SEAPLEX

While at sea, the SEAPLEX cruise members will have very limited internet access.  They are writing at least one blog per day from sea and I will be posting it for them as well as responding to comments.  My name is Alison Cawood.  I am a graduate student at Scripps and I was part of the group the submitted the SEAPLEX proposal.  I was not able to go on the cruise, but I am providing land based support (such as posting blogs).   The blogs will be written by the science crew and volunteers (you can see their bios on the SEAPLEX website).   Today’s blog entry is from Chelsea Rochman.  There will also be at least one daily picture.

Chelsea writes:

Wow!!… and we are off! It is unbelievable how quickly time goes by. It seems like just days ago this cruise was just a pipe dream! I will never forget the day that I got the email to go on this adventure… it was a very exciting day. My name is Chelsea Rochman and I am one of the scientists on this cruise. Believe it or not, I have been interested in garbage since I was about five years old. It sounds odd to people when they ask me, “What do you plan to be when you grow up?” and I reply, “I want to study trash!”. It doesn’t sound too glamorous, however the issue of trash is a big one! But, I am sure if you are reading this you are aware! Looking back to when I was a little girl I would not have guessed I would be sitting here writing this blog as the New Horizon leaves San Diego and heads for what they call the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”! Today is the first day of our cruise, but not the first day on board. It all started two days ago when we began setting up for this expedition. The last few days have been a whirlwind of craziness: loading the ship, securing all the equipment (things have to be tied down so that they don’t roll around when the ship is moving), setting up labs and nets, and of course media in your face while it all goes down. It’s been fun, but crazy! As I write this we are passing Point Loma headed 1,000 miles out to the center of the Pacific. Together we are hoping to sea whales, birds, many other critters, and maybe even some plastics.  It sounds sad to hope for trash, but if we don’t find any, we can’t address any of our proposed questions, so… GARBAGE HERE WE COME!!  Thank you to Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, UC Ship Funds, and Project Kaisei for funding this cruise and making this happen. Wish us luck and follow us as we experience adventure, and of course lots of science in the next 19-and-a-half days at sea!

After setting sail earlier in the day, members of the SEAPLEX
expedition are trained in using a conductivity, temperature, and depth
(CTD) instrument. The data obtained from the instrument will help
scientists understand the structure of water in the high plastic areas
that will be encountered later in the research cruise.