Was there a UFO discovered on the ocean floor?

From: http://www.mnn.com/

Is an object on the ocean floor a UFO flying saucer, or a natural formation?

 

Peter Lindberg's team found what appears to be a crashed flying saucer on the ocean floor. (Photo: www.oceanexplorer.se)

An ocean exploration team led by Swedish researcher Peter Lindberg has found what some are suggesting is a crashed flying saucer. Lindberg's team, which has had success in the past recovering sunken ships and cargo, was using sonar to look for the century-old wreck of a ship that went down carrying several cases of a super-rare champagne. Instead, the team discovered what it claims is a mysterious round object that might (or might not) be extraterrestrial.

Lindberg explained to local media that his crew discovered, on the 300-foot-deep ocean floor between Finland and Sweden, "a large circle, about 60 feet in diameter. You see a lot of weird stuff in this job, but during my 18 years as a professional I have never seen anything like this. The shape is completely round."

Adding to the mystery at the bottom of the Gulf of Bothnia, Lindberg said he saw evidence of scars or marks disturbing the environment nearby, suggesting the object somehow moved across the ocean floor to where his team found it. 

It's not clear what to make of this report, or the video of the sonar scan that shows the object, but Swedish tabloids and Internet UFO buffs have had a field day. Some suggest the object is a flying saucer of extraterrestrial origin (and the seafloor scars were dug up when it crashed), though of all the things that might create a round sonar signature, that seems to be among the more outlandish. [10 Alien Encounters Debunked]

It might be a natural feature formation, or possibly a sunken, round man-made object.

Lindberg's claim that the object "is perfectly round" may or may not be accurate; while it looks round from the information so far, the resolution of the sonar image was not high enough to verify that it is indeed round. And while the lines that appear to be leading to (or from) the feature may suggest some sort of movement, it's also possible they have nothing to do with the object. [UFO Battles Captured on Video? Not Likely]

Lindberg himself did not offer an extraterrestrial origin, though he did speculate it might be a "new Stonehenge."

This is not the first time a sunken object has been presented as the solution to a mystery. Take, for example, the famous underwater mystery of the "Bimini Road," a rock formation in the Caribbean near the Bahamas that resembles a road or wall. Many New Agers and conspiracy theorists claimed the rocks are too perfectly shaped to be natural, and either were made by an unknown civilization or are possibly a relic from the lost city of Atlantis.

In fact, geologists have identified the blocks as unusually shaped, but perfectly natural, weathered beach rock.

It's also worth noting that UFOs may not be saucer-shaped. The famous "flying saucer" description of the first UFO has since been revealed as a reporting error.

Lindberg said his team has neither the interest nor the resources to further investigate the anomaly. Deep ocean research is time-consuming and expensive. If the object were indeed a flying saucer, recovering it could potentially be worth millions or billions of dollars. If it's a natural formation, on the other hand, it would probably be a waste of time and money.

This article was reprinted with permission from SPACE.com.

Racing to the Bottom: Exploring the Deepest Point on Earth

 From: http://www.theatlantic.com
 
Teams led by Richard Branson, James Cameron, and some unknown guy from Florida are all hoping to make it to the Mariana Trench

At the southern end of the Mariana Trench, a deep scar that cuts into the bottom of the ocean floor, there is a point known as Challenger Deep. Here, just outside of the Marianas or Ladrones, a series of 15 islands made up of volcanic mountains that peak just above the water line, a small slot-shaped valley plunges nearly seven miles down. At 35,797 feet, Challenger Deep is the deepest known point in the oceans. It is so deep that, if you were able to place Mount Everest inside of the valley, there would still be 6,811 feet of water separating it from the surface.
At just 7,000 feet down, about where the tallest mountain in the world would peak, the pressure becomes so great that whales rely on unique evolutionary traits when hunting for giant squid. Whales have lungs that can collapse safely under pressure and ribs bound by soft cartilage that allows the cage to shift and settle in extreme environments rather than snap. Without similar anatomical gifts, we don't know much about what happens below that level. Imagine what creatures might live at depths five times greater than where whales and giant squid battle in the pitch-black ocean.
We've been there once before, to the bottom of Challenger Deep. But we didn't see or learn much. On January 23, 1960, Jacques Piccard suited up, plopped down inside of Trieste, and sank to the ocean floor. The Swiss-designed, Italian-built, U.S. Navy-owned Trieste is an inelegant machine. The observation gondola, a sphere welded to the bottom of the ship's main flotation system, has walls that measure five inches thick and a tiny, cone-shaped Plexiglas window.
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TRIESTE

Historic Naval Ships

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After spending nearly five hours sinking to the bottom of the ocean, Piccard and Don Walsh, a Navy Lieutenant that accompanied him, were only able to peer through the Plexiglas while shivering in the 45-degree capsule and munching on chocolate bars for sustenance. Surrounded by a cloud of sediment that Trieste had kicked up when it smacked into the ocean floor, Piccard and Walsh couldn't see a whole lot from their window, which had cracked on the way down. What they did see, though -- a variety of sole and flounder, two types of flatfish -- proves that at least some vertebrate life can handle the extreme pressure in one of the Earth's most extreme places. Twenty minutes later, Trieste dumped tons of magnetic iron pellets and spent three hours rising back to the surface.
Now, more than 50 years later, humans are nearly ready to return to Challenger Deep. This time, though, they're planning to stay a while, collecting samples, videotaping whatever might be down there, sending out small remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) and then bringing home $10 million. Earlier this year, the X Prize Foundation made that prize money available to the first privately funded submersible to make two visits to Challenger Deep. This money, though, is little more than proof that humans are fascinated with the extreme: climbing Mount Everest, walking on the Moon, searching the floor of the ocean. Ten million dollars will only cover a fraction of the race to the bottom. And it is indeed a race; one with at least three competitors, each close to claiming the prize.

RICHARD BRANSON'S VIRGIN OCEANIC

Billionaire Richard Branson is known for the hundreds of companies that fall under the Virgin Group umbrella, including Virgin Megastores, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Records and Virgin Galactic, his space tourism company that aims to bring passengers into sub-orbital space for $200,000 a head. As part of his team perfects SpaceShipTwo, the plane that will fly more than 60 miles above the Earth as those inside gleefully float about the cabin for six minutes of weightlessness, another crew is busy preparing a kind of ship meant to take humans in the opposite direction.

Branson's team, led by legendary submersible designer Graham Hawkes and chief pilot Chris Welsh, has been planning to take the Virgin Oceanic out for water tests as early as this summer, but, due to setbacks, no date has been confirmed. In early rounds of laboratory testing, the borosilicate viewing bubble through which the Oceanic's crew would peer out at the ocean floor cracked under just 2,200 pounds per square inch of pressure, about one-eighth of the 16,000 psi expected at Challenger Deep.
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VIRGIN OCEANIC

Virgin Oceanic

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The 8,000-pound, 18-foot-long submersible that Hawkes has designed "represents a transformational technological advance in submarine economics and performance," according to Virgin Oceanic's official website. "The submarine provides the currently unequalled capability to take humans to any depth in the oceans and to truly explore." Taking some of the most elegant creatures of the sea as inspiration -- whales, dolphins and rays -- the Virgin Oceanic uses two sets of wings to fly through the water.

The Virgin Oceanic will be carried out to sea and launched by an enormous 125-foot racing catamaran that was once owned by adventurer, aviator and sailor Steve Fossett. Welsh, the pilot for the submersible who made his money in real estate and then decided to take to the seas, purchased the catamaran after Fossett disappeared in a single-engine airplane over the Nevada desert in 2007. He traveled to Fossett's estate to close the deal on the Cheyenne and was sold on the Challenger, the original name for what would become the Virgin Oceanic, as well.

JAMES CAMERON'S DEEP CHALLENGE TEAM

The Avatar and Terminator director is an explorer first and a filmmaker second. The box office-breaking Titanic wasn't on Cameron's radar as a Hollywood project because he knew it could earn huge dividends, rather, he has long been obsessed with the famous sinking of the ship. He has made several trips to the wreckage, shooting footage using 3-D cameras he designed himself to capture the 100-year-old ship as it has never been seen before. He plans on using some similar technology at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Admittedly, Cameron doesn't care if he's the first (well, the first of this group) to reach the bottom ... he just wants to be the best. Cameron's team is working on building what appears to be the most high-tech (and least reliant on a tourism-based model to fund future exploration) submersible. The as-yet-unnamed project will include a giant lighting array, several 3-D high-definition cameras, an arm that can grab samples from the ocean floor and a small ROV similar to that used to swim in and around the Titanic wreckage, according to an email that Cameron sent to Outside's Anna McCarthy.

Unlike Branson's Virgin Oceanic, Cameron's Challenger Deep project has passed pressure tests; at a Penn State University lab, the team turned the dials to 16,000 psi and waited. Nothing. But at what cost? Nobody knows how much time or money Cameron has put into this submersible, about which he has been pretty tight-lipped since kicking off the design stage with a couple of sketches in 2003. Now, more two dozen people are working around the clock to prepare the sub for sea trials next April.

BRUCE JONES' TRITON SUBMARINES

Bruce Jones is the odd man out in this triumvirate. And that's because you have no idea who Bruce Jones is -- and you're not alone. Building a vessel that can safely sink to the bottom of the ocean is no easy feat; it's one that requires big backers with deep pockets, something that Jones doesn't have. While the 55-year-old entrepreneur has drawn up plans and marketing materials -- they call this project the "race to inner space!" -- he has not yet secured the funds to construct a prototype. He's currently shopping around the idea. "We're talking to a number of first clients because, quite frankly, we don't have the money to build one of these on spec," Jones told Outside.

Jones' Florida-based company is hoping to build a number of Triton 36,000s -- named for its maximum depth, obviously -- and sell them for about $15 million each to individuals who can shuttle people down to the bottom of the ocean for even more than Branson plans to charge for a space ride: $250,000 each.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.

Sir Richard Branson's Deep-Sea Submarine to Explore Ocean's Unknown Depths

by Jaymi Heimbuch

from http://www.treehugger.com/

Images via Virgin Oceanic Sub set on Flickr CC

Our ocean, particularly deep ocean, is one of the least explored places on earth. We know just a fraction of what plants and animals live under the waves, and barely understand the complexity of ocean ecosystems. One part of this is because we haven't spent as much time designing and building the sophisticated tools required for diving into the deepest parts of the sea as we have building space ships. That needs to change, and Sir Richard Branson wants to be a leading figure in that change. He has unveiled the Virgin Oceanic submarine, capable of diving into even the Mariana Trench. But this will be just one of five incredible trenches the submarine is set to explore.

VIrgin Oceanic is a five-journey proposal, which includes the Mariana Trench, the Puerto Rico Trench, the Diamantina Trench, the South Sandwich Trench and the Molloy Deep in the Arctic ocean.



The team will be Sir Richard Branson and Chris Welsh, an American explorer, and they'll be working in conjunction with Scripps Institution of Oceanography as well as other top marine science programs. And the submarine is designed by Graham Hawks. The craft will be able to dive 37,000 feet, or about 7 miles deep (about as terrifying a trip as orbiting the moon) and will be made of carbon fiber and titanium to resist the extraordinary pressure. Also, the craft will be able to dive at a rate of 350 feet per minute, which seems quite fast and a round-trip venture to the bottom of the Mariana Trench would take about five hours.



Of course, the features of the submarine that make it an exploration vessel are just as important, and it will have sensors and cameras for recording the voyages and taking measurements for scientists. Here's a video of the concept:



Virgin Oceanic states, "If we are successful in our mission with this innovative design of submarine, then we will have proven that a vehicle can be built to withstand the extreme pressures of the oceans and that it is possible to take humans at far reduced risks to the bottom of our Oceans... When we have evolved our capacity for exploration, we will unlock opportunities to discover vast areas of our planet that we currently have no knowledge of. This is our vision."

It's an inspiring vision to be sure. And if there is a team of cleaver and resourceful people who can help get explorers to the darkest places of the earth that no human has ever seen, I'm sure there will be innumerable grateful scientists and researchers excited to take part in the project.

James Cameron Announces New Technology for 'Avatar' Sequels

From: http://fora.tv/


fora.tv — "We are going to be seeing the oceans of Pandora, and the ecosystems there. The only sweeping change between now, and when we release the second Avatar film. I want to author the film at a higher framerate... Movies are way behind, they are a century out of date!"

Awesomely Bizarre Manta Rays. Beautiful........

From: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/



CLICK TO ENLARGE

Atlantis Unveils The World’s Largest Tidal Turbine – The AK1000™

From: http://www.atlantisresourcescorporation.com/

Atlantis Resources Corporation (“Atlantis”), one of the world’s leading developers of electricity-generating tidal current turbines, unveiled the largest and most powerful tidal power turbine ever built, the AK1000™, yesterday at Invergordon, Scotland. The AK1000™ is due for installation at a dedicated berth at the European Marine Energy Centre (“EMEC”), located in Orkney, Scotland later this summer. Dignitaries, utilities and technology partners from around the world attended the unveiling of the flagship turbine at the Isleburn Engineering facility, taking the only opportunity to view the turbine before it is installed on the seabed and connected to the grid at EMEC. Despatching 1MW of predictable power at a water velocity of 2.65m/s, the AK1000™ is capable of generating enough electricity for over 1000 homes. It is designed for harsh weather and rough, open ocean environments such as those found off the Scottish coast. The turbine incorporates cutting edge technology from suppliers across the globe, has an 18 meter rotor diameter, weighs 1300 tonnes and stands at a height of 22.5 meters. The giant turbine is expected to be environmentally benign due to a low rotation speed whilst in operation and will deliver predictable, sustainable power to the local Orkney grid. CEO of Atlantis, Timothy Cornelius, said: “The unveiling and installation of the AK1000™ is an important milestone, not only for Atlantis, but for the marine power industry in the United Kingdom. It represents the culmination of 10 years of hard work, dedication and belief from all our partners, staff, directors and shareholders. The AK1000™ is capable of unlocking the economic potential of the marine energy industry in Scotland and will greatly boost Scotland’s renewable generation capacity in the years to come.” “ Today is not just about our technology, it is about the emergence of tidal power as a viable asset class that will require the development of local supply chains employing local people to deliver sustainable energy to the local grid. The AK1000™ takes the industry one step closer to commercial scale tidal power projects.” The AK1000™ nacelle was fabricated by Soil Marine Dynamics in Newcastle in England and the gravity base structure and system assembly was completed by Isleburn Engineering, a member of the Aberdeen based Global Energy Group. Steel for the turbine came from Corus’ Scunthorpe facility. “The AK1000™ development program has injected over £5M to date into UK Plc’s renewable energy sector and has provided employment across a broad range of sectors including design, engineering, fabrication and project management. We are at the start of a new industrial boom, akin to the development of the North Sea oil & gas fields. If we receive the same support from all levels of government that the oil & gas industry received to make the North Sea the success that it is, then the future is very bright for marine power and even brighter for Scotland”

America's Most Beautiful Coastal Views

From: http://www.travelandleisure.com/

Sean Gwizdak

Shi Shi Beach, Olympic National Park, WA

When most people conjure the Pacific Northwest, specific images spring to mind—and Shi Shi (pronounced “shai shai”) Beach has it all: sea stacks towering above the ocean, Sitka spruce forests, and soaring herons. It’s 2.5 miles along remote, driftwood-strewn sands from the beach’s entrance to the iconic Point of Arches, a chain of enormous arched, piled, and pointed rocks—but we promise it’s well worth the walk.

Insider Tip: The muddy, three-mile trail from the parking lot to the beach crosses gorgeously forested Makah Indian Reservation lands. Before heading out, pick up a Makah recreational permit ($10; valid for one year), some picnic-ready snacks, and galoshes at Washburn’s General Store, located in town.

Click here fore the full article and GALLERY: http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/americas-most-beautiful-coastal-views/1

Deep Dark Secrets: Bahamas Caves Gallery

ngm.nationalgeographic.com — Scientists dive into the deadly blue holes of the Bahamas. The blue holes of the Bahamas yield a scientific trove that may even shed light on life beyond Earth. If only they weren’t so dangerous to explore.

Click here to see:Bahamas Caves Gallery [PICS]

43 of the World's Most Stunning Lighthouses [HDR PICS]

weburbanist.com — Here are 43 of the world’s most stunning HDR lighthouse images to enjoy from the comfort of your computer chair.

Click here for the full gallery: 43 of the World's Most Stunning Lighthouses

Why Are Windmills Always White?And why do they always have three blades?

By Brian Palmer
From: http://www.slate.com/
 
WindmillsThe federal government has green-lighted the nation's first offshore wind farm, to be built off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass. Opponents claim that 130 white, three-bladed turbines will detract from the natural beauty of Nantucket Sound. Why do all modern windmills look the same?

So they're unobtrusive. A windmill's noise is directly proportional to the speed of its rotor tips. Two-bladed turbines have to spin faster than their three-bladed competitors to generate the same amount of energy. As a result, the whooshing sound they emit is somewhat louder. Two-bladed windmills would be a sensible choice for a remote, offshore wind farm like the one in Cape Cod, since they're just as efficient as the three-bladed models and cheaper to produce. But manufacturers—who cater to the densely populated and wind-power-oriented countries of Europe—have switched almost exclusively to producing the latter.

The placement of rotors relative to the tower is also a design controversy with acoustics implications. The downwind design, with the tower between the blades and the wind, is more structurally sound. (Think of a pinwheel: If you don't grip it tightly, it will tend to rotate into the downwind position.) The problem is that the tower creates a dead spot for airflow, which stresses the spinning rotors and generates a repetitive whop that can carry for miles. Right now, most manufacturers favor the upwind layout.

The white paint, which many localities require by ordinance, is also a matter of aesthetics. City planners seem to think white windmills are less of an eyesore. The white also reflects sunlight, which minimizes expansion and cracking of the gel coat that protects the fiberglass composite rotors. Not all windmills are white, though. Some Midwestern turbines are yellow to match the grain. (This doesn't work so well in the spring, when the crops are green.) German windmills are sometimes painted dark green at the bottom to blend into the forest. European rotors usually have a red stripe to make them visible to aircraft. Engineers once tried painting the rotors black to absorb sunlight and prevent icing, but it didn't seem to help much.

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Hollow, tubular towers have vanquished the old girder design, because they discourage birds from landing on them. (Birds and windmills don't mix.) The tubes are also favored by construction crews, who can climb up a tower to repair it from the inside, protected from the elements.

The biggest design question for most engineers is rotor length. The energy a windmill generates is proportional to the area of the rotors' circular sweep, so energy increases proportionally to the square of the blade length. However, the volume of the rotor, which determines the cost, is proportional to the cube of the length, and increases faster than energy production. As we get better at materials engineering, the rotors will get longer. But at any given time the arms of a windmill will be built out to the length that maximizes energy return relative to the cost of production. The rotors on modern windmills are sometimes as much as 200 feet long. As such, transportation can also be a problem.

Explainer thanks Douglas E. Adams of the Purdue Energy Center, Scott Larwood of the University of the Pacific, James Manwell of the University of Massachusetts Renewable Energy Research Laboratory, and Jonathan Naughton of the University of Wyoming Wind Energy Research Center.

Seaweed to Tackle Rising Tide of Obesity

From: http://www.sciencedaily.com/

ScienceDaily (Mar. 22, 2010) — Seaweed could hold the key to tackling obesity after it was found it reduces fat uptake by more than 75 per cent, new research has shown.

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Kelp forest off coast of California. (Credit: iStockphoto/Tammy Peluso)

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Now the team at Newcastle University are adding seaweed fibre to bread to see if they can develop foods that help you lose weight while you eat them.

A team of scientists led by Dr Iain Brownlee and Prof Jeff Pearson have found that dietary fibre in one of the world's largest commercially-used seaweed could reduce the amount of fat absorbed by the body by around 75 per cent.

The Newcastle University team found that Alginate -- a natural fibre found in sea kelp -- stops the body from absorbing fat better than most anti-obesity treatments currently available over the counter.

Using an artificial gut, they tested the effectiveness of more than 60 different natural fibres by measuring the amount of fat that was digested and absorbed with each treatment.

Presenting their findings at the American Chemical Society Spring meeting in San Francisco, Dr Brownlee said the next step was to recruit volunteers and study whether the effects they have modelled in the lab can be reproduced in real people, and whether such foods are truly acceptable in a normal diet.

"The aim of this study was to put these products to the test and our initial findings are that alginates significantly reduce fat digestion," explains Dr Brownlee.

"This suggests that if we can add the natural fibre to products commonly eaten daily -- such as bread, biscuits and yoghurts -- up to three quarters of the fat contained in that meal could simply pass through the body.

"We have already added the alginate to bread and initial taste tests have been extremely encouraging. Now the next step to to carry out clinical trials to find out how effective they are when eaten as part of a normal diet."

The research is part of a three year project being funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. It addresses the new regulations set out by the European Food Safety Authority that any health claims made on a food label should be substantiated by scientific evidence.

"There are countless claims about miracle cures for weight loss but only a few cases offer any sound scientific evidence to back up these claims," explains Dr Brownlee.

Alginates are already commonly used at a very low level in many foods as thickeners and stabilisers and when added to bread as part of a blind taste test, Dr Brownlee said the alginate bread actually scored higher for texture and richness than a standard white loaf.

"Obesity is an ever-growing problem and many people find it difficult to stick to diet and exercise plans in order to lose weight," explained Dr Brownlee.

"Alginates not only have great potential for weight management -- adding them to food also has the added advantage of boosting overall fibre content."

What is a dietary fibre?

Dietary fibre would be scientifically classified as a group of carbohydrates of plant origin that escape digestion by the human gut.

"Actually, there's still quite a lot of confusion about fibre," says Dr Brownlee. "I think most people would describe it as roughage -- the bit of your food that keeps you regular and is vital for a healthy gut.

"Both of these facts are true but the notion that all fibre is the same and that it simply goes through your system without having an effect is wrong."

Fibre is made up of a wide range of different molecules called polysaccharides and although it is not digested by the human gut, it both directly and indirectly affects a number of bodily processes.

Dr Brownlee adds: "These initial findings suggest alginates could offer a very real solution in the battle against obesity."

Ohio Girl Becomes Youngest Person to Row Across Atlantic

By Jodie Valade

Jules Gibson, Associated Press
Katie Spotz, 22, of Mentor, Ohio, rows as a Guyana Coast Guard escorts from behind upon arrival to shore in Georgetown, Guyana, Sunday, March 14, 2010. Spotz, who set out from Dakar, Senegal on Jan. 3, completed a solo journey across the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday to claim a record as the youngest person to accomplish the feat.

JODIE VALADE, Plain Dealer Reporter

GEORGETOWN, Guyana - After 70 days adrift in the Atlantic Ocean, up to 10 hours a day spent rowing and the rest of the time alone with her thoughts and endless water, Katie Spotz faced her greatest challenge at the last moment of her record-breaking journey.

As the 22-year-old Mentor native pulled her specially designed solo rowboat up to the pier in Georgetown, Guyana, about 2,817 miles from her starting point in Dakar, Senegal, she had to do something entirely new.

She had to climb a ladder.
Seventy days without using her legs for anything other than rowing movements, and suddenly, Spotz wondered if this might be the first in more than two months that she would fail.

"It was a bit nerve-wracking," Spotz said via phone Sunday night.

She successfully navigated the ladder, hugged her father and brother who were waiting for her, gobbled up fresh watermelon and finally reveled in her accomplishment: Spotz became become the youngest person and first American to row across the Atlantic Ocean, mainland to mainland. She began her journey Jan. 3 and reached land at about 12:20 p.m. Cleveland time Sunday, completing the row faster than the 90 days she anticipated the voyage might take.

That quickened pace came despite opting two weeks ago to add 400 miles to her journey to land in Georgetown, Guyana. She made the decision to bypass her original ending point in Cayenne, French Guiana, because she wanted to reach land unassisted and avoid rougher seas.

According to the Ocean Rowing Society, she is the 43rd person to complete this east-to-west row across the Atlantic. The previous record for the youngest solo ocean rower was set by Oliver Hicks, a 23-year-old from Great Britain who rowed from New Jersey to England in 2005.

After resting for several hours in Georgetown, Spotz said via phone that she still had the sensation that she was rocking even though she was on land.

"Just kind of going up and down stairs, there were some close calls from falling over," Spotz said, laughing.

And after more than two months alone, Spotz said she was so overwhelmed by the noises and bright lights in the casino adjacent to her Guyana hotel that she had to retire to her room for a few moments of solace.

Her final days of the row included some of her worst luck: strong currents and winds when she reached the continental shelf Friday produced massive waves that she feared would flip her boat -- despite the specially designed rowboat's self-righting capabilities.

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Associated Press
Rower Katie Spotz, 22, of Mentor, Ohio, smiles while approaching the shore in Georgetown, Guyana, Sunday, March 14, 2010.

Spotz, who set out from Dakar, Senegal on Jan. 3, completed a solo journey across the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday to claim a record as the youngest person to accomplish the feat. "Every moment spent outside was spent harnessed to the boat, and I frequently questioned whether it would capsize," Spotz said.

She spent her nights harnessed within the cabin of the 19-foot boat, too.

Then, Saturday, her tracker unit spontaneously burst into flames, and she had to use her fire extinguisher to douse the fire.

"Thankfully, all the glitches and malfunctions seemed to happen in the final days," she said.

There were also some trying moments about 30 days into the row, when Spotz wasn't able to sleep amid the waves that rocked the boat. There was never a time when she doubted she would complete the row, however.

"I don't think there was a moment where I questioned where I was," Spotz said. "I think I felt like I belonged out there. I think I came out there to be challenged. In that way, I think some of the worst moments were some of the best in that it challenged me and made me grow in ways I couldn't have if I was put in a different circumstance."

Spotz completed the row to raise awareness for clean drinking water, and she raised $70,060 for the Blue Planet Run Foundation. Her initial goal had been to raise $30,000, which would cover the cost of providing a lifetime of clean water for 1,000 people.

The entire cost of the row, estimated to be about $75,000, was funded by donations and sponsorships.

"I'm really thankful to have a safe and successful journey," Spotz said. "I'm really appreciative to all the people who have made this possible. Although it's a solo journey, there have been people all over helping to make this happen."

Spotz is a veteran of endurance events, having already biked across the country, run 150 miles through the desert, and swimming the length of the Allegheny River.

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Associated Press
Katie Spotz, 22, of Mentor, Ohio, arrives at the dock in Georgetown, Guyana, Sunday, March 14, 2010

Even with all that experience, her mother, Mary, had to be persuaded of Katie's safety throughout the journey. To help Katie withstand the challenge of desolate conditions, she wrote her daughter a letter to be opened each day. In some, she recounted funny stories about Katie's childhood. In others she told her daughter how proud they were of her. In more than one, Mary reminded Katie that no one would be disappointed if she had to abandon the row.

In the final letter, Mary Spotz said she wrote a command: "You're supposed to be home right now. You're grounded and we're coming to get you."

Spotz never got to that letter -- it was the 100th letter Mary Spotz wrote in case the row lasted that long.

Katie Spotz might be able to save that letter for another time; she already has a plan for her next adventure, but she doesn't want to divulge details yet.

"I guess I just have to kind of appreciate the fact that this is who Katie is, and there's not going to be anything that's going to change her," Mary Spotz said from her Mentor home. "I'm just along for this ride."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jvalade@plaind.com, 216-999-4654.

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While at sea, her progress was tracked via satellites and GPS positioning, and fans were able to follow along through her Row for Water website. During the voyage, she posted updates and pictures taken during the voyage.

David I. Andersen / The Plain Dealer
Katie Spotz, 22, of Mentor, rows in the harbor at Mentor Harbor Yachting Club, as she prepares for a solo row of the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to South America. She completed her trip today, landing in Georgetown, Guyana, shortly after noon, EDT.

Ocean in motion: Surfer captures mesmerising world where waves break against the shore

By Mail Foreign Service

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Churning up the golden sands, a wave breaks upon the shore in a glorious mix of emerald greens and frothy whites.

The crystal clear shots were taken by photographer Clark Little, who spent two years capturing these remarkable shots in Hawaii.

Featured in his new book, 'The Shorebreak Art of Clark Little', he braved the notoriously fierce swell off the coast of the island to illustrate the beauty of the ocean.

Photographer and surfer Clark Little has spent years capturing waves breaking against the shore in Hawaii

The moment a huge wave begins to break as sand is churned up from underneath in the never-ending cycle

'Three years ago that my wife Sandy wanted a photograph of the ocean for our bedroom wall,' he said.

'I got a very inexpensive waterproof camera for this challenge and went to the shorebreak near my house on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii to try and capture a good wave.

'I had been trying to explain to people for years what the waves look like when I was surf the shorebreak.

'Not many people surf these type of waves since large waves that break right on the beach are very dangerous.

'The photographs were able to convey to people a very unique view which they would never be able to see.'

The sunlight shines through a breaking wave just off Hawaii with the water turning a deep emerald green

Clark Little in his element. The surfer has been a professional photographer for three years after being inspired by the ocean

Standing, wading and swimming in the waves, Clark spends up to six hours in the water each day. With a waterproof camera strapped to his wrist, he used his surfing experience to plot the best positions and timing for the perfect picture.

'I have over 30 years of surfing experience so that is what has helped me the most,' he said.

'Having the knowledge of how waves break in the shorebreak, wave timing, and how to escape them is needed.

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'You must always watch the tide, swell height, swell direction, wind, weather, sand bar conditions.

'You must be able to swim very very well. I wear swim fins made for bodysurfing which are a lifesaver and can get me out of dangerous situations very quickly.

'I could be out in waves up to 20ft high or standing in just a few feet of water while shooting. I took as many shots as I can before the wave crashed down on me.'

Mirage: A sandy beach viewed through the water, creating a strange mirror effect

Clark only turned professional three years ago. His new book is the result of shooting thousands of pictures since then.

'The colours, patterns, texture are all mesmerising. The ocean is always in flux and changing so the mind is always awake and intriguing,' he said.

'Nothing is ever the same, yet there is a rhythm which people start to understand the more time you spend in it, so there is a level of comfort you feel being in it. To be able to work in an environment like this is a dream.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1238908/Ocean-motion-Surfer-captures-mesmerising-world-waves-break-shore.html#ixzz0bHB6SzPC