Day 19 - Answers to Questions

Our noon position: Latitude: 36 23.448 North, Longitude: 150 15.747 West

Hey Ship2Shore students,

Great to hear from you, and many thanks for your wonderful questions!

To Kaisa and the 9^th graders from West Lafayette, we’re so glad you asked about the animals we’ve seen – gives us an opportunity to tell you about one of our favorite topics!

First, you wanted to know why we were surprised to see a Mako Shark:Other than the jolt of seeing a shark cruising underneath us, at night (!), the main thing here was that we were in an area people have referred to as an “oceanic desert”, meaning an area without much life, other than plankton, jellyfish, and other invertebrates. So a shark was a surprise...and just goes to show how biologically rich this area really is.

You also wanted to know about the most interesting animals we’ve seen so far…There have been MANY, so we’ll tell you about a few of our faves.

It's always exciting to see some of the bigger, charismatic creatures, like whales and sharks – we call these “mega fauna” (mega = BIG, fauna = animal). As big creatures ourselves, we tend to pay lots of attention to mega fauna, and sometimes overlook the smaller critters….. BUT, when you take a closer look, these smaller animals are some of the most amazing, cool creatures you can imagine, and play critical roles in our ecosystems.

Check out this picture of a Venus’s girdle that Joel snapped underwater – they swim sideways, and when they’re in escape mode, their bodies undulate rapidly, like waves. And when they are disturbed, they become “bioluminescent”, meaning they glow in the dark, along their edges.

Another favorite animal are our constant companions, the Laysan and Black Footed Albatross. Today we had about 8 swooping and diving by our boat at sunset. When the juvenile birds first take flight for the first time, they will stay flying for years without touching land – they even sleep flying! Seeing them is amazing, yet at the same time makes us sad – anyone have an idea why?

To the students from Lennox Middle School – we’re thrilled to hear that a group of you is doing a science project on our research! Please feel free to send us any specific questions – and when we return, we’d be happy to come speak to your class with more pictures and stories about what we’ve seen.

We’re very close to our next study area, so we’ll have more to share about marine life, and will introduce our next crew member Joel.

SHIP-2-SHORE EN ESPANOL

Aloha and gracias form the Captain and Crew of ORV Alguita!

Hola Kaisa y los los esutdiantes de West Lafayatte – nos alegra oir de ustedes y que quieran saber mas de los animales que hemos visto – es uno de los temas que mas nos guste!

Primero, querian entender porque nos sorprendio ver a un Tiburon Mako. Mas alla del susto de fijarse en un Tiburon nadando por debajo de nosotros, y de noche, el tema es que estamos en una region sabido como un desierto oceanico. Es decir, que no piensan que hay muchas especies a pesar de las medusas y el plankton. Por eso, no esperamos encontrar a un Tiburon….

Tambien, querian saber de los animales mas interestante que hemos visto. Pues hay MUCHOS, les contamos de unos preferidos.

Por supuesto es siempre emocionante ver a los animales mayores y carasmaticos, los dichos “mega fauna” (mega = grande, fauna = animales). Como organismos grandes, los humanos suelen prestar mas atencion a ellos y pasar por alto los criaturas pequenas….

PERO, cuando observas de cerca los animales chiquitos, descubres un mundo fascinante y muy chevere, que hacen un papel muy importante en nuestros ecosistemas.

Miren a ese “Venus’s girdle” – Joel saco una foto bajo el agua – nadan hacia un lado, y cuando quieren escapar, sus cuerpos undulan rapidamente como olas. Y cuando estan agitados, se hacen biolumenescente – es decir que brillan en la oscuridad.

Otro animal que nos gusta es nuestro companero constante, el Albatross Laysan y de patos negros. Hoy habia 8 volando y cayendo en pico cerca del bote al atardecer. Cuando los juveniles empiezan volar por primera vez, pueden seguir volando durante anos sin aterrizar – hasta que duerman en el aire! Verlos es algo impresionante, pero a la vez nos da pena – saben porque?

Y un saludo a los estudiantes de Lennox Colegio – nos anima que algunos de ustedes elijeron hacer su proyecto scientifico sobre nuestros investigaciones, que padre! Por favor, cualquier pregunta que tengan, dejanos saber – y cuando volvamos del viaje, seria un placer venir a su clase para compartir mas fotos y cuentos.

Estamos muy cerca al proximo region de estudios, asi que tendremos mas cuentos para compartir. Mientras tanto, Aloha y gracias del capitan y la tripulacion del ORV Alguita!