A taste of life at sea
Boatswain’s mates training for their rate – also known as A-school – normally does not include any time underway on a Coast Guard cutter. However, this spring 48 A-school students set sail from Charleston, S.C., alongside officer candidates from both Coast Guard Officer Candidate School and National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Basic Officer Training.
Striper finders not always keepers
The pre-dawn January morning was chilled with a light breeze while wisps of fog clung to the distant skylines of Portsmouth and Norfolk. The crew of Shearwater was underway for Operation Striper Swiper, a federal and state initiative to preserve the striped bass population in federal waters — three nautical miles out from the shore and beyond to 200 nautical miles.
Protecting the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Beneath the blue waters of the Florida Keys, the continental United States’ only living-coral barrier reef stretches for miles. The reef and surrounding waters generate more than $2.3 billion annually for the local economy, create more than 33,000 ocean jobs throughout the Florida Keys and support fisheries that feeds millions. Across this economically important area, the Coast Guard maintains 450 buoys, markers and aids to navigation that safely guides water traffic through the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Saving our oceans one turtle at a time
It was an emergency wildlife mission. A bunch of sick, cold Northeast turtles were stuck in Cape Cod trying to swim south and needed a quick lift to Florida. The Coast Guard heeded the call with a C-130J Hercules based out of Elizabeth City, N.C. The 70-pound Loggerhead and the smaller five to 10-pound Kemp’s Ridley turtles are in various stages of recovery from pneumonia and hypothermia. A record stranding of more than 200 sea turtles off the Northeast coast in early winter exceeded the New England Aquarium’s capacity to house the nearly comatose reptiles. Sensing urgency, the NOAA Fisheries Northeast Stranding Network facilitated a request for the emergency flight.
Safeguarding the humpback whale
Written by 14th Coast Guard District public affairs. The Coast Guard is a key protector of our nation’s critical marine habitats and the endangered species dependent on them. These ocean resources are particularly important to those in the 14th [...]
Opening U.S. ports after disaster: An all-hands on deck evolution
In every one of America’s ports, the Coast Guard has plans in place to protect lives and property from natural disasters such as Hurricane Sandy. U.S. cities contend with the threat of natural and manmade disasters every year as a major port taken out of commission could devastate local businesses and ripple into the national economy. Despite some ports opening just hours after the storm had passed, there is still work to be done in harder hit areas. Currently, the Coast Guard is focused on getting the ports of New York and New Jersey back to full operations.
Coast Guard divers in space?
Aquarius, operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, allows aquanauts and astronauts alike to conduct research and simulate mission activities in the water’s low gravity. Diving in an underwater laboratory necessitates a unique expertise. It requires plenty of knowledge about underwater operations and skills held by very few individuals. It was just the kind of job for a Coast Guard diver.
Do you have a disaster supply kit?
September is National Preparedness Month and with Hurricane Isaac fresh in our minds, safety and preparedness couldn’t be more relevant. Whether you live in an area always at risk for a natural disaster, or a community that rarely has one, everyone should have a disaster supply kit.
International partnership nabs another drift net violator
A destructive fishing practice indiscriminately killing massive amounts of marine life is taking place in our world’s oceans. The practice of dragging enormous nets suspended for miles in open water is called high seas drift net fishing and is a form of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Hurricane season is almost here… Are you ready?
While the Atlantic hurricane season doesn’t officially start until June 1, scientists at the Climate Prediction Center are predicting moderate chances for a tropical depression or a storm to form in the Caribbean during the next two weeks. The chances [...]
