Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Welcome Message from the Research Crew

Welcome aboard Ship to Shore crew!
What a thrill to have you join us again so soon - this opportunity to cross the Indian Ocean came up very suddenly.....Marcus and I had barely unpacked our bags and settled in when the invitation came to join a Dutch expedition from Perth to Mauritius, traveling through another gyre. Many people don't know this, but there is in fact a gyre in the Indian Ocean.

This is a very special voyage, retracing Darwin's route around the world. The purpose is to look at the state of the oceans since his 5 year voyage on the HMS Beagle, and make 35 documentary films along the way, including one on plastic.

There are a number of incredible scientists on board, studying sea level rise, coral reefs, and a number of other topics. We will be featuring their work as well as sharing our observations about plastic - so we should all learn a lot of exciting new topics. There are also 25 crew members in charge of sailing the boat - an incredible, 250 foot long Clipper called the Stad Amsterdam. Here she is arriving in Perth just a few days ago, to stock up on supplies before heading back out.

We'd love for you all to do a quick search on Darwin and the HMS Beagle in the next week - you'll have more fun following our voyage that way.

We leave in 2 hours, so the next time you hear from us, we'll be sailing!

Ships ahoy and thanks for coming along,
Anna and Marcus

5 comments:

Shannon said...

Faith Lutheran Las Vegas, NV USA
Besides doing research what else are you doing to prevent pollution in the ocean?
-Shannon

Tim from Las Vegas said...

Because you are on a boat for an extensive amount of time, you don't get to see your family right? So how do stay in touch with them?
-Faith Lutheran HS 12th Grade

Anonymous said...

What motivated you to go on this trip for so long?
-Mike Faith Lutheran Las Vegas Nevada

Green Bag Lady Teresa said...

Teresa from Belmont University

Marcus and Anna, have a wonderful and safe trip. My classes and I will be following along!

Anonymous said...

Before you decided to set out to explore the Indian Ocean was research done to have a feel about the ocean itself and whats in it?
-Coleen
GWHS, Mangilao Guam
12th