Coast | Common News Update

Jun152019 by adminNo Comments

More than 260 dead dolphins found on Gulf Coast since February

Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are investigating why bottlenose dolphins are stranding themselves at an unusually high rate in the Northern Gulf of Mexico this year Excessive freshwater in the gulf from the Mississippi River flooding could be to blame. More than 260 dolphins have stranded themselves across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle since the beginning of February, which is approximately three-times higher than the historical average, NOAA said. A Mississippi scientist said the spillway opening is at least partly to blame for 126 dolphin deaths across Mississippi's coastline, CBS News reports. These strandings prompted the declaration of an unusual mortality event. or UME. Unusual mortality events are defined as "a stra...

May222019 by adminNo Comments

Officials: Last slave ship from Africa ID’d on Alabama coast

World

Alabama historical officials say researchers have located the wreck of the last ship known to bring enslaved people from Africa to the United States. A statement issued Wednesday by the Alabama Historical Commission says remains of the Gulf schooner Clotilda have been identified and verified after months of assessment. The commission's executive director, Lisa Demetropoulos Jones, calls the discovery "an extraordinary archaeological find." In 1860 the wooden ship illegally transported 110 people from what is now the west African nation of Benin to Mobile, Alabama. The Clotilda was then taken into delta waters north of the port and burned. The captives were later freed and settled a community that's still called Africatown.Let's block ads! (Why?) ABC News: International

Jan302019 by adminNo Comments

Bournemouth 4-0 Chelsea: Woeful Blues drop out of top four after humiliation on south coast

Sports

CHERRIES' DELIGHT Maurizio Sarri's men are now level with Arsenal on points and goal difference, but have been knocked down to fifth by virtue of goals scored Joshua King scored a brace as Bournemouth thrashed Chelsea at the Vitality Stadium to knock the Blues out of the Premier League’s top four. A well-deserved and memorable 4-0 win was secured with all four goals coming in a rampant second-half display for the Cherries and Blues boss Maurizio Sarri receiving flak from the travelling support. Josh King opened the scoring early in the second half King struck either side of setting up David Brooks before Charlie Daniels headed in a last-gasp fourth which saw Chelsea drop to fifth, below London rivals Arsenal on goal d...

Jan272019 by adminNo Comments

Sightings suggest rare angel sharks are living off the coast of Wales

Science

Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Numerous sightings suggest a population of Atlantic angel sharks, one of the world's rarest shark species, is living off the coast of Wales. The waters surrounding Spain's Canary Islands are the only confirmed safe haven for the endangered species, Squatina squatina. But sightings on several fishing boats suggest there are several angel sharks living just off the Welsh coast. In recent years, a few fishing boats have accidentally caught angel shark specimens. The flat-shaped bottom-dweller was once abundant in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, but the population shrank as a result of habitat disturbance and pollution. Many angel sharks were also accidentally caught and killed by commercial fishing boats using gill nets. The species, a member of a unique and ancient shark li...

Oct92018 by adminNo Comments

Seafloor mapping XPRIZE final will be in the Mediterranean, off Greek coast

Science

The final of the ocean XPRIZE, which will see fleets of robots compete to map the largest area of seafloor inside 24 hours, will take place in deep waters off the coast of Greece. Teams will be invited in turn to showcase their technologies, starting in early November. They will have to chart at least 250 sq km at depths down to 4,000m, and image 10 items of interest. The group that comes out on top will win $ 4m. Second place earns $ 1m. The Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE was launched in 2015 to find systems and approaches that could finally map the world's ocean basins to an acceptable precision. Currently, less than 15% of their bathymetry (depth) has been measured in a meaningfully accurate way. It is one of those truisms that ...