Pacific H2O

Daily Kos: The Right-Wing Offshore Drilling Scam
The Right-Wing Offshore Drilling Scam

Beach-lovers’ sunscreens damage reefs | NEWS.com.au

SUNSCREEN lotions used by beach-going tourists worldwide are a major cause of coral bleaching, according to a new study commissioned by the European Commission.

Humpback whale population rebounds | HonoluluAdvertiser.com | The Honolulu Advertiser

A new study shows the number of humpback whales in the Northern Pacific has grown dramatically to more than 18,000, a finding likely to spark new debate about the whales’ status as an endangered species, according to Hawai’i whale experts.

Tags: endangered species, Humpback whales, Northern Pacific

Full story here: Beaches patrolled after shark attack
(04-27) 04:00 PDT Solana Beach, San Diego County — A few paddleboarders ignored posted signs warning that a great white shark still could be lurking below the surface Saturday, a day after a swimmer was killed in a rare attack near San Diego.

“It’s like going to see ‘Jaws’ - getting in the water the next day, all you could think about was the music,” said Bob Rief, 63, who was teaching a friend how to stand up on a paddleboard. “But if you’re afraid of the ocean, you shouldn’t be in it.”

Tags: attack, California, great white shark, San Diego County, shark, Solana Beach

Cosco Busan pilot convicted of DUI in 1999
The pilot of the container ship that sideswiped the Bay Bridge and spilled 53,000 gallons of fuel oil into the bay was convicted of drunken driving in 1999 and was taking medication for depression, anxiety and sleep apnea that could have impaired his ability to steer the ship, federal officials said Wednesday.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators also grilled Coast Guard officials about why they approved Capt. John Cota’s license last year after he presented the agency with the list of drugs he was taking.

“I wouldn’t want anyone taking those medications and having to make decisions in safety-sensitive positions,” testified Dr. Robert Bourgeois, who evaluates mariners for the Coast Guard and airline pilots for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Tags: Busan, Capt. John Cota, Dr. Robert Bourgeois, NTSB

full story here:  adn.com | Alaska Newsreader : Alaska Newsreader
Booze and the Alaska Ranger. An assistant engineer on watch aboard the fishing vessel Alaska Ranger before it sank on March 23 admitted during testimony this week that he sometimes drank while the ship was at sea, according to stories from KIAL in Unalaska and The Seattle Times. Another crewman testified at a hearing in Dutch Harbor that the assistant engineer, Rodney Lundy, was a good engineer but had a drinking problem and probably should not have been aboard the vessel, according to the stories

Tags: accident, Alaska Ranger, alcohol, engineer

The Seattle Times | Seattle Times Newspaper

TOM REESE / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Robot buoys are taking the ocean’s pulse

Scientists at the UW and elsewhere have deployed a flotilla of more than 3,000 autonomous buoys that are helping reveal how climate change is playing out around the globe. UW oceanographer Steve Riser, shown here with graduate student Alison Rogers, helped design the network of 3,000 Argo floats.

Tags: change, measurement, ocean, technology, temperature

Abramovich buys World’s biggest yacht

Abramovich buys World’s biggest yacht - Pravda.Ru
The tests of a 500-foot yacht are being conducted in the shores of the Baltic Sea amid great secrecy.

In the last issue The Sunday Times told about “Flagship yacht for Admiral Abramovich”. The paper states that the Russian magnate, who already owns 3 gorgeous yachts, bought the largest privately owned yacht ever built – the Eclipse. These days the yacht is being tested off the German Baltic island of Ruegen.

Tags: conspicous consumption, glitter, yachting

Nicaragua Newspaper,

Catching the Best Breaks: Many surfers who come to Nicaragua looking for a perfect wave are people with money and a sense of adventure. Some like the waves so much they’re buying land here to be closer to them. Blake Schmidt | Nica Times “The secret’s out,” said Robert Dull, owner of the surf lodge Hotel Brio at Playa Gigante (hotelbrio.com, costanica.com). “We don’t surf alone now.” Dull bought his first Nicaragua property at Playa Maderas eight years ago, when it wasn’t unusual to paddle out into the surf and find oneself shredding solo. Now, the line-up at Maderas is dotted with floating heads on any given weekend, with beginners taking surf lessons filling the waters closer to the beach. “It is alarming how fast the southern coast is being bloated with surfers who are trying to buy land and start up surf camps. I got plenty of waves but there were days where it was crowded. It left a weird taste in my mouth,” a surfer identified as “slash” posted on an Internet forum on Nicaragua surfing at Web site Globalsurfers.com. In a wireless world where the Internet carries word of fine waves faster than a swell, the south Pacific coast of Central America’s biggest and least populated country has Web-surfing surfers discovering Nicaragua from all corners of the globe. Online and international media have lauded this region as a place where powerful Pacific waves meet offshore winds blowing off Lake Nicaragua to create a surfer’s dream. The popular magazine Transworld Surf, for instance, just ranked San Juan del Sur the fifth best place in the world to live and surf. And CNN has also mentioned Nicaraguan surfing in its top 10 list of spots around the world. Dull’s surf lodge and camp is one of several that have popped up north of San Juan del Sur. The camps range from higher-end establishments to backpacker hostels, offering surfers housing, surfing lessons, boat trips to the best breaks, food, and even Spanish lessons. The newest of the camps, Chica Brava (chicabrava.com), is one that caters exclusively to women, suggesting that the market has already become big enough to start specializing. The local Nicaraguans have also taken to surfing – a phenomenon that is new within the past decade – and have already produced several regionally competitive surfers who have made a name for themselves in Central America tournaments. The $22-billion-a-year surf industry is also helping to change the economies and faces of some of Nicaragua’s most out-of-the-way Pacific beaches, bringing in tourists and offering the possibility for new businesses to pop up where until recently there was no economy. “It’s easy to get a boat to the surf spots. The locals have begun to understand the fact that there’s money to be made,” said real estate agent Javier Hugentobler of the growing number of boat operators geared toward surf expeditions. In the Tola area, breaks can be found at the uninhabited playa Amarillo, a left point break at nearby Manzanillo, and around the renowned Playa Colorado, which was recently featured in Surfer’s Magazine. A recent post on the Web site of the Iguana Surf & Golf Resort – located right in front of some of the Pacific’s most precious breaks – said that the U.S. housing slump hasn’t had much effect on the company, since it’s in the “business of lifestyle,” not real estate. Marketing its development as “surf condos” and “surf homes,” the resort is the first to cater to the more well-to-do surf crowd and says it has seen an increase in interested buyers this year, according to Ferdie Prado, sales manager for the Danish-Nica Vamos Group, an Iguana partner (www.iguanasurfretreats.com). While some investors wait on the beach, too nervous to test the waters of Nicaragua, those who are more concerned with waves than politics are already jumping in and enjoying the ride. “People who buy have made up their minds,” said Iguana’s Prado, adding most buyers are North Americans.

http://www.nicatimes.net/nicaarchive/2008_03/032808.htm

Hawaii Tribune-Herald :: Hilo, Hawaii

Keith Taguma, foreground, provides guidance as Kauai Community College student Ita Rubio uses a compass to plot a course to Tahiti on a map showing the Hawaiian Islands and the Society Islands. Looking on are fellow KCC students Leinani Kali and Kamoo Mayer, and Gary Fujihara, Institute for Astronomy outreach officer. - Photos By William Ing/Tribune-Herald