Monday, 01 March 2004

Gulf of Papua, New Guinea

Today marks the start of a new month, and renewed hope with some of the researchers onboard. This evening, the Chirp had its first test run, back in the water and it worked great!

Jeff Babcock arrived Sunday evening from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and brought with him some parts needed to fix the Chirp, which has been out of commission for some time now. The good news is that the Chirp is now being deployed during the day and coring continues at night. When we stopped in Port Moresby on Sunday, we dropped off the seven friends from Papua New Guinea who had been working as part of the jumbo piston core team. As a result, we are using all of the remaining hands to focus on the night watch, which is when the coring takes place.

Working out on the decks at night has a unique feel. Here in the Gulf of Papua, we never see a plane fly overhead. You are surrounded by dark waters and can watch the moon rise, spilling light across the Gulf. Frequently we see fantastic lightening storms over the mountains of Papua New Guinea, and if there are no clouds, we see stars and bright constellations. This sounds peaceful, and while to some degree it is, keep in mind, there are bright lights which illuminate the deck, and the sounds of the ship are so loud that you become used to a constant low roar. I'll explore the sounds of the ship in the next couple of days so be sure to check back!

The lights that make it possible for us to work create a glow on the water that attracts hundreds or possibly thousands of fish. It's hard to say exactly as the water we are in is cloudy due to the suspended sediment and particles carried down from the many rivers that empty into the Gulf of Papua. We see marine birds that occasionally land on deck, beetles and moths - check out the photos in today's journal, many of the insect pics are thanks to Dale Hubbard, part of the coring team from Oregon State University. In the water we spot dolphins and sharks, as well as sea snakes. The fish we see most often are trumpetfish and flying fish. The flying fish actually have flying fins...large pectoral fins, found on the sides of their bodies, pelvic fins and a forked tail fin with the lower lobe much larger than the top to help propel the fish into the air, where it then spreads it's wing-like fins and glides. It is said that they can reach a height of a meter (3.3 feet) and glide as far as 100 meters (328 feet)! It isn't often that you see them travel that far, but we have certainly heard a splash and are treated to a view of the flying fish! So why do you think flying fish fly? Also, what do they eat, and where might you find a flying fish? Send your answers to me at FlyRiverS2S@ucsd.edu. I'll let you know if you're right, and post the name of the person who sends the first correct answer I receive in the journal entry for the 4th of March.

The last thing I'd like to mention is the bridge. Entering the bridge at night feels the way I imagine it might be like to step into a space ship, or a submarine below the ocean's surface. The lights are off to allow for visibility around the ship. The control consul and navigation area are lit up with red, green and white illuminated buttons, and there are red lights near the floor marking doorways. You see a dim red glow over the navigation table. Unlike the rest of the ship, there is a calm quiet, except for the sound of the pinging mean and high frequency digital select calling systems. Here is where the Captain and mates focus on guiding the ship through the night or holding the ship steady as they are now for the scientists to take cores from the deck below.

I hope to hear from you with your answers to my questions about flying fish and anything else you'd like to know about our work here in Papua New Guinea!

Today's weather and location at 1300 (thirteen hundred hours, military time for 1:00 pm)
Air Temperature: 30°C (86°F)
Water Temperature: 30°C (86°F)
Salinity: 29 PSU
Barometric Pressure: 1007.1 mb
Relative Humidity: 68
Precipitation: 3 mm

Longitude: 8° 13.79345' S
Latitude: 145° 39.345' E