OCEAN: Missile & more – 18th Jun 2024

Ahoy from BA! This is the Rorshok Ocean Update from the 18th of June twenty twenty-four. A summary of what's going down in the 70% surface of the Earth covered in saltwater.

Kicking off this show, on Tuesday the 11th, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the Russian naval frigate Admiral Gorshkov and the nuclear-powered submarine Kazan carried out missile drills in the Atlantic Ocean. These included air defense exercises and firing precision missiles at mock targets from over 600 kilometers (more than 370 miles) away. The Russian vessels are part of a four-vessel fleet heading to Cuba. The country’s authorities consider these visits from friendly nations a routine, stressing that the ships don’t pose any threat and don’t carry nuclear weapons. The visit also confirms the strong bilateral relations between Russia and Cuba.

The U.S. is keeping an eye on the activities due to the ongoing tensions over the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Admiral Gorshkov carries advanced Zircon hypersonic missiles, which President Putin says can bypass existing missile defenses.

More about Russia as it announced on Saturday the 15th that it would deploy two naval vessels to Alexandria, Egypt, for joint military exercises with the Egyptian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea, near the Suez Canal. The Russian Pacific Fleet, including the Varyah missile cruiser and the Marshal Shaposhnikov frigate, will participate in the drills alongside Egypt's ENS Al-Qadeer frigate. The military exercises will focus on joint maneuvering, communication training, and inspection actions. This will reinforce combat coordination and communication between the two navies, as well as strengthen military cooperation between Russia and Egypt. These military exercises come after joint exercises held in the Black Sea.

Russia's warship visit to the Caribbean follows Putin's warning that Moscow might provide weapons to Western adversaries if Ukraine's allies allow Kyiv to strike Russia with their weapons.

Speaking of cooperation between countries, Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria will launch a joint operation in July to remove mines from the Black Sea, after an agreement ratified earlier this year. The goal is to ensure safe navigation despite the ongoing security concerns, including Russia's attacks in Ukraine. Four vessels, including mine countermeasure ships from each country and a command vessel, will participate in the operation, highlighting the strategic partnerships and NATO cooperation among the nations involved.

The UN Refugee Agency (or UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (or IOM) expressed their condolences for the hundreds of deaths on the first anniversary of the tragic shipwreck off Pylos, Greece. Both organizations emphasized the importance of uncovering the incident's details and ensuring accountability.

The boat, with around 750 people, capsized on the 14th of June last year. Rescuers saved over 100 people and recovered more than eighty bodies, but many are still missing. Despite ongoing investigations in Greece, there were no conclusive results.

The organizations stressed the importance of providing safe migration pathways. They continue to advocate for asylum rights, safer migration routes, and coordinated search-and-rescue efforts to prevent similar disasters.

Moving on to the Pacific Ocean. Indigenous leaders are carrying out a plan to protect whales by recognizing them as legal persons. The leader Mere Takoko, a Māori conservationist, wants to emphasize the whales' cultural and ecological significance. The Declaration of the Ocean or He Whakaputanga Moana treaty, signed by Indigenous groups from the Cook Islands, New Zealand, Tahiti, Tonga, Hawaii, and Easter Island, aims to ensure whales' rights to move freely and live in a clean ocean. The declaration is non-binding, but activists hope it will lead to stronger protections. Takoko and her team plan to engage with Pacific nations to push this legislation forward, to make further progress at the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that will take place in October in Samoa.

Still in the Pacific. On Thursday the 13th, the Climate Prediction Center reported the El Niño/Southern oscillation (or ENSO) neutral conditions, meaning the water temperature anomalies in the central and eastern Pacific are between 0.5 and -0.5 degrees Celsius (or between twenty-three and forty-one Fahrenheit). However, there is a 65% chance that La Niña, the phenomenon of ocean surface cooling, will develop between July and September and an 85% chance it will continue through the winter. Sea surface temperatures are near-to-below average in the eastern equatorial Pacific, and subsurface temperatures are still below average. Winds are easterly over the central Pacific, and rainfall patterns support neutral conditions. Despite this, experts believe La Niña is likely to develop this summer due to ongoing cooling and changes in atmospheric patterns.

From the Pacific to the Indian Ocean. On Sunday the 16th, under the guidance of Jitendra Singh, the Union Earth Sciences Minister, India plans to be the 6th country to launch its own deep-sea mission. During a meeting discussing the ministry's 100-day action plan, Singh expressed satisfaction with the mission's progress. He emphasized the importance of a resilient blue economy, and urged institutes to focus on empowering communities that depend on ocean resources for their livelihoods. The mission is about mineral exploration and making progress in ocean sciences, biodiversity conservation, and marine flora and fauna exploration.

Let’s have a look at the Arctic Ocean. A Dutch startup called Arctic Reflections is working on new methods to slow down the melting of the Arctic. One of their most promising experiments involves pumping seawater into specific areas of the Arctic Sea to thicken the ice during winter. This method aims to form a protective ice layer that could preserve the Arctic ice.

Another approach being tested involves scattering reflective glass beads over the snow to reflect sunlight.

Despite their potential, these methods' long-term effectiveness is uncertain. These geoengineering approaches are temporary solutions that will help buy time while waiting for definitive, global solutions to reduce carbon emissions.

From the Arctic to the Antarctic Ocean. The World Meteorological Organization (or WMO) published a news article on its website on Thursday the 13th, to increase its efforts to address melting ice, snow, and permafrost worldwide. The WMO's Executive Council is stepping up to improve monitoring, advocacy, and collaboration, in response to these dramatic changes in the cryosphere, that is, all the parts of the Earth with frozen water. The goal is to reduce climate impacts by focusing on better observations and research in polar regions like Antarctica, where current data gaps limit accurate predictions. The Council stressed the global significance of cryospheric changes and the need for coordinated international actions to manage risks like rising sea levels and ecosystem disruptions.

In other news, the Metals Company (or TMC) announced on Wednesday the 12th that it had produced the world's first cobalt sulfate derived exclusively from seafloor polymetallic nodules, highlighting the potential of this resource without generating solid waste. This comes in a time where environmental organizations, activists and public figures advocate for ocean conservation and speak up against deep-sea mining.

On the weekly episode of the TV program Last Week Tonight, the host, John Oliver, criticized Gerard Barron, the CEO of The Metals Company, for downplaying the risks of mining precious metals in the area. Despite The Metals Company's remarks of minimal damage, independent studies show long-lasting harm. Oliver called for a moratorium on deep-sea mining and stronger regulations.

And to wrap up this edition, on Wednesday the 12th, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society announced they had found the wreck of Quest intact on the ocean floor fifteen nautical miles off the coast of Canada. It stands upright 390 meters (or 1,280 feet) below the surface. The team found the ship on Sunday, the 9th of June after a seventeen-hour search. Ernest Shackleton, the former captain of the vessel, who died of a heart attack aboard Quest in January nineteen twenty-two, had planned to use the ship for a Canadian Arctic expedition. The vessel continued its voyages until it sank in nineteen sixty-two, crushed against the ice in the Labrador Sea, a part of the North Atlantic Ocean close to Greenland.

Want to know more? Check out the Rorshok Arctic Update with the link in the show notes!

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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