MetaFilter posts tagged with pacific

Studying the plastic soup

kanuck — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:18:27 -0800

Discovered in 1997 by oceanographer Charles Moore, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is 3.5 million tons of trash, 80% of which is plastic. Moore is the founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which is conducting ongoing research into the patch. Blog from their current expedition on the research vessel Alguita. The Scripp's Institution of Oceanography is also studying the patch. Blog from their SEAPLEX expedition. greatgarbagepatch.org tracks community efforts to stop trashing the ocean. Previously: [1, 2].

World War II History Reference

netbros — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:03:07 -0800

"With Germany arming at breakneck speed, England lost in a pacifist dream, France corrupt and torn by dissension, America remote and indifferent... do you not tremble for your children?" ― Winston Churchill, 1935. The World War II Database connects people, events, photographs, and other elements of history in relational db form to tell the story of the 20th century's 2nd great war.

Personal photos from the Pacific (WWII)

zzazazz — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:05:47 -0800

According to the photographer's daughter, "All photos in this collection were taken by then Lt. and later Capt. George S. White, my Father, while he was serving in the Pacific as a pilot. They are generally between 1945 and 1948 from what is documented." My favorites? The barmaid or postwar Tokyo or wrecked planes and airplane graveyards.

Clipperton or bust

mdonley — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:29:07 -0800

1200 kilometers southwest of Acapulco lies the only atoll in the eastern Pacific: one of France's most isolated overseas possessions. First named for an English pirate/buccaneer/privateer, written about here by one John Harris in 1744, the island has changed hands numerous times: claimed by France as part of Tahiti, claimed by the US under the Guano Islands Act of 1856. The island remained uninhabited until 1906, when a British and Mexican mission began mining guano (still in demand today, though sources can now be found a little closer to home). The atoll was thought to have been polished off entirely by an earthquake rumored to have sunk the islands outright in August of 1909. Sovereignty over the atoll passed back and forth between France and Mexico again until the Vatican, given the task of arbitrating the dispute, passed the decision to the Emperor of Italy, who on January 28, 1931, decided that Clipperton was French: JSTOR link here. (Full citation if you've got access: Edwin D. Dickinson, "The Clipperton Island Case". The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Jan., 1933), pp. 130-133). Since then, Clipperton has been the object of FDR's attention, who visited en route to the Galapagos in the hopes of creating a seaplane stop en route to Australia, an amateur radio enthusiast destination, a new destination for commercial diving operations (huge album of photos!), and most recently a scientific research base, chronicled for English speakers in a 2003 National Geographic expedition with Lance Milbrand, and televised for French viewers on the program Expedition: Clipperton, which includes a fantastic, if Francophone, photo album of discoveries made on the island, in its surrounding waters, and in its freshwater lagoon. Google Books possesses a copy of a recent history of the island, which goes into the motivation for FDR's visit to the island in 1938. Here's a shot of some leftover American ammunition. Given the island's massive exclusive economic zone - which covers an area nearly the size of metropolitan France itself - the place will certainly be on the radar from now on. And no post about a isolated, uninhabited tropical island in 2008 would be complete without the Wikipedia article that I found which started this little adventure today, and a link to a relevant Flickr photo set...in this case, a set of amateur radio operators.

Typhoon Cobra

Rafaelloello — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:14:38 -0800

WWII. The Pacific. Three destroyers sunk, five carriers and three more destroyers heavily damaged Not by the Japanese, but by Typhoon Cobra. Out of many heroes, and many brave men, Lt. Cdr. Henry Lee Plage not only saved all of his own men and his much smaller Destroyer Escort , the USS Tabberer DE 418, but also rescued 55 additional men both from the sunken USS Hull and USS Spence. Here are some recent pictures of many men and their families, who could have easily lost their lives in that Typhoon, but due to the bravery of many did not. Be sure to scroll down and click on the thumbnails. Be sure not to miss Archie Deryckere and his wife. Archie could certainly tell you some stories of his own.

Avoiding death by plastic

TheyCallItPeace — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:15:13 -0800

Talk about plastic accumulating in the North Pacific gyre has popped up on and off for quite a while now. Vice is running a series on the state of the gyre, as part of their "Toxic Series". Given the fact that most plastics are not biodegradable, we need to start looking more carefully at how much damage we are doing to ourselves through our use of plastic, and what we can do about it. Not surprisingly, some plastics may also pose more direct health risks to us. Just a few months ago, Mountain Equipment Co-op, a popular retailer of outdoor gear in Canada, pulled polycarbonate Nalgene bottles from its shelves. Now the Canadian government has banned baby bottles made from this clear plastic because there are indication that Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical used in its production and which leaches out of the plastic, may be potentially quite harmful. It seems unavoidable that we need to find viable replacements for plastics. San Francisco has banned plastic shopping bags, and even China, a country with pretty spotty environmental record, will ban plastic shopping bags nationwide starting in June. Given the current prevalence of plastics today, we also need to consider how we can recycle or reuse the vast mountains of plastic waste we have already produced. One of the links above mentioned Plastic Lumber, which apparently does not require plastic to be sorted before recycling. As today is Earth Day, I though this would be a good topic for people to think about.

Don't shoot him - you'll only make him mad

Kirth Gerson — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 06:49:22 -0800

Invasion of the Jellyfish The box jellyfish [AKA Sea Wasp] is so packed with venom that the briefest of touches can bring agonising death within 180 seconds. And if comes under sustained attack it responds by sending its compatriots into a super-breeding frenzy in which millions of replacements are created. The really bad news is that the box jellyfish and another equally poisonous species, Irukandji, are on the move. Scientists are warning that their populations are exploding and will pose a monumental problem unless they are stopped. First aid for stings.

Whirling Vortex of Stupidity

chuckdarwin — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 02:40:27 -0800

The North Pacific Trash Vortex - Researchers have discovered a Texas-sized area of (mostly plastic) rubbish floating in the Pacific Ocean. On the most recent episode of QI, Fry posed this question: "what is the largest man-made object in the world?" The answer: The North Pacific Trash Vortex. The North Pacific sub-tropical gyre covers a large area of the Pacific in which the water circulates clockwise in a slow spiral, which tends to force any floating material into the low energy central area of the gyre. Given its size, I tried looking for a satellite image of it, but have failed so far. Anyone know of one?

Der Papalagi wohnt wie die Seemuscheln in einem festen Gehäuse

No-sword — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 03:33:18 -0800

The Papalagi. "Then many of these thought-mats are tied into bunches and pressed together ('books' the Papalagi calls them) and sent to every part of that great country. Very soon, everyone who takes these thoughts into themselves is infected. They devour these thought-mats as if they were sweet bananas ... [Y]oung and old gnaw at them like rats gnawing at sugar cane. That is the reason why so few of them are still able to think reasonable, natural thoughts, like those that every honest Samoan has.'

"Someone in a Tree" from 1976 Broadway Show, "Pacific Overtures"

grumblebee — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 13:33:30 -0800

"Someone in a Tree" -- an incedibly rare video from the original, 1976 production of "Pacific Overtures." I grew up listening to an L.P. of these same people perform this same song, but I've never before seen them perform it. I grew up in Southern Indiana, so actually seeing a Broadway show was out of the question. But I loved this song, and -- years later -- I read that it was Stephen Sondheim's favorite of all the songs he ever wrote. Today, I found this video on YouTube and it was like finally seeing someone after being blind for years. I still have chills running up and down my spine. Also: Sondheim forum, online journal, and various gems (and bombs) on youtube -- including the man himself teaching a master class and this 12-year-old's spirited performance!

James Fee's Peleliu Project

matteo — Sun, 21 Aug 2005 12:02:04 -0800

The Peleliu Project. The tiny Micronesian island of Peleliu was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. The U.S. invasion of the Japanese occupied island began in September of 1944, and was expected to last only a matter of days. Casualties on this 5 square mile island reached 20,000 by the end of the two-month struggle. U.S. soldiers were forced to pour aviation fuel into caves and ignite them in order to end the standoff of those who refused to surrender. One determined group of 34 Japanese soldiers remained in hiding until they were discovered in April of 1947.
Pharmacist Mate 3rd Class Russell Fee returned from Peleliu with a fierce, uncompromising vision of America which would have a profound impact on the life and work of his son. Fifty-three years later, armed with his father's snapshots and diary which he had just uncovered, James Fee went to Peleliu to see with his own eyes the place where his father's vision had taken shape. The result of his five year quest is The Peleliu Project. more inside

Tokyo Rose

gottabefunky — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 10:07:29 -0800

"Now you fellows have lost all your ships. Now you really are orphans of the Pacific. How do you think you will ever get home?" Tokyo Rose was the name given to any female propaganda broadcaster for the Japanese during WWII’s battle for the Pacific, but it has stuck most tightly to Iva Toguri D'Aquino, an American who studied zoology at Berkeley and unwisely went to visit a relative in Japan in 1941 without a passport.

Her sultry voice was heard across the Pacific during her radio show “The Zero Hour,” which earned her about $7 per month. After the war, "Orphan Annie" returned to the U.S., where she was tried for treason in the most expensive trial in history. Her story has been made into movies and documentaries, and as of 2003 she was running a store in Chicago. You can listen to her broadcasts online and apparently even email her.

Tsunami in Pacific

gunthersghost — Tue, 14 Jun 2005 21:04:18 -0800

Tsunami warning - 7.4 earthquake in the pacific

Cyclone devastates Niue

PrinceValium — Mon, 12 Jan 2004 13:57:02 -0800

A cyclone has essentially flattened the tiny Pacific island nation of Niue. Although only one of the island's 1200 inhabitants has died, the infrastructure is so battered that the government may simply call it quits, ceding control to New Zealand. Although suffering from sharp population declines over the years, Niue had been one of the most technologically advanced microstates, being the first country to install free Wi-Fi accessible to all of its residents and visitors. And they control the top-level domain .nu - or do they? The recent natural disaster may highlight the fact that the story of the .nu domain is one of economic and legal exploitation. And if Niue folds, can you run a website from a domain attributed to a deleted country? A fascinating sidebar to this fascinating story. (Via /.)

Kerguelen: Come for the Cabbage. Stay for the... Urm.

ursus_comiter — Tue, 28 Jan 2003 20:49:15 -0800

The Kerguelen Islands, you say? This guy wanted to go there. This guy went. Him too. And this poor fellow just wants to be a part of it all. What's the attraction? Though not much may have happened there, there are some stunning views. But I think it's the cabbage.

rschram — Thu, 03 May 2001 10:55:51 -0800

If you are concerned about global warming, you must watch this film
Some Mefi context