Thursday, March 4, 2004

Gulf of Papua, New Guinea

So today is the day I said I'd announce who e-mailed in the correct answer for my questions about the flying fish...I'll get to that in a moment, but first let's talk about some other wildlife we've seen here in the Gulf of Papua.

The rains continue tonight so as I went out to help with the core cutting, I put on my foul weather gear consisting of tall, black rubber boots, yellow overalls, a jacket with a hood which I fastened tightly around my face. I felt like a child being bundled up for the snow! The torrential rains came and with them hundreds or possibly thousands of stinkbugs! Most were the same type of bugs we've seen on deck before, however, we had never seen such a large quantity. I've tried to find the specific type, but to no avail. I had not realized how many varieties of the beetle like bug are found in this area. Last night as the team dealt not only with the hard rains, but also with stinkbugs, moths and dragonflies that flew in frenzied circles, swarming around the work lights on deck and landed on the people working!

It is a curious thing that they all came out during the rains. I don't believe we were close to land, but if anyone who might be reading this has any thoughts or knowledge of this behavior we'd love to hear your ideas. You can reach me at FlyRiverS2S@rv-melville.ucsd.edu. Another fascinating creature we see at night is the sea snake. These reptiles glide across the water and occasionally seem to smell us and come in for a closer look. They look to be about 5 feet long and are amazing to watch as they descend to the depths in the same slithering, s-shaped fashion you might see on land, only in a perpendicular dive. We believe these are the yellow-bellied poisonous sea snakes that are found in this area.

So the questions I presented in the journal from March 1st are listed here with the answers: 1) Why do you think flying fish fly? Flying fish "fly" to avoid becoming food for predators such as tunas, swordfish and other larger fishes. 2) What do they eat? Flying fish eat planktonic animals such as small crustaceans. 3) Where might you find a flying fish? Tropical waters, like here, in the Gulf of Papua!

Thanks to Alyssa, age nine, from Boulder, Colorado for sending in your answer!

Join me tomorrow for Frames, Cranes and Winches!

Today's weather and location at 1300 (thirteen hundred hours, military time for 1:00 pm)
Air Temperature: 27°C (81°F)
Water Temperature: 30°C (86°F)
Salinity: 28 PSU
Barometric Pressure: 1006.6 mb
Relative Humidity: 80%
Precipitation: 40 mm

Longitude: 8° 30.009' S
Latitude: 144° 19.963' E