Natural Phenomena

[Randi]

This topic is where we can share interesting natural phenomena found in our logs: plant and animal life, phosphorescent or colored water, meteors/comets, you name it!
When possible, include a link to the logbook page, the date, and the name and location of the ship.

Of special interest to researchers:

• Please post reports of aurorae, sun spots, or erratic compass behavior in Old Space Weather: sightings of aurorae and sunspots.
• Please post reports of volcanic or seismic activity in Volcanic and seismic activity.

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Link to archive of this discussion from the old forum

From the old forum:

Here's a sour note at 4:15 PM. It's amazing that lemons grow in the Ambrose Channel

http://s3.amazonaws.com/oldweather/ADM5 ... -008_1.jpg

Now - we all know it to be a small world,,,but the other night I regaled my neighbour with the story about the lemons. 'Ah!' she said 'just like our harbour of oranges'. She was in Spain one summer when a vicious storm went through the orange groves - many fell into the local river and were bourn away to the harbour...where my neighbour found them the next day.

[pommystuart]

Manning 1900 off Cape Beile
https://catalog.archives.gov/OpaAPI/med ... 0_0697.JPG

2230 ? Shoals of fish and phosphorescent display on the water as far as range of visibility.

[studentforever]

USS Jamestown 26 Feb 1848 off the coast of West Africa, 4pm to 6pm watch
"Passed large shoals of fishes, having the appearances of shoal water over which hovered great numbers of birds"

51435728a2fc8e0a3f0006f5: (http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/ ... _119_0.jpg)

[griddlesticks]

USFCS Albatross, 27 Feb 1900, making passage from Guam to Yokohama, midnight to 4am watch
"Several meteors to Northward."
http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/ ... _123_1.jpg

[Michael]

[Michael]

USS Burton Island
1950-08-18
70.8855, -147.103

0519: Noted Fata Morganas to the south along the horizon.

[Randi]

[AvastMH]

The Steam Whaler Thrasher reaches Herschel Island on August 21st 1894

Although they do not specify the types, 70 different types of flowers on Herschel Island it is a significant count. It's a lovely interlude. On the 22nd August 1894 they go onshore to pick flowers having readied a box to send them to San Francisco.

I so wish that we could see that box of flowers



Belatedly I have re-discovered the pressed poppies in the Thrasher's log (Archive page n106):

[Michael]

These aren't from Herschel Island, but they're from the Barrenlands of Canada's eastern arctic. All the flowers were very small and generally close to the ground. One day I took my camera on our survey and took photos of some of the flowers we saw. I have no idea of the names. Even though they were veryy sparse, they provided welcome little bits of colour to the landscape which was fairly monochromatic. By the way, some of those trees were only waist high, and we could reach the tops of many more.

[Randi]

Neat!

[AvastMH]

What pretty flowers! So lovely. Thanks Michael
Glad you explained about the trees - they looked about 100 feet tall to me

[arboggs]

Thanks for the images, Michael! They collect SO MANY flowers on the Thrasher journey that it makes you wish they had included illustrations.

[studentforever]

USS Jamestown 4 Aug 1848 3.25am
Observed a meteor exceedingly bright enduring for the space of a few seconds, and descending in an arc of about 15 degrees in a WNW direction

http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ow3/ ... _006_0.jpg

Noon position Lat 27.62, Long -16.88

[Randi]

Thanks!

[ggordon]

Manning on September 4, 1914:

Mid to 4AM
2:00 observed moon to be partially eclipsed.
Observed a comet bearing NExN, at an altitude of about 30°.

4AM to 8AM
Moon partially eclipsed as long as visible.

Location at 8AM, 55° 34' 30" N, 157°28' 0" W.

https://catalog.archives.gov/OpaAPI/med ... 4_0318.JPG

[AvastMH]

Beluga, 27th December 1898 at Baillie Island, Canadian Northwest Territories.

'Sun in Eclipse 3 PM passed our A total Eclipse'

[ggordon]

Manning on October 16, 1914 while anchored at East Landing, St. Paul Island, Alaska:

4AM

A comet in sight during early part of watch bearing about North (magnetic), at an altitude of 20 degrees.

https://catalog.archives.gov/OpaAPI/med ... 4_0375.JPG

[AvastMH]

I wonder if it's this one: DELAVAN 1913F


Wide-field view of Comet Delavan photographed by Edward Barnard at Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin on August 21, 1914.

PERIHELION: 1914 OCTOBER
Not considered as one of the “Great” comets this could be seen by the unaided eye. It was discovered on December 18, 1913, by Paul Delavan, one of the astronomers on the staff of the Argentina National Observatory in La Plata (outside of Buenos Aires). Part of Delavan’s program consisted of hunting for comets with one of the La Plata telescopes that were specifically designed for that purpose.

The comet initially brightened rather slowly, reaching 9th magnitude near the end of March 1914 shortly before it disappeared into evening twilight. After conjunction with the sun, it emerged into the northern hemisphere’s morning sky near the end of June, being close to magnitude 7 at the time, and afterward it brightened more rapidly. It became widely visible to the unaided eye as a 5th-magnitude object in August and was brightest during September and October when it was slightly brighter than magnitude 3. It passed closest to Earth – at a relatively distant 1.58 AU – on October 4, and although it was primarily a morning-sky object, it was far enough north of the sun and close enough to conjunction that it could also be detected low in the northwestern sky after dusk.

(My italics )

[Randi]

[pommystuart]

Ashuelot, New York, 26th April 1866

8pm-Midnight, First part of a faint Aurora Borealis and a halo round the moon.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorag ... 6_0031.JPG