Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
October 31, 2014
The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is a member of the weasel family that ran away to sea. It is the smallest of the marine mammals and the only one that does not rely on fat (blubber) for warmth. Rather, it has the thickest coat of fur of any mammal – up to one million strands of hair per square inch.
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
May 20, 2014
Teak is the common name for the Tectona grandis, a member of the verbena family native to the hardwood forests of India, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. It is a large deciduous tree, growing to a height of 130 feet, with gray and grayish brown branches.
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
April 8, 2014
The Strait of Malacca is named after Malacca, now part of Malaysia. In about the year 1400, Parameswana, the last Raja of Singapura, was expelled from the area around present-day Singapore by local rivals. He relocated to the fishing village of Malacca…
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
April 1, 2014
Elephant seals are large seals represented by two species, the northern elephant seal and the southern elephant seal. Both were hunted to near extinction through the end of the nineteenth century. The smaller northern elephant seal is found in the eastern portion of the North Pacific Ocean…
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
July 31, 2012
The United States Navy disposes of many of its old, obsolete, and decommissioned warships by sinking them in deep ocean waters. This practice, called a sinking exercise or SINKEX, involves removing toxic and hazardous substances to the maximum practicable extent…
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
December 9, 2011
Pensacola is the westernmost city in Florida, nearly extending into Alabama. It is the homeport for a number of fishing vessels and small passenger vessels. One of its claims to fame is that it is the site of the first European settlement in…
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
December 21, 2010
Nikumaroro (previously known as Gardner Island) is a small coral atoll in the central Pacific Ocean situated just south of the Equator and just west of the 180th meridian. It lies in the Phoenix Island Chain and is part of the Republic of Kiribati.
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
November 5, 2010
The requirement for scanning of 100% of maritime shipping containers in overseas ports prior to loading on a ship bound for the United States was enacted into federal law (with various caveats) by the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007.
Posted to Maritime Musings
(by
Dennis Bryant)
on
August 27, 2010
The Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) is a US Navy program, initiated in the early 1950’s, to track Soviet or other potentially hostile submarines. It consists of a series of hydrophones strategically placed on seamounts and continental slopes…