Category Archives: High Seas

NEWPORT, Ore. A comprehensive new map and report tracking whale migrations around the globe highlights where they go in the high seas and the cumulative impacts the animals face from industrial fishing, ship strikes, pollution, habitat loss and climate change.

Protecting Blue Corridors was developed through collaborative analysis of 30 years of scientific data contributed by more than 50 research groups, with leading marine scientists from Oregon State University, the University of California, Santa Cruz, the University of Southampton and others.

The report, released today by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in advance of World Whale Day on Feb. 20, provides a visualization of the satellite tracks of 845 migratory whales worldwide. The report also outlines how whales are encountering multiple and growing threats in their critical ocean habitats areas where they feed, mate, give birth and nurse their young and along their migration superhighways, or blue corridors.

Contributing years of data from Oregon States satellite tracking studies, pioneered by marine mammal researcher Bruce Mate, we see migrations across national and international waters creating conservation challenges for populations to recover, said report co-author Daniel Palacios, endowed associate professor in whale habitats with OSUs Marine Mammal Institute at the Hatfield Marine Science Center. The institute is part of OSUs College of Agricultural Sciences; Mate, now retired, is the former director.

The cumulative impacts of human activities are creating a hazardous and sometimes fatal obstacle course for the marine species, said Chris Johnson, the global lead for whale and dolphin conservation at WWF.

The deadliest by far is entanglement in fishing gear killing an estimated 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises each year. Whats worse, this is happening from the Arctic to the Antarctic, he said.

Six out of the 13 great whale species are now classified as endangered or vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, even after decades of protection after commercial whaling. Among those populations most at risk is the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, a species that migrates between Canada and the United States. It is at its lowest point in 20 years numbering only 336 individuals.

About 86% of identified right whales are estimated to have been entangled in fishing gear at least once in their life. Between 2017 and 2021, 34 North Atlantic right whales died off the Canadian and United States coasts from ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear.

Palacios is an expert in the study of whale movements in relation to environmental conditions and human threats. His contribution to the report centered on the eastern Pacific Ocean.

For a report of this nature, it was necessary to incorporate the data and expertise from many colleagues doing similar work in other parts of the world, he said. For the first time, we were able to map whale migrations on a global scale and identify their superhighways. This map will become an essential ocean variable for a number of efforts working toward assessing changes in biodiversity and will inform critical policy initiatives like the upcoming Treaty for the High Seas under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Protecting Blue Corridors calls for a new conservation approach to address these mounting threats and to safeguard whales through enhanced cooperation on local, regional and international levels.Of particular urgency is engagement with the United Nations, which is set to finalize negotiations on a new treaty for the high seas in March 2022.

As a researcher, this report provides a visual science-based guide to help inform effective management and decisions to create networks of marine protected areas to ensure whales have every opportunity to thrive, said Ari Friedlaender, a whale ecologist from University of California, Santa Cruz, who previously was an associate professor at OSUs Marine Mammal Institute.

The benefits from protected blue corridors extend far beyond whales. Growing evidence shows the critical role whales play maintaining ocean health and the global climate with one whale capturing the same amount of carbon as thousands of trees.The International Monetary Fund estimates the value of a single great whale at more than $2 million, which totals more than $1 trillion for the current global population of great whales.

Read the full report online here: https://wwfwhales.org/resources/protecting-blue-corridors-report.

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New map and report expose growing dangers along whale 'superhighways' across the globe - Oregon State University

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The New South Wales Court of Appeal recently handed down itsdecision in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd v Rawlings [2022] NSWCA 4,which overturned a first instance decision that Royal Caribbean hadfalse imprisoned Mr Rawlings following allegations that he hadsexually assaulted another passenger on a cruise.

Background

Mr Rawlings was a passenger on Royal Caribbean'sBahamian-flagged cruise ship "Explorer of the Seas" onduring a 10-day voyage from Sydney in November of 2016. Mid-waythrough the cruise, an 18-year-old female passenger (Ms A) reportedthat she had been sexually assaulted by Mr Rawlings. Investigationswere initiated and Mr Rawlings was detained in the ship'sconference room and, later, a guest room.

Royal Caribbean staff initially proposed to disembark MrRawlings at the Port of Noumea so that local authorities couldrepatriate him to Australia; however, the local police did notconsider that they had authority or jurisdiction to do so as thealleged assault was said to have occurred on the high seas. MrRawlings and Ms A were both put in contact with Australian consularofficials in Noumea.

On 17 November 2016, Royal Caribbean's Miami-based GlobalSecurity team advised the ship's Captain to release Mr Rawlingsfrom confinement, subject to his agreement that he would notcontact Ms A or her family or other persons involved in theincident. The ship's Captain did not accept this advice anddecided to detain Mr Rawlings until the ship returned to Sydney on20 November 2016.

Mr Rawlings commenced proceedings against Royal Caribbean in theDistrict Court of New South Wales, seeking damages for theintentional tort of false imprisonment.

First Instance Decision

Judge Hatzistergos DCJ decided that the Captain was justified indetaining the respondent up to midday on 17 November 2016, when theGlobal Security team recommended his release, but notthereafter.

His Honour applied the Australian common law and referred to thefollowing comments of Slade J in the English decision of Hook vCunard Steamship Co [1953] 1 WLR 682 at 684-685:

"The master of a merchant ship is justified at commonlaw in arresting and confining in a reasonable manner and for areasonable time any sailor or other person on board his ship, if hehas reasonable cause to believe that such arrest or confinement isnecessary for the preservation of order and discipline or for thesafety of the vessel or the persons or property onboard."

His Honour determined, that after receiving the communicationfrom Global Security, the Captain did not subjectively believe thatMr Rawlings' continued detention was reasonably necessary forthe preservation of order, and safety of persons, on board thevessel. His Honour concluded that the ship's staff could haveadequately observed Mr Rawlings using CCTV, instead of keeping himconfined.

Royal Caribbean appealed.

Issues on Appeal

On appeal, Royal Caribbean argued that Judge Hatzistergos DCJhad erred in concluding that the Captain was not justified inkeeping Mr Rawlings confined after 17 November 2016, that he didnot believe that the continued detention of Mr Rawlings wasreasonably necessary and, further, that such a belief was anecessary element of the defence in any event.

Royal Caribbean also argued that his Honour did not take intoconsideration other relevant factors that justified keeping MrRawlings in confinement.

Court of Appeal Decision

Law of the Place of the Tort

Meagher JA, with whom Bell P and Leeming JA agreed, firstconsidered the applicability of Australian law to the proceedings,given that the incident occurred in international waters aboard aBahamian-flagged vessel.

His Honour found that, when a tort occurs aboard a vessel on thehigh seas, the law of the ship's flag will be the lawapplicable to the tort. His Honour also confirmed that, unless aparty pleads and proves the application and content ofinternational law, there is a presumption that the content of anyforeign law would be the same as the substantive law of the forumin which the proceedings were brought.

Mr Rawlings had pleaded his case as if the tort had occurred inNew South Wales. Royal Caribbean did not plead a defence pursuantto Bahamian law, and neither party sought to lead evidence aboutthe law of the Bahamas. Accordingly, the Court noted that, even ifthe law of the place of the tort were to be applied, JudgeHatzistergos DCJ would have been correct to proceed on the basis ofthe assumption that the law of the Bahamas would be substantiallythe same as the law of New South Wales.

Was an Actual Belief of Necessity Required?

Meagher JA then considered whether, as contended by RoyalCaribbean, the existence of a subjective belief that arrest orconfinement is necessary is not an essential element founding theCaptain's authority to arrest or confine.

His Honour noted that in the absence of Australian authority onthe power of a ship's captain to arrest or confine, Englishcommon law may be applied to new situations in accordance with theprinciples expounded in Skelton v Collins [1966] HCA 14.Accordingly, the Court was free to apply the English Court'sdecision in Hook v Cunard, noting that the decision inthat case had not been displaced or varied by statute and was notcontrary to any rule or doctrine of Australian law.

Accordingly, his Honour found that Judge Hatzistergos DCJ wascorrect to apply Hook v Cunard and to adopt as a correctstatement of Australian law the authority of a ship's captainto detain, subject to the captain's reasonable and actualbelief that detention is necessary to preserve order anddiscipline, or for the safety of the vessel or persons or propertyon board.

Whether the Entire Confinement was Justified asNecessary

The standard of proper justification having been established,Meagher JA then considered whether the Captain actually believed,after 17 November 2016, that the continued confinement of MrRawlings was necessary.

The Captain gave evidence that he considered the email fromGlobal Security recommending the release of Mr Rawlings amounted toguidance rather than a direction with which he was obliged tocomply. The Captain and another staff member also gave evidencethat they thought that Mr Rawlings' release in accordance withthe proposal by Global Security would not sufficiently assure nocontact between Mr Rawlings and Ms A and her family.

The Captain's stated further that he felt he had to ensurethere was no interaction between those persons and that the onlyway to prevent that from occurring, and to maintain the safety andsecurity of passengers on the ship,was for Mr Rawlings to be washeld in confinement. He was also concerned to "preserveevidence" by preventing communications between MrRawlings and potential witnesses.

His Honour found that Judge Hatzistergos DCJ had erred inrejecting the Captain's evidence and finding that he did notconsider that the continued confinement of Mr Rawlings wasnecessary. The Court also disagreed that observing Mr Rawlings byCCTV would have been sufficient.

The Court held that the continued confinement of Mr Rawlingsafter 17 November 2016 was reasonable and did not constitute falseimprisonment.

Impact

This decision provides a helpful guidance on the powers ofships' captains to detain passengers when there is a reasonablebelief that doing so is necessary to preserve order and discipline,or for the safety of the vessel or persons or property onboard.

It also confirms the application of common law principlesrelating to the law of the requirement to adduce expert evidence toprove the principles of law of the flag country. In the absence ofsuch proof, the Australian Court will apply the law of thejurisdiction in which the proceedings are brought.

Persons in such a position should ensure that any decisions toconfine a person are adequately and contemporaneously documented,and that clear policies are in place for when situations such asthese arise to protect the victims of alleged unlawful behaviourwhile avoiding illegal infringements on the liberty ofsuspects.

The content of this article is intended to provide a generalguide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be soughtabout your specific circumstances.

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Stern treatment When is it justified? Choice of law and false imprisonment on the high seas - Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration - Australia -...

Wet weather to spoil springlike warmth in Northeast

After a brief warmup, a major storm will bring heavy downpours, hurricane-force winds and even some wintry precipitation to end the week.

Accuweather, Accuweather

Get ready for a dark and stormy night Thursday into Friday.

Strong winds are expected to batter much of New Jersey later this week, prompting the National Weather Service to issue gale watches and hazardous weather outlooks for the eastern part of the state on Thursday night.

North Jersey could see wind gusts of 45 to 55 mph.

Elsewhere, rough seas could produce waves of between 7 to 12 feet off the Jersey Shore, causing a hazard to marine traffic, according to the weather service.

Strong winds can cause hazardous seas which could capsize or damage vessels and reduce visibility, the National Weather Service said in its bulletin on Wednesday. Mariners should consider altering plans to avoid possible hazardous conditions. Remain in port, seek safe harbor, alter course, and/or secure the vessel for severe wind and seas. The entire length of the Shore will also be impacted.

Along the coast, a south wind moving at 20 to 25 mphmay producegusts as high as 40 mph.

Between a quarter and half of an inch of rain is possible, according to the weather service.

Top News: After Bridgewater Commons mall fight, NAACP calls for police officers removal

The low temperatures on Thursday evening will be about 55 degrees and reach as high as 61 degrees late Friday morning before dipping into the 20s by Friday night, all according to the weather service.

This is a developing story. Stay with app.com for updates.

Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or elarsen@gannettnj.com

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NJ weather: Gale force winds, rain to batter state overnight Thursday into Friday - Asbury Park Press

Several times a year, the residents of Miamis Shorecrest neighborhood look out their windows to find that their streets are flooded. Again. The neighborhood sits on Miamis Biscayne Bay, where sea levels are rising about an inch every few years, and it fills up with water during high tides. The sewage-laden water comes up through the storm drains, filling the streets, and rising up around the tires of residents cars, making it impossible to drive. If a tidal flood happens in the morning, commuters are out of luckthey either stay at home, or risk getting stuck in saltwater on their way downtown.

This phenomenon is known as nuisance flooding, and its becoming more common in coastal cities as sea levels rise. The catastrophic consequences of climate change have become even clearer over the past few years as a succession of billion-dollar disasters have struck the United States. Yet, the commuting disruptions in cities like Miami show how the climate crisis will alter the patterns of everyday life as well. As driving to work gets harder and harder, the rising seas will devalue properties and imperil even those workers who live on high ground. In the absence of near-term infrastructure improvements like roadway elevation and climate-sensitive traffic planning, the flooding will worsen the gap between white-collar and blue-collar workers.

Urban planners in cities like Miami designed the built environment of the waterfront according to their estimates of normal tidal cycles: If the water rises so high on the average day, the planners built streets and bulkheads a little higher. In many cities, though, these estimates are decades out of date: The sea level around Miami has risen about a foot over the past century, which makes a big difference in a city with many neighborhoods that sit just 3 or 4 feet above sea level.

[Photo: Carl Juste/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service/Getty Images]Were already seeing the cumulative effect of this long-term change. A paper published last year in the journal Environmental Research estimated that sea-level rise between 2002 and 2017 increased the average annual commute time in Miami by 15 minutes, by blocking main arteries along the waterfront. In the worst-affected neighborhoods, where residential-neighborhood flooding created widespread delays, the disruptions lengthened commutes by more than 4 hours. The paper estimates that under the current flood landscape, about 14,000 commuters may be unable to reach their workplaces one or more times each year.

The paper also estimated that commuting disruptions could get worse over the next few decades. Mathew Hauer, a sociology professor at Florida State University and the lead author of the study, found that under the highest sea-level-rise projections, average annual commuting delays would exceed 4 hours, and more than 55,000 commuters would face an impassable trip.

Its not just people who are on [Miami] Beach and trying to commute somewhere, Hauer says. You have people commuting into the Beach as well, in which case they experience it, and people commuting through the Beach, who have to go through an area thats flooding. Their home street might not flood, their work street might not, but in between they encounter flooding.

This routine flooding has direct consequences not only for commuters quality of life, but also for their economic stability. Take, for instance, the gambling hub of Atlantic City. It sits on a shoreline barrier island, but many casino workers commute in from the mainland, driving 3 miles on roadways that are subject to frequent flooding when tides are high. As flood events become more severe, a large section of the gambling industrys labor force will find itself shut out from work dozens of times a year. For workers who earn an hourly wage, or whose bosses arent forgiving about lateness, flooding could spell serious financial trouble.

The situation is similar on the opposite coast in the cities north of San Francisco. According to California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), sea-level rise by 2050 could entirely inundate state road Route 37, which runs next to San Pablo Bay, severing a vital link between dense East Bay communities like Vallejo and the wine tourism regions of Napa and Sonoma. Already, the road closes about 10 times a year due to flooding. There are no alternate routes around the northern circumference of the Bay. The impact of frequent flooding on this route would be severe for both the workers heading to Napa and Sonoma and the wineries dependent on their labor.

Commuting disruptions can also make existing traffic snarls worse. Thats happening in Miami, affecting even areas without routine residential flooding. One of our main challenges here is traffic, says Katherine Hagemann, resilience program manager for Miami-Dade County, who helps coordinate the countys climate adaptation measures. We have had a tremendous amount of growth as a city, growth . . . that is very oriented around the car. That growth has definitely led to trafficthats just kind of our baseline condition. So when we have tidal flooding, that creates big issues.

The worst disruptions come during so-called king tides, once or twice a year occurrences when the gravitational forces of the sun and moon combine to create the highest-tide events. Such effects have occurred in cities like Boston, where a king tide in 2019 forced walking commuters to take off their shoes as they waded through downtown puddles; and in Norfolk, Virginia, where a king tide last year filled residential streets and trapped cars in their driveways.

Sunny-day floods of this magnitude are still infrequent, but 10 years from now that might not be the case. The orbital wobble of the moon means that some decades see much higher tidal variation than others. The next period of higher-than-average tides will arrive in the mid-2030s, by which point the oceans will have risen another few inches around coastal cities. Research suggests the two trends will compound each other and make large-scale tidal floods even more common, possibly extending the events as long as a month.

The good news is that municipalities like Miami still have time to mitigate the impacts of these floods. The first and most basic solution is to elevate critical roadways, something President Bidens new infrastructure bill should help fund. These measures arent always popular, though, even with people theyre intended to protect, For instance, one group of residents in Miami Beach sued the city for raising roads by as much as 2 feet, claiming that the project pushed flood water into their yards. Theres also the possibility that rapid sea-level rise could require the city to raise roads again in 50 years.

If we cant raise roads above the height of adjacent property, we can put in drainage, and try and pump the water off the street faster, but that has limitations too, says Hagemann. One option detailed in the countys sea-level rise strategy is to live with a little bit more floodingin other words, she says, to make sure everything thats important, like houses and fire stations, remains dry, and tolerate a little flooding everywhere else. Employers would need to get more flexible about work attendance on flood days, and the city would need to invest in congestion relief on alternative routes, but a little expectation-setting could go a long way toward reducing the number of people who get stuck on waterlogged roads.

Another solution would be to identify and expand alternate routes, giving commuters other options on days when certain roads are impassable. In the case of the Bay Areas Route 37, for instance, CalSTA has considered expanding bus and rail lines. In the meantime, public communication is paramount: the city of Miami Beach has created an app that alerts commuters when roads are out of service due to flooding. The city of Miami also offers free parking passes to residents in neighborhoods like Shorecrest, allowing them to move their cars at no charge during high tides.

In the absence of significant infrastructure and policy solutions, though, most of the adaptation to sea-level rise will be voluntary, as frustrated commuters either spend more time working from home or relocate to areas with better road access. Hauer says this kind of response will be far more available to high-income earners whose jobs allow for remote work or who can afford to move. In that way, the response will look a lot like the remote-work divide of the early pandemic, wherein white-collar workers stayed home and low-income earners went to work.

But the biggest takeaway, he says, is that climate adaptation is no longer something that can continue to be deferred to the future.

Oftentimes, we talk about sea-level rise happening way off in 2100, he says, and we neglect the fact that these impacts are happening already in a lot of areas. People are already dealing with this.

Jake Bittle is a reporter who lives in Brooklyn. His book about climate migration is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster.

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Rising sea levels flood streets and snarl commutes, even when there's - Fast Company

Its Valentines Day, so obviously we all have one big thing on our minds: our favorite ships in fiction.

Fandom has largely claimed the word ships to mean relationships, as in two (or more) people you think belong together, as in I ship Dean Winchester and Castiel from Supernatural. Thats all well and good, but it isnt what were talking about. We mean what ships used to mean before fandoms stole the word vessels designed for transporting people or goods across space, through the air, or on the sea. Isnt there something inherently romantic about being aboard a fearless ship that soars and/or sails through the unknown? As it turns out, there are a lot of fictional ships to get all swoony over especially as they turn from simple vessels to important narrative devices for the characters involved.

There are far too few spaceships that are also traditional sailing ships out there, but Disneys sci-fi take on Treasure Island, 2002s Treasure Planet, helps fill the gap. The movie was a huge flop when it came out, but it has absolutely gorgeous visuals, and it really pushes the button on what that weird blend of CG and traditional animation at the turn of the millennium could accomplish. These things are not mutually exclusive.

The R.L.S. Legacy exemplifies the best that Treasure Planet has to offer. It looks like a traditional galleon, but it soars through space. It embodies all the romance of sailing the high seas, coupled with the splendor of space. Some of the movies most gorgeous scenes come from Jim Hawkins dangling on the rigging and gazing out at the vast expanse of the galaxy. Petrana Radulovic

One of the cutest quirks of the Hunter x Hunter world is that blimp and zeppelin-like airships are the norm for air travel instead of planes. It is a design decision I fully support, especially because theyre also brightly colored and really darn cute! They have little faces!!! I just want to give them all wee kisses on the nose. PR

The best spaceships are ones that become characters in their own right and the Rocinante is a shining example. The ex-Martian Navy ship becomes the centerpiece of the series. Its the escape vessel of a group of coworkers who become a found family. Its a getaway frigate. Its a warship defending the peace. Its the place Jim and Naomi meet, and where the former keeps trying to make a decent cup of coffee. Its the place where Alex Kamal makes Mariner Valley lasagna and attempts to lighten the mood. Its the eternal improvement project of Amos, then Clarissa Peaches, and more. Its the ship where Bobbie makes a stand.

After nine books, read over the course of 10 years, the interior of the ship is as familiar as any place Ive ever lived with even the mention of crash couches and the juice mentally preparing me for action and adventure. The Roci changes so much over the years, starting out as a spritely example of tech that always felt out of reach. Nine books later, with a several-decade time jump, the ships old bones begin to tire, and her tech is outdated. But shes still part of the family! Finally parting with the Roci was just as hard if not harder than parting with the crew. Nicole Clark

Its been a long damn time since Ive read Anne McCaffreys The Ship Who Sang stories, which kicked off in 1961 and were eventually wrapped up into a novel that eventually got several collaboration sequels. I cant speak for how Id feel about it today, but as a teenager, I really enjoyed the tragic, yearning romance of the first book, The Ship Who Sang. In a far-future setting, some people with badly damaged bodies become shell people, encased in life-support systems that interface with the control systems of cities, planets or ships. The protagonist here is a sentient ship (a brain) partnered with a hunky captain (a brawn) and sent out on dangerous missions. Naturally, they fall for each other, and naturally, they cant exactly be together in a conventional way, and naturally, no one who isnt a ship partner can really understand their special relationship. The whole setup is rife with unrequited longing, secret passion, and perilous space adventure. I dont know what more you could want out of your sci-fi ships. Tasha Robinson

Do fictional space vehicles need to be realistic? Of course not! But when time and attention is given to spaceship realism, I believe its worthy of praise. Thats why one of my favorite spaceships is the Interstellar Vehicle Venture Star from Avatar. This spaceship only gets a fraction of the movies runtime on screen, but its bursting with visual details that reveal an incredibly well-thought-out interstellar vehicle.

The Venture Star is designed for travel from Earth to Pandora, a journey that takes approximately seven years. In order to achieve a significant fraction of the speed of light, the Venture Star is actually pushed by an Earth-based laser for half the journey, which explains the large photon shield in the front (back?) of the ship. After a mid-journey flip, the Venture Star pumps the brakes, which in this case are two gigantic antimatter engines. Just like on a real spaceship, the Venture Star needs to get rid of all the heat those engines create, so two huge radiators slowly dissipate the heat from the antimatter reactions. The engines never even fire in the movie: the only hint at their power is the fact that these radiators continue to glow red hot long after.

The long, thin design of the Venture Star allows the crew quarters to be placed a far enough distance from the antimatter engines heat and radiation, another nod to realism. The gigantic truss connecting the two sections evokes the International Space Station and two Valkyrie atmospheric spacecraft evoke NASAs black and white space shuttle design. These references help make the Venture Star feel even more grounded as a spaceship design, while also giving the Venture Star plenty of room for Unobtainium storage.

Even before you reach Pandora, the Venture Star helps communicate how the rapacious Resources Development Administration operates. Though it evokes governmentally designed spaceships, its purpose is clearly more exploitation than exploration. This audacious spaceship is economical and efficient, designed to transport the resources the RDA extracts from Pandora. Clayton Ashley

Though only briefly glimpsed during the games opening cinematic, the asymmetrical lander from 2017s Echo is one of the most eye-catching designs in a game with no shortage of striking imagery. Essentially a personal landing craft designed to transport passengers on and off-world, the lander exemplifies all the qualities that I could want out of a personal spacecraft its compact, nimble, and visually unique. Its the type of design that inspires you to ask a million questions about the technology and civilization that produced it, which makes it the perfect type of fictional vehicle in my opinion. Toussaint Egan

Opinion may be split on Joseph Kosinskis 2013 sci-fi action film Oblivion, but whats not up for debate is the Bubble Ship, the personal reconnaissance aircraft piloted by Tom Cruise in the movie. This ship is fn cool. Vehicle designer Daniel Simon describes it as a dragonfly [combined] with a Bell 47 helicopter. The end result is a memorable, elegant design, soaring through the clouds above a post-apocalyptic Earth with ease and grace. Every moment the Bubble Ship was onscreen was pure bliss, while every moment it wasnt onscreen had me asking, Wheres the Bubble Ship? TE

My favorite ship is the Protoss Mothership from StarCraft 2. Its the sort of vessel that I dont often get to use in multiplayer matches they are expensive and move too slowly to be useful to a incompetent StarCraft 2 player. But in theory, they are perfect machines: Gorgeous to look at, can make things go invisible, call back allied units, and slow time. Its pretty good at base defense, but the build order and tech tree to make one is absolute nonsense to me. Typically, I am not good enough at StarCraft 2 to get to a point in the late-game where the ship is viable. Occasionally, I do enjoy employing a Mothership Rush strategy, which I first saw a pro-player do in 2010.

This is an absolutely mad strategy: Instead of doing things that will ensure a good economy and a powerful army, you simply pivot all resources to getting the Mothership as fast as possible. It sometimes works because its so stupid and no one expects it. However, again, I am not quite as good and often fail. And so I look on the Mothership with awe the sort of vessel that is always out of reach. Nicole Carpenter

Let me start by saying that in many ways, this is a terrible ship. Everyone aboard died, and by the end of the voyage, it was a literal wreck. It is best known for complete and total failure.

But I also love this ship. The real-life disaster story is fascinating, and AMCs highly fictionalized television adaptation is phenomenal. (season 1 of The Terror, based on Dan Simmons novel, is available to watch on Hulu.) I feel like I know the ship inside and out, even though I most certainly do not. Among the many excellent things about the series is the amount of attention devoted to the interior details of the ship. The ship is lived-in, and you live in it with the crew. This ship is a home. Its a doomed home filled with death, but its a home nonetheless. Also, its called the freaking Terror perhaps doom was slightly foreseeable. Pete Volk

Im not a big ship person, unlike some of my friends, who know who they are. I dont have a favorite Star Trek ship, much less one thats appeared in fewer than five episodes of the franchise total. For me, ships are interesting settings, bases of operations, places to explore, but rarely characters in their own right. They dont make me feel feelings.

Except the first time I saw the SSV Normandy pull out of dock, my shitty monitor speakers doing their best to blast the chords of the Mass Effect theme. My heart swelled with a feeling that could only be voiced by the phrase Thats my ship, in the same tone that, say, a total wife guy might say Thats my wife!

But I confess my full love is reserved for the SSV Normandys resurrection as the SSV Normandy SR-2, a cutting-edge stealth frigate kitted with a luxurious captains quarters, observation deck, and a fucking bar. Granted, she skirts very close to being a humanized ship when her illegal onboard AI, EDI, gets her own body in order to conform to the BTG standard (big tiddy girlfriend). But EDI is my ally and compatriot not the Normandy itself.

One woman cant be the mighty sword with whom I cut through the galaxys myriad struggles, the spot where I go to hang out with my buds, and the place I keep my collection of exotic fish. Only a ship can do that. Susana Polo

I dont even know where I first ran across this toy, which has been around since at least the mid-2010s, and Fisher-Price being largely eternal, maybe long before then. I just know I wish it had been a thing when I was a kid. Its a (probably extremely leaky) pirate ship, but its also a giant shark that eats Fisher-Price people! Also, to judge from the TV ad, it maybe fights crime too for some reason? Exactly what Id do if I was a giant shark someone had turned into a biomechanical monstrosity. Also, it comes with a little shark-pirate, which raises endless questions about the biology or superscience of whatever imaginary world this thing exists in. I like to think of the shark-ship as the Alphonse to the shark-captains Edward, just two brothers with very different bodies, trying to get by in a world thats probably pretty prejudiced against shark-people and shark-ships. At least once theyre both safely out of devouring range. TR

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The best ships in movies and TV shows - Polygon

JAKARTA Indonesia is pushing for a nationwide harvest strategy for its world-leading tropical tuna fishery, in an effort to protect the countrys wild stock.

Indonesias annual tuna catch is largest of any country. Since 2018, the government has applied an interim harvest strategy that consists of, among others, harvest control rules and monitoring for skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis), bigeye (Thunnus obesus) and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in its three fishery management areas (WPP). But the countrys fisheries ministry said recently that having a specific nationwide harvest strategy would be crucial for protecting the countrys wild stock.

The planned tuna harvest strategy will also help the governments ongoing push to achieve sustainability certification for its fisheries and subsequently open them to the growing global demand for eco-labeled seafood. Much of Indonesias tuna catch depends on the countrys small-scale handline fishers, according to the ministry.

The certification underpins the access of Indonesian tuna products to the global market, Trian Yunanda, the director of fish resource management at the ministry, said in a statement.

The global tuna fishery is valued at more than $40 billion annually, with Indonesia at the top of the list. The country caught an average of more than 628,000 metric tons of the fish between 2012 and 2018, according to government data.

Some observers have welcomed the proposed establishment of a nationwide tuna harvest strategy. An example of the harvest control rules that could be imposed under such a strategy may be if the stock in a given area falls to less than 40% of its pristine (unfished) level. At that point, a fishery manager would impose a closed season of 100 days, according to Peter Mous, director of the sustainable fisheries program at Bali-based NGO Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN).

Formalizing a harvest strategy is one way to show progress towards [sustainability] certification, and therefore these two concepts are closely linked, Mous said. The challenge for Indonesia, of course, is to demonstrate positive impact at sea, based on actual data and sound analysis.

Indonesia is in the meantime targeting to expand its longline fishing fleet in the high seas as part of its plan for a world-leading sustainable tuna fishery by 2025. The expansion is also part of the countrys efforts to tap into the increased harvest quota granted to Indonesia by regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs). These include the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), the Inter-Atlantic Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), and the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT).

Since 2017, Indonesia has worked on building a high-seas tuna fleet after earlier banning foreign fishing vessels from its own waters. Data from the fisheries ministry show the number of authorized tuna vessels larger than 30 gross tonnage nearly doubled to 664 between 2017 and 2020.

In addition to these efforts, the Southeast Asian country is planning to limit the number of operating fish aggregating devices; implement a temporary moratorium on tuna fishing in the Banda Sea to protect juveniles; and reduce the carbon footprint of its vessels. Much of the fishing grounds in the Pacific and Indian oceans, which Indonesia straddles, are already fully exploited, with many tuna species subject to overfishing.

Related listening from Mongabays podcast: The conservation status of four tuna species was recently upgraded. Is it really OK to eat such tuna now, as has been reported in the mainstream media? Its complicated, listen here:

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Indonesia to tighten regulation of tuna harvest in bid for sustainability - Mongabay.com

A hidden forest of algae sponges and hydroids photographed at low tide; a stunning night image of green button polyps under ultraviolet light; and a beautiful shot of a honeycomb moray eel stuck on a ledge on a rocky shore. Mumbai may be a bustling metropolis, but photographer Sarang Naiks aesthetic and vibrant images of marine life show a different side of the city.

When Naik first started exploring the coast of urban Mumbai, Indias financial capital and home to Bollywood stars, he was astounded by the diversity of creatures that he came across from hermit crabs, barnacles and a baby octopus to zoanthids (colourful disc-shaped relatives of coral) and prickly sea urchins. The intertidal zone or foreshore where the land is exposed at low tide and is under water at high tide is home to diverse marine life over different terrains, from mudflats to beaches and mangroves.

Most of my images have the creatures against the city in the background, reminding us that these creatures have been here way before us, says Naik. Even after three years of taking these shore walks, I am often blown away by the sight of some new coral or rare species. You dont expect this kind of biodiversity in this concrete jungle.

Naik, who was born in the city, is a member of the Marine Life of Mumbai (MLOM), a collective of volunteers, marine biologists and enthusiasts co-founded by Pradip Patade, who played on Girgaum Chowpatty beach in southern Mumbai as a child. After he quit his job in human resources, Patade started teaching water sports and would walk along the shore taking pictures of the creatures he found there. He started MLOM with Abhishek Jamalabad, a marine biologist and certified diver, and Siddharth Chakravarty, an independent researcher in industrial fisheries, in February 2017.

Members upload their findings to iNaturalist, a biodiversity database accessed by expertsand have logged more than 484 species to date. MLOMs Instagram page has records of sightings from common hairy crabs to pistol shrimp, nassa mud snails and even portuguese man o war.

Jamalabad, who was born and raised in Mumbai, believes the intertidal zone has been largely neglected, not only in India, but across the world. This is ironic because its one of the most accessible of all marine habitats and has a multitude of unique creatures. It also plays an important part in the ecology and lifecycle of creatures which live in the deeper parts of the ocean.

The Indian Ocean squid, a commercially important species, breeds and lays its eggs in the intertidal zone. Many reef fish spend their juvenile period in this zone to avoid predatory creatures. Many fishermen not only depend on the high seas for their catch but also on the intertidal zone. Oyster picking is restricted to this zone and is a female-dominated occupation, unlike fishing. It is also important for the physical integrity of the coast, as it keeps it safe from the impact of storms, he says.

Sejal Mehta, editor at MLOM, says that the resilience of the creatures found on Mumbais shores is constantly surprising. As I started discovering the shores on different walks, from Haji Ali to Nepean Sea Road, what hit me was how prolific the marine life was in spite of all the plastic, sewage and marine pollution. It reminded me of the resilience of Mumbaikars who, despite all odds, thrive in this crowded and chaotic city.

Some creatures, like the gorgonian sea fan corals, which you expect to only see in crystal clear pristine waters, are found here along the shores. Every time the tide recedes, its a new world that you are looking at. Its as dynamic as the ebb and flow of the tides, she adds.

A sea fan coral at Breach Candy; sponges, zoanthids, hydroids and algae at the Marine Drive shore; colourful nudibranch sea slugs

Shaunak Modi, director of Coastal Conservation Foundation, a nonprofit organisation that evolved from MLOM in 2019 to extend the model beyond citizen science and take it to other parts of India, says: Though I grew up close to Juhu Beach, the narrative was always about the pollution, dirt and garbage, and I never expected to find any life on these shores. On one of my shore walks, I saw a cratena sea slug, an alien-looking creature that wowed me and cemented my place in MOLM. I was amazed at how much biodiversity existed on these shores.

The diverse marine life exists despite the constant onslaught of development in the city. We clearly should not build over the intertidal zone, but over 200 to 300 years this has been happening in Mumbai, with the shores getting landfilled for development, says Jamalabad.

The controversial Coastal Road project, which will run alongside the Arabian sea for 18 miles (29.2km), threatens corals and olive ridley sea turtles among other creatures, say campaigners. There was a lot of noise about the corals and some of it was translocated, but what about the other creatures and their habitats that would be affected by this development? says Modi.

The people who come on our walks are an extremely diverse bunch from graphic designers to doctors and architects. All want to get to know their city better, says Mehta. Hopefully, this will translate into an increasing awareness and desire to protect the precious shores so that future generations can enjoy them.

Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on Twitter for all the latest news and features

Originally posted here:

'Every time the tide recedes, it's a new world': Mumbai's marine life revealed - The Guardian

Cruises: Holidays on the high seas

Cruises: Holidays on the high seas

Every year more tourists set sail. Cruises are becoming increasingly popular around the world. More and more Germans are also vacationing on the high seas.

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Good news for cruise-Fans!

After almost two years of corona stress, the time has finally come: the masks are falling! You can find out here which cruises you can do without the mouth and nose cover on in the future.

After almost two years with Corona, there is hope for travelers. Even if the omicron wave has not yet swept over, some tour operators have now decided that one or the other measure on their ship can be overturned, as reported by Merkur.

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Cruise: You will no longer need masks on these trips! (archive image)

Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Cati Cladera

++++ Cruise: Will costs explode soon? This news does not bode well ++++

The shipping company Royal Caribbean is the first to abolish the mask requirement on Valentines Day, February 14th. As long as sufficient space is kept between guests, it is no longer necessary to wear a mask outdoors.

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Cruise: On some ships, the mask requirement outdoors is now lifted. (icon picture)

Photo: IMAGO / Sven Simon

Unfortunately, guests are still not allowed to do without mouth and nose protection indoors. The same applies here as usual: Bars, lounges, restaurants and shows to which vaccinated travelers have access are excluded.

Another shipping company is relaxing the measures for passengers.

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The same applies to the Norwegian Cruise Line: Here, too, guests can do without wearing a mask outdoors from March 1st. In the interiors, however, it is required again here. In addition, there is a vaccination requirement from the age of five, according to the Merkur. (ali)

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Cruise: THESE shipping companies are surprisingly relaxing the corona rules even the masks are falling - Then24.com

uxury cruising conjures many connotations: expansive ships, cultural excursions, myriad amenities, but not necessarily romance. Or so you thought. Celebrity Cruises is playing cupid this Valentines Day by offering an enticing array of amorous experiences, from ambient dinners and wine tastings beneath the stars to spoiling spa treatments for two, set against a backdrop of Europes most stunning cities.

An undisputed innovator when it comes to the high seas, Celebrity Cruises has shaken up the status quo with its pioneering fleet of luxury ships, which are akin to floating five-star resorts. The brand boasts Gwyneth Paltrow as its wellbeing advisor, consulting on everything from spa treatments to fitness classes, while world-class entertainment includes West End-level productions and enthralling performances created in partnership with American Ballet Theatre.Wake up every day to your own private balcony, as a new port glides into view.

Select from Celebrity Cruises considered line-up of European itineraries, setting sail this spring. Spark romance onboard a ten-night European cruise, where you will quaff red wine in Bordeaux; bask in ancient architecture in Bilbao; sample seafood in the soulful Portuguese capital of Lisbon and watch the sunset from Castillo de Montjuic in Barcelona.

Alternatively, revel in Renaissance architecture and ochre sunsets while cruising through the Italian Riviera and France, with ports in Provence, Nice and Florence. Enjoy leisurely, sun-soaked lunches in the wine region of Tuscany, frescoes and feasting in Sicily and Rome, or take a day trip to the ever-glamorous Capri.

Most excitingly, both of these voyages welcome you aboard the hotly anticipated new Celebrity Beyond cruise ship. Part of the Celebrity Edge series of ships, this trailblazing feat of architecture boasts an innovative, outward-facing design that houses no less than 32 different food and beverage experiences.

Intimacy and cruising may sound like an oxymoron, but Celebrity Beyond offers an extensive edit of onboard indulgences, designed with romance in mind. Sip cocktails in the multi-level, seriously cool Sunset Bar, imagined by American designer Nate Berkus, or lock eyes over fine dining cuisine at Le Voyage, the first-ever restaurant at sea by French chef Daniel Boulud. Mood-lit interiors are equally inviting, in soothing tones of amber and dusty pink.

In the holistic spa, enjoy a couples coconut melt massage or unwind in the therapeutic Salt Room, mosaic wrapped Hamman or Thermal Suite, with bubbling hot tubs and steamy saunas.

Kelly Hoppen CBE has lent her interior prowess to The Retreat, an exclusive space with a members club feel, which is only available to suite guests. It features a private lounge, restaurant and two-storey sundeck, where a dedicated concierge team will cater to your every whim.

Further afield, fall head over heels for the Galpagos Islands, a remote archipelago off the coast of Ecuador. Effortlessly segue from one island to the next aboard Celebrity Flora, a luxurious all-suite mega yacht that sleeps just 100 guests. Ideal for adventurers and nature enthusiasts, explore black turtle coves and secluded bays, while spotting dolphins and marine iguanas. Snorkel with sea lions, frolic with flamingos and enjoy al fresco meals against a breathtaking backdrop of azure water and rugged volcanic mountains.

For a fabulously fresh spin on romance, take to the waters where idyllic destinations, nightly sunsets and sumptuous surrounds make for a loved-up sojourn like no other.

Book before 28 February 2022 and save up to 2,400 per stateroom or 1,200 per person on Caribbean or European cruises and enjoy free flights to Europe. Celebrity Cruises is also offering 20% off cruise fares to the Galpagos, in addition to discounts on flights if booked as a package.

Every Celebrity Cruise includes drinks, wifi and tips as standard. Discover more here.

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The most romantic cruises to book in 2022 | International | Travel - Luxury London

OPED By Loro Horta

Under the AUKUS agreement, Australia is expected to build 8 nuclear attack submarines with American and British assistance, in part to counter China. Australias SSNs when operational could become vital reinforcements to the 14 US SSNs in a potential conflict with China. However, China is not sitting idly and is getting ready to confront its adversaries.

With 80 submarines, the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has the highest proportion of submarines in relation to surface vessels than any other navy.

While the PLAN has about 67 conventionally powered subs, its nuclear attack submarine force remains rather small, at 6 ships. At a time when Australia is investing in nuclear attack submarines, China is focused elsewhere. Why is China not so enthusiastic about nuclear attack submarines, or at least for now?

SSNs have several advantages over conventional subs, which are usually electric diesel-powered. Nuclear attack submarines are faster, can dive deeper and have larger ranges of operations. As such they are much harder to detect and destroy than conventional submarines.

However, such vessels are much more expensive, costing on average 3 times more than conventional submarines, and technologically complex to build and maintain. Still, the proponents for SSNs argue that nuclear submarines are superior to conventional ones and the costs are worth it.

In the past decade, advances in conventional submarine technology have called into question some of the past assumptions concerning the advantages of nuclear attack submarines. Modern conventionally powered submarines are being equipped with diesel-electric engines with more advanced batteries that increase their speed and range.

Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) technology has made conventional subs stealthier. While conventional submarines cannot match SSNs in terms of range and speed, their stealth capabilities do not lag far behind.

The United States only operates nuclear-powered submarines, separated from the rest of the world by two large oceans and with military bases spread across the globe. The US navy needs nuclear-powered submarines because of their limitless range. SSNs are also used to escort American aircraft carrier battle groups as they traverse the vast expanses of the worlds oceans.

However, the PLANs immediate priority is to prepare for a possible conflict with the US Navy over Taiwan or in regional waters such as the South China Sea. Therefore, the advantages of SSNs are at least for now not that relevant for China.

For the PLAN, the range of SSNs is not terribly important during a conflict over Taiwan, for its the US Navy, which has to come all the way to meet the PLAN.

SSNs can dive deeper than conventional submarines. However, in the relatively shallow waters surrounding Taiwan and the South China Sea, such an advantage is questionable. When it comes to speed, modern conventional submarines can move quite fast within a small area of operations.

In a possible conflict over Taiwan, the 14 SSNs the US currently operates, not all deployed in the region, would have to get closer to the Chinese coast to support their surface fleet and hunt for Chinese submarines. As they get closer to the Chinese coast, the PLANs numeric superiority in submarines will be an enormous challenge.

While the PLANs submarine fleet will pose a formidable threat to the US Navy, its troubles are far from over. In recent years, China has been investing significant resources in advanced underwater sensors, sonar, and anti-submarine lasers technology to better identify and target US submarines.

The result is a growing transparency in the seas surrounding China. Chinas ability to detect American submarines at great distances is improving by the day. China has deployed underwater sensors that allow it to monitor US submarine activity as far as Guam.

Last year, a Chinese underwater drone was washed off the Indonesian island of Selayar close to Northern Australia.

Anti-submarine mines have also received substantial attention from the PLAN and underwater drones to attack American submarines are under development. While these underwater drones seem to be in a developmental stage, the fact that China now has one of the most advanced drone industries in the world should worry the US.

Some analysts have gone as far as predicting that in the next two decades, anti-submarine warfare will be so advanced as to make the submarine redundant. While this remains to be seen, it is certain that new technologies are making submarine operations far more dangerous.

With their limitless range, Australias planned 8 SSNs could reach the waters around Taiwan fast and substantially reinforce American submarine forces. Once they reach their objective, it remains to be seen how useful they will be. The PLAN doesnt seem to have any desire to fight a midway-type battle in the high seas.

China plans to fight the US and its allies closer to its shore where it has deployed thousands of missiles, drones, hundreds of modern fighters, advanced air defense systems, and where the waters are becoming transparently deadly by the day.

(The author is an academic and diplomat from Timor Leste. He is a graduate of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, the Chinese National Defense University, the U.S. Naval Post Graduate School and the American National Defense University.)

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Battle Of Submarines: Worlds Biggest Navy, Why China Could Be Ill-Prepared For A Deep-Sea Encounter With The US - EurAsian Times