Programs Blog

Author: Ada, Maya, Chenfei, Parker (C Watch)

Ship’s Log

Saturday, July 20, 2024
Position (Lat and Long): 40deg 07.4’N x 069deg 34.6’W
Log (nm):  415.8nm
Weather / Wind and Sail Plan:  Four lowers and jib tops’sl in lite southerly
winds.
Description of where we are sailing: Veatch Canyon ~ 80 nm south of Cape
Cod.

Starting off early in morning, C watch saw around 20 bottlenose dolphins, 2
sharks, and a beautiful sunrise during Dawn Watch!  The science team for C
watch processed the captured zooplankton in the Neuston Net, and they found
a very large amount of copepods! Throughout the day the science crew went
around the ship to get other shipmates guesses on how many milliliters of
copepods were caught in the Neuston Net. Pro-crew member Francesca was our
winner with the closest guess of 3,200ml, when the actual amount was
3,611ml!  During class we chose our end of program oceanographic projects in
our watches. After class, the opportunity arose for everyone to swim in
1,800m deep water near the continental shelf edge.  As people were in the
water, several people came across Sargassum seaweed that had a fish a crab
and many shrimps swimming and crawling  around this floating habitat.  The
daytime Neuston tow also contained a rare nudibranch, known as the Blue
Dragon (Glaucus atlanticus), a sub-tropical species that feeds on jellies
such as Portuguese Man’O War (Physalia physalia) and Blue Buttons (Porpita
porpita). It can be found in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Indian,
oceans.  Throughout the day many marine mammals stopped by for a small
visit, like two Fin whales who were traveling along with a few dolphins. Now
that we are seven days into the program, we are now halfway done with our
sea voyage.

Ada, Maya, Chenfei, Parker (C Watch)