NOAA's work in the Galapagos noted in the last issue brought requests for more information. Here's a closer look at the land where animals fear no humans, frigate birds stay mated forever, and every isle is a volcano.

When the tanker Jessica hit rocky reefs and ran aground off Ecuador's San Cristobal Island on January 16, the government there called for a National Ocean Service spill response team to help minimize the spill's effects. With 240,000 gallons of oil leaking, NOS sent one, then two, scientific support coordinators to the Galapagos to provide on-site training on multiple levels.

Lonesome George, the last giant tortoise of his species, is still alive in the Galapagos. DNA scans of tortoises throughout the world have revealed no match. George weighs about 200 pounds, eats papaya almost every day, and is 70 – 80 years old. When he dies, his species will become extinct.

Larger version of the image.

746 ft Above San Francisco Bay Lt. Commander Michael Gallagher almost lost his hardhat trying to make the
1935 Golden Gate Bridge meet today's needs. Targeting likely spots for global positioning equipment, he's identifying where satellites can best pick up the signals needed to create precise electronic navigation charts. Knowing what the real world is like beyond a ship's windows, especially in foggy San Francisco, is critical to all mariners. Mike is advancing the Electronic Nautical Charting initiative of NOS's Office of Coast Survey.

Here's another cool picture!!!

Larger version of the image.

With Wind Chill Below Zero David Nicosia (left), NWS warning coordination meteorologist, and Mike Sporer (right), NWS journeyman forecaster, talk winter weather safety with U.S. Congressman James T. Walsh.

At a fishing derby attended by hundreds of ice fishermen, Bob and Mike promoted NOAA weather radio and other key NWS resources -- all from NOAA's booth in the middle of a frozen lake.

Find a 1485 tome on how weather affects the body. Click onto 28 NOAA libraries. Dive into more than 17,000 ../images. Connect with the full texts of about 50 scientific journals. Check out the most complete meteorological collection in the western hemisphere.

There's now an easy way to access 106 years of climate data. Find out for yourself at the new web site created by Jay Larimore and Karin Gleason at the National Climatic Data Center in North Carolina and Catherine Marzin in Washington, DC. Sky-blue buttons can quickly link you to temperature and precipitation data for the entire USA, including all regions, the 48 contiguous states and 40 cities. With one click, graphs and tables provide data for any month or season from 1895 to the present.

The new Web site can tell you whether a bitterly cold winter is really the coldest ever recorded in U.S. history, or whether it's ever been drier in the Southern Plains, or what the data show about U.S. temperature patterns. The interactive site lets you tailor the questions and create your own maps, graphs and tables.

NESDIS's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. is the world's largest active archive of weather and climate data. The center has more than 150 years of data on hand. This includes satellite weather ../images back to 1960, with 55 gigabytes of new information added each day. That's 18 million pages a day!

The Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program has just been created to honor her visionary environmental contributions.

Applications must be postmarked by April 22.

Web site: http://fosterscholars.noaa.gov