Wavebreaking News – Fall 2004

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Welcome to Wavebreaking News………brought to you by NOAA’s National Ocean Service.

The Hunt for the Green Alligator

A joint NOAA-Navy research team recently traveled to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to search for a lost Civil War-era submarine called the Alligator. Launched in 1862, the Alligator was the U.S. Navy’s first submarine. In April 1863, the green vessel was lost during a fierce storm while being towed to Charleston, South Carolina. After reviewing historical documents to determine the Alligator’s possible whereabouts, the team conducted sonar surveys in the so-called Graveyard of the Atlantic to search for the cigar-shaped vessel. Although operations were cut short due to bad weather, the team was able to survey more than 55 square nautical miles during the first comprehensive hunt for the Alligator.

Navigation Safety in Hurricanes' Wakes

NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey played a major role in assessing navigation safety in the aftermath of recent hurricanes that hit the southeastern United States. Navigation Response Teams surveyed ports in Florida and along the Gulf of Mexico lying in the paths of Hurricanes Frances and Ivan. Personnel deployed underwater vertical beam and sidescan sonars to see if shoaling or submerged obstructions blocked navigation channels. Teams determined that shoaling near Florida’s Port of Palm Beach and Port Canaveral were safety concerns following Hurricane Frances. In Ivan’s wake, the teams found many wrecks and obstructions, but no significant shoaling or impediments to navigation. However, over a dozen navigation aids such as buoys and lights marking safe navigation channels were moved or destroyed.

Dolphin Health Exams

Since June 2003, scientists have captured and released over 150 dolphins off the coasts of Florida and South Carolina as part of a five year study of dolphin health. The researchers from NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution give the dolphins comprehensive physicals. They examine internal organs, measure blubber thickness, check for skin lesions, and test blood chemistry, and immune function. Initial results indicate that the Florida dolphins have more skin lesions and reduced immunity, while the South Carolina dolphins have higher levels of contaminants. An increase in dolphin strandings and lesions found on dolphins in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon were some reasons that prompted this study.

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