Pacific Ocean

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Be a Good American: Eat This Fish

The lionfish may ruin us if you don't!

(Newser) - How to make Uncle Sam proud: Buy American, fly a flag, eat...lionfish? That third one is, indeed, what one government agency would like you to do. The voracious, aggressively invasive lionfish is wreaking havoc in the Caribbean, off the Florida Keys, and along the Atlantic as far north as...

Blame El Niño for Recent Storms

Strongest warm-water phenomenon in a decade drenches coasts

(Newser) - The strongest El Niño in more than a decade is the culprit behind the wretched weather bombarding much of the country this winter, from the snowstorms that buried the mid-Atlantic states in December to the rains that drenched California last month. “Ocean temperatures are somewhere upwards of two...

On Calif. Coast, Great Whites Lurk Closer Than You Think

Turns out they winter off beaches, in 'Frisco Bay

(Newser) - The great white shark population in the eastern Pacific Ocean has a more regimented migratory schedule than previously thought—and one which brings the predators much closer to shore than was previously believed. Researchers in California tracked 179 great whites over 10 years, using acoustic tags and satellite info. Rather...

9 Missing in Coast Guard Plane Crash

Pilot reported huge fireball

(Newser) - Nine people are missing after a Coast Guard plane collided with a military helicopter last night off the coast of southern California. A pilot flying in the area reported seeing a huge fireball. Seven people were traveling aboard the plane, and two were in the chopper. A search-and-rescue mission is...

Winter Likely 5-10% Colder for East Coast

Thank El Niño when those heating bills start rolling in

(Newser) - The Pacific warming effect of El Niño could mean an unusually cold winter for the US East Coast, with temperatures as much as 10% below normal. “Historically when you have that El Niño on the weak side, it tends to correlate to colder weather in eastern North...

Indonesia Quake Toll Passes 1,000

Samoa tsunami cleanup effort begins in earnest

(Newser) - The death toll in Indonesia has reached 1,100 and is expected to keep rising. Rescue workers are scrambling to find earthquake survivors under trapped buildings, with "many hundreds more" injured or missing, says a top UN relief official. Rescue efforts have been hung up over a shortage of...

Post-Quake Tsunami Kills 34 in Samoa
 Post-Quake Tsunami 
 Kills 34 in Samoa 
UPDATED

Post-Quake Tsunami Kills 34 in Samoa

8.3-magnitude temblor rattles American Samoa

(Newser) - An 8.3-magnitude earthquake struck the area around American Samoa today, generating a tsunami that killed as many as 34 in the US territory and adjacent Samoa, an independent state. The waves at Pago Pago were 5.1 feet above normal—smaller than originally feared— but tsunami warnings went up...

Jimena, Nearly Category 5, Targets Baja

Hurricane could hit Los Cabos resorts tomorrow night

(Newser) - Hurricane Jimena, nearly strong enough to be classified as the most serious category of storm, could hit the resort-heavy southern tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula by tomorrow evening, the Los Angeles Times reports. Jimena’s winds are at 155mph, at the top end of Category 4. An international economics...

4 Earthquakes Strike Off Mexican Coast
4 Earthquakes Strike Off Mexican Coast
UPDATED

4 Earthquakes Strike Off Mexican Coast

No damage reported; 6.9 tremor felt as far away as Phoenix, LA

(Newser) - A series of four earthquakes hit within an hour today under Mexico’s Gulf of California, BNO News reports. The second of the tremors, which at 9 miles deep were relatively shallow and thus more dangerous, registered a 6.9 on the Richter scale. No damage was immediately reported, and...

West Coast, Alaska Could Be Due for Monster Tsunami

(Newser) - Alaska and the US West Coast could be pounded by a tsunami far more powerful than researchers had previously thought, LiveScience reports. Analysis of soil samples shows evidence of two earthquakes in the past 2,000 years capable of producing waves that dwarf a 1964 tsunami one researcher calls “...

El Niño Returns to Pacific, May Limit Atlantic Storms

(Newser) - An El Niño has developed in the Pacific, a boon to Americans living near the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coast who can expect fewer hurricanes as a result, the Palm Beach Post reports. The NOAA reported the conditions in June, and they could keep up through winter. “...

Drug-Smuggling Subs Go High-Tech

(Newser) - It's not a lark anymore: Miniature submarines now carry about a third of the cocaine smuggled into the US. With the numbers up, the Washington Post takes a look at how these so-called semi-submersibles have gotten more and more high-tech over the last 2 years. Authorities say sub builders are...

'09 Will Be Relatively Light on Hurricanes: Forecaster

(Newser) - The star forecasters at Colorado State University are revising their predictions for the 2009 hurricane season down due to cooler ocean temperatures, Reuters reports. Between June and December, the Atlantic will see 12 tropical storms, six of which may develop into hurricanes. Two of those hurricanes could blow harder than...

Undersea Volcano Erupts in Pacific 'Ring of Fire'

It's not yet a threat to islanders, animal life

(Newser) - Scientists sailed today to inspect an undersea volcano that has been erupting for days near Tonga—shooting smoke, steam, and ash thousands of feet into the sky above the South Pacific ocean. The eruption doesn't pose any danger to islanders at this stage, authorities say, and there have been no...

Bush Creates Massive Marine Protection Area

US will protect huge ocean area

(Newser) - In a move that puts his conservation record on par with some of the country’s greenest leaders, President Bush today created three marine national monuments that will protect 195,280 square miles of vulnerable island and ocean ecosystems in the Pacific, the Washington Post reports. The announcement is in...

Ocean Census Surprises Scientists
Ocean Census Surprises Scientists

Ocean Census Surprises Scientists

Effort to chart all undersea life by 2010 finds 5K new species

(Newser) - Somewhere under the Antarctic Ocean, brittle starfish completely cover a submerged mountain. In the Pacific, sharks congregate in a region with few food sources but plenty of opportunity for romance. Those facts, along with an accounting of more than 5,000 newly discovered species, are part of the results of...

3 Dead, 1 Missing in Hawaiian Helicopter Crash

Rescuers search for their own in Pacific Ocean

(Newser) - Three people are dead and one missing after a Coast Guard helicopter crashed during a training exercise in Hawaii last night, the Honolulu Advertiser reports. The Dolphin rescue chopper crashed into the water about 6 miles off of Sand Island in Honolulu. The cause is unclear. A massive search continued...

Shark Kills Man; SoCal Beaches Closed

First area fatality since 1994 sparks fears of great white rampage

(Newser) - Beaches north of San Diego were closed today after a man was fatally injured by a shark, the Union-Tribune reports. While witnesses could identify “the culprit” only as a “big gray shark,” an expert contacted by the Los Angeles Times said, “This almost certainly was a...

Greenpeace Wages Tuna Wars
 Greenpeace Wages Tuna Wars 

Greenpeace Wages Tuna Wars

Group goes after 'plunderers' wiping out Pacific stocks at unsustainable rates

(Newser) - The world's tuna stocks are in danger, and Greenpeace is taking matters into its own hands, reports the Times of London. Faced with little action from regulators and boosted by success in tackling Japanese whalers, activists have vowed to continue to "interfere" with boats they say are plundering Pacific...

Space Truck Shoots Into Orbit
Space Truck Shoots Into Orbit

Space Truck Shoots Into Orbit

Europe's robotic space freighter to service ISS

(Newser) - Europe's first automated cargo ship blasted off from the South American jungle early today, headed for a rendezvous with the International Space Station, the BBC reports. The craft—the biggest and most complex that Europe has ever launched—will deliver food, water, pressurized air, fuel, and personal items to the...

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