Solstice New Dark Age Raritan
This album is a stone cold classic, mostly, kind of. When I was doing primary school teaching, the giving feedback to kids strategy was something like 'two deposits for every transaction', ie two bits of praise for every bit of negative feedback. Well, let's get the negative feedback out of the way first.Yeah, so the vocals. Well they aren't horrible, but considering how ridiculously great the rest of the album is it's a real strange thing. Devoid of power- you know how people sing when they aren't confident? Well, it's pretty much that. Very little range, no real power, just kinda whining.
Considering that the vocalist didn't even write the lyrics- which by the way, are these nicely over the top lyrics that take verbosity way beyond parody- you've got to wonder why he's even in the band. You get a few guys together, and chances are that one of them will be a better singer than this guy. Real strange.It's made more perplexing when you compare the vocals to the rest of the album, which is just ridiculously good, in pretty much every way. It's not particularly far out or anything, but it doesn't really sound like much else- I'm thinking a more muscular While Heaven Wept circa their Vast Oceans. Album, or early Atlantean Codex.
It borrows a lot from early death doom, decent bit of early, non shit Katatonia and even Anathema in here, and I reckon in some places there's even a touch of melodic black metal- bit of Sacramentum and that Decameron band or whatever. That said, the core here is pure heavy/doom stuff- a lot of early Candlemass, Pagan Altar, NWOBHM-on-steroids sort of thing. It's a really great mix, and it's done super well.Anyway, it's real huge and ticks off all the boxes with aplomb. A thicker atmosphere than Jupiter, while still being monstrously heavy.
Catchy, but rarely veering into outright melodic territory. Great, lyrical dual leads. A mood that could best be described as 'a medieval english knight getting rained on', rather gloomy, rather grim, occasionally very fierce. The songs are rarely in a hurry to finish, but when the songwriting is this tight, when the parts are this good, that's fine. It's pretty rare I think a 67 minute album isn't long enough.
But here I am, wishing there were a few more songs. I can perhaps nitpick a little bit- some of the acoustic parts drag. That's pretty much it.So, the vocals are bad but the rest is world class- as in, all-time classic sorta thing. How to rate it? Well, after 50 odd listens I'm still not sure!
The best comparison I can come up with is perhaps Briton Rites' excellent but flawed For Mircalla, where massive riffs where dragged down by some generic, whiny doom vocals. Here, it's perhaps not as bad- plenty of long sections with few vocals, the dude isn't super offensive and if nothing else it's fun wrapping yourself around the idiosyncratic lyrics. The question is- does the album succeed, despite it's weakness? The answer is an overwhelming yes, for me. So highly recommended. This album is a hard one for me to review as I consider it one of the finest albums ever made. If I made a podcast/video review it would entirely consist of THIS RIFF, THAT VOCAL LINE, THAT HARMONY, and yes all of those words would be shouted with nearly tears forming in my eyes too.
However for the domain of written reviews that is the metal archives that kind of gushing non subjectivity won't work will it? So please bare with me while I try to write a mediocre review about one of the best albums ever made.So now I gave you my warning let's move on to the actual album. I would describe this album as the following: Imagine Candlemass mixed with Running Wild's Celtic melodies run through Pagan Altar's mindset. The closest resemblance out there would be the The White Goddess by The Atlantean Kodex except this album has no Hammerheart era Bathory feel to it in terms of the tones of the instruments. It is also decidedly less power metal influenced. Lastly this album sounds English to the core. The songwriting itself is absolutely stellar, everything seems to be arranged and written just right to cause one to always long for more while listening to the specific parts of the album yet at the end of each track and the album itself you do feel thoroughly fulfilled.The album itself sounds very big and powerful.
The rhythm guitars sound fairly raw, open and powerful. They mostly play mid tempo heavy/doom riffs with only the last track having mostly full on doom riffs. The lead guitars ride over the underlying rhythm guitars with a very clear and bright tone. Some of the leads are solos but for the majority of the time there are lead guitar riffs based on folk/Celtic scales. These leads are the element that really make the album amazing. The rest of the instruments mostly exist to make these leads work even better.
The bass guitar is mixed in quite well and provides the low end. The drums pound and gallop with the seemed intent to stir up the listener in order to get us to do battle for the protection of our own realm. The vocals at first might come over at first as the weakest aspect here and if I wasn't floored by everything else during my first listen I would most likely agree. However since I've spun this piece several times I have to say that the vocals fit perfectly.
The vocals are one of the factors which give this album such a feeling that this album is done by and for the not so common, common man. The people who go through the drudges of every day and feel that they don't entirely quite feel right in. I would even say that I can imagine the one distant relative of mine who is a sheep herder but reads the most complicated books on philosophy while herding could have done these.Not all the tracks on this are metal however. There is this great tension building interlude called Alchemiculte. The Anguine Rose is a beautiful short acoustic piece.
The following track Blackthorne is a vocal driven track with some more nice acoustic guitars underneath. The Keep is a vocal driven track seemingly recorded at the edge of a windy cliff. A lot of people might skip over these tracks because they are not metal, I however think that they are all really well done and add to the album.In conclusion: I really like this album, seriously I really do. There are no real flaws other than those precious flawed perfections that belongs to a properly non pro tools recorded album. I completely recommend this album to all fans of real heavy metal. This is a thundering heavy metal record for the ages.
It begins with the sound of waves. A ship's horn slowly works its way in, and then a spoken-word intro.
And once the table is set, in rolls the first massive riff, over the roar of the sea.This will not be the last time a quiet moment is gloriously broken.The guitars weave together the fabric of this album. They alternate between thick doomy riffs and soaring melodic leads in such an effective way that very few other bands or albums can compare to. And such an atmosphere it creates. The sound is often quite heavy (the bass presence is significant, and the bass drums are often rolling), and the themes not exactly happy, but this is not a downbeat album.
I can think of no better word to describe it than the terribly overused 'epic'. This is truly an epic work, and puts to shame many others that purport to bear that label.And it's catchy too! The leads and riffs are memorable. I can't stop myself from singing along to the choruses, even when I can't make out most of the words (more on that later).
Solstice New Dark Age Raritan Nj
The songs are often long, but never drag on.The vocals are fairly unique for this sort of music. Initially they didn't seem to fit the heavy nature of the music. Morris Ingram's vocals are not weak, but they have this sort of 'light' quality to them. They seem to somehow float above the crash of the waves beneath. His delivery is not exactly standard either. The lyrics are often quite wordy, and the vocals meander their way through them at their own pace.
This, combined with the blaring bass and rhythm guitars, as well as Ingram's noticeable accent, can make it a challenge to pick out the lyrics. His vocals are as clean as clean can get, but just the same. This is unfortunate, because they're pretty interesting. But none of this is bad, and upon reflection, I wouldn't want anyone else handling the vocals on this album.As mentioned above, this is not an album that is afraid to make changes as it progresses.
Acoustic guitars play a prominent role in several songs. One song, Blackthorne, is entirely acoustic. And it may be my favorite song on the album. Occasional effects are added and very well used, such as the aforementioned waves and howling wind on The Keep.The drums are very competently played. Rolling bass drums add heaviness. The fills are excellent, especially on New Dark Age II.
At points in certain songs, such as Cimmerian Codex and Hammer of Damnation, they are played in what resembles a marching style. On a slow to mid-paced album like this, drums do not often add significantly to the overall character.
Yet here they do, and New Dark Age is better for it.After the monolith that is New Dark Age II, the album draws to a close, but not without leaving a final impression. The outro, Legion XIII, deserves to be mentioned on its own. The guitar is emitting what sounds like its death throes, and one man is screaming, vainly trying to be heard over what sounds like a church choir. He's shouting for all he's worth about some unspeakable horror, and goes completely unheard. It's a powerful conclusion.New Dark Age starts with atmosphere, ends with atmosphere, and has atmosphere throughout. This is the sort of album one can sit down and listen to intently for an hour, and never get bored.
This is also the sort of album one can put on in the background, and enjoy the rising crests and epic melodies of its sound. In either case, it is an album that deserves to be listened to in its entirety.
It is one of my all-time favorite albums, and I'd be surprised to find anyone who likes metal (or rock, even) that would not enjoy this album. “What the F.ck, is THIS really doom metal?!” was my first thought when the opening riff in “The Sleeping Tyrant” hit me. I expected something more like Candlemass or Solitude Aeturnus, since mighty Solstice is often mentioned in the same sentence, but this much more fast paced, folk influenced and melody driven “doom” metal takes the winning as far as I’m concerned.This album is very personal and draws influence from many directions, may it be folk music, Manowar, Viking-era Bathory and a shitload of pure epicness which, in my humble opinion, makes the perfect metal album. One aspect that contributes to that is the singer, Moz Ingram, whose high voice and rolling R’s adds a very pagan and arcane vibe to the overall sound image, as do the lyrics – which are on a completely own level.
No other singer sounds like him, and he sounds like no others.Song wise is “New Dark Age” close to perfection. The guitar riffs delivered by main man Mr.
Rich Walker are very powerful and potent, as is the pounding drumming. “The Sleeping Tyrant” and “The Cimmerian Codex” are two perfect examples of extremely muscular yet very melodic epic metal at its absolutely best. And as far as I’m concerned not many other doom metal bands dare to include an all-acoustic folk ballad (Blackthorne), which is followed by a tune where Ingram’s voice is kept company by only the whispering wind, called The Keep.
All the heavy songs are very powerful and contain lots of hooks and mighty melodies. All tracks are pretty long and are not built up by the usual verse-bridge-chorus-model, but are much more complex than that. The only weak part of the record is the closing track New Dark Age II, which also is the slowest and longest track; almost 13 minutes long. It gets better as time goes, but it is a bit TOO slow in the beginning.
Although, the splendid lyrics lift it, but a record of this caliber deserves a stronger closing track!The production is extremely good for being an underground doom metal band, actually sometimes TOO good. The bass is a bit too low and the guitars are a bit too clean, which reduces the heaviness of the music a bit, but just a little. It is still damn heavy and crushing!The overall impression I have gained after listening to it for about 150 times the last 2 years is extremely good! Some of the best songs I have ever heard in my life are on this album, and I count it as one of my favorites of all time! It is definitely one of the greatest epic doom metal records ever made! Doom or be doomed! It's quite disheartening to see that this album has no reviews at the moment and that the band itself has far less reviews than it should.
What surprising is that although Solstice is far from a household name, anyone with a genuine interest in doom metal would have heard of Solstice. Solstice does a great deal of meshing styles and with great success. Solstice seem to take the mystical and folky elements of Pagan Altar and add quite a bit of Manowar and Iron Maiden on this album. While the debut album “Lamentations” showcased Solstice's ability to create soaring yet crushing doom metal anthems such as “Neither Time or Tide” and “Only the Strong”, New Dark Age is much more heavier and faster than the debut ever was. Due to this slight change in style, there is a far different atmosphere found on this album.
While the previous album blanketed you in crushing yet glorious sorrow, New Dark Age will literally crush you; much like the waves that can be heard at the onset of the album.The first thing anyone will probably notice is the change in vocals. Replacing Simon Matravers is vocalist Morris Ingram. There is quite a difference between both vocalists although both have a similar style.
Morris Ingram's vocals are less “mythical sounding” than Matravers and wouldn't sound out of place in another genre such as power metal or heavy metal. Nonetheless, he works perfectly for the music and it seems that the band themselves have done a great job adapting to the change. One interesting detail of Ingram's performance is that he really tends to roll his words when he pronounces the letter “r”. Although most likely a product of his natural accent than anything deliberate, it still adds quite a bit to the experience when one catches it. Ingram's highlight on this album is certainly on the track “Cimmerian Codex”.
This is especially seen when one listens at 3:00 where Ingram's soaring voice recites the verse with just the hypnotic drums supporting him. Another highlight is when Ingram solely sings on “The Keep”as he shows an astounding display of vocal talent until an epic choir soon joins in.As stated before, there are quite a few new elements and changes on New Dark Age. While the debut had the earthy production that characterized the early 90's, this beast of an album has a more modern production.
One should not fret though, as one normally would upon hearing “modern”, as the band clearly knows how to use this production without sacrificing any passion or humanity. The guitar tone is much crunchier and unhinged while the drums sound like pounding war drums. The songs are extremely long yet are far from being too long and repetitive.
Interestingly enough, it seems one could probably fit a Sore Throat release in some of the longer songs.Musically, this album is best described as sounding extremely English. The music conjures up visions of the beautiful English landscapes and pre-Christian warriors who were content with the world that their ancestors had provided them with. I would even go far as to say that Solstice does a far better job of conveying folk/pagan atmospheres than most black metal and folk metal bands could ever hope to do so.
There are also quite a few acoustic English folk interludes on this album that help to break up the crushing metal as well to accentuate the Englishness of this album. And as one would expect, Solstice pretty much destroys the competition when it comes to this as well. While the intro to the album (which is also it's title track) is just seaside ambience, it is far from long and does not overstay it's welcome. Instrumental tracks like “Alchemiculte” and “The Anguine Rose” are lush and beautiful forays into folk music that would make early Ulver green with envy. The highlight of the interludes is definitely the folk track “Blackthorne” as the beautiful acoustic guitar is accompanied by soft spoken vocals, reminiscing over a supernatural love affair.Adding to the uniqueness of this album, is the phenomenal guitar playing by Richard Walker, who punks and people with good taste will recognize as being the sore throat of the legendary band “Sore Throat”. Walker's guitar playing is firmly rooted in the classic doom and heavy metal discipline but has a much more jagged and warped feel as he tends to use quite a few palm muted rhythms.
Walker has one of the best commands of the minor scale that I have ever heard and you can definitely hear it throughout the album. On the faster songs, the guitar play lends itself to feel like a very heavy version of NWOBHM playing ala early Iron Maiden. This is seen in the glorious dual harmonies on “The Sleeping Tyrant” as well as the lead motif that is found in the beginning and other parts of “The Hammer of Damnation”. The guitars are no one trick pony either as each song has epic melodies as the twisting melodies that occur at 7:20 and onward in the track “Cromlech”.
Richard Walker also deserves my undying respect for being able to fit a few divebombs into his solos without turning it into a mess. The linear notes suggest that Jerry Budby and H.H Doublecross were also present as guitar players on the album on different occasions and I must also acknowledge whatever contributions these two guitarists might have add to the album.Although the genre of doom metal does occasionally tend to push aside the drummers, Rick Budby can be easily heard pounding his war drums. He doesn't only stick to the 4/4 beat that many doom metal drummers lazily keep to nor does he needlessly try to divert attention like every “technical/progressive” drummer who has to let everyone know how good they are (shut the fuck up, Richard Christy). Like a skilled drummer who knows how to tastefully add fills, Budby adds subtle fills and changes that fit the song and drive it onward. Keeping the rhythm section strong alongside Budby is Solstice bassist Lee “Chaz” Netherwood.
The bass can be heard clearly and usually follows the guitars. However, this underlying support of the guitars by Netherwood makes this album that much heavier and coherent.Although fans of the first album may be disappointed that the large amounts of doom have been replacing with raging epic metal, there are a few doom metal anthems still present. The songs “Cimmerian Codex” and “New Dark Age II” are doom metal monsters that are as enthralling as they are liberating.
“New Dark Age II” is a slow crawler of a track but does not bore at all. It is probably the band's least accessible track and that may detract some of the listeners from enjoying it fully. “Cimmerian Codex” seems to be the album highlight as it has the band's best performance. Ingram's vocals soar high above the crushing riffs and pounding war drums. The song also has some of the greatest lyrics on the album as is shown with the following:'Forgive me father (for I walk alone)To a destiny untainted, opaque, my own.' The lyrics are vivid and complex throughout the album.
English bands such as My Dying Bride and Cradle of Filth are usually lauded as being “great” lyricists but I can safely say that Solstice, not MDB or CoF, should be regarded as the true successors to Sabbat's throne as lyrical genuises. Throw away any notions of progressive or technical bands trying to use a thesaurus and failing miserably because Solstice have created intricate yet memorable verses that will echo across your mind as you enjoy this masterpiece of an album. In all seriousness, the lyrics in the linear notes have increased my vocabulary by a few words, never hearing someone use “telluric” and “circean”.On my CD version of New Dark Age which was released on 2007, there are two cover versions that those lucky enough to get the 2001 vinyl release would have heard. I must say that these two cover songs are of utmost quality. The first one is a cover of “The Prophecy” by metal legends Iron Maiden but Solstice take it and morph it into a quality Solstice track (not to say that the original itself is anything but quality).
I would wager that people who have not heard Seventh Son of a Seventh Son would think that this was an original piece by Solstice! I would not go as far as to commit blasphemy and say that it is better than the original but I do prefer the folkier ending that Solstice plays for the song over the original's ending. The second cover track is by a NWOBHM band called Trespass and I must say that this song has introduced me to the lesser-known band. Writing in the Canadian spring of 2010, I must say that I find it quite interesting that this cover track that was released in 2001 before the increased interest in obscure heavy metal bands that would occur toward the end of the decade. Solstice also get extra points for helping a band that might have not been known to clueless idiots like me garner more interest.In general, this album is a masterpiece.
Yes, Lamentations is a masterpiece as well but I can safely say that this album ranks alongside it's predecessor as one of the greatest metal albums of it's time. Some people say that the 90s was where the traditional metal scene might have faltered but Solstice show no sign of this at all. New Dark Age is an liberating experience that straddles the line of epic doom metal, heavy metal, and traditional doom metal.
I could go on and use loaded words such as “liberating”, “crushing” and “glorious” but I don't think it would do much justice. Only once you buy this album and listen to it, you can really understand how crushing, liberating and glorious this beast of an album is.Recommended for fans of Candlemass, later era Bathory, early Manowar, and Pagan Altar.
Just as Hurricane Harvey wrapped up its devastation of Houston, Irma got into line behind it and quickly built into the strongest Atlantic hurricane in recorded history. Now, Maria leaves a broken Caribbean in its wake: Dominica's rooftops and rainforests, and Puerto Rico may be as a result of the storm. (.)It’s hard to avoid comparisons to the last time two such powerful storms threatened U.S. Landfall in the catastrophic 2005 hurricane season, 12 years ago.As in 2005, when Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast in rapid succession, the country is staring down the barrel of multiple hurricanes making landfall. In the face of multiple major storms, a reasonable person might wonder why this season seems worse for U.S. Cities, and why the last dozen years brought fewer large hurricanes to U.S.
Shores.If you have a question about this hurricane season compared with recent years, we’ve got you covered. Your attention on the water and your concern can help save these threatened and endangered species.There have been at least five loggerhead and two leatherback sea turtles killed by boat strikes in Nantucket Sound and Cape Cod Bay over the past two weeks, and fishermen are being urged to please keep a close eye out for sea turtles. There are four species feeding in Massachusetts waters this time of year, and with fall fishing quickly approaching its peak, it increases the likelihood of sea turtle boat strikes.You’re most likely to see leatherbacks and loggerheads. Leatherbacks are huge, 4 feet or more in length, dark, with fore-and-aft ridges on their upper shell. Loggerheads in our waters are usually 2 to 3 feet long, tan/brown with yellow/orange around their heads and flippers. Loggerheads often have barnacles and algae on their upper shell.
Both species sometimes bask at the surface, and swim at or just under the surface. A small powerboat could easily kill a loggerhead or a huge leatherback, and there have been had numerous boat strike fatalities in recent weeks.
Worms and fish do it. Birds and bees do it. But do jellyfish fall asleep?It seems like a simple question, but answering it required a multistep investigation by a trio of Caltech graduate students. Their answer, published Thursday in, is that at least one group of jellyfish called Cassiopea, or the upside-down jellyfish, does snooze.The finding is the first documented example of sleep in an animal with a diffuse, a system of neurons that are spread throughout an organism and not organized around a brain.
It challenges the common notion that sleep requires a brain. It also suggests sleep could be an ancient behavior because the group that includes jellyfish branched off from the last common ancestor of early on in evolution. If you are fascinated with migration, it is a good time to be alive. Sophisticated tracking technologies are revealing migration routes and destinations that have long been inscrutable.One recent revelation is that small songbirds are bypassing land and making direct flights southbound over the Atlantic Ocean during fall migration in September and October.It’s an unlikely proposition that a bird that is only the weight of two sheets of paper would opt to fly between one and two thousand miles in a straight shot across open water. It would seem that the better bet would be to take a leisurely route over land where a safety net of habitat awaits below.Blackpoll warblers, Connecticut warblers, bobolinks and perhaps other species all make this paradoxical choice, setting off across a watery abyss as they make their way to winter destinations in South America.
On this planet, so many plants and animals are disappearing that we’re experiencing a sixth mass extinction. Many of these organisms are taking hits from a variety of angles — habitat loss, climate change and more — that it’s hard to get a grasp on how to stop their declines. Conservation success stories are rare.But sea turtles may be an exception, according to an comprehensive of global sea turtle abundance published Wednesday in Science Advances., an ecologist at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and a team of international researchers found that globally, most populations of sea turtles are bouncing back after historical declines. Their research helps clarify why some conservation and research groups have reported both increases and decreases for individual nesting sites over the past decade. NOAA Fisheries researchers and colleagues at the New England Aquarium have developed a new model to improve estimates of abundance and population trends of endangered North Atlantic right whales, which have declined in numbers and productivity in recent years. The findings were published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.Between 1990 and 2010, the abundance of North Atlantic right whales increased just under three percent per year, from about 270 animals in 1990 to 482 in 2010.
After relatively steady increases over that time, abundance has declined each year since 2010 to 458 animals in 2015. The analysis shows that the probability that the population has declined since 2010 is estimated at 99.99 percent. Of particular concern is decline of adult females in the population, estimated at 200 in 2010 but 186 in 2015, the known deaths of 14 North Atlantic right whales this year, and the widening gap between numbers of males and females.'Although our work directly reveals a relatively small decrease, the subtext is that this species is presently in dire straits,” said lead author Richard Pace. A new study mapping lightning around the globe finds lightning strokes occur nearly twice as often directly above heavily-trafficked shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea than they do in areas of the ocean adjacent to shipping lanes that have similar climates.The difference in lightning activity can't be explained by changes in the weather, according to the study's authors, who conclude that aerosol particles emitted in ship exhaust are changing how storm clouds form over the ocean.The new study is the first to show ship exhaust can alter thunderstorm intensity. The researchers conclude that particles from ship exhaust make cloud droplets smaller, lifting them higher in the atmosphere. This creates more ice particles and leads to more lightning.
Even though it happens year after year, the arrival of autumn is always a little surprising. Almost as if on a switch, one day late in the summer you feel it – a subtle crispness in the air.
And before you know it, it’s pumpkin-spice-everything everywhere. We are suddenly swathed in sweaters and wearing boots and bombarded by shades of orange, often even before the thermometer warrants it. After slogging through a long hot August, it's exciting.We can thank the autumnal equinox for this shift from sultry summer to cozy fall. And while most of us are aware of when the first day of autumn lands on the calendar, there’s more to the equinox than meets the eye. Consider the following.1. This year, 2017, the autumnal equinox arrives precisely at 4:02 pm (EDT) on Friday, September 22.
Unlike an event such as New Year’s midnight that follows the clock around the time zones, equinoxes happen at the same moment everywhere.2. There are two equinoxes annually, vernal and autumnal, marking the beginning of spring and fall. They are opposite for the northern and southern hemispheres – so for those of you in the south, happy spring!3. The autumnal equinox happens the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator, which is an imaginary line in the sky that corresponds to Earth’s equator. (Old Farmer's Almanac it as a plane of Earth’s equator projected out onto the sphere.) Every year this occurs on September 22, 23, or 24 in the northern hemisphere.4. From hereon, nights are longer than days and days continue to get shorter until December, when the light will begin its slow climb back to long summer days. Winter solstice is technically the shortest day of the year, while the summer solstice in June boasts the most sunlight.
Satellite imagery shows that Jose is a large storm, with a large reach. NASA’s Aqua satellite captured cloud top temperatures of Tropical Storm Jose that revealed the strongest storms were in the northeastern part of the tropical cyclone but the storm is so large that it is causing dangerous ocean conditions from Bermuda to the U.S. East coast.Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 205 miles (335 km) from the center. Despite the strongest side facing away from the coast, dangerous surf and rip currents expected to continue for several more days along much of the east coast of the United States.On Sept. 20, a Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Woods Hole to Sagamore Beach, including Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Block Island, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Island. September 18, 2017- The final days of August signaled summer’s end for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere.
So, how did this summer compare to others? For the entire globe, both August and the season (June, July and August) each went down as the third warmest on record. But depending on where you live, the summer you experienced may have felt warmer or cooler than normal.Let’s dive deeper into our monthly analysis for the fuller picture:Climate by the numbersAUGUSTAugust 2017 was 1.49 degrees F above the 20th-century average of 60.1 degree F. The next two weeks will bring what North Jersey raptor lovers have awaited for months: the spectacular sight of migrating broad-winged hawks. Why not join the fun?These handsome hawks have a long history of heading south through our region in mid-September by the thousands on their way to Mexico.North Jersey and nearby New York offer great hawk watches where you can watch the migration free of charge, with the help of official observers who keep count of the broad-wings and other species of migrating raptors.Broad-wings — relatively small, stocky hawks with striking black-and-white striped bands on their tails — aren’t the only attraction. You could see anything from ospreys and bald eagles to hummingbirds and monarch butterflies. On a gray summer afternoon a double-decker ferry cruised around New York’s Rockaway Peninsula as rain drove down in sheets.
Undaunted, the passengers, including 8-year-olds from Brooklyn celebrating a birthday, looked out the windows, hoping to glimpse their quarry.A voice came over a weak microphone. “You’re going to help all of us find whales,” Catherine Granton said.Yes, whales.
In New York.Granton told the passengers to look for whitecaps, where whales might be breaking the water’s surface.Granton is an educator for the nonprofit Gotham Whale, which, together with American Princess Cruises, has been tracking humpbacks off the coast of New York City since 2011, after fishermen began reporting sightings. To date, the organization has cataloged 60 individual humpback whales in the area.The whales aren’t alone. Dolphins and seals are now commonplace in New York Harbor, and a project to restore oysters to what was once known as “the oyster capital of the world” is yielding new oyster reefs in the New York-New Jersey estuary.“What’s happening is they’re returning to waters that they frequented in the past,” Granton said.
USA threatened by more frequent floodingResearchers show that the East Coast of the USA is slowly sinking into the seaDate: September 11, 2017Science DailySource: University of BonnSummary: The East Coast of the United States is threatened by more frequent flooding in the future. According to this study, the states of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina are most at risk. Their coastal regions are being immersed by up to three millimeters per year - among other things, due to human intervention. Cities such as Miami on the East Coast of the USA are being affected by flooding more and more frequently. The causes are often not hurricanes with devastating rainfall such as Katrina, or the recent hurricanes Harvey or Irma. On the contrary: flooding even occurs on sunny, relatively calm days. It causes damage to houses and roads and disrupts traffic, yet does not cost any people their lives.
It is thus also known as 'nuisance flooding'.And this nuisance is set to occur much more frequently in the future. At least researchers from the Universities of Bonn, South Florida, and Rhode Island are convinced of this. The international team evaluated data from the East Coast of America, including GPS and satellite measurements.
These show that large parts of the coastal region are slowly yet steadily sinking into the Atlantic Ocean.'There are primarily two reasons for this phenomenon,' explains Makan A. Karegar from the University of South Florida, currently a guest researcher at the Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformation at the University of Bonn. 'During the last ice age around 20,000 years ago, large parts of Canada were covered by an ice sheet. This tremendous mass pressed down on the continent.' Some areas of Earth's mantle were thus pressed sideways under the ice, causing the coastal regions that were free of ice to be raised. 'When the ice sheet then melted, this process was reversed,' explains Karegar. 'The East Coast has thus been sinking back down for the last few thousand years.'
The is not your typical Buddhist retreat center.“Most retreat centers are out in the middle of nowhere, but we chose this location because it’s on the outskirts of the city, where it’s quieter and more peaceful, but it’s also accessible by subway,” said, 31, the resident monk who leads meditation and teaches principles of Buddhism at the house.The center, in a Spanish-style house in the Arverne section of the Rockaways, has Jamaica Bay on one side and the ocean on the other, both short walks away.During breaks, attendees may walk to the ocean. The center offers meditation sessions and wellness and classes on the beach, where the sound and presence of the ocean is “a constant reminder of the impermanent, ever-changing nature of life,” Mr. Suddhaso said as he sat in the backyard with Giovanna Maselli, 36, with whom he opened the retreat house in December.In addition to reiki, acupuncture classes and workshops, the center also offers surfing-themed meditation classes, open to experienced surfers, as well as beginners who may rent boards, said Ms. Maselli, whose own surfboard leaned against a wall nearby.Both surfing and meditation have a “being in the moment” mind-set, she said, adding that, “It’s very difficult to think about anything else when you’re riding a wave.”. It was the first weekend after Labor Day.
The sky was sunny and blue, the air was breezy with a northwest wind. Air temperatures were chilly for this time year, reaching only into the lower 70s.I was spending part of the weekend kayaking in the Naveisnk River, an approximately eight mile long tidal river in Monmouth County, New Jersey.
It was a beautiful day paddling near the mouth of the river, not far from where the Navesink River meets the Shrewsbury River and drains into Sandy Hook Bay.On a small sandy island is where I discovered a break-out event.Several Northern Diamondback terrapins had newly hatched out of eggs. The little reptiles must have emerged from their sandy nest only a few days before. Diamondback Terrapins are unique among the turtle world. Most turtles live exclusively in either freshwater or saltwater. Diamondback terrapins, however, are the only turtle known to live its entire life-cycle within brackish or tidal waters.
It is truly an estuarine loving creature.During late spring and early summer, female Diamondbacks will wait in estuarine waters for a high tide to reach its highest point in order to find a nesting place that is above the high tide line and covered with very small amounts of beach grass, since it can be difficult to dig in the sand with too many roots. Females will dig their nests up to 6 inches deep and lay about 8 to 12 eggs per nest. Since Diamondbacks do not have X or Y chromosomes like humans do to determine a baby's sex, the gender of a young terrapin is determined by temperature during nest incubation. Eggs that are sustained at high temperatures above 86 degrees give birth to girls, and eggs incubated at lower temperatures hatch boys.
Come late summer, young terrapins are hatching out from eggs laid along the sandy coast during the spring or summer. Generally, it takes about 60 to 120 days for eggs to hatch.Unfortunately, it's not easy being a small diamondback terrapin. People often refer to these miniature turtles, which are only about the size of a quarter, as 'Sea Gull Potato Chips.' Birds, such as gulls and crows, and small mammals, such as foxes and raccoons can often be seen moving about the coastline and lower dunes to seek out nesting terrapin sites and hatchlings. A baby terrapin then has to quickly crawl with its small legs to advance into the water and escape being gobbled up.
As you can imagine, a good percentage of hatchlings don't survive. I have seen one study in Cape May County, NJ that reported up to 40 percent of nest sites were destroyed by predators.I’m hoping most if not all of the little terrapin hatchlings from the Navesink River will make it. They will not have much time, though, to get used to their surroundings.
The little turtles will have to hurry up and eat and eat, and get ready for winter. Terrapins hibernate in the winter. The first cold temperatures of the season are a signal for these turtles to bury themselves in mud. Body functions will slow down to the point where terrapins do not need to come up to breathe until the arrival again of spring.
You never know what you might find while throwing a casting net into the water. This time around it was a fish I had never seen before or ever knew it survived in New York Harbor.Sheepshead minnows ( Cyprinodon variegatus Lacepede 1803) are part of the Killifish family, Cyprinodontidae. A large family of over one thousand different small, stout, hardy fish that are consumed worldwide as food by large fish and wading birds; and handled as bait by many anglers.I found this unexpected fish while wading in the tidal waters of the Navesink River last weekend, near where the river meets the Shrewsbury River in New Jersey. I was throwing an 8-foot casting net in a shallow, muddy tidal pool to see what I might find. Among the many Striped killifish within the net were several juvenile Sheepshead minnows. Of course at the time I didn’t know what I had. A strange short fish with a thick-body, a high arched back, a flat-topped head, and a thick square tail.
After taking numerous pictures of the fish and doing some on-line research at home, I uncovered the strange fish to be a Sheepshead minnow. A new fish for me. I have never heard of a Sheepshead minnow before.According to the, the native range for Sheepshead minnows is from the coastal waters of Massachusetts to the Yucatan Peninsula of northeastern Mexico; and also the West Indies, including the Bahamas, Grand Cayman Island and Jamaica.It’s a fish that seems to prefer warm waters, but is hardy enough to withstand some degree of cold water. Tells us that Sheepshead minnows “during the winter monthsburrow in the mud, lying dormant during the cold weather. Like killifish, they can withstand the large changes in oxygen levels, temperature, and salinity conditions that are commonplace in coastal salt marshes.”A favorite field guide of mine, tells us even more. The fish is abundant in Chesapeake Bay, “where it frequents shallow flats, marshes, and tidal ponds during the summer months and retreats to channels or burrows into the silt in marsh ponds in the winter.It is a hardy species that has been found from freshwater to water with salinities exceeding 90%.” The authors go on to describe a fish that likes travel in “large schools, swimming near the shoreline and entering marshes during high tide.”Sheepshead minnow will eat a variety of foodstuff.
Their favorite foods are plant material, algae, and detritus, but will also forage for mosquitoes, and small crustaceans and smaller fish.In 1953, Henry B. Bigelow and William C. Schroeder authored the, a series of books, which was part of the US Fish & Wildlife’s Fishery Bulletin. The report had a page devoted to Sheepshead Minnow. After writing a general description about the fish and its habits on page 165, the authors concluded:“ This fish, like many others, finds its northern limit at Cape Cod and would not deserve mention here at all were it not recorded from the Cape by Storer. West and south of Cape Cod, however, as at Woods Hole, it is common enough in suitable situations. We have seined many of them with Fundulus at the head of Buzzards Bay.”At this time, I cannot find any mention of the fish existing in New York Harbor or nearby local waters.
But the Sheepshead minnow seems to be here now, and perhaps it has been for many years. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for this fish within our busy and bustling urban/suburban waters.
On Sunday, September 10 from 10:00am to 3:30pm, the annual late summer edition of “Seine the Bay Day” event took place. Juvenile fish, baitfish, and shellfish were the stars of the show on several bay beaches along the southern shore of New York Harbor, downstream from New York City.Since 2011, the all-volunteer Bayshore Watershed Council has been conducting a seining survey of Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook Bay in Monmouth County, NJ at the end of the summer season to find out what species live in these rich tidal waters. As in years past, surveys were conducted at four locations: Cliffwood Beach in Aberdeen Township, the fishing beach along Front Street in Union Beach, the beach in Port Monmouth near the mouth of Pews Creek, and the beach near the mouth of Many Mind Creek in Atlantic Highlands.A 50-foot-long net with buoys on top and weights on the bottom was hauled by watershed volunteers through murky waters and pulled towards the shore. Caught in the net was anything swimming or walking along the shallow edge of the bay.The catch of the day were huge schools of spearing or Atlantic silversides in many locations. This is an important forage fish for larger fish including striped bass and bluefish, as well as for wading birds. The other notable catch was several young-of-year (yoy) silver perch or sand perch found near the mouth of Many Mind Creek in Atlantic Highlands. This was the first time this species was encountered in any Seine the Bay Day event.
The silver perch is a small drum with a silvery body and yellowish fins. It is commonly found in Chesapeake Bay, where it lives year-round, mostly in shallow waters from spring to autumn. A youthful great white shark has surfaced off New Jersey's coast.- a young, roughly 12-foot, 80-pound female great white - surfaced off the coast of Belmar and Asbury Park on Tuesday at 8:34 a.m., according to a monitored by OCEARCH, a nonprofit group which researches great whites.Finn - tagged by the group in August - has traveled nearly 50 miles in the last 72 hours, and made its entry into the ocean waters of New Jersey on Sunday, according to the group's tracker. Finn has since moved further off shore. Today we hear from Elizabeth Rogers, with the National Park Service at Fire Island National Seashore in New York State. Elizabeth spent some time this spring and summer working as a Public Affairs Specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, sharing the stories and science of resilient coastal communities and systems.
On her days off, she can be found exploring the outdoors or dabbling in the kitchen.Millions of people come to beaches along the Atlantic Coast every summer to swim, stroll, and sunbathe. Piping plovers, federally protected beach-nesting birds, return to sandy stretches from Newfoundland to North Carolina each year to look for love.When it comes to finding the right place to nest and raise their young, piping plovers are picky.
Nests are often found along the upper beach in sparsely vegetated areas of sand, pebbles, or shells above the high tide line.Ideal nesting habitat has long been identified and protected with string fencing at federal, state, and local parks across the Northeast. Until recently, however, there was little information to help land managers understand the importance of local nesting habitat within the broader range of this species.Two studies funded through Hurricane Sandy relief aid are helping to change that. Join members of the all-volunteer Bayshore Watershed Council on Sunday, September 10, 2017 for Seine the Bay Day!The event is FREE! Bring a friend or bring your family.Seine the Bay Day is an annual late summer event. Volunteers will help drag a long net (called a seine net) through the water to discover what awesome sea creatures live in the shallow part of the bay. The catch is never the same; we may catch juvenile fish, shrimp, or even baby puffers or seahorses in the net. It will be a fun day.Times and locations can be found below. Rain or strong winds will cancel the event.Seining team members will be citizen scientists.
All fishes, crabs, and other aquatic creatures will be identified, measured, and cataloged; and returned to the water.In addition, watershed members will collect water temperature and turbidity information; and document the tidal stage, and note the aquatic vegetation in the area. We will conduct this late summer seining survey at four (4) sites along Raritan Bay & Sandy Hook Bay. Below are locations & times. High tide is around 11:00am.10:00amAberdeen Township NJ/Cliffwood Beach - meet in the gravel parking lot near the beach entrance along Ocean Blvd.
(Incoming tide)11:30amUnion Beach NJ/Conaskonck Point - meet in the gravel parking lot where Front and Dock streets meet. (High tide)1:00pmMiddletown Township NJ/Port Monmouth - meet in the gravely parking lot across from the Monmouth Cove Marina on Old Port Monmouth Road.
We will seine near the mouth of Pews Creek. (outgoing tide)2:30pmAtlantic Highlands NJ/Mouth of Many Mind Creek - meet at the end of Avenue A, near the beach entrance to the bay. On-street parking only. (outgoing tide). Our research cruise is being conducted this year from the Coast Guard Cutter Healy, the newest and most technologically advanced icebreaker in the U.S. The Healy was built down around the humid bayous of New Orleans, but was designed to conquer Arctic sea ice.
The boat is a behemoth at 420 feet long and has made its way to the North Pole on several occasions, taking thousands of scientists into the Arctic to collect data that has transformed our understanding of the region.Something has changed though in the last few years. The Healy has been having a hard time finding any ice to break. The average sea-ice extent in June 2017 was 350,000 square miles smaller than the long-term historical average.
That represents a loss of sea ice almost twice the size of Texas.The opening of the Arctic is allowing increased commercial ship traffic and in 2016, for the first time, more than 1,000 passengers sailed on the Crystal Serenity from Anchorage to New York through once ice-choked waters. The cruise ship is making the same voyage this year. While the Healyhas been responsible for patrolling the Arctic, its mission is expanding as fast as the ice is disappearing.
The ship and its more than 80 crewmembers will be the first responders to any disaster in the Arctic, from vessel emergencies to oil spills.