Thanks to the National Science Foundation that made this possible. 

Sincerely,  Dan Tomlin (DT Teacher at Sea)

The Shindig Board

Nomenclature-Mess Hall the Center of the Ship

The galley and the mess hall are words used for the kitchen and dining room respectively.  The days go by like one big slumber party or sleepover.  People appear and socialize around meals.  This is when the different tribes come together.  Tribes include the captain and chief engineer and chief mate, the engineering, “oilers” crew, the able bodied seaman, the science team and the techs.

Big Shindig

The celebratory end of cruise dinner was last night.  The music being played was arranged by Alex.  The main entrees were Beef Wellington-filet of beef tenderloin wrapped in a liver pate and puffed pastry and lobster tail stuffed with crabmeat.  Wow!  Surf and Turf

Everybody was there.  It was real nice. 

The Same Restaurant

It is like going to the same restaurant for three weeks for every meal.  It is fun and yet the same.  Snacks are abound, chips, fruit, leftovers, peanut butter, crackers, cookies, spam, oysters etc…

Choice of options was a challenge for me especially at noon or lunch.  I am not used to prepared options like soup and salad or chicken and rice. 

Vast Storage

It felt like a grocery store down below a huge freezer, dry storage and fridge.  Can you imagine the amount of food required to feed up to forty-five people for up to six weeks at a time at sea.  Amazing.  A small elevator is used to transport the food two stories up to the galley. 

Movies

Every night there is a movie, if not a couple.   Movies build community.  The various groups hang out together and chat before and after the showing.  They are fun and the movies are typically action based.  

Photo of DVDs and Videos

Photo of Turn off to Franz Joseph Glacier

Glaciers into the Ocean

Since things are winding down here we are spending three days multi-beaming.   I thought I could cover an exciting geologic feature that we saw on our field trip of the South Island.   The Maori name for the glacier comes from Hinehukatere weaping for the loss of her lover who fell climbing up into the mountains and her tears freezing to form the glacier. 

Franz Joseph- Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere

Franz Joseph Glacier is located on the west side of the South Island about two thirds down.  It is presently about 19 kilometers from the sea.  Fiord lands are formed when glaciers run into the sea.  The Milford Sound is a local famous for this fiord.  Glaciers of this magnitude are absent in Colorado; although some people would argue that Arapahoe Snowfield is a glacier, and the one located furthest in the Rockies. Our mountains the Indian Peaks have been highly sculpted by glaciers into arêtes and horns. 

Check out this web site for a cool photo of Arapahoe glacier past and present- http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=5668

This one illustrates glacial landforms-

http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/Lemke/alpine_glacial_glossary/glossary.html#depositionallandforms

Franz Joseph- Ka Roimata o Hinehukatere glacier is one of the most easily accessed glaciers in the world being only 4 kilometers off of NZ Highway Six.  It is also unique for ending in a lush rainforest.

Photo of rainforest

What is an Alpine Glacier? 

Snow that doesn’t melt builds up at elevation.  Over time this snowfield starts to act like a huge conveyor belt pushing and deforming down and out to the sides.  Ice forms from huge pressures and rock and debris are scoured underneath the glacier.  When this occurs a glacier has been formed.  Glaciers can be formed with temperature changes of as little as two degrees Celsius. 

Huge glaciers also form due to cold temperatures at the poles. 

Photos of Franz Joseph Glacier

Upper

Local Colorado Glaciers

Locally glaciers were prevalent in Boulder County as late as 8,000 years ago.  Nederland is as far east as the glaciers came.  They left piles of debris around the town forming hills trending east west.  The ski area of Eldora and the Devil’s Thumb feature west of the area were all heavily glaciated.  

Characteristics of Franz Joseph Glacier

We arrived at the base of the glacier early in the evening and the cool air was sinking down the valley off of the ice.   To view the glacier we climbed Sentinel Rock.  This feature, a low hill overlooking the glacier, was left behind by the glacier due its composition of more resistant rock. 

The glacier empties into the Waiho River.  Glacial valleys have a characteristic U-shape whereas river valleys have a characteristic V-shape. 

Is Global Warming affecting the glacier? 

Due to heavy snowfall since 1997 the glacier is presently growing.  Glaciers grow or recede due to a balance of snowfall at the top and snowmelt at the bottom. 

Although, glaciers on the east side of the Southern Alps have been melting.  It is important to note that global warming doesn’t always affect systems in a predictable way.  Glacial advance has been up to a phenomenal 70 centimeters a day. 

Conclusion

With a little imagination it is not too hard to imagine the glaciers west of Boulder being like Franz Joseph.  One of my favorite exercises is to stand in one of the U-shaped valleys like in the town of Eldora and imagine the glacier towering above my head a couple thousand feet. 

This web site is helpful in understanding glaciers in our Rocky Mountain National Park.

http://www.nps.gov/features/romo/feat0001/GlcBasics.html

This image is taken from there. 

Seabirds are not seen on land unless they are nesting.  They are birds that are adapted to be out at sea.  We wouldn’t see them in Colorado. 

General Sea Bird Adaptations

Webbed Feet

It may seem obvious, but webbed feet are one of them.  They are necessary for maneuvering in water.  When taking off they allow the bird to push off of the water.

Buoyant Feathers

A healthy bird preens its feathers often.  They are essential to giving the bird its “superhero” qualities.  Three types are present.  The flight feathers provide a force for uplift and are essential for flight and gliding.  Down feathers are necessary for insulation.  The climate is extreme.  Some of these birds venture to Antarctica.  The third kind of feathers is for covering the bird.  All the feathers are waterproof.  Some birds like shag, we see cormorants in Colorado; don’t have downy feathers for buoyancy and warmth.  They lack this layer to dive after prey just like we would wear a weight belt when scuba diving.  Shags need land or an island to dry out and to stay warm. 

Salt glands

Seabirds excrete excess salt with these glands located in their head.  They osmoregulate the salt they drink and food they ingest.    Osmoregulation is like the water makers on board that push out the salt and other impurities to make fresh water.  Wow!

In general seabirds are not colorful.  Black, grey and white are the colors of the day.  Dark colors are on the top and light colors or white are on the bottom.  This allows the birds to be unseen by their prey.  Modern naval warships utilize this same camouflage in their paint schemes. 

Gliding and Dynamic Soaring-Energy Conservation at Sea

Most seabirds have long narrow wings with a reduced ability for powered flight.  I love watching the Wandering Albatross soaring above the water. 

Slope soaring –is the method where the bird turns into the wind gains altitude then soars out across the water.

Graphic from http://www.apogeerockets.com/education/images/dynamic_soaring.gif

Video of Sitting and Soaring Albatross in a Swell

big-swell-sitting-and-soaring

Dynamic soaring is more complicated and involves cruising over the waves as they push the air up vertically.  The bird is then elevated on this updraft.  They are doing this when they appear to be touching the water with their wings and racing the wave surface. 

These techniques allow them to ride the wind for hours without flapping and wasting energy.  I also see them sitting on the water at times. 

Storm Petrel-Mighty Mini

Graphic from

http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/Bio21Tuat01-02-fig-Bio21Tuat01-02_075a.html

Name

I was amazed two days ago to see this little bird, smaller than a blackbird fluttering amongst the waves.  My first though was get on board, because you are going to die out there.  The name petrel comes from Saint Peter who was thought to walk on water with Jesus.  They are called storm petrels because they seek shelter in the lee side of boats at sea during storms.  

Identifying Behavior

Then it was bouncing off of the water.  And sure enough it appeared to hitting the water.  It would skip along the waves with its feet out.  With some research I found out that this is its feeding behavior.  Plucking invertebrates, small fish and droplets of oil off of the water surface is its life force. 

Reproduction

The White Faced Petrel is the most common type of petrel in the waters around New Zealand.  They mate for life and have one white egg, which they lay in a burrow or on a crack on a rock ledge.  They return to the same rookery every year. 

Grey Headed Mollymawk/Albatross

Graphic from

http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/mollymawkgreyheaded.html

The more we observed the seabirds around our ship, the more we noticed differences.  There was an albatross that wasn’t as big as the Wandering.  Especially when you saw them sitting next to each other they were of a different size. 

Photo of Albatross and Mollymawk

Identification

The Grey Headed Mollymawk is 80 centimeters in body length whereas the Albatross is up to 118 cm..  It has a grey head and blacktopped wings and some black on its tail.  If you can see its beak it is yellow and grey. 

Behaviors and Demise

These guys nest on Campbell Island and follow fishing boats.  They follow us for our garbage. Mollywawks are capable of diving up to 7 meters underwater after their favorite prey squid and krill but don’t do it often.   There has a marked decline in their population from 43,000 to 7,800 in the last 40 years due to a decline in food and being caught in fishing nets as by-catch in the 70’s and 80’s. 

They are one of our most numerous guardians around the boat. 

Wandering Albatross

As mentioned before, these are the big ones with wingspans up to 3 meters.  Albatross are kind of goofy looking when they are not soaring.  When taking off or landing they look awkward running on the water. They have an acute sense of smell, which is unusual for birds.  Smell aids them in identifying potential food sources. 

Video of Albatross Eating Organics

birds-in-garbage2

Video of Dumping and Birds

the-motherlode

Fishing for Albatross

After our drop yesterday I was spin casting with a squid lure and the birds came at my lure.  A bad thing!  I can’t imagine one of these huge birds tangles up in a fishing line.  We reeled in our equipment right away.  This was the closest we had gotten to catch anything.  The birds were also gathering around Anne’s bait-ham. 

Photo of Albatross in the Water Waiting 

Garbage Man Dan and Woman Anne

Items that we would throw into the compost are thrown into the ocean.  With the kitchen staff’s permission we got the ok to throw mainly turkey bones and lettuce over yesterday.  All the Petrels, Albatross and Mollymawks were off gathering the yummies.  Very exciting!  I get this job the rest of the cruise.   Yesss!  Hopefully the boat will be going slower next time to get some video of the feeding frenzy. 

Photo of Dan and India from the Kitchen the Supplier of the Goods

Anne Before Releasing Number # 28 

Ceremonial Releases

Over the last couple of days both Anne Sheehan and I have released Ocean Based Seismometers (OBSs). I released number twenty-seven and Anne number twenty-eight. To release the seismometer three ropes and a crane are used. Marshall the Coast Guard guy communicates to the crane operator. Paul and Ernie steady the OBS and usually Mark releases the unit. The release is done by a pulley mechanism that pops open an arm.

Dan and Crew Before Releasing #27 (photos coming soon)

Reasons to Postpone

Releasing Weather

We held our position for about two days earlier this week before dropping off number twenty-five. Wind topped out at fifty knots or sixty miles per hour and the swell’s vertical height was four and one half meters. The captain put our bow into the wind and waves and we sat in one spot using the ship’s dynamic positioning system. The Scripp’s Crew says that they have had to do this for two weeks in the past. When the seas are rough the OBS might swing around and destroy itself against the side of the ship.

Ocean Bottom Irregularities

On drop twenty-eight the ship was moved a mile north due to the bottom being too bumpy. We were on an underwater canyon. Not only is the bottom irregular it is prone to the drifting of sediments that could fill up the instrument.

Photo of Dan getting ready to release

Photo of Anne releasing

Photo by Roger Taylor-www.coribee.org

Yesterday Frank the Able Bodied Seaman descended the bridge and told us they had sighted pilot whales.   Peter Molnar ran out like a kid to the fantail (back of the boat) and I ran up to the bridge.  There they were an army of them undulating in and out of the water.  It appeared that they were trying to come up to the boat

Pilot whales are large toothed whales related to the dolphin.  It is uniformly black and grows to 7.6 meters long.  They are one of the most social whales and are typically found in matriarchal groups of twenty or more.  Males move between pods and are not thought to mate with one whale and form a strong bond.   Our group of twenty was swimming well off shore.  We could tell that a few were younger and stayed close to what appeared to be their mothers. 

For more information check out this web site-

http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/PilotWhale.htm

Recent research has shown that they are capable of swift dives to one thousand meters to hunt squid, giving them the nickname “Cheetahs of the Deep.” Natacha Aguilar Soto, of the University of La Laguna said they reach top speeds of up to nine meters a second.  This was surprising because they thought they would conserve energy/oxygen by going more slowly after prey at depth. 

The long finned, common in these waters, sometimes beach themselves in large numbers.  It is not known why this happens, but theories have to do with SONAR, food resources and magnetism.  Pilot whales eat squid and small to medium sized gregarious fish.  They feed primarily at night. 

Pilot whale do well in captivity and have been used by the US Navy.  One pilot named Morgan was trained to retrieve beeper-attached objects form the ocean floor.

Look at this recent article about beaching.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jan/23/conservation

Spamster Ingredients

Ingredients

White bread, can of smoked oysters, cheddar cheese and a can of SPAM. 

Preparation

Put them on the bread any way you want and flavor with hot sauce and down the hatch.

Nutrition

Too much cholesterol, saturated fat and sodium 

DT, Marshall and Paul Dig In!

We tried Spamsters Friday for an afternoon snack and we didn’t need dinner.  From our data 1/3 rd of the group will not feel well afterwards.  

Dessert?  Try the Spam Oreo combination the Sporeo!

A lost day? 

When I came to New Zealand I crossed the international dateline.  I “lost” January 19th the day that Obama was sworn into office.  Did I really lose that day?  I saw a live feed of it at the motel in Christchurch on the 20th in New Zealand.  Hmmmm?

While falling asleep last night I pondered how to explain the international dateline to 7th and 8th grade students.  If I jumped into the concept of the time zones I thought that would confuse.   So I am going to start with the definition of night and day. 

Time Zone Image from wwp.greenwichmeantime.co.uk/…/

24 hours is one day/night

In 24 hours our earth spins once on its axis.  The sun appears to rise and set.  It is just our perception we are really spinning towards and away from it into the darkness to return the next morning.   Depending on our latitude we experience different amounts of daylight.  By definition along the equator we receive equal amounts 12 hours of daylight and dark.   

24 hours spread around the world

It would make sense then that their would be 24 longitude lines with the zones inside representing 24 different time periods.  (Depending on how crazy you want to get with this you can start dividing each time period by 60 minutes then 60 seconds.  Wait that sounds like coordinates.  They are related.  Hmmmm! Disclaimer: Don’t read this unless you have good eyes and want to be really confused.  Some peppermint tea might help the nausea.) Now you are starting to understand how we created time and our clock.

The problem

If the earth remained still it could be January 19th all over the world at the same moment and it is for one second.  Then on that second after midnight it becomes the next day somewhere.  Uh oh!  So now what? 2 Date

Yeah!  The International Date Line

A line is drawn north south that indicates the new day.  That is basically it.  It is not mysterious just a way to try to capture time in a dynamic earth spin system.  Don’t forget time is nothing other than objects moving through space. 

In 1884 as people started to travel more quickly around the world a line was drawn exactly on the opposite side of the world from Greenwich, England (at 180 degrees). 

Image of International Timeline from-www.answers.com/topic/ international-date-line

The international time line is located out in the big Pacific and is altered to keep countries and other geographic/political entities on one day.  The tiny country of Kiribati had the line redrawn in 1995 so it wasn’t split.  Go Kiribati! 

Time Zones

Our country is broad enough to have four time zones.  Six if you include Alaska and Hawaii.   To reinforce our concept of the spinning earth, if you are on the east coast it is 6 PM and getting dark in the fall because it has already rotated away from the sun.  It will take four hours on the west coast for it to be pointing away from the sun and getting dark.  Looking at the map it would make sense that it is only 4 PM on the west coast. 

If you didn’t like my explanation try this one.

http://www.vistech.net/users/rsturge/dateline.html

Time Travel

For more on how the world would be without the timeline.

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/international_date.php

It is interesting to note that the time that I lost going west I will make back going east and I will be back to even with my minutes lived on the planet earth. 

If I don’t return would I be younger or older and would it depend where you were thinking about it?  

What amount of gravitational force downward or upward was DT feeling as he stood on the treadmill? 

Express your answers in Gs or percent Gs.  And show your method. 

Yesterday we were rocking and rolling with winds peaking out at 40-50 knots and swells of 3-4 meters. The boat rocks side-to-side and front to back.  I tried running on the treadmill and had to hold on and found it difficult.  Sometimes I felt really light and other times I felt really heavy.  The boats motion also has a side- to-side motion.  At breakfast we pondered how many Gs or (gravitational forces) I might have felt?  On earth without any other extraneous forces we feel one G and it is equivalent to our weight. 

The Experiment

Disregarding the running part that puts more and less G’s on my legs automatically, I stood on a bathroom scale on top of treadmill. 

The Data

The scale recorded my weight from 128 pounds to 168 pounds.  I’d assume my actual weight was in the middle around 148. 

Other interesting data

We also thought that the G’s would vary depending on the location that you were on the boat, my weight didn’t vary as much in the laundry room where the rotational radius is less.  My weight varied from 135 to 155 pounds. 

DT warming-up for another round

Photo from- http://kecute.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/hamster-wheel-race.jpg

Winner from Question #4 is Kathryn Jones from Platt Middle School, Congratulations!

Kathryn was one of three students to attempt last week’s question about clouds.   She was the only student attempting to explain her answer.  Kathryn said the clouds had something to do with the distance to land wind and dew point.  

It was hard to see any strong correlation of clouds to the data set. 

Clouds form when temperature drops condensing moisture.  A pressure drop can do the same thing.  We can also see clouds form at various times along the coast due to differential heating.  It is common to see fog along the coast in the morning.