FeMO3 Dive Cruise 2008
Report Day 02 -- Tuesday 23 September 20 -- Videoconference with Sehome High School Students and Emergency Port Call
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FeMO3 Dive Cruise 2008 |
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My day started at about 5:20 am when Anthony and I got up to prepare for a videoconference with my first period class at Sehome High School in Bellingham, WA. The goal was to communicate via the SeaNet satellite link to the WWW internet. About 5:55 we made contact and I was able to introduce my class to Chief Scientist Craig Moyer and National Science Foundation program manager Brian Midson. The students had been reading about FeMO on the website and I’d talked about it in class. They came prepared with great questions: Do the mats keep growing or only reach a certain size? Are these bacteria only found at Loihi? Is Loihi the only volcano with this chemistry and these bacteria? Do the scientists find undiscovered organisms? Does volcanic activity sustain life or affect the types of bacteria? Do we get bored onboard? How long can Jason stay down?
Craig, Brian and I answered these questions to the best of our knowledge. The conversation was very enjoyable despite being choppy due to the ship’s narrow satellite bandwidth. The conference lasted a little more than ½ an hour, was a great success and we really enjoyed it. I hope we can continue to communicate with students throughout the cruise so that students and scientists can continue to talk to each other. Many of those on board asked about my students and spoke of their own experiences as young students.
There are many reasons this research cruise might appeal to my students: Jason is a high tech robot diving on an active volcano. The people making it happen are a diverse group of researchers and technicians with interests ranging from electrical engineering to microbiology to volcanology. But beyond these reasons there are the local connections. The Chief Scientist works at Western Washington University which is only a 10 minute walk from the Sehome High School campus. The ship is operated by the University of Washington about 1.5 hours south on the freeway. The ship’s home port is Seattle and when moored there she is visible from freeway. Many of her crew are from the Pacific Northwest. And finally the Thompson spent several months at the shipyard in Bellingham the last time she was refurbished.
Early in the morning the R/V Thompson stopped in lee of the Big Island to test the new winch wire in 4200 meters of water. During or shortly after testing the Thompson’s ailing chief mate was advised by the radio medical service to get to a hospital as soon as possible. We steamed into Kona Roads, the small boat was put into the water and the mate taken to shore where he was delivered to a hospital. The latest report is that he received IV antibiotics and is doing much better. We wish him a swift and complete recovery.
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