Atlantic where it releases heat
Oregon State University Seeks New Research Vessels
submit an in-depth cost proposal due in early February. Final selection of a shipyard is anticipated to take place in April 2017. Delivery of the first ship, which will be operated by Oregon State University, is expected in fall of 2020. Additional ships would likely be designated for the U.S. East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, if funded by NSF with congressional appropriations and approval by the president. NSF would competitively select operators for those vessels, possibly in 2018. Although similar in size, the new ships will differ greatly from R/V Oceanus, built in 1975 and operated
Drones Detect Sharks in Intercoastal Waters
he said. In addition to their work on sharks, researchers at the Unoccupied Systems Facility at the Duke Marine Lab are also using drones to track and study sea turtles, seals and other marine species; analyze marine debris on remote beaches and islands worldwide; and map estuaries along the U.S. East Coast. The facility was launched in 2015 and is one of only a handful of facilities nationwide – and one of only two in North Carolina – that has earned an exemption from the Federal Aviation Authority to use drones for research. Beginning this summer, the facility
New Maps Reduce Threats to Whales, Dolphins
Scientists have created highly detailed maps charting the seasonal movements and population densities of 35 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises – many of them threatened or endangered – in the crowded waters of the U.S. East Coast and Gulf of Mexico. “These maps show where each species, or closely related group of species, is most likely to be at any given time of year,” said Laura Mannocci, a postdoctoral research associate at Duke University’s Marine Geospatial Ecology Laboratory (MGEL). “This makes it easier to monitor and manage them, and
Photo of the Day: ‘Windship’ Over Rotterdam
to the 2012-built Brave Tern are necessary because wind turbines became heavier and the blades of the rotor blades have grown larger. Sister vessel Bold Tern will get the same upgrade later this year. Brave Tern will first do a maintenance job in the North Sea, before heading to the U.S. east coast where it will assist in the construction of the first U.S. offshore wind farm.
Rising Seas to Displace Millions if Warming Unchecked
Antarctica and other regions will melt as global temperatures increase, leading to major rises in sea levels. "I would avoid buying property in South Florida in particular," Strauss told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Coastal California, New York and other cities on the U.S. east coast would also be hit hard by rising seas if carbon emissions are not cut drastically, he said. To substantially blunt the threat, emissions reductions would have to be bigger than those pledged by the United States and more than 145 other countries as part of a new U.N. deal to tackle
