Monday, 23 February 2004

Gulf of Papua

So have you come up with a guess as to how much food is onboard the R/V Melville when she sets out for sea? If it's the start of a six month cruise, it is approximately >11,160 lbs of food!!! Check out today's interview with Chef Ed Miller who is in charge of keeping us all fed and healthy for a little more information. Also, send your questions about the galley, the research cruise in the Gulf of Papua, life onboard the R/V Melville and Papua New Guinea. You can reach us through 9 March at: FlyRiverS2S@rv-melville.ucsd.edu

Tonight we will be dining on ginger grilled fish, mackerel to be specific. This morning two fish were caught from the Melville. This is always an exciting event! We've had fresh tuna served as sashimi, a type of sushi, we've also had grilled ginger wasabi mackerel and Wahoo since I've been onboard. It's a delicious, fresh treat from the sea!

You may think that I've just been out here for only a week...but as a matter of fact, I've had my sea legs for nearly a month now! If you haven't had a chance yet, check out some of the past daily journals and photos of the previous cruise where I got a chance to see many different ways researchers gather data to read the history of the earth. I experienced piston coring (a smaller version of the Jumbo Piston Core), multi-coring, water samples collected with the BLISP and CTD as well as small boat operations and recovery operations. In addition, I saw the Chirp at work. The Chirp is a seismic reflection instrument that uses a range of sound frequencies to look at layers of sediment below the sea floor. For example, you can actually see ancient river channels underwater and layering greater than 50 to 64 meters (164-210 feet) into the seabed! Today's slide show features just a few of the images from the first expedition - be sure to check them out!

By using a variety of methods, researches are able to look at the same areas of the sea floor in several ways, giving them a more complete picture of the earth. In a way, it's like watching a football tackle replay at the one-yard line from different camera angles around the stadium. First you see how they fall from overhead, then from the sideline, finally from a camera behind the goal post. The various angles may show the same play but can look slightly different until you put the pieces together to see the BIG picture. The approach S2S researchers are using is the "Nested Approach." To find out more about this, and the other instruments I've mentioned, visit the Science section on this web site.

Okay, that's all for today. Join me tomorrow as we take a look at something we all experience everyday. (If you're asking what I'm talking about...come by tomorrow to find out!) See you then!

Today's weather and location at 0900 (nine hundred hours, military time for 9:00 am)
Air Temperature: 28°C (82°F)
Water Temperature: 30°C (86°F)
Salinity: 30.34 PSU
Barometric Pressure: 1009.6 mb
Relative Humidity: 83%
Depth 65 m (213 ft)

Longitude: 8° 25.4958' S
Latitude: 144° 20.315' E