The Knob (Science at SEA Session 2)

AJ, Anna & Julia

This blog post is from Class C-297B (Session 2), Science at SEA, which is now on campus and which will join the SSV Corwith Cramer on July 22nd.

Students at SEA enjoyed their morning hike to the Knob to learn about Cape Cod’s geography, native peoples, and whaling history.

In oceanography we learned about the coriolis and gyres. We demonstrated the coriolis effect on a spinning seesaw and threw tennis balls to both ends. We noticed that the ball would veer. During Nautical Science, we continued to prepare for the ship. We discussed the importance of damage control and then we practiced patching holes in a pipe. We worked in groups to fix the burst pipe with different material.

Later in the day we watched two movies about whaling. One of which was Moby Dick: The True Story. This documentary was based off of a 14 year old cabin boy, who was a crew member of the Essex, a boat sunk by a sperm whale. This is also the boat that inspired the classic story, Moby Dick, written by Herman Melville. The second film, Absalom Boston: Black Nantucket Whaling Captain described the life of Absalom Boston, a black whaling captain of an all black crew.

Today was a fun and productive day. We are excited for what is to come next.

- AJ, Anna & Julia