Programs Blog

Monday, 06 Apr, 2026

Noon Position: (Lat and Long): alongside Gallows Bay Marina, Christiansted, St Croix

Log (nm): 0 nm

Weather / Wind / Sail Plan (from 1300 Watch Change): sunny, 29C (84F), 14 knots ESE

Description of location: Christiansted, St Croix, USVI

Greetings SEA friends and family! We welcomed our C326 Plastics and Biodiversity in the Sargasso Sea students on board last night after their busy travel day to St Croix, USVI. They are immersed in the ship community now, learning all the vital things they need know before we head out tomorrow (first to St John, and then into the North Atlantic Gyre beyond). New words like outhauls, binnacle, ladders, heads, travelers, galley, main salon are all slowly soaking in. We’ve formed watch groups and are dutifully completing safety training.

This program is designed to explore the intersections among biological systems, physical ocean environments, anthropogenic impacts, human communities, and policy applications, all centered in and around the unique Sargasso Sea. Our students are excited to focus on four main topics using oceanographic, ecological, and molecular tools on board, all viewed through the lens of microplastic pollution in the Sargasso Sea ecosystem: copepod biodiversity and community composition in relation to primary productivity, cryptic species boundaries in the zooplankton (specifically siphonophores), myctophid biodiversity and population structure, and the community composition of the microbial ‘plastisphere.’

We are excited to learn and grow here, together as a community. We will revel in the experience of shipboard living: spectacular views of the stars, fortuitous encounters with charismatic macrofauna, the exertion of hauling on lines and setting new sails, the joy of drinking coffee in the diffuse light of an offshore sunrise.

Take a little peek daily through this window into our experience as we forge our path back home to Woods Hole. We are happy to share this journey with you.

Cheers,
Sarah K

Dr. Sarah Kingston, Chief Scientist, Plastics and Biodiversity in the Sargasso Sea

Plastics and Biodiversity in the Sargasso Sea, C326

34 Souls on Board – SSV Corwith Cramer

Captain Allison Taylor

Chief Mate – Sara VanderLeest

2nd Mate – Shel Mauchline

3rd Mate – Marija Miklavcic

Chief Scientist – Dr. Sarah Kingston

1st Marine Technician – Raechel Zeller

2nd Marine Technician – Ali Fox

3rd Marine Technician – Anne Osborn

Molecular Teaching Assistant – Sophie (Süpi) Vallas

Myctophid/ Fish Teaching Assistant – Aiden Houlihan

Chief Engineer – Clare Feely

Assistant Engineer – Tadgh McKay

Steward – Shelby Mann

Assistant Steward – Sally Ferris

Program Assistant – Sophie Donnellan

A-watch

Cami Nakagawa

Tennyson Stinson

Everett Gamache

Ciaran Gavaghan

Keya Mookencherry

Gray George

B-watch

Kate Murphy

Lyra Gold

Quin Seifert

Liam Morrison

Olivia Carson

Shelly Hassett

C-watch

Zara Craig

Etta Lund

Natalie Ng

Simon Braun

Sam Ruemmler

Jakob Werdell

Oskar Landi

Students learn line handling from Deckhand Sam

Sunset view of Christiansted from the quarterdeck of Cramer