NOAA

HONOLULU — A team from the State of Hawaii is beginning their reef damage assessment Wednesday as final preparations are made by responders in advance of another attempt to remove the 79-foot fishing vessel Pacific Paradise Friday or Saturday depending on the weather. Once refloat operations begin, they will continue throughout the day and night for 24 to 48 hours.

Generators, dewatering pumps, and light stands may be operated throughout the night during the removal operations.

A team of six divers from the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural resources is assessing the reef as responders finish welding, patching and prepping interior spaces and towing attachments aboard the grounded vessel.

Monday and Tuesday the team worked on the towing bridal and continued assessments and mending in interior spaces. During the course of this work they located and patched an 18-inch crack in a forward bulkhead and pumped an estimated 1,380 gallons of an oily water mix out of the port tank, further reducing the potential pollution threat. Sheening was noted by the responders, sorbent pads were applied however the sheen was non-recoverable and quickly moved off shore before dissipating. In the initial days of the response about two-thirds of the fuel was removed. Despite the removal of 900 gallons of oily water mix Tuesday responders believe nearly 1,500 gallons of fuel could be on the vessel.

Precautionary measures are already in place to mitigate any release of fuel should one occur during final preparations or the removal operations. Oil spill response equipment is aboard the JW Barnes work vessel and pre-staged at the Waikiki Aquarium. Absorbent materials, containment booms, absorbent pads, drums and personnel protective equipment are available for use.

A monk seal was seen on the beach Tuesday, but was in no danger and remained away from the vessel. Responders immediately notified NOAA’s Marine Mammal Response Team coordinator and the team continues to remain on standby to address any marine mammal needs should they arise.

“We are refloating the vessel, to get it off the reef and into deeper water,” said Todd Duke from Resolve Marine Group. “It is a wrecked vessel and is very dangerous. We ask that the public gives us a wide berth to operate and go about our job safely. There is still some diesel fuel on board in tanks we cannot safely access without compromising the vessel further. We have personnel and oil response equipment pre-staged, in the event a spill does occur we have the means to respond and mitigate it.”

The responders will start the removal operations by further dewatering spaces aboard the vessel and pumping air into the compartments of the Pacific Paradise. The engineroom of the fishing vessel will also be filled with foam to add additional buoyancy. This foam is non-toxic and similar to what is used in industrial freezers or surfboards. Once the Pacific Paradise becomes buoyant, the responders will continue to run dewatering pumps as they attempt to tow the fishing vessel off the reef and take it out to the EPA-approved disposal site 13 miles south of Oahu where it will be sunk.

A safety zone remains in effect around the vessel extending out 500 yards in all directions. The public is asked to remain clear of the safety zone to prevent injury or impact to operations.

More information will be issued once removal operations commence and progress throughout the weekend.

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. – Much like a river on the ground carries water in streams through the earth, an atmospheric river carries water vapor in streams through the sky.

In partnership with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron “Hurricane Hunters” performed weather reconnaissance on these atmospheric rivers this month.

According to Dr. Fred “Marty” Ralph, Scripps Center of Western Weather and Water Extremes researcher and director, atmospheric rivers can carry an equivalent of about 25 times the amount of water in the Mississippi River as water vapor. He also said that these rivers can be 500 miles wide, thousands of miles long and have winds between 50 knots and hurricane-force speeds.

“These missions improve our global weather forecasting models,” said 1st Lt. Garrett Black, 53rd WRS aerial reconnaissance weather officer. “Which then can help meteorologists better predict precipitation events along the West Coast. Much of the rainfall the West Coast receives comes from these Atmospheric Rivers.”

“In addition to the science, due to the high tempo we are launching dropsondes from the aircraft, these flights are great for training, especially for the ARWO and dropsonde operator/loadmaster,” Maj. Ashley Lundry, 53rd WRS ARWO said.

In total, the squadron has flown six missions totaling 92 hours, launching WC-130J Super Hercules aircraft from Hawaii and California for four of the missions. Three of the missions were flown as a three-aircraft team with NOAA’s Gulfstream IV-SP. The Hawaii crew flew a solo mission Sunday and the California crew flew the final mission Tuesday.

In total, the 53rd WRS released 256 dropsondes into atmospheric rivers over the Pacific Ocean from about 30,000 feet. These dropsondes collect data including air pressure, temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, and global positioning system information. This data is then used by Scripps, the Sonoma County Water Agency, the California Department of Water Resources, the Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies to gain more knowledge about atmospheric rivers and increase the accuracy of forecast models.

“The 53rd had a team located at Scripps Institute of Oceanography in San Diego that worked with a forecast team and flight planning team,” Lundry said. “The forecast team would identify an atmospheric river they wanted to target for a flight, and we would work together to come up with a flight path that would work and relay this plan to the two crews.”

“Most of our missions totaled about nine hours in-flight time,” Black said. “Our goal was to fly at as high of an altitude as we could, which usually ended up being around 30,000 feet. Our dropsonde operator from the California crew, Master Sgt. Tom Barnaby, would release approximately 25 dropsondes about every 60 nautical miles or so. Depending on the flight level winds, we were releasing a dropsonde about every 10 minutes.”

Lundry also said that once the data was collected, the ARWO and loadmaster would quality control the data and send it to the chief, aerial reconnaissance coordination, all hurricanes unit at the National Hurricane Center, which then pushed out the information to be used in different forecast models.

In addition to the Global Forecast System, this data also went into the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and the Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System.

“One of the goals of the atmospheric river reconnaissance missions, led by Marty Ralph of Scripps Institute of Technology, is to improve the forecast for land falling atmospheric rivers on the west coast of the United States,” Lundry said. “We are able to fly into the atmospheric rivers, before they make landfall, and collect critical meteorological data in data sparse areas that can be inputted into the forecast models, to improve the forecast of these systems.”

According to Scripps, atmospheric rivers are the primary cause of flooding in the California area and produce 25-50 percent of the water supply in key areas of the West. These missions are also important because while atmospheric rivers can be seen more than five days ahead of landfall, there can be a high level of error in predicting where they will go.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have teamed up on a consolidated publication that will help mariners save time and money.

The Coast Guard Office of Navigation Systems and NOAA Office of Coast Survey will incorporate the amalgamated International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea (72 COLREGS) and the Inland Navigation Rules into NOAA’s U.S. Coast Pilot publications.

To access Coast Pilot, visit https://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/publications/coast-pilot/index.html.

The U.S. Coast Pilot publications already include the Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Service regulations.

“Adding the Navigation Rules into the Coast Pilot conveniently places three essential navigation safety publications into one easily available publication, available in either bound hard copy or electronic format,” said Capt. Mary Ellen Durley, the chief of the Coast Guard Office of Navigation Systems. “The U.S. Coast Pilot will now provide a one-stop shop for these required publications.”

“Making essential navigational products readily available and convenient for the mariner is a priority for NOAA,” said Capt. James Crocker, the chief of NOAA Office of Coast Survey Navigation Services Division. “We are pleased to collaborate with the U.S. Coast Guard in making the Navigation Rules available in all nine volumes of the Coast Pilot — three required publications in one free download.”

ARCTIC CIRCLE (NNS) — A team consisting of members of the Undersea Warfighting Development Center Arctic Submarine Laboratory (UWDC ASL), the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Corporation (UIC) Science conducted pioneering surveys to analyze and collect data on ice floes across the Beaufort Sea in preparation for the Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2018 Ice Camp Skate, 26-28 Feb.

During the pioneering flights, the team flew on a De Havilland DHC 3T Turbine Otter airplane more than 1,000 miles and surveyed seven ice floes. The single-engine Otter was modified with skis enabling it to take off and land safely on ungroomed ice and snow.

While on each ice floe, the team drilled and collected ice cores to determine the type of ice. Additionally, a specialized sled carrying an Electromagnetic Induction (EMI) instrument was pulled across the ice to determine the varying thickness by distinguishing between the different properties of sea-ice.

“A member of the team treks across the sea ice dragging the sled for miles in far below freezing conditions to obtain the data,” said Andy Mahoney, University of Alaska Fairbanks Research Associate Processor. “The data and cores are then analyzed and mapped to determine possible locations which can support an ice camp and a groomed runway to land aircraft.”

Combined, the team has decades of experience tracking and studying the ice floes throughout the region providing a better understanding of the formation and deformation, melting and movement of the ice floes passing through the Beaufort Sea.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), during summer months, Arctic sea-ice covers between two and five million square kilometers and 12 and 14 million square kilometers in the winter.

“We started back in October tracking satellite data to identify ice floes which we could identify from one image to the next to track the growth for this year’s pioneering flights and ice selection,” said Andy Mahoney, University of Alaska Fairbanks Research Associate Processor. “This has been a culmination of months of satellite analysis based on years of experience analyzing this type of data and field experience being on the ice.”

“For an ice camp, the team needed to identify a floe consisting of both first-year and multiyear ice within flight range of our support aircraft to continue delivering supplies and personnel,” said Larry Estrada, Arctic Submarine Laboratory Director. “First-year ice is characteristically flat providing an ideal location for grooming a runway, whereas multiyear ice, or ice which survives the summer months to form first-year ice around the remaining floe which produces a stronger, thicker and more stable floe ideal for supporting ice camp structures.”

ICEX 2018 is a biennial submarine exercise that allows the U.S. Navy to assess its operational readiness in the Arctic, increase experience in the region, advance understanding of the Arctic environment, and continue to develop relationships with other services, allies and partner organizations.

For more information about ICEX 2018, visit www.dvidshub.net/feature/ICEX2018 or www.facebook.com/arcticsublab.

SEATTLE – A contract to build the largest trap-and-haul fish passage facility in the nation was awarded by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials here March 14, 2018.

The project will transport Endangered Species Act-listed and other fish around Mud Mountain Dam near Buckley, Washington. Kiewit Infrastructure West Company’s $112 million bid and construction plan for project completion by December 2020 earned it the contract award.

“The contractor’s ability to quickly construct an operational facility was one of the primary evaluation criteria,” said Seattle District Senior Project Manager Leah Hauenstein. “We expect mobilization for construction to begin in May.”

The Corps is pursuing an aggressive schedule to minimize risk to ESA-listed species. Recent years have seen large increases in the White River Chinook run. The 2017 count was 16,271, a 174 percent increase over 2016’s 9,347 total, which was the best seen in 71 years of return records.

With historical lows of only a few dozen Chinook 20 years ago, officials believe recent rebounds are results of collaborative efforts in managing ESA-listed fish and designated critical habitat by officials from the Corps, NOAA Fisheries, Muckleshoot and Puyallup Indian Tribes, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

For the Corps’ part, officials recently made operational changes at the dam as a result of NOAA Fisheries’ 2014 Biological Opinion, referred to as a BiOp. Corps and NOAA officials worked together discussing details about dam operations before NOAA issued the BiOp, and its recommendations for some major improvements in the dam’s fish passage operations. The fish passage facility this contract will build is the most significant of the recommendations and was also included in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s March 2015 BiOp.

The Corps’ regional design team for this massive project included more than 150 employees from three Corps districts and two architecture and engineering firms. Several regional stakeholders also collaborated in the design, including the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, Cascade Water Alliance and National Marine Fisheries Service.

Mud Mountain Dam is an earthen, rock-filled structure built by the Corps in 1948 for flood risk management, which also provides for fish passage. The project protects more than 400,000 homes and businesses along the White and Puyallup river valleys, between Buckley and Tacoma, Washington.

During dam construction, the Corps also built a trap-and-haul facility in 1941. It captures salmon and transports them upstream past the dam. It is inadequate by today’s standards to move the ESA-listed Puget Sound Steelhead, Puget Sound Chinook, and Coastal-Puget Sound and Coastal Bull Trout. The facility will also move non-listed Coho and Pink Salmon.

The 1941-built facility was designed to move 20,000 fish annually. During Pink Salmon migration, in odd years, it manages to move upwards of 20,000 fish per day. The new facility is designed to transport 60,000 fish a day, upwards of 1.2 million fish per year, during pink run years.

Corps officials worked with land owners in the project footprint, including the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and Cascade Water Alliance, to acquire needed easements and real estate in time for the March 2018 award date. Corps officials will also continue working with NOAA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the tribes, Washington State and stakeholders as they complete construction.

As with any construction project, schedule risks are inherent and include material and labor availability, weather and unanticipated site conditions.

“We’re committed, as we know every one of our partners and stakeholders are, to improving fish passage conditions at Mud Mountain Dam as soon as possible,” said Hauenstein. “The completed fish passage facility will help restore ESA-listed Chinook salmon, steelhead and bull trout runs, ensuring all fish populations can continue to reach essential upper White River spawning and rearing grounds.”

On this occasion, the meeting between Honduras and Puerto Rico concurred with the “Caribe Wave 2018” exercise, a simulation exercise sponsored by the Seismic Network of Puerto Rico with other security agencies. The objective of this exercise is to test and validate the operations of the Caribbean Tsunami Warning System, evaluate tsunami response preparedness and the use of alert methods for the Caribbean, as well as assist in tsunami preparedness efforts of the Caribbean emergency management agencies.

The Caribbean Wave 2018 event had the city of Mayagüez, located at the far west of the Island, as its main scenario. On October 1918 this city suffered the shockwave of an earthquake followed by a Tsunami. The Honduran delegation, with members of the PRNG and residents of the area, strode one of the evacuation routes when the tsunami warning was alerted at 10 o’clock in the morning as scheduled for this exercise.

For Jaime Manuel Aguilera Quiroz and Gabriel Alonzo Rubio Izaguirre of COPECO, the simulation exercise “has been very positive and very effective. The support of the citizens and the media that helped to spread the information was remarkable “.

Honduran military officers, 1st Lt. Ricardo J. Zavala Avilés and 1st Lt. José C. Galvez Andrade, agreed that the Caribbean Wave 2018 exercise “provided the necessary and clear information to be understood by the population.”

During their visit, the personnel of COPECO and the Honduran Defense Forces met with members of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) to discuss the techniques of emergency warning in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Meteorologists Ernesto Ramos, Ernesto Rodríguez and Roberto García of NOAA, spoke with the Honduran delegation about their experiences during Hurricane María and how they handled operations before, during and after the emergency. They also stressed how vulnerable the island of Puerto Rico was to this phenomenon that devastated the entire Island.

“Hurricane María made us realize what we could expect from the climate changes, because the climate is actually changing. Our system failed at five in the morning right in the middle of the hurricane. We remained totally isolated; That’s when the NOAA office in Miami continued to monitor the hurricane. The communication networks, that are so important in these situations, were lost. We saw that vulnerability and today we are working to improve it ,” explained Ramos.

Another important meeting took place at the Seismic Network of Puerto Rico located at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus. The delegation of Honduras was received by Christa G. Von Hillebrandt-Andrade, Director of the Tsunami Warning Program in the Caribbean; the researcher of the “Tsunami Ready” Program Roy Ruiz Vélez; Elizabeth Vanacore, Research Associate of the Seismic Network of Puerto Rico and Dr. Victor Huerfano Moreno, Interim Director of the Seismic Network of Puerto Rico and Professor at the Campus, among others.

Christa and Dr. Huerfano explained how the “Caribe Wave 2018” exercise was developed and what data were used to recreate a tsunami in the western zone of Puerto Rico as well as establishing the logistics of the drill.

The mission of the Seismic Network of Puerto Rico is to be aware of the detection of seismic events and, together with NOAA and the National Meteorological Service, work hand in hand with the Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency.

“We are pleased with the experience we had while participating in the drill. It was possible to see the collaboration between the agencies and how the information was taken especially to the children, “said Aguilera Quiroz of COPECO.

As part of the emergency management logistics such as Hurricane Maria for Puerto Rico, Master Sgt. David Berrios of the Puerto Rico National Guard, explained to the delegation of Honduras the process of the organization to meet the needs of the Island in support of the Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency.

According to Berrios, the most urgent needs were met, such as the health services institutions, providing them with water and fuel support to keep their electric generators running. In the same way they coordinated the routes to get supplies to even the most isolated areas.

The Program, currently led by Captain Noelia Roldán, supports the goals of the defense policy of the Secretary of Defense and the security cooperation strategy of the theater of operation of the Southern Command.

The main objectives of the State Partnership Program are to improve military interoperability between states or territories and forces of fellow countries, demonstrate the ability and benefits of military support to civil authorities, as well as assist in the development of cooperative security among allied countries of the United States.

This meeting, which is part of the Puerto Rico National Guard State Partnership Program (SPP), served both Puerto Rico and Honduras’ leaderships to exercise new concepts and techniques in the application of proper procedures during a tsunami emergency episode as well as other natural disasters such as earthquakes or atmospheric anomalies such as hurricanes among others.

On this occasion, the meeting between Honduras and Puerto Rico concurred with the “Caribe Wave 2018” exercise, a simulation exercise sponsored by the Seismic Network of Puerto Rico with other security agencies. The objective of this exercise is to test and validate the operations of the Caribbean Tsunami Warning System, evaluate tsunami response preparedness and the use of alert methods for the Caribbean, as well as assist in tsunami preparedness efforts of the Caribbean emergency management agencies.

The Caribbean Wave 2018 event had the city of Mayagüez, located at the far west of the Island, as its main scenario. On October 1918 this city suffered the shockwave of an earthquake followed by a Tsunami. The Honduran delegation, with members of the PRNG and residents of the area, strode one of the evacuation routes when the tsunami warning was alerted at 10 o’clock in the morning as scheduled for this exercise.

For Jaime Manuel Aguilera Quiroz and Gabriel Alonzo Rubio Izaguirre of COPECO, the simulation exercise “has been very positive and very effective. The support of the citizens and the media that helped to spread the information was remarkable “.

Honduran military officers, 1st Lt. Ricardo J. Zavala Avilés and 1st Lt. José C. Galvez Andrade, agreed that the Caribbean Wave 2018 exercise “provided the necessary and clear information to be understood by the population.”

During their visit, the personnel of COPECO and the Honduran Defense Forces met with members of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) to discuss the techniques of emergency warning in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Meteorologists Ernesto Ramos, Ernesto Rodríguez and Roberto García of NOAA, spoke with the Honduran delegation about their experiences during Hurricane María and how they handled operations before, during and after the emergency. They also stressed how vulnerable the island of Puerto Rico was to this phenomenon that devastated the entire Island.

“Hurricane Maria made us realize what we could expect from the climate changes, because the climate is actually changing. Our system failed at five in the morning right in the middle of the hurricane. We remained totally isolated; that’s when the NOAA office in Miami continued to monitor the hurricane. The communication networks, that are so important in these situations, were lost. We saw that vulnerability and today we are working to improve it ,” explained Ramos.

Another important meeting took place at the Seismic Network of Puerto Rico located at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus. The delegation of Honduras was received by Christa G. Von Hillebrandt-Andrade, Director of the Tsunami Warning Program in the Caribbean; the researcher of the “Tsunami Ready” Program Roy Ruiz Vélez; Elizabeth Vanacore, Research Associate of the Seismic Network of Puerto Rico and Dr. Victor Huerfano Moreno, Interim Director of the Seismic Network of Puerto Rico and Professor at the Campus, among others.

Christa and Dr. Huerfano explained how the “Caribe Wave 2018” exercise was developed and what data were used to recreate a tsunami in the western zone of Puerto Rico as well as establishing the logistics of the drill.

The mission of the Seismic Network of Puerto Rico is to be aware of the detection of seismic events and, together with NOAA and the National Meteorological Service, work hand in hand with the Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency.

“We are pleased with the experience we had while participating in the drill. It was possible to see the collaboration between the agencies and how the information was taken especially to the children, “said Aguilera Quiroz of COPECO.

As part of the emergency management logistics such as Hurricane Maria for Puerto Rico, Master Sgt. David Berrios of the Puerto Rico National Guard, explained to the delegation of Honduras the process of the organization to meet the needs of the Island in support of the Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency.

According to Berrios, the most urgent needs were met, such as the health services institutions, providing them with water and fuel support to keep their electric generators running. In the same way they coordinated the routes to get supplies to even the most isolated areas.

Since 1998, the Puerto Rico National Guard State Partnership Program has joined forces with the Republic of Honduras and since 2003 with the Dominican Republic in the exchange of military strategies, humanitarian missions, infrastructure and emergency management.

The Program, currently led by Capt. Noelia Roldán, supports the goals of the defense policy of the Secretary of Defense and the security cooperation strategy of the theater of operation of the Southern Command.

The main objectives of the State Partnership Program are to improve military interoperability between states or territories and forces of fellow countries, demonstrate the ability and benefits of military support to civil authorities, as well as assist in the development of cooperative security among allied countries of the United States.

HONOLULU — The Coast Guard and partner agencies are offered a media opportunity to get underway, March 23, 2018, with the personnel from the Coast Guard Cutter Kittiwake (WPB 87316), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement, and Honolulu Police Department in advance of increased patrols during the weekend.

Each year the influx of college students and tourists arriving to Waikiki Bay during Spring Break generates numerous on-water safety concerns. In previous years, large flotillas have emerged encouraging the consumption of alcohol while on the water and pose a significant risk to public safety.

The goal for the Coast Guard and State’s upcoming patrols is to ensure safety of life at sea by preventing search and rescue cases. However, enforcement actions that mitigate or deter illegal activities from escalating are also a top priority.

Alcohol and drugs can cause impaired balance, blurred vision, poor coordination, impaired judgment, and slower reaction times. Alcohol is a major contributor to boating accidents and fatalities.

* Hawaii state law prohibits anyone from boating while intoxicated — that is, operating a vessel while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, narcotics, or other habit-forming drugs.

* Hawaii state law says that a person is considered to be boating while intoxicated if they have a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent or more within four hours after the time of the alleged violation.

Under Hawaii state law, the penalties for boating while intoxicated include a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $1,000, imprisonment for up to 30 days, or both a fine and imprisonment.

Since 2014 all individuals who operate a motorized vessel in Hawaii’s state waters must have taken a boating safety course and be able to show proof of certification. The regulations for compliance with BWI laws are a part of this course.

Right whales are dying.

Only around 430 right whales remain.

Scientists predict that right whales will be extinct by 2040.

In the last two years, 35 right whales were found dead, with only five new calves being born in the 2016 to 2017 birthing season.

Throughout the 2017 to 2018 birthing season no calves have been seen leading scientists to state that there are no new right whales.

With the whales diminishing, two Coast Guard Academy cadets have stepped up to do the right thing and help save the whales.

First Class Cadets Ainsley Fruhwirth and Zoe Bolling, both marine science majors at the Academy have spent the last two years working on saving the right whales as part of their capstone research project.

Titled, “Detection and Avoidance of the Right Whales along the Northern Coast of the United States,” their project breaks down the right whale fatalities due to ship collision and implements a way to give mariners a current location of right whales in their area using technology.

“I love whales and all marine life,” said Fruhwirth on why she chose this project. “This project will have a real world impact.”

The North Atlantic right whale is a baleen whale, one of three right whale species. Because of their docile nature, slow surface-skimming feeding behaviors, their tendencies to stay close to the coast, and their high blubber content, which makes them float when they are killed, right whales were once a preferred target for whalers. In fact, the whales earned their name from hunters as being the “right” whale to hunt.

Before the 1930s, hunting dwindled the right whale population.

Today, the majority cause of right whale deaths are from being caught in fishing gear or struck by boats.

The Coast Guard, along with other federal, state and private organizations have been working together to help the whales for years.

The Coast Guard’s legacy of environmental protection dates back to the late 1800s with the signing of the Fur Seal Act of 1897, charging the Coast Guard with the vital role of enforcing natural resource laws.

“The Coast Guard is doing its part to help,” said Bolling. “However, we can do more. Humans are the reason for the loss of the whales and humans can fix it.”

Bolling and Fruhwirth started their project by compiling years of research on the right whales, which they received from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. They also worked closely with members of both agencies.

On the North Atlantic coast, NOAA has acoustic buoys that listen for right whale calls, maps their location and provides it to mariners transiting the area.

Also in areas of high whale traffic, boat captains are required to slow down their speed to about 11 miles per hour.

With several large, high boating traffic ports in the North Atlantic, collision with a right whale is common.

“The right whales swim along the surface and are known as ‘curious’ animals, sometimes swimming right up to a ship,” said Bolling.

Also along the North Atlantic coast are several Coast Guard gunnery training exercise locations.

“Before any cutters are even approved to conduct training in these locations, the Coast Guard checks with NOAA for the appearance or possible appearance of whales in the area,” said Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Matt Winters, a gunner’s mate at Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England Armory.

“Also, the Coast Guard has policy in place if a whale is seen in the area by a cutter during transit,” continued Winters.

The policy states that the Coast Guard will work with NOAA to determine the possibility of marine life in the training areas before training can take place. Additionally, during the training, members of the Coast Guard stay in touch with NOAA for any changes in marine life activity.

“The Coast Guard takes its mission of protecting marine life very seriously,” said Winters. “If a cutter is conducting training and there is the slightest chance that a right whale could enter the area, we post extra lookouts and possibly quit the exercise and reschedule.”

With the threat of right whale extinction on the horizon, Bolling and Fruhwirth are working with partner agencies to find a solution.

One of the ways they did this was by attending the 22nd Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals hosted by the Society for Marine Mammalogy in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, October 2017.

“Being able to work with good people in the same field is an amazing experience,” said Fruhwirth. “Every step we make toward saving the whales makes me feel like I am having an impact.”

During the event, more than 1,500 scientists, managers, policy makers and student delegates came together from 65 countries to discuss cutting edge marine mammal science and conservation strategies from around the world.

“This was a big deal,” said Lt. Chris Verlinden, a marine science instructor at the Coast Guard Academy who mentors Bolling and Fruhwirth. “Occasionally cadets will go to events, but not on a level this prestigious.”

Bolling and Fruhwirth hope to round out their project by creating a smart phone application that will be used to prevent fatal collisions between ships and whales using Livestream whale acoustic detections and ranging information from Digital Acoustic Monitoring buoys and gliders.

They want to implement the application for military vessels planning operations through the use of a Coast Guard geospatial planning program and AIS notification.

This application can also reduce right whale fatalities due to ship strikes on a national scale if used by commercial vessel operators transiting in whale-populated areas.

Be sure to report any right whale sightings to 1-866-755-NOAA

HONOLULU — The Coast Guard recognizes 406 MHz Day and the importance of the use of emergency positioning indicating radio beacons in our maritime environment to save lives, Friday.

406 MHz Day is a national campaign run by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to increase awareness of the importance of emergency positioning indicating radio beacons and personal locator beacons in boating safety. It is an awareness day with a play on the date of April 6 to bring awareness to 406 MHz signals saving lives.

“A 406 MHz EPIRB is one of the most important safety devices you can have aboard your person, your vessel, or watercraft,” said Jennifer Conklin, a search and rescue mission coordinator at the Coast Guard 14th District. “In an emergency, these simple to active beacons transmit your position and registration information to search and rescue authorities, which triggers an immediate response. These beacons are proven life-savers.”

In 2017, within the United States and its surrounding waters, 275 people owe their rescue to the use of 406 MHz EPIRBs and NOAA satellites, which are part of the international search and rescue satellite-aided tracking system. This system uses a sprawling network of spacecraft to detect and locate distress signals quickly from emergency beacons aboard boats, aircraft and handheld personal locator beacons.

* An EPIRB is a device that is designed to transmit a distress signal if you get into trouble. No matter where you are in the world, an EPIRB sends a signal to emergency responders through a satellite system called COPAS-SARSAT.

* This system uses a sprawling network of spacecraft to detect and locate distress signals quickly from emergency beacons aboard boats, aircraft and handheld personal locator beacons.

* Always ensure you are conducting self-tests according to the manufacturer’s instructions for your EPIRB or PLB. Each year the majority of false alerts occur during testing and maintenance.

* Registration is valid for two years; owners must revalidate every two years.

* Updated beacon information can decrease rescue response time during distress situations.

* If you realize you have accidentally activated your beacon, call the Coast Guard at 855-406-USCG (8724) with your beacon’s hex ID ready to cancel the false alert. This helps search and rescue personnel who would otherwise be out looking for you during an actual emergency.