The End

Well, it has been a tremendous journey. Our ship arrived safely to port on Saturday in Panama and everyone, including the ship's crew, was very excited to hit dry land again. On Sunday, the scientists began flying home, while a few stayed behind to spend time in and around Panama. The ship soon began its week-long return trip through the Panama Canal to its home port in Fort Pierce, Florida. The work continues as the ship must be unloaded and its cargo - rich now with scientific data - returned to the scientists at their home research labs and institutions. It will take many months and years to examine the specimens and data obtained from the research cruise. All the hard work at sea has enabled scientists to return with a wealth of scientific information which they can now examine at their own pace in their research labs. Thank you for joining us on this incredible journey. If you have any questions or comments, please send them to: etpcruise@yahoo.com.

Happy Birthday Ruth!

On Wednesday, November 14th, we celebrated Ruth Coffey’s birthday. And how do you celebrate a birthday at sea? With cake, of course! Ruth was treated with a chocolate multi-layer cake from the galley complete with “magic” candles. The crew surprised Ruth with a photo of our current home, the R/V Seward Johnson and a Seward Johnson t-shirt while she watched one of her favorite flicks, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in the lounge. While you should be sure to celebrate again with Ruth when she gets home, don’t feel too bad for her for being away at sea on her special day – she said that this was the most fun she ever had on her birthday! Happy Birthday Ruth!

Bottlenose dolphins bow riding

Common dolphins

What a day!

We continue to steam on towards our port of Panama. Most scientists have begun to pack up their equipment and laboratory supplies, while others are completing experiments that began while we were on station at the Costa Rican Dome. Because the waters of the Dome are so productive, wildlife viewing has been fantastic even as we transit out of our research station. In a matter of hours, dozens of turtles had been sighted, and manta rays were seen leaping throughout the day. We had a very special treat yesterday when not one, but two different pods of dolphins joined us for some bow riding, and amazed us with their acrobatic leaping and porpoising around the boat. Bottlenose dolphins were the first to arrive and were so close during bow riding that we could hear their underwater clicks and whistles! The Common dolphins arrived later and could be seen leaping so high in the air that they easily leaped twice their height out of the water. Tuna could also be seen jumping alongside them. Several of the Common dolphins came up to the boat to bow ride as well, providing excellent and exciting views of these beautiful creatures. It is a very exciting time as we travel through this incredible place, all the while knowing that much of our research and hard work aboard the ship has ended and we are finally heading home.

Operation Shrinking Cups

It’s been a long few days here at our final station. The research has continued around the clock and sleep is again at a minimum. We are all trying to finish up our deployments and experiments before beginning our transit back to Panama on Tuesday. Some of the sampling systems have already decided that it's time for a vacation, keeping the ship’s senior technician busy with repairs. In the midst of all this activity, we launched Operation Shrinking Cups, decorating Styrofoam cups and sending them down with our deep cast CTD this morning. The cups returned a fraction of their original size; a stunning example of the immense pressures exerted onto objects at 1500 meters. Tonight Dr. Brad Seibel and his crew resumed their nightly tradition of squid jigging, shining bright lights onto the waters surrounding the ship. The light attracts and highlights small organisms, which attracts larger predators, which move in toward the surface to feed. Tonight we had company as four bottlenose dolphins joined in on the hunt. They provided us with an excellent exhibition of their speed and maneuverability. The research continues now with SCUBA divers in the water and a midnight running of the MOCNESS. It’s never a dull moment on the R/V Seward Johnson here at the Costa Rican Dome.

Sea turtle rescue at sea!

Tonight we had a dramatic example of how floating marine debris, in particular, lost fishing gear can harm and kill marine life. Upon setting out to deploy our Tucker trawl, the ship’s crew spotted a large fishing net floating in the water with two sea turtles ensnarled in the gear and floating helplessly with it. The boat moved alongside the turtles to assist and upon further inspection found that one of the turtles was dead while the other was alive, but wrapped heavily in fishing line across its neck and front flippers. The fishing gear wrapped so tightly around the turtle’s front right flipper that it was completely severed from its body. One of the crew members immediately used a knife to free the line from the live turtle. The dead turtle was brought on board for inspection and the fishing gear removed from the water for proper discharge on land. The two turtles appear to be Olive Ridleys, which are quite abundant in this area (off the Pacific coast of Mexico and Costa Rica) and are believed to be the most abundant sea turtle in the world. Nonetheless, the loss and maiming of these beautiful animals struck a blow to all onboard. Floating fishing gear kills countless birds, mammals and sea turtles every year, in addition to fish and other marine life. This destructive act is termed “ghost fishing”, for its continual capture of marine life, which can carry on for years after the gear has been lost or abandoned. Sea turtles around the world have suffered dramatic population losses from their entanglement in lost and active fishing gear. For more information on sea turtles and what you can do to help, visit The Blue Ocean Institute’s website at http://www.blueocean.org/ or the Riverhead Foundation’s (New York state’s marine mammal and sea turtle stranding program) at http://www.riverheadfoundation.org/.