Journal entries from a marine biology research expedition
Posted in Journal entry on May 24th, 2008
Well we arrived back at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution around noon on Saturday. Most of the day has been spent packing and preparing for our departure to our respective residences tomorrow. The treat of the evening for me was sharing dinner with my post-doctoral advisor Mary Rice. Mary is an emeritus [...]
Posted in Journal entry on May 23rd, 2008
Today has been a mixed bag of activities. Drs. Emlet, Tyler and Young spent their morning hours spawning the Coelopleurus floridanus – a wholly successful endeavor. The existing cultures of Cidaris blakei, Stylocidaris lineata, Lytechinus euerces, and Linopneustes longispinus are progressing nicely, albeit slowly as they are living at 13 °C (55 °F). [...]
Posted in Journal entry on May 22nd, 2008
What is worse, having a sick student in your classroom or a sick individual on a ship at sea? I can assure that the latter is the worse situation. A number of the science party and the sub crew have developed a nasty cold (with alternating chills and fever), but to date and [...]
Posted in Journal entry on May 21st, 2008
Well, I delivered my lecture last night outside on the bow of the ship. The moon was nearly full and the captain held us in one place, but we ran in a circle. Thus the moon was on my left, my right, and then my left again… It was a little disconcerting. [...]
Posted in Journal entry on May 20th, 2008
I’m embarrassed to write that I overslept today and didn’t roll out of the bunk until after 8 AM. I guess I “hit the wall” yesterday after getting to bed at 1:30 AM – there really was a time when I could always get up early, but, unlike my waistline, this ability has decreased.
Today [...]
Posted in Journal entry on May 19th, 2008
We’re working around Eleuthra Island and our collecting trips have been generally quite successful. (If anyone is following the proposed cruise track – forget it – we have had to change our plans a number of times.) This particular area contains an abundance of solitary, predatory tunicates (sea squirts) at about 2,000 feet. [...]
Posted in Journal entry on May 18th, 2008
The day started as each day should… by taking a sample of the surface (<30 m) plankton. It was a wonderful tow filled with animals that we need for experiments. When all else fails, one can look at tropical plankton and that act will to make you smile.
We have been blessed with delightful [...]
Posted in Journal entry on May 17th, 2008
What another wonderful day in the Bahamas…. The day began with a nice plankton tow from the upper 30 m which contained a number of sea cucumber larvae, oddly enough larvae of a weird group of animals called kamptozoans, and larvae of a nifty jellyfish called Linuche. The morning dive around Green Cay [...]
Posted in Journal entry on May 16th, 2008
(Written on day 4. Internet access is spotty at best.)
Busy, busy, busy – A morning sub dive, a snorkeling trip, a MOCNESS, and an afternoon sub dive made for a full day of work. In the morning and the afternoon dives, a large number of the sea urchin Stylocidaris lineata were collected and [...]
Posted in Journal entry on May 15th, 2008
Will Jaeckle and
Craig Brauer
Today was magnificent! Craig Brauer and I completed a wonderful dive to about 700 meters within view of the Atlantis Hotel on New Providence Island. We collected five different species of sea urchins and a species of stalked crinoid (this latter animal is largely restricted to the deep-sea) and saw [...]