Here are our prior photos:
THE WAVE
This is the moment before a large wave came in over the transom while we were putting the pinger on the dredge. EVERYONE IS SAFE, but we were scrambling in some water for awhile getting things sorted out!
The seas continued to build yesterday as the wind stayed up around 30 knots.
July 11th
This flying fish came aboard with a large wave! It is not really easy to see how long the wings are, but they start just in back of the gills and extend for most of the length of the body. This is a two-winged flying fish, or Exocetus (genus).
We often see schools of flying fish when the ship is cruising. These vary in size from one or two to groups of fifty or more, all airborne at once. They can fly above the waves sometimes for more than a hundred meters. Really impressive to watch! I am trying to get a video clip of them, but they are FAST.
Life From The Depths Below:
This small starfish-like creature came from a depth of nearly 3,000 meters. It's name is Brittle Star or (aka) Ophiuroidea. This has changed little from its' ancestors back in the Jurassic Period. It is cool because this echinoderm is never found in waters shallower than 500 meters, so it is not likely to ever be seen by divers! We found its' fossilized "cousin" two weeks ago.
It is also interesting because anything living in water this deep does not ever see the sun and yet there is still life on the ocean floor. Living worms have been found near the deepest ocean trenches, in regions of hot escaping volcanic gas. Amazing...
4th of July morning:
I saw the rainbow from a porthole in the lab and quickly went out on deck. Just below the rainbow, where it looks like a small mountain range, was a dense bank of cloud moving rapidly toward the ship. It was cool to watch the water change to whitecaps as the squall line moved in, and within five minutes I was drenched. (Yes, I went back in.)
The day has stayed really wet so far, an rolling ride.. Rodeo time on the high seas.
updated July 15, 2007 from the Indian Ocean
Read more about our front page photos:
Still a Rough Ride
Nope, not a quieter today either.
The wind is still holding steady around 30 knots. Decided that I didn't even need to workout. With constant bracing for the ships' motion, it's a great workout! We may get to dredge late tonite in these seas. Will see...
Rocks or Muffins
When I took this picture, I was not sure whether it was a cherry or strawberry muffin. (both good) I was sure about labeling the fingers and I had to ask scientists about the rocks.
Breccia (lower right) is a general term that describes a rock composed of various rock fragments. The different rock fragments are called clasts. The material that holds the fragments together like glue is called the matrix. The clasts have angular edges because they were essentially fresh pieces of broken rocks before the matrix glued them together. In this photo the clasts are greenish and the matrix is pink.
The rock at the top of the photo is a pink phosphorite vein. Phosphorite is formed by chemical reactions in sea water and can be other colors besides pink!
On July 5th:
This Tropicbird circled the forward deck of the Revelle several times before flying off to the west. This sea bird spends most of its' life at sea, resting sometimes on the water. There are several nesting sites on islands in the Indian Ocean.
We have had several different birds sighted here along the ridge. One Boobybird stayed with us for two days, resting and grooming on both the main mast and forward mast. It finally flew off to the south.
In the tropics:
sunsets are typically fast because the sun is so close and goes beyond the horizon at almost a right angle. Further north or south they last longer!
But, last night made up for it. There were bands of clouds near the horizon and the sun kept going in and out of the clouds as it neared sunset. The "show" continued for close to an hour before the sun became masked by clouds. It was absolutely awesome.
