OCEAN: Discoveries & more – 16th Jan 2024

Ahoy from BA! This is Rorshok’s Ocean Update from the 16th of January twenty twenty-four A summary of what's going down in the 70% surface of the Earth covered in saltwater.

The Ocean Exploration Trust’s scientific expedition recently discovered the first fossil tooth of a megalodon shark in its natural deep-sea environment, near Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, at a depth of over 10,000 feet (or a bit more than three kilometers). The tooth belonged to Otodus, an extinct megatooth shark, and was found partially encapsulated with Manganese. The finding will be crucial to understand more about the fossilization process. The University of Rhode Island's Marine Geological Samples Laboratory will store the tooth for future research.

Still in the research field, Kevin Konrad, a geologist from the University of Nevada, and his team discovered a massive undersea plateau in the Pacific Ocean, called the Melanesian Border Plateau. It is larger than the Indian state of Gujarat and has kept growing since the era of dinosaurs.

The plateau has been around for 120 million years. For forty-five million years, it floated over the Rurutu-Arago hotspot, turning into an undersea mountain chain, and finally it moved over the Samoa hotspot and shaped the Samoan Islands about thirteen million years ago. The research remarks the importance of understanding more about the formation of plateaus.

From the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. On Wednesday the 3rd, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (or NOAA) spotted a rare North Atlantic injured right whale calf off the coast of South Carolina. The whale showed serious signs of injuries to its head, mouth, and lips, probably caused by a boat propeller. The NOAA said that the calf most likely wouldn’t make it. However, as of Wednesday the 10th, the NOAA couldn't spot the injured calf.

There are less than 360 right whales left in the North Atlantic. They mostly swim near Atlantic Canada and the US East Coast, areas with intense shipping and other human activities, putting the endangered right whales at risk of vessel strikes or getting trapped in fishing nets.

Still in the Atlantic Ocean. From Tuesday the 9th, Norway became the first country ever to approve commercial-scale deep-sea mining. Environmental scientists are concerned about potential environmental damage. For now, companies can mine minerals only in Norwegian waters, but an agreement for mining in international waters is in the air. The minerals extracted will be lithium and cobalt, which can be found inside rocks at the bottom of the ocean. The companies can now submit the mining request and wait for approval from the parliament, which will decide case by case, but any actual extraction won’t begin before twenty thirty. The Norwegian decision contrasts the EU and UK’s positions to temporarily ban the practice because of environmental concerns.

In previous shows we talked about the World’s Toughest Row, the rowing race where teams cross the Atlantic without stopping. Four marine biologists are part of the all-women Salty Science Crew, and they have already covered 3,000 kilometers (almost 2,000 miles) of their 5,000-kilometer journey (more than 3,000 miles) to raise money for ocean conservation. In the updates on their Instagram page, the crew reports to be overall in good health. On Wednesday the 10th, they shared their close experience with marine life: flying fish raining during the nights, dolphins and tuna swimming around the boat and even a close encounter with a sei whale. As of Friday the 12th, the crew leads in the women’s category and is in the seventh position in the overall competition. They have already raised $12,000 dollars toward their $500,000 goal.

In other news, with the aim of teaming up with Indian forces for training and other operations, on Wednesday the 10th, Britain said it would send warships this year and an aircraft carrier in twenty twenty-five to the Indian Ocean. Grant Shapps, the British Defence Secretary, underlined the importance of building up strategic relationships with India. In fact, both nations are interested in ensuring maritime security, protecting trade routes in the Indo-Pacific.

Let’s have a look at the Arctic Ocean. Professor Rainer Lohmann from URI Graduate School of Oceanography published a study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters on toxic polyfluoroalkyl substances, or “forever chemicals.” He discovered that the presence of forever chemicals won’t actually last forever in the Arctic —but do not celebrate yet, as they are moving towards the North Atlantic Ocean, from where they are going to spread worldwide.

In his study, Professor Lohmann found forever chemicals in deep water below 3,000 feet (more than 900 meters). Lohmann also found that approximately 120 tons of forever chemicals entered the Arctic Ocean, and that 110 tons moved into the Atlantic in a one-year timeframe.

In other news, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey, all NATO member countries, are urging other nations to join their initiative for a Black Sea demining operation. The project aims to clear the Black Sea from mines that Russia placed because of its war against Ukraine in order to ensure maritime safety.

The three nations signed the Memorandum of Understanding in Istanbul on the 11th and will participate in the Mine Countermeasures Naval Group, formed by Turkey in August twenty twenty-three, with the aim of trying to reduce the risk of shipping in the region.

Moving on to the Suez Canal. On Friday the 12th, the Suez Canal Authority quashed rumors about the suspension of navigation in the canal due to the Houthi rebels’ attacks in the Red Sea. Despite Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, assuring the ship transit in the canal was not impacted, the transits on Saturday the 13th were forty-four, 40% less than mid-December. 500 out of 700 boxships were rerouted, raising container costs by 15%. Many ships are currently opting for the long route around the Cape of Good Hope.

From the Suez to the Panama Canal. The ongoing drought is pushing the famous shipping company Maersk to reroute. Vessels carrying goods from Oceania, specifically Australia and New Zealand, won't use the Panama Canal anymore. Instead, they will use a land bridge, dropping off or picking up cargo at the Ports of Balboa on the Pacific side and Manzanillo on the Atlantic side of Panama. The containers will move between the ports via trains.

Closing with the US Navy settling a water-pollution lawsuit with environmental groups over its long habit of live-fire testing operations in the Potomac River. On Wednesday the 10th, the Navy agreed to ask for a water quality permit to the state of Maryland. The permit aligns with the Clean Water Act, so the US Navy will have to meet the water quality standards. The Navy's Dahlgren test center, active from nineteen eighteen until two thousand seven, discharged over thirty-three million pounds (almost fifteen tons) of dangerous materials into the river. The Navy will have to apply for the permit within thirty days of the settlement and give regular updates on the state of progress. In return, the environmental groups will not sue the Navy over any irregular discharge in the river for the next two years, while the permit is ongoing.

Aaaaaand that's it for this week!

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See you next week!