| Sea Connections Summer Institute for
Teachers is in the second week today with
boarding at Tonnessen Park, State Pier, New
Bedford at 0830. Eighteen participants are aboard
for the four day program after an intensive
experience ashore looking at the science
curriculum frameworks, studying the ecology of
coastal habitats, exploring the estuary of
Slocum's River at the Lloyd Center for
Environmental Studies, exploring Barney's Joy
Beach with an intro to physical forces of the
coast and oceanography, navigation and nautical
sciences and preparation for four days at sea. After an intensive orientation at the
dock, we left under main engine for outside Cape
Cod via Quicks' Hole in the Elizabeth Islands and
Great Round Shoal off Nantucket.
We set the four lowers and jib
tops'l but continued to motor in the light
breeze. The tidal current was fair through
Vineyard Sound and into Nantucket Sound before
turning against us for the late afternoon and
early evening.
Our first sampling station was
in Cross Rip Channel (shown in two insets) at
1805 just NW of Nantucket. We sampled the water
and measured for dissolved oxygen, salinity,
temperature and pH. A plankton net went over for
a timed run to develop qualitative and
quantitative conclusions when compared to other
tows later in the trip.
By 2315 we completed another
station just after passing the Racon Buoy at the
outside entrance to the Great Round Shoal
Channel. We made the Atlantic Ocean by midnight!
You can see in another inset the narrow and
winding channel through the shoals. Thankfully,
we had good visibility and our electronics were
working effectively.
Wind: SW Force 2
Visibility: Excellent
Captain: Gregg
Swanzey
Program Coordinators: Crista Mellican
Program Director: Alan Lee Hankin, Ph.D.
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