Programs Blog

A Wonderful Day at Shoals Marine Lab

July 07, 2023

Author: A Watch – Andy, Avery, Cherry, Jai, Logan, Sasha, and Solange

Ship’s Log

Noon Position: (Lat and Long):  42 deg 59.3′ N x 070deg 37.3’WShip Heading (degrees):  195Ship Speed (knots): 0Log (nm): 292.8Weather / Wind / Sail Plan (from 1300 Watch Change): Sunny weatherthroughout the day!Description of Location:  Isle of Shoals Marine Laboratory (AppledoreIsland)

Today, almost all of the crew of the Cramer left our anchored position offof Appledore Island to explore the campus of Shoals Marine Lab, whosecoordinators work closely with SEA. The entire island is a gull colony,meaning that seagulls were surrounding our exploration of the trails andfacilities. One part of the field trip was learning about Shoals’ undergradresearch projects, which are supported by both Cornell University and theUniversity of New Hampshire.

To finish out our day, we visited a more protected tidal pool on the coastof the island, which we waded into in search of marine wildlife. While wewere at the pool, Theo and Andy skipped rocks across the water. Jai wentexploring on larger rocks further out with two friends. Solange practicedfor the marching band, and Cherry was analyzing the effect of erosion anddisplacement using large rocks. Crabs trembled in fear as Sasha and Averyflipped rocks over in search of these scared little beasts. Logan exploredthe rocks farther ashore, as well as some seaweed and grasses.If you are following our journey, you will know that we made a new friendyesterday (Pip the Land Bird). After building heartfelt connections withthis adorable little bird, we sadly said goodbye as he found a new home onthe Isles of Shoals. We will never forget the times we spent together, thebutter and water we fed him, and the slapping that occurred on the sciencedeck.

The rest of the day was spent working on our oceanography projects, as wedug through data collected on our trip so far. A Watch is focusing on theplankton found within the Neuston net, and the impacts of different levelsof salinity, depth, and temperatures.

Tonight, we’re anchored off of Appledore Island, and plan to set coursetomorrow. We’ve had a great day of exploring and can’t wait for even moretomorrow.

As said so profoundly by Pip before he left, “Tweet tweet, peck, tweet”.

A Watch – Andy, Avery, Cherry, Jai, Logan, Sasha, and Solange

https://sea.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/06-July-01small.jpghttps://sea.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/06-July-03small.jpg