the inkspot

sealog 10: naval gazing

2009-11-24T18:46:28Z

looking back, i see that i haven't really described where i've been living for the past month. since i have ample time for meditating on my surroundings now that the sampling is finished (actually, with a week to go before we arrive at port, 'exc...

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sealog 9: more squid!

2009-11-23T18:26:53Z

well, we've come a long way since the first squid report i made after we completed superstation 1. now we're up to station number 9, and we have just one left to go (although we've been collecting some extra samples as the chance arises). we've ...

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sealog 8: welcome to russian camp

2009-11-21T10:16:46Z

i spent many blissful summers at a set of camps in northern minnesota that teach foreign languages to kids through immersion. the kids come for one, two or four weeks, and do all the usual fun summer camp stuff (swim, play outside, get poison ivy...

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sealog 7: what luck

2009-11-15T20:13:36Z

every morning (well, those when we aren't still in the lab at daybreak), we are awakened by an announcement at 7am. today, it went like this: 'good morning, everybody. ship's time is seven o'clock. today is friday, the 13th of november. we are...

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sealog #6: more of the same

2009-11-11T19:02:47Z

(how's that for an enticing title? ... accurate, at least.) guess what, we're still at sea, still eating four times a day, still watching for whales, still sampling at night, still catching up on sleep during the day. of course there are intere...

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sealog #5: zero degrees

2009-11-07T01:52:01Z

yesterday afternoon, we sailed across the equator. although we joked about feeling the bump as we went across, this is actually a big deal at sea, attended by rituals and ceremonies that are specific to each ship. those who have not crossed be...

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sealog #4: the first catch

2009-11-07T01:51:25Z

on monday night we reached our first 'superstation,' a central point around which we would deploy several kinds of sampling gear. ten superstations are planned for the voyage, with 5-10 separate samples to be taken at each - a variety of benthic,...

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sealog #3: the flying food chain

2009-11-01T18:46:02Z

although the days tend to run together a bit out here, each is usually marked by at least one unique event. the day before yesterday, it was the flying fish. they leapt out of the water singly, in small groups or by the hundreds, to spread their...

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sealog #2: fair seas, sea fare, and an unlikely seafarer

2009-10-31T05:58:27Z

sometimes the most mundane aspects of a travel experience make the biggest impression, so i'd like to dedicate today's entry to food, preceded by a brief weather report. neptune has continued to smile upon us, with very gentle swells accompanied ...

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sealog #1

2009-10-29T11:14:19Z

hi. i'm in the atlantic ocean, off northwestern africa. in fact, this morning we officially passed into the tropics by crossing the tropic of cancer. but let me back up a little. on saturday/sunday i traveled from auckland to the canary islan...

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