Today's noon position: 24°25'8.40"N 139°18'0.00"W
Friday 19, 2009
Day 10. Yet another day in transit, which means that we haven’t been able to sample. We are making a beeline for the suspected accumulation zone (see image), and we can’t afford to spare the time it would take us to sample en route. Sampling while underway requires slowing the boat down to a speed in the range of 1.5-3 knots, and if we want to have the time to accomplish all of our research goals we can’t afford to travel at those low speeds.
Developments on the route front--at this point we have decided to extend this leg of the voyage in order to accommodate our original sampling goals at 35N along the International Dateline. The crew has decided we are all willing to do what it takes and spend a bit of extra time in order to gather the data we originally set out for.
Days in transit can seem a little slow, but they also provide time to take care of some of the other important stuff (like route finding and sampling protocol for the potential accumulation zone we will be investigating). Capt. Moore spent part of the day working out those details for the study site, for which our ETA is Sunday. He has decided to sample on a transect through this zone, making sure to trawl within the zone and on the outskirts of the zone, both before we enter it and after we exit it. We will also deploy the sea anchor at some point within the potential accumulation zone to allow us to survey the area while diving.
These travel days also provide us with ample time to decompress between watches. Several of us are set up on a semi-regular workout routine (including jump roping, hula hooping, mat exercises and yoga-all of which are exponentially more difficult while underway!) We’ve also have had plenty of time to catch up on reading in the past couple of days. The Alguita has quite the cornucopia of reading material on board-everything from Vonnegut to Jared Diamond to scientific peer-reviewed papers to cheesey surf romance novels . Keeping with the spirit of the ocean, some of the books about epic maritime sagas are getting passed around, like “Fastnet Force 10” which Drew plowed through in one day. Joel and Jeff have been glued to the chess board, and we have all been working a bit in the kitchen to try and use up all of the fresh produce that is turning. We recently decided to utilize the espresso maker, which has been a treat for those of us with an early watch.
Today’s wildlife citing: a juvenile flying fish has made its way on deck, and that’s about it. Other than a minor electrical issue with our generator, there are no problems to report. Just smooth sailing and a happy (although more than ready for some sampling action) crew.
From the PAcific, Nicole Chatterson, Vessel Blogger
REPLIES TO COMMENTS
Congratulations Marcus and Anna on both your wedding and the near completion of your epic education ride from Canada to Mexico along the Pacific Coast. Your efforts to bring Algalita's startli
ng findings to the public regarding plastic pollution in the ocean are without precedent. The JUNKride's ultra low carbon "tire prints" embody the ideals of the entire environmental movement. You've set a steller example for everyone and shown that combining work with zero carbon emissions is possible; not only possible but fun. Tha Captain and crew of ORV Alguita salute you as we sail along with our zero carbon "hull prints" through the great North Pacifuc Subtropical Gyre
2 comments:
Jump roping and hoola hooping, I'll have to work on my skills. When you mentioned NOAA providing information, is it safe to assume that accumulation occurs in high pressure zones?
It was great to hear my son's voice on Father's Day. Thanks, Jeff. Sorry the connection had so much back ground noise. It still made me smile.
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