HOT NEWS !

By Tyler Treadway

Before two brand-new, first-of-their-kind autonomous underwater vehicles begin exploring the depths of the world's oceans, they'll get their feet wet in the water off the Treasure Coast.

Known as AUVs, the unmanned, untethered submarines will be aboard the Seward Johnson, a research vessel of the Fort Pierce-based Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, when it sets sail today on a mission to create high-definition sonar maps of the deep-water Lophelia coral reefs.

The Lophelia reef mapping is particularly important because the coral is threatened by bottom-trawling fishing boats and possible offshore oil exploration and drilling.

"If you destroy reef, you destroy habitat," said John Reed, a research professor at the Harbor Branch division of Florida Atlantic University who has been studying and working to protect these deep corals for more than 30 years. "And if you destroy habitat, you destroy fisheries. So by fishing on these reefs, we're shooting ourselves in the foot."

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From BalkanTravellers

Archaeological and natural attractions, as well as submerged planes and ships, make Turkey’s southern coast near the towns of Side and Manavgat, a new hot spot for divers.

To feed into the growing popularity of dicing tourism, many planes and ships were submerged at different points along Turkey’s southern coast, forming a shelter for many sea creatures as well as helping diving tourism, the Turkish Hürriyet newspaper reported.

A 30-metre long, 8-metre high coast guard boat was recently submerged off the port of the town of Side and an artificial reef was created near the port. This is the third purposeful sunk vessel, according to reports.

 “Side and Manavgat had a great potential in terms of archaeology and natural richness. However, we have less underwater riches than the Aegean Region has.

For that reason, we submerged this boat donated by the Coast Guards to create different opportunities for tourism to ensure tourists coming to spend their holiday in our town have a better time.

This boat is the first leg of our project and we are planning to sink a few ships too,” Mayor if Side, Osman Delikkulak, told the publication.

Side, located 75 kilometres from the popular resort town of Antalya, is one of the best-known classical sites in Turkey, which dates back to the seventh century BC.

By Tom Galusha

In 1779, English sailors attempted to hold a Hawaiian chief hostage until a stolen boat was returned.

Fearing for their king, Hawaiians crowded the beach everywhere, the men carrying weapons and wearing war mats. To avoid bloodshed, the captain of the Resolution gave up the "enterprise."

But sailors fired on canoes attempting to leave the bay, apparently without the captain's orders. Learning that a chief had been killed, enraged Hawaiians menaced the captain, who fired his pistol.

The first barrel, loaded with small shot, could not penetrate the Hawaiian's mat armor; the other barrel, loaded with ball, killed a Hawaiian.

The incensed natives attacked. At the water's edge the captain called out for the men to cease firing.

Stabbed in the back, he fell with his face in the water. This was the tragic end of Capt. James Cook, who made the European discovery of Hawaii, on his third voyage.

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From The Press and Journal

A bottle of whisky recovered from the wreck of a cargo ship which inspired the film Whisky Galore ! sold at auction yesterday for £2,200 to a teenager fascinated by its remarkable story.

The bottle of Ballantine Scotch whisky was expected to fetch about £1,500 but strong competition from bidders pushed its price up.

The bottle was one of around 240,000 which sank with the SS Politician after she ran aground off Eriskay in 1941.

The sinking inspired the novel Whisky Galore ! and the 1949 Ealing comedy of the same name, ensuring the tale of how the islanders raided a shipwreck for her cargo of whisky entered into legend.

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By Wesley Loy

A century ago this year, an iron-hulled, three-masted sailing ship departed the Southeast Alaska fishing town of Wrangell laden with 5,260 cases of salmon. Star of Bengal: 111 people died when tugs failed as ship was leaving Wrangell

Doubtless no one aboard the ship, which carried 21 crewmen plus 117 mostly Asian cannery workers heading home after the fishing season, imagined their voyage to San Francisco would turn into the worst tragedy ever seen in the grand history of the Alaska salmon industry.

The bark Star of Bengal belonged to the Alaska Packers' Association, the state's dominant canned salmon producer at the time.

Two steam-powered tugs, the Hattie Gage and the smaller Kayak, began towing the ship out of Wrangell toward the open sea about 8:20 a.m. on Sept. 19, 1908. The barometer readings indicated fine weather.

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From Los Angeles News

A new analysis of economic activity generated by Florida's coral reefs finds that some 70,000 jobs and more than $5.5 billion in business in the state could disappear if climate change destroys the reefs.

"A business-as-usual approach to climate change could mean a lot less business for Florida," said Jerry Karnas, Florida project director at Environmental Defense Fund, which commissioned the report, "Corals and Climate Change: Florida's Natural Treasures at Risk."

Florida encompasses the only shallow water coral reefs in the continental United States. Like coral reefs worldwide, Florida's reefs are besieged by environmental problems.

For instance, a federal government study released in November confirms significant ocean acidification across much of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. As oceans absorb the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, they become more acidic, reducing the ability of corals to produce their calcium carbonate skeletons.

This affects individual corals and the ability of the reef to maintain a positive balance between reef building and reef erosion.

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From Wesh

With the stock market struggling, some people have found new ways to invest their money.

Daniel Sedwick is a rare coins and artifacts dealer in Winter Park. He said business is good, despite the recession. He specializes in artifacts and shipwreck coins.

Sedwick said that the sinking economy is making some people turn to more offbeat investment options because specialty items tend to hold their value.

"It’s dangerous to think of it as an investment, but the fact is, it’ll never be worth zero," Sedwick said. "It’s not like stock -- where you invest in it and one day you wake up to find the markets crashed and you have nothing."

Financial planner Jason Chepenik said he has heard of people investing in rare artifacts, but he does not recommend it. He said people must continue to think long-term with their investments.

From Hurriyet Daily News

More than 20,000 people have visited the ’Beyond Babylon’ exhibition at the New York Metropolitan Art Museum since it opened two weeks ago. The exhibition has received positive reactions in art circles in the country.

An exhibition, "Beyond Babylon: Art, Trade and Diplomacy in the Second Millennium B.C.," on display at New York Metropolitan Art Museum, featuring the artifacts found in 1982 at the Uluburun site off the coast of Kaş, alongside artifacts from museums from the Near East and Turkey, has had 20,000 visitors in two weeks.

The exhibition, sponsored by the Turkish-American Business Council, or TAIK, opened Nov. 18 with contributions from the Doğan, Doğuş, Koç and Sabancı groups.

At a press conference held in Turkey before the opening of the exhibition, TAIK Chairman Haluk Dinçer said, "For our Council, there could be no more appropriate cultural and artistic activity than the Beyond Babylon exhibition because this priceless cultural legacy is directly related to trade and diplomacy in parallel with Turkey's own ongoing reforms at the moment."
 

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