GETTING CLOSER.....

June 7, 2001. Aboard the SSV Robert C. Seamans. We're 250 nautical miles from Hawaii, and sailing with strong northeast trade winds. We're keeping busy doing CTD casts (which measure salinity, temperature and density of the water) at 3,000 feet (1,000 meters) below the surface, and bongo tows (which look like bongo drums with nets that are dragged behind the ship to catch plankton). All students are working on their projects, which they'll start presenting to the entire group on Friday. The students have also led conservation discussions under the stars. -- Barb Block, chief scientist