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3 great whites are ID’d off coastTags put on 2 sharks; some beaches closed By Meghan E. Irons Globe Staff / September 6, 2009 The fisherman had just one shot to mark the great white. Captain Bill Chaprales walked to the front of his 22-foot harpoon vessel, raised the 12-foot-long tagging pole, and threw it purposefully onto the back side of the enormous shark, which was 4 to 5 feet below the surface. Tagged. “He did it in one shot,’’ said state biologist Greg Skomal, whose team tagged two great whites yesterday. “We don’t swing the bat unless it’s a...

Just some striking and serene seashore shots. Bow Fiddle Rock, Scotland The rest of these were taken from Cave Rock on Sumner Beach, Christchurch, New Zealand. The last one shows what Cave Rock looks like; it's a Panoramio picture, so click for full-size.

Poll: Most coastal residents unprepared for hurricanesMay 2009 hurricane awareness poll results BY CURTIS MORGAN Hurricanes may flood entire cities, rip off roofs and level trees every year, but when it comes to overcoming public apathy, they're stunningly powerless. Two-thirds of residents in Florida and other coastal states feel no threat from storms. More than half would not evacuate in the face of a major storm unless ordered to do so. Nearly half don't even know whether their homeowner's insurance covers storm damage. Those are some of the key findings from a new poll released Thursday at Florida International University...

OC Family Grateful Editor: Saturday, April 25, 2009 was a beautiful day, and it was made even more wonderful by the outpouring of affection expressed toward Captain Robert S. Craig at his Beach Memorial Service. The Craig children and family appreciate all that was done to honor our “Pop,” a man so many in Ocean City have known and loved for so many years. The Beach Memorial was truly memorable and more special than we could have possibly imagined. We have many people to thank for their efforts in making it happen. We learned very quickly that organizing such an...

(At right) Flanked by friends and family members, a wreath is carried down the beach to be released into the ocean in memory of Craig, "founding father" of the Beach Patrol. Carrying the wreath is the current head of the organization, Capt. Butch Arbin, who is flanked by Craig's son, Robert Craig, and grandson, Christopher Craig. (Above) Sean Williams pushes a surf board, carrying the wreath and the ashes of Capt. Craig, toward a Coast Guard boat, which released the wreath farther from the shore.

News Release: April 8, 2009 Memorial Service planned to honor Captain Robert S. Craig Ocean City, MD – A memorial service for Captain Robert (Bob) S. Craig will be held 3 p.m. Saturday, April 25 on the beach at North Division Street. Captain Craig passed away on Saturday, March 28 at the age of 90. Captain Craig joined the Ocean City Beach Patrol in 1935 and served as its captain from 1946 until retiring in 1987. Captain Craig is credited with building the Ocean City Beach Patrol into the professional organization it is known as today. When Captain Craig turned...

(April 3, 2009) The man who not only epitomized the Ocean City Beach Patrol, but also built it into a serious and professional organization, passed away Saturday. When Capt. Robert (Bob) S. Craig turned 90 last July, a competition, dinner and slide show honored him for his 52 years as a town employee and member of the Beach Patrol. Thousands knew Craig from his years guiding the Beach Patrol and taking it from a small, relatively unskilled group of young men to a large group of highly skilled young men and women. Capt. Butch Arbin, the current head of the...

OCEAN CITY – Ocean City lost a treasured icon this week when Captain Robert S. Craig, who shepherded the Beach Patrol through decades of change and inspired his young charges for half a century passed away at the age of 90. Captain Craig, as he was known for decades not only by the thousands of lifeguards who worked with him and for him but also by the countless millions of local residents and visitors to the resort area, passed away last Saturday at the Coastal Hospice in Salisbury at the age of 90. A former schoolteacher and coach, Captain Craig...

First picture comes from the link in the header. Others I found. Got inspired when I found an old National Geographic at the dentist's office. Click for larger size Speaking of NatGeo (half-size, click for full. Desktop download) Next two are the only size I could find; wow.

Another shot from the talented Danny Burk: I wondered how Monument Cove looked to other photographers: Find the monument:

MUMBAI: M V Alpha, a ship which is suspected to have carried the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks, was today found 112 km from here by the Coast Guard, officials said. A CG spokesman said that searches were being carried out on board the ship but declined to elaborate. The Coast Guard had launched two aircraft, choppers and its vessels after receiving information that the ship could have carried the terrorists from Gujarat to Mumbai.

I always post these to the Arts/Photography group, even though I check to see if they're in the Science group. I decided to emphasize art for a couple of weeks. So don't get bored with the pictures from this site. I won't. (Note: current events may influence my choices). Rock formations and sea surf at Dyrholaey, Iceland

9-12-08 watch for 48 hrs. 196 miles of the Oregon Coast 6.1 Gut feeling a plate needs to slip under the Cascadia.

The Gathering of Eagles, a patriotic organization dedicated to honoring our men and women in uniform and those who are honorable veterans, announces our latest event in honoring the graduates of the Coast Guard Academy by welcoming their families and supporters to their graduation ceremony on May 21, 2008. We will be in front of the entrance on Mohegan Ave, at the intersection of Williams and Mohegan from 7 AM to 1 PM that day, waving flags, carrying patriotic signs and singing patriotic songs in an effort to welcome the families to what is a most honored event; the graduation...

Biggest landslip in 100 years hits Jurassic coast Last Updated: 1:18PM BST 07/05/2008 Fossil-hunters were warned to keep away today after a landslide described as the "biggest in 100 years" destroyed 400 metres of a World Heritage coastline. Experts were assessing the damage along the Jurassic Coast between Lyme Regis and Charmouth in Dorset after the rock fall yesterday evening. The Lyme Regis Harbour Master's wife and several nearby residents alerted the Coastguard to the slide at around 8pm. Simon Palmer, Portland Coastguard watch assistant, said the cliff was still "rumbling" when rescuers left last night and there was more...

Folks, I want to invite all Freepers and Lurkers in good standing to attend the rally to welcome the families of the graduating cadets of the Coast Guard Academy on May 21, 2008. Vice President Dick Cheney will be the honored speaker.

I don't remember how I found this out, but I recently heard that one of the picturesque coastal stacks in the famous "12 Apostles" group on the Australian coast had fallen. So herewith are two pictures. The first is the classic view; the second is the new view with the missing stack. The 12 Apostles The 11 Apostles Actually, there may have been 12 Apostles awhile ago, but I don't think there are that many now. Here's a page about the national park there and another photo-documentation of the collapse. It sure looked solid in the first picture... Port Campbell...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2007 – The Joint Civilian Orientation Conference wrapped up its week-long trip Nov. 10 across the U.S. Pacific Command back in Hawaii with an overview of the U.S. Coast Guard, its missions and capabilities. Following an all-night flight from Japan aboard the C-17 that had served as the group’s shuttle from country to country, participants hit the ground running boarding U.S. Coast Guard cutters and talking to coast guardsmen from Honolulu’s 14th District. Responsible for more than 12 million square miles of the central Pacific Ocean -- an area more than two and a half times...

Coast villages to be sacrificed to the sea By Melissa Kite and Richard Gray Last Updated: 4:11am GMT 11/11/2007 Whole villages and swathes of agricultural land will be surrendered to the sea because the Government is unwilling to spend billions of pounds on flood defences. In pictures: Readers' pictures of the storm surge Ministers have admitted privately that they are preparing to evacuate settlements on the east coast within the next 30 years because it is not "cost effective" to save them. A Walcott place sign stands in sea water Thousands of acres of farmland will be allowed to flood,...

George Noorey talking with the author of The 100 Year Lie... ...Started with a discussion of harmful Chinese imports.

Dr. Geoffrey Simmons will discuss evolution, and evidence that the complexity of human anatomy could not have developed by chance.

'To my sons, £7m of Sardinian coast: to my daughters, a shack in the hills' By Malcolm Moore in Capo Spartivento, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 11:44pm GMT 30/12/2006 In the bay of Jews, on the southernmost tip of Sardinia, the water is azure, the sand is white, and a colony of flamingos wades in the shallows. Even in December, the temperature is a balmy 17 degrees and the sea is calm, sheltered from wind by the surrounding mountains. From the beach to the mountains, the land belongs to Pietrino Culurgioni, 90. A hotel that he built offers sweeping sea views,...

Eritrea aims to become the first country in the world to turn its entire coast into an environmentally protected zone to ensure balanced and sustainable development, officials said Tuesday. The Red Sea state intends to protect all of its 1,350-kilometer (837-mile) coastline, along with another 1,950-kilometers (1,209-miles) of coast around its more than 350 islands, according to a draft coastal policy document. "Eritrea will be the first country in the world to declare its entire coastline a protected area," said Dr Michael Pearson, an environment management specialist working with a group that has pushed the proposal. He and the Eritrea...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 — Four years after the Coast Guard began an effort to replace nearly its entire fleet of ships, planes and helicopters, the modernization program heralded as a model of government innovation is foundering. The initial venture — converting rusting 110-foot patrol boats, the workhorses of the Coast Guard, into more versatile 123-foot cutters — has been canceled after hull cracks and engine failures made the first eight boats unseaworthy. Plans to build a new class of 147-foot ships with an innovative hull have been halted after the design was found to be flawed. And the first completed...

Tsunamis Slap Hawaii, Calif. North Coast Thursday November 16, 2006 10:01 PM By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press Writer HONOLULU (AP) - Tsunamis generated by a major earthquake near Japan left behind little damage but offered a legitimate test of international warning systems. The waves, some measuring a few feet high, struck Hawaii shores Wednesday, slightly injuring one swimmer and temporarily flooding a harbor. A surge along California's northern coast destroyed two docks in Crescent City Harbor and damaged a third. The waves hit Hawaii about six hours after a magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck north of Japan. Tsunami warnings were issued...

2 Moderate Quakes Strike Off Japan Coast Saturday October 14, 2006 1:01 AM TOKYO (AP) - Two moderate quakes struck off the coast of Japan early Saturday, including one that shook the Japanese capital, the U.S. Geological Survey said. A 5.3-magnitude quake struck off the east coast of Honshu island, about 65 miles southeast of Tokyo, the USGS said on its Web site. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the quake. There was also no threat of a tsunami, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said. Earlier Saturday, a larger, 6.3-magnitude quake struck off the disputed Kuril islands,...

Early humans followed the coast By Paul Rincon Science reporter, BBC News Coastlines were rich in resources for early humans Learning how to live off the sea may have played a key role in the expansion of early humans around the globe. After leaving Africa, human groups probably followed coastal routes to the Americas and South-East Asia. Professor Jon Erlandson says the maritime capabilities of ancient humans have been greatly underestimated. He has found evidence that early peoples in California pursued a sophisticated seafaring lifestyle 10,000 years ago. Anthropologists have long regarded the exploitation of marine resources as a recent...

7/26/2006 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- Seth and Stephanie Parker held each other's hands and waited. As the plane touched down at 12:05 a.m. July 22 at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, they smiled at each other and looked at their son. Four-day-old Stuart lay across from his parents on a medical cart surrounded by doctors, nurses and medical technicians. He was the newest patient for the Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, or ECMO, team that was double- and triple-checking everything to ensure he was ready for the next leg of his journey. Shortly after his birth, doctors told the Parkers that...

If you haven't heard of this place before, join the club. I discovered it while looking for other waterfall pictures. Apparently you will never find a picture of someone frolicking beneath the cascade, because the beach is off-limits. With good reason, I think -- it's astonishing. Geologically speaking, McWay Falls is the only place on the California coast where a perennial (year-round) waterfall directly enters the ocean. It is located in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. Picture 1: Close-up Picture 2: The full scene

'"No Southern man is complete without a tenure under military rule." That one sentence penned by author Pat Conroy in his best-selling novel The Lords of Discipline , is utter truth spoken to the heart of any Southern boy or man. It does not mean all Southern men serve, have served, or will serve their country. But it does mean that deep down in the well of the soul of the Southern American male there is a sense of duty and martial responsibility that cries out to be acted upon. I’ve chosen Southerners as an example, because I am Southern....

1 hour ago NEW LONDON, Conn. - A military jury sentenced a Coast Guard cadet to six months in prison and kicked him out of the service Wednesday for extorting sexual favors from a classmate. Cadet Webster M. Smith, the first student court-martialed in the academy's 130-year history, was acquitted of rape but had faced up to five years and seven months for extortion, sodomy, indecent assault and other charges. Defense attorneys for Smith, 23, of Houston, asked the jury to spare him jail time, saying the stigma of his conviction will follow him forever. He will not graduate from...

BOSTON — Three specially designed tugboats yank the hulking pale green liquefied natural gas tanker from its dock near Boston Harbor. More than 1,000 feet long, with an odd color and sets of pipes sticking out the top, it’s apparent that this is no ordinary ship. And with three Coast Guard boats, and four others from state, city and port authority law enforcement agencies surrounding it, this is no ordinary departure. Bringing up the rear is the Pendant, a 65-year-old, 65-foot-long ocean-going tugboat, and one of the oldest platforms in the service’s inventory that pulls double duty in the winter...

The cost of insurance for thousands of Texas homeowners insured by State Farm is about to go up. And if you live near the coast, it's going to soar. The state's largest home insurer filed rate hikes Wednesday with the Texas Department of Insurance that will boost premiums for all of its Texas consumers an average 10.7 percent to cover anticipated expenses and an additional average 9.1 percent to cover the cost of reinsurance. Reinsurance, the coverage an insurance company buys as a backup to pay for its losses after a catastrophe, is becoming more expensive in the wake of...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Coast Guard and Navy will be conducting a joint exercise tomorrow between 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Cumberland Sound, Ga., designed to test the Coast Guard's ability to deter, detect and disrupt hostile acts direct at an escorted U.S. Naval vessel. During the exercise, Coast Guard and Naval vessels will be utilizing aggressive vessel tactics and firing blank ammunition from machine guns. This is to provide the most realistic means of evaluating unit capabilities, tactics, doctrine and plans. Coast Guard units routinely work in the Kings Bay, Ga., area to provide security for security...

WASHINGTON, May 25, 2006 – President Bush welcomed a new commandant to the Coast Guard here today, and officially recognized the service as a whole for its contributions during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Incoming Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad W. Allen told the audience at his change of command ceremony May 25 that his service's "challenge is to attack each day, each task, with a purpose grounded in who we are, what we have been, and what we must become." The ceremony took place at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. Photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, USAF  (Click...

PERSIAN GULF (NNS) -- The U.S. Coast Guard’s Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) 102 is teaching Iraqi marines valuable skills that will help them protect Iraqi infrastructure and territorial waters in the future. Embarked aboard USS Ogden (LPD 5) in the North Persian Gulf as part of Combined Task Force (CTF) 158, the eight-man Coast Guard team routinely trains the Iraqi marine platoons in Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) operations through a series of almost daily staged events. “We are basically teaching them use of force, tactical procedures in terms of boarding ships and how to handle a...

AUSTIN, Texas - The nation's largest offshore wind farm will be built off the Padre Island seashore, a critical migratory bird flyway, Texas officials announced Thursday. Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson lauded what he said would be an 40,000-acre span of turbines about 400 feet tall able to generate energy to power 125,000 homes. "The wind rush is on," Patterson said. "We want to be number one. We want to attract the businesses that build the turbines, that build the blades. ... We want to be the leader in the United States, if not the world." Superior Renewable Energy Inc.,...

U.S. Coast Guard Guard personnel from Law Enforcement Detachment 401 teach Djiboution servicemembers law enforcement tactics, April 25-27, 2006. U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 3rd Class Bobby Northnagle. Coast Guard Detachment Trains Djiboutians U.S. Coast Guard personnel recently provided the Djiboutian Coast Guard and Navy with lessons ranging from basic boarding techniques to apprehension of non-compliant mariners. By U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Bobby Northnagle MANAMA, Bahrain, May 3, 2006 — U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment 401, based out of Mayport, Fla., recently provided training to Djibouti's navy and coast guard, April 25 -27. “[Djiboutian coast guardsmen...

MANAMA, Bahrain, April 27, 2006 – Civilian leaders got an introduction here today to one of the least-recognized success stories in the Middle East: how the U.S. Coast Guard is helping keep Iraq's offshore oil terminals operating and training Iraq's new marine force to maintain port and waterway security in the region. Lukin Gilliland Jr., managing director of Aquila Capital Parters in San Antonio, uses a battering ram to get access to a mock shipboard compartment during a training drill in Manama, Bahrain, for participants in the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Larry Chambers,...

ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt can't seem to outrun controversy. The freshman congresswoman is facing a complaint about the truthfulness of her education and her endorsements. The Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes, or COAST, has endorsed Schmidt's opponent in the GOP primary, Bob McEwen. The group claims that some of Schmidt's claimed endorsements are bogus, and instead of two bachelor degrees as stated on various biographical material, she has one. "If it was one incident, I might think there was some merit in letting it go," COAST's Jim Urling said. "But we've got a very...

"Weather Disaster of Historic Proportions" Could Strike as Early as This Year... The northeast U.S. coast could be the target of a major hurricane, perhaps as early as this season, according to research announced today by the AccuWeather... Hurricane Center. "The Northeast is staring down the barrel of a gun," said Joe Bastardi, Chief Forecaster... "The Northeast coast is long overdue for a powerful hurricane...not a question of if but when." ... "If you examine past weather cycles that have occurred in the Atlantic, you will see patterns of storms," added Ken Reeves, Expert Senior Meteorologist and Director of Forecasting...

In the latest proposal to import liquefied natural gas to California, an Australian company has unveiled plans to place a terminal about 22 miles off the coast of Malibu. The plan announced Wednesday by Woodside Energy attempts to sidestep fears from environmentalists and some residents that importing natural gas is too dangerous because it is volatile and potentially explosive in its gaseous state. Woodside wants to ship supercooled LNG from Australian fields to the California coast in specially designed tankers. But unlike other proposed terminals off the West Coast, the plan doesn't require any large, permanent structures. Instead of feeding...

SANTA BARBARA, CA – California State Treasurer and Democratic Candidate for Governor Phil Angelides today released Coast Guard, his plan to protect the California coastline, end Governor Schwarzenegger’s policy of neglect, and defeat President Bush’s new plans to drill for oil and gas off the California coast. Angelides, who has been endorsed by 70 prominent environmental leaders and Vote the Coast, a grassroots political action organization whose purpose is to achieve coastal protection and conservation, unveiled the plan in Santa Barbara. “The California coast is endangered and President Bush and Governor Schwarzenegger are taking us in the wrong direction,” said...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2006 – As it has for more than 200 years, the U.S. Coast Guard is carrying on its wartime service in operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Coast Guardsmen served in the War of 1812, Mexican-American War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Mayaguez Incident in Cambodia in 1975, Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada, Operation Just Cause in Panama, Operation Desert Shield/Storm, and Kosovo. "During the last two centuries, (Coast Guard) cutters have been used extensively in 'brown water' combat," U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Daniel McClellan, the commander of...

ST. LOUIS—Parasites from cat feces are causing deadly brain damage in California sea otters. A combination of toxic chemicals and herpes virus is killing off California sea lions. And toxic algae blooms are contributing to record manatee deaths in Florida. All of these animals live near coastlines, spending a majority of their lives in the same waters people swim and surf in. Their daily cuisines consist of the same foods we serve up in clam shacks and fine seafood restaurants. The difference between humans and these animals, says NOAA spokesperson Paul Sandifer, is that the animals deal with the ocean...

Bush Fails To Prevent East Coast Blizzard Minorities Hit Hardest by Brian Williams NBC 02/12/06 As President Bush and his staff cowered in the White House, the snow continued to pile up on the many poor and African American victims who could not afford to get out of town or to safety in Florida. Crucial supplies of blankets, hot cocoa, popcorn and dark rum, so essential to surviving the stress of any major snowstorm, lay in stores undelivered. "Where is the government? I need my sidewalk shoveled so I can get out to buy my danged lottery tickets!" said one...

Congresswoman Jean Schmidt is upset with some of her political opponents for slicing up a cake made to look like her. State Representative Tom Brinkman cut the head off the Schmidt-cake at a meeting of COAST, an anti-tax group he founded. Bob McEwen, Schmidt's opponent in the Second District Republican congressional primary was also in attendance. Both say they will not apologize for their actions.

(2006-02-12) — A thick blanket of snow that covered much of the northeastern United States this weekend may increase global warming by preventing the heat that radiates from earth’s molten core from escaping into the atmosphere, according to former vice president Al Gore. Mr. Gore, a noted global warming expert who also once ran for president, dismissed suggestions that the biggest snowstorm in New York City history diminishes his case that the planet is warming at an alarming rate. (...) “We must pack the snow into giant containers and launch it into outer space,” Mr. Gore said. “Every day that...

MONTEREY, Calif., Feb. 9 (UPI) -- There may be no fog and it's the middle of the day, but Monterey's broken foghorn wails away -- around the clock because its switch is stuck "on." Its switch is stuck and nobody locally can fix it, said Boatswain Mate First Class Lance Benedict of the Coast Guard. The guard's repair unit, based in San Francisco, has been alerted. The foghorn is at the end of the Coast Guard Pier off Lighthouse Avenue to prevent water travelers from running into the breakwall, Benedict said. When conditions were foggy a couple of nights ago,...