Sea Science: by Scott McDowell When mariners share sea stories of encounters with gales and rogue waves, rarely does a session end without mention of the elusive green flash. With…
Sea Science: by Scott McDowell The Gulf Stream “system” begins with westward surface flow through the Caribbean, looping through the Gulf of Mexico, then northward as the Florida Current (FC)…
Sea Science: by Scott McDowell The strong northward current between the eastern shore of Florida and the Bahamas is officially named the Florida Current (FC), as clarified by Dr. Arthur…
Sea Science by Scott McDowell Rogue waves are not uncommon throughout our world’s oceans, as documented by dozens of examples in this space last month. What’s more surprising is that…
By definition, a rogue is one who behaves unexpectedly and abnormally, often causing damage to anything nearby. This succinctly describes the extremely large and unpredictable rogue waves that are gaining…
Rainbows require sunlight and moisture in the air but it’s the magic angle of 42 degrees that causes rainbows to exist. Light rays from the sun appear to the naked…
Lightning bolts represent a tremendous discharge of electricity: 100-300 million volts and 30,000 amps. Most often, they occur between clouds, but 25 percent occur from cloud to ground. Lightning begins…
Because of severe injuries and death caused by convective (rising warm-air) storms, the National Weather Service has compiled accurate statistics on the incidence of reported lightning casualties in the United…
Survival at sea is primarily decided by the availability of drinking water. Our body needs to consume roughly one-half gallon of fresh water daily to maintain healthy body functions. Without…
The strong salinity of seawater is known by all, and variations can sometimes be detected by taste. But on the global scale, salinity is remarkably similar among the major oceans…