The seventh Stanford@SEA class arrived in Tahiti and
after loading aboard students, equipment and lots of food is headed for an
adventure in French Polynesia and Kiribati. We cast off our lines at 16:00 from
the port and headed out towards Rangiroa. The students are full of enthusiasm
and along with Stanford faculty Rob Dunbar, Barbara Block and SEA chief
scientist Jan Witting the science and nautical instructors are looking forward
to an ambitious sail plan. The seas are relatively calm, weather is balmy and
the trip ahead looks fantastic.
We plan to conduct reef surveys at populated and unpopulated
islands and atolls, blue water oceanography and deployments across the
equatorial regions that are experiencing above average oceanic warming
associated with a significant El Nino event. Stanford students have prepared
for the trip for five weeks at Hopkins Marine Station and practical
oceanographic experience will begin within a day.
I know I am looking forward to a great cruise with a
fantastic group of students a wonderful instruction team from SEA in Woods
Hole, Mass.
-Barbara Block
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