Chapter XV: Welcome to your new home, please watch your first step.

Our six new crew members have departed the ship. At noon today we arrived at Nihoa Island after an uneventful night of lots of seals sleeping. After a brief safety meeting we launched the small boat and prepared to release our seals two by two.

It was a pretty simple process:
1. Place stretcher net in front of cage.
2. Open Front of Cage.
3. Open Back of Cage.
4. Have vet play with rear flippers to encourage forward movement.
5. Have seal cooperate by walking onto stretcher net.
6. Wrap seal up in stretcher net.
7. Carry seal to boat.
8. Lower boat.
9. Take seal to Nihoa.
10. Show seal new beach.
11. Let seal hop over the side to freedom.

It worked wonderfully well. In just about an hour and a half all the seals were swimming around their new surroundings checking out the new beach and crystal clear waters.

The whole transport went really well thanks to all the scientists, volunteers, crew, and officers aboard the ship who all went above and beyond to help these seals have a smooth and safe ride. We really thank everyone on board for their aid. It was nice to see everyone turn out to see the pups off this morning.

Now, it is up to the pups and Nihoa. Hopefully they will be able to find a safer haven with more abundant food than the seals that were left behind at French Frigate Shoals. We will be monitoring them with satellite tags and follow up with visual observations next year.

So this will likely be my last blog entry for this cruise. I am sure that one of the other gifted authors will keep it going for the last couple of days of work. Tomorrow, Tenaya, Chad, Bob, Jenny and I are going to try to get off to camp on Nihoa for the next week to study the seals living here. The swells are up so landing can be extremely treacherous. Wish us luck. Thanks to everyone who has been reading this (I know there are at least a few). We hope you all learned something and got a chance to share our fun and adventure. I just want to say I have enjoyed working with everyone that has been on the is cruise...they have all been wonderful colleagues and friends. They busted their butts for these seals and projects. I wish them the best of luck in everything and hope they are all well.

So...I guess on that note I say Aloha! Be well, take care.
Charles

P.S. Kehaulani, if you are reading this, we are sorry you can't be here for this part of the journey. But we will follow your guidance and acknowledge Nihoa and the Kupuna buried there every day. We will ask for guidance and wisdom and protection.

KU PAKU KA PALI O NIHOA I KA MAKANI
THE CLIFF OF NIHOA STANDS AS A RESISTANCE AGAINST THE WIND.
SAID OF ONE WHO STANDS BRAVELY IN THE FACE OF MISFORTUNE.

XIV: All expense paid cruise...weaners welcome

Today is the day that we brought aboard our new passengers, or stowaways as some folks are calling them. We were gambling that we would be able to get back out and find the seals all in one day to bring to the ship. We felt it was better letting them swim freely while we processed their blood work instead of setting up a pen on the beach for them. We started searching for the little guys at about 730 and our gamble paid off.



Almost immediately we found two of our seals and by the time we had dropped them off at the ship and returned to Tern Island, Derrick, Monica, Mark and Shawn had found another two. After a couple of more hours all the seals were on board and in their cages. There was a lot of excitement on the ship for the new members and everyone came out to watch the seals being brought on board. The seals calm down quickly once they were put in their cages and lounged under the misters that kept them cool in the heat. Immediately after bringing them on board we began a 24 hour watch to monitor their health and safety. So far everything is going very well and we expect to have the seals dropped off around noon tomorrow at their new home.

Thanks to the crew and science staff that helped with the watches and respected all the quarantine and disturbance restrictions put in place for these pups. We will update soon once we get the seals off the Sette and into the water at Nihoa.

XIII: French Frigate Shoals: Ditch Diggers

The seal crew wasn't the only group on island hard to work. Tern Island called in for the best and the brightest researcher volunteers to do the ultimate in scientific work, dig a ditch.

Tern Island is currently under a rewiring project for their new solar energy system. Since Tern Island has such a huge bird population the wires have to be underground and out of reach of the curious bird brains. The wires stretch from one building to another resulting in a 100 feet x 2 feet of necessary ditch digging. Tern Island manager, Dave Zabriskie (not to be mistaken with the champion cyclist by the same name) took on the challenge of digging the trench without the help of a professional construction crew. Thus, Dave sacrificed his time and his back to accomplish the task without a $20,000 bill to show for it. Little did he realize that he would have to do this all by himself...oops! Luckily for Dave's back, the Sette arrived with 7 enthusiastic body-building scientists with backs of steel just in time to save the day. The champion ditch-digging extraordinaires included: Angie the Queen of Spades, Colleen the Conqueror of boulders, Amarisa the Vertical Digger, Katy the pick-ax whacking Queen, Cindy the Motivator, Jim the King of all that is digging and Jenny the Energizer Bunny. It was tough at times, but we kept the moral alive with rounds of "I've been working on the railroad" and "Chain Gang".

With a quick lunch underhand, the chain gang returned to the obliterate the remaining rocks and sand that stood between them and victory. As Angie returned to the Barracks for a much deserved water run, she ran across the team leaders of all things monk seals, The Chad and Charles. She bounced into the kitchen with boundless energy and asked them how their day was going. Barely able to lift their heads, they groaned and said "Holy Cow, we're so tired. We stood around all morning and finally caught two seals." Angie patted them once on the shoulders and returned to her magnificent crew of 7 slaving away in the heat of the day. (note: OK, the seal team had been working for hours and continued working late into the evening. They are ALL awesome and did an excellent job that day!)

With the hard work and determination of the ditch digging extraordinaires, the ditch was completed in just over three hours. Dave was stunned and delighted. The ditch that he thought would take weeks was completed in one day. The crew rewarded themselves with hours of ocean entertainment including snorkeling and jumping off the dolphin. Good Work!

Chapter XII: French Frigate Shoals - The Search for the Six

Our journey is coming to an end, but there is much work to be done. Some of us on the cruise have traveled all the way and most of the way back down the chain, for the work that is being done these next few days.

We have arrived at French Frigate Shoals to take on new passengers. One group is four scientists that have been at French Frigate for the last 4 months monitoring the monk seals in the atoll: Shawn, Derrick, Monica, and Mark. The other part of their job was to set up deterrents at key locations in the atoll to keep sharks from eating suckling and recently weaned pups. This group of scientists went above and beyond the normal exceptional job done at this camp. They did all their work, retagged a bunch of adult animals (that's where we got our butts kicked earlier in the cruise), found a plethora of poop, and much more. Great job team FFS.

The second group of passengers is a little different. We are on a mission to find six young seals that have weaned in the last month. These brave critters are going to be moved to Nihoa in an effort to increase their likelihood of surviving to adulthood. FFS is a tough place to be born and grow up with most seals dying before they ever reach adulthood. The seals will be captured, health screened, instrumented with a satellite tag, and then transported on our ship to Nihoa. Phase One happened on our first day at Nihoa...find them and capture them for the medical screening and instrumentation.

Team FFS was well prepared to greet us and get to work. Within an hour of landing at Tern Island we had our first seal and all went smoothly. Over the course of a very long and hot day we were able to catch 4 of our candidates. After capture we spent several long hours late into the night working up the blood to make sure the seals were all healthy enough to transport to their new home. Tenaya is a trooper, she worked the hardest and the longest of us all.

The second day was more of the same except, thankfully, we only had to capture two more little guys. The work went off without a hitch and we returned to the ship for another late night for Tenaya and Jenny (you guys are stars). I might have been playing Rock Band when I should have been working.

We also had to clean and sterilize the cages the pups would be traveling in and we got the whole team together to do that. Over course Chad, the Chief, stood above us and directed our actions.

Chapter XI: Lisianski Drive-By

Hello dedicated readers. We got caught up in our work again and were remiss in our blogging duties. So where did we leave off...Oh yes, Pearl and Hermes Reef. After an overnight transit and several more hours of rock band we found ourselves, once again, off the island of Lisianski. We had just a very short stopover to pick up our two fieldcampers from earlier in this adventure, Angie and Kenady. That took about an hour and we were off....

Yeah I know that wasn't very exciting but seriously people, there isn't much I can embellish here. But here is a photo of my band. There are a couple of other members not pictured here.

Chapter X: Destination Pearl and Hermes

After losing a much needed hour of sleep (Midway time change), we arrived at Pearl and Hermes to drop off the final seal camp.

Now, as you read earlier on the blog, Charles digs a mean long drop. But he’s got NOTHING on Jason. Ever the perfectionist, Jason didn’t just want a long drop, he built a throne, complete with water in the tank, comfort seating and fresh flowers to boot. Even the native wildlife was impressed.

It was hard leaving Jason, Jesse, Kathleen and Marie behind on PHR, and as we headed toward the boat, we couldn’t help but think how much we would miss them. Luckily we had banana splits and Rock Band waiting on board to console us!

One last comment: CO is a maniac on the drums!

Chapter IX: One Perfect Day at Midway

This blog was written by Colleen and Jenny, peripheral members of the monk seal family, kinda like Cousin It but less hairy. (Note from Charles: but they are as short and mumble incoherently about putting throttle on the situation).

We rose early and made ourselves conspicuous on the deck so that our fearless leaders would have no choice but to take us along on their day’s adventure. We boarded the small boat with coxswain Chad, mate Max, Charles and Jason and set out to perform monk seal surveys. Upon arriving at Eastern Island, we were greeted by a curious, untagged weaner, swimming toward the boat.

We split up with team JJ (Jason and Jenny) headed in one direction and team CC (Charles and Colleen) headed in the other. Monk seal surveying is not a simple walk on the beach. You have to think like a detective…and like the paparazzi. We scanned the beach for signs of a seal, like a trail in the sand heading up into the bushes or a big lump in the veg line. Once a seal was sighted, we went into stealth mode, creeping along the edge of a bush and keeping as low to the ground as possible while trying to avoid the monstrous spiders (500 lbs seals are no match for Jason and Charles, but spider webs pose a real threat). Our mission: to identify, assess and photograph the seal without being noticed.

Did I mention the treasure hunt? “Treasure” means different things to different people. For scientists, it’s satellite tags and monk seal poop. And so the day began. Team JJ was slow but thorough. They only made it across a fraction of the island, but they identified 3 males from Kure, found 3 poop samples, and collected a piece of molted skin. Team CC was much more ambitious, covering ¾ of the island and sighting 3 seals, but they scored no scat (“Chuck the poop guy,” not living up to his self-appointed title.)

After lunch, a bunch of folks from the ship rendezvoused at North Beach for a refreshing dip, but there was much of the island still to be explored: the doctor’s cemetery, mall, and three story ceramic albatross. Engineers James and Garry headed off to shoot pool, but Jenny and Colleen could not resist the amazing photo op below. Now, we’re not going to comment on anyone’s billiardesque abilities, but let’s just say after two games in as many hours, it ended in a draw. (A deciding match would’ve been too painful!)

The place to see sharks is just below the ship pier where big fish congregate amongst the concrete pillars. Colleen and Jenny dared each other to swim to the end of the pier hoping and fearing to see the huge tiger shark rumored to patrol the waters. It was very dark and spooky. Colleen spotted a shark deep below the layer of uluas, while Jenny made sure that Colleen was between her and the shark.

Speaking of sharks, that night was the first ever World Championship Pearl and Hermes Transit Poker Tournament. Stakes were high, as the winner would walk away with a coveted glass float. The finalists were Chuck the poop guy, the Riddler (CO), Chad the chip shuffling, Vegas-trained, seal wrangler and the uninitiated pollywog of the group Stud Poke (that’s poe kay as in delicious Hawaiian sashimi) who brought nothing but her intimidating stealy glare to the table. In the end after seven hours of blinding, bluffing, washing and cutting, Chad would reign victorious.

Chapter VIIIB: Kure - The start of the road back down

Okay, so we have all been a little slack with the blog lately. Sorry to all the dedicated readers (mom). I will honestly say that it is because we have been working hard, recovering from some injuries, battling some sea sickness, and watching some movies. So, to catch up with the last few days we are going to have to condense things a little bit.

The second day on Kure was spent moving the rest of Jessie's field gear to the ship and the seal team kept searching the island for seals to tag. At the end of the first day, we had Jessie get smacked across the jaw with rear flippers and Chad was bit by an adult seal. Basically we continued the same pattern on day 2. We started surveying at about 8 am with Jason, Chad, Jessie, Kathleen, Marie and myself. The highlight was Kathleen got to tag her first adult seal and did great. We got 2 seals done before lunch at which time our team was dropped to just Jason, Chad, Jessie, and myself.


The third animal we caught was a skilled opponent. No matter how hard we tried he kept managing to avoid the net so finally I stood right over him for a better shot at capturing him. The seal saw an opportunity and took it. With what felt like all the strength his 400 lbs body could muster, he launched his lower body straight up between my open legs...I won't explain it in detail but I will say that I was largely incapacitated for the rest of the capture with nothing but small whimpers coming from my mouth. Sometimes I wonder if tagging is worth it.

The fourth animal went smoothly, but the fifth ended up briefly dislocating Chad's pinky.


We then met up with Tenaya and Kehau and caught the last two seals of the day. We received only one very minor temporary injury when an adult male threw a flipper full of sand into Jason's eye. He was trying to net the seal at the time and continued to do so for about 15 seconds more when he finally turned to no one, held out the net to empty air and said "I have sand in my eyes and can't see a thing." Blindness aside, it went smoothly and Tenaya speedily tagged her first two adult seals.

So exhausted from having caught 7 seals (about 2500 lbs of seal) in a day we called it quits and headed back to the ship. By then almost everything was loaded and we were set for a half a day of seal catching the next morning before departure.

The next morning: Thank goodness...bad weather! Seal operations were called off due to low visibility and choppy conditions. We were all terribly disappointed. So goodbyes were said on Kure and 4 State scientists/volunteers were brought aboard for transport back to Honolulu. The Sette turned and started back down the chain...banging into the swell...people got sick. Overall, Kure was a success. We got everyone on board safely and managed to retag 9 seals without serious injury to ourselves or the animals. Hopefully, through our efforts, the field camp will have an easier time identifying seals next year. On to Midway.

Scientist of the Day: Tenaya N.

If you need someone to take care of your undernourished monk seal, the our SOD is the person to call. Tenaya has been involved in monk seal recovery efforts for several years. She has field camped at Laysan, headed up captive care efforts at Midway and Honolulu, and is now going to be studying the relocation of seals to and the ecology of the population at Nihoa. Tenaya is currently doing her Masters at Moss Landing Marine Lab.

When asked what famous person Tenaya would like to meet, she responded "I don't want to meet someone famous." She is so real.

Tenaya's favorite dessert is her mom's chocolate cake...appropriately called Mum's Chocolate Cake.

Tenaya's favorite book is Banana Bottom by Claude McKay or anything by Jane Austen.

Chapter VIII: Kure- The end of the Road

Okay, some days there is so little going on that it is hard to think of something to write about. Other days, though, there is so much you don't know where to begin. Today was one of those days. Let me warn you in advance...this story involves craft making, fires on board, long hot treks across deserted beaches, and a solid right upper cut and a bloody lip.


The first order of business today was building stretcher nets. Most of the remaining team gathered together to try to finish 4 nets that are going to be used to transport the weaned seals that we will be moving from French Frigate Shoals to Nihoa Island in a week. The requires taking some cargo netting and attaching it to a couple of wood poles and lacing line along the poles to keep the net in place. Apparently, everyone other than myself was adept at this task. We were able to get most of the nets done prior to being rained out. The final crafting of the nets will take place in the next couple of days.


As Kure grew closer and closer, we started to get prepared for going to Green Island, the largest of the two islets in the atoll. Suddenly the air was split with a shrieking of the alarm bell...FIRE!! To be more accurate the air was first split with an announcement that this was just a drill. So, we all drop what we are doing and head up to our muster location so Chad can account for all of us. Then we stand and wait while the crew battles a fake fire.


We barely have enough time catch our breath after the fire drill before the alarms are ringing again...ABANDON SHIP! For this drill, we each have to grab long pants, a hat, our life vest, and our survival suit. Then we meet at a pre-assigend lifeboat and wait. New people on board have to practice putting on their survival suit which looks like a bright red Gumby suit. I have provided a photo of Colleen donning her suit. She looks pretty excited huh? I think her suit is about 3 sizes too large.

Finally at 1430 we arrive at Kure Atoll. Our mission at Kure is to pickup Jessie L. who has been doing monk seal work on the islands since May. Jessie is going to be joining Jason, Kathleen and Marie at Pearl and Hermes for a month or so. We were also dropping off Daniel who was going to be joining the group of researchers working for the State. While on the island we were planning on tagging any seals that had lost flipper tags over the years. The flipper tags are important for us to be able to easily identify and monitor the seals.



While we were headed into the island we were escorted by three spinner dolphins. I tried to take pictures but it was just way too choppy. We landed at Green Island and were greeted by many happy campers. After long hellos and sharing of stories it was business time. Kehau lead us in a chant to ask for wisdom from the islands and our experience. Then we started walking the beach looking for any seals that might need tagging. It was at this point that things kind of started going downhill.

The first seal we found was KSO8, an adult male that was born in 1993. Chad was restraining the head, I was grabbing the pectoral flippers, and Jason was holding the flippers while Jessie tagged it. Everything went smoothly, but we could only get 1 of 2 flipper tags in him.

The second seal was YG10, an adult female that was born at French Frigate Shoals and relocated to Kure in 1990. This capture was not as smooth. YG10 is adept at avoiding capture. At one point near the end of our attempt, she snaked around the net and nipped Chad...well it was more like she tried to swallow his elbow. Needless to say, we ended that attempt. Nicely done YG10.

Our last seal for the day was KD11 and adult female that was absolutely ENORMOUS. Jason was in charge of the net and head restraint, Chad pectoral flippers, and I was handling the rear flippers. We got her in the net and restrained and things were going pretty smoothly. Near the end of the tagging she started to fight a bit. As we were releasing her, she kicked out hard and smacked Jessie across the jaw with her rear flippers. Unbelievable Jessie took the hit without hitting the ground...that it a pretty strong hit coming from a 400+ seal. KD11 was let go without injury, but Jessie received a fat bloody lip and sore jaw for her efforts.

I think today belonged to the seals.

We called it a day after that and headed back to the small boats for the ride back to the Sette. A little bruised and battered but looking forward to doing it all again tomorrow.
Here is a picture of me with our coxswain Bruce.



Scientist of the Day: Jessie L.

Jessie has worked with the monk seal program for 4 years and when she isn't leading the fieldcamps at Pearl and Hermes or Kure, she is heading up our logistics.

When Jessie was asked what she wanted the most after 92 days at Kure Atoll her response was...a hot bath.

Jessie's favorite sound is the plaintive whimper an albatross chick makes when it is begging for food.

The first book Jessie remembers getting from the Library is Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell.

Chapter VII: And on the Seventh Day..Lisianski

Today was a day farewells and actually a bit of work. We stopped at Lisianski to drop off Brenda and Tracy who will be on the island for about a month to do some monk seal work. Angie and Kenady who were just picked up yesterday, are going to help out for a few days while we transit up the chain.

Several scientists went ashore to help set up the camp and a small group walked around the island to try to find some seals that had been instrumented with satellite tags earlier in the year. The study with the satellite tags was to help us learn why some juvenile seals survive while others don't seem to get enough food. Perhaps something in their dive behavior, foraging locations, or diet will give us a clue as to what makes a young seal successful. Here is a photo of one of the juveniles with a satellite tag (Photo by Simon Allen)



Camp set up includes putting up tents for sleeping and working, hooking up the solar power so people can work on their data computers, organize all the gear and food, and, most importantly, dig the long drop. For those of you don't know, the long drop is the field toilet. I tackled the task with my team of Colleen, Jenny and Angie. Jason came in at the end for some additional shoveling. It was actually quite tricky as the loose sand keeps collapsing as you try to dig the hole...you end up having to just squat in it and use your hands to dig. But in the end, as you can see in this last photo, the toilet was completed but perhaps sat a little high.

So after lots of effort, we had to bid our farewells to Team Lisianskit and depart for our next port of call, Kure Atoll. We will be there in 19 hrs. Time to get our rest.

Chapter VI Part Deux: Fish On! and Other Happenings

Scientist ready for deployment

So we arrived at Laysan Island on Tuesday 8/19. A bunch a people went ashore. Three scientists (Kenady R., Angie K. and Colleen S.) and lots of gear (and possibly a few insects) came off Laysan en route to Honolulu. There were many moments of excitement and awe as various people experienced various things on island, but they will have to tell you about them. I crewed a small boat for the day, running gear and people to and fro.

Late in the afternoon after all personell and equipment were safely on board, the ship set sail for Lisiankski Island. In the meantime it was fish time. Monk seal girls rock at fishing!

Tracy, Kehaulani and Tenaya show off their catch.

Chapter VI: It is with great pleasure I introduce to you...Laysan

After a two day transit we awoke this morning with land off our bow. We had made the long journey from Mokumanamana to Laysan Island.

Today our mission was very simple, go to shore and rescue the two field campers, Angie and Kenady, that had been stationed there since May. We were also picking up one US Fish and Wildlife volunteer, Colleen, who would be hitching a ride back to civilization with us.

The good weather we experienced at our first two stops stayed with us today, and the waters near the island were almost as still as a lake. This is good thing since the channel leading into the island can close out in bad weather preventing us access to our people. It was very smooth sailing today.

A view of the USFWS service camp on the island.




While several people helped load our field gear up on the small boats, I took a small group of scientists and crew on a short tour of the island to show them the local wildlife. The picture to the left shows a couple of great frigate birds and noddys resting on some crosses.





Here is a black spot sergeant major damsel fish, I think. Either way, they have a great genus name...Abudefduf. He was chasing the small schooling fish in the shallows.

Anyway, the packing and transport of the gear was quick and easy and we got away early. I have no doubt the rescued campers are happy to be on the ship and have already spent a large part of their time eating fresh salad and ice cream, drinking anything with ice in it, and, of course, checking email.

The highlight of the evening was supposed to be a Fantasy Football draft with many of the scientists and ship crew, however ESPN Fantasy Football has let us down. We will try again another night.

Oooh, last minute entry. We pulled out Rock Band on Xbox 360 this evening. Many new folks playing and by and large they rocked it. Award goes to Jenny S. for being absolutely fearless with the vocals.

Scientist of the Day: Brenda B. and Tracy W.

Its a double dose of scientists today. Brenda and Tracy are both part of our Population Assessment program and are going to be spending a few weeks camped at Lisianski Island monitoring the seals, collecting scats, and tagging weaned seals that were born on the island.

Brenda B.'s favorite things to do are raising service dogs for the blind, belly dancing, and hiking.

If she could have one food right now, it would be dark chocolate.

Her first concert was Leon Russell

Tracy W. focuses on our main Hawaiian Islands data and is the person you might talk to if you call the monk seal sighting line.

Tracy's first pet was Snoopy, a mutt. When asked what happened to Snoopy, Tracy was quoted saying "...his tail got run over once by a car..." and "...I don't know, he died."

If Tracy could only have one book to read for the rest of her life it would be Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff by Cristopher Moore.

Her favorite place she ever visited was the South Island of New Zealand.

Wish them luck during their stay on Lisianski Island.

Chapter Vb: More daily excitement

In addition to what Charles reported on the harrowing afternoon of drills and cetacean observations, many of the scientists were busy prepping for the field: nets to carry seals were being handcrafted on deck, flipper tags were being carefully filled with resin in the wet lab, buckets were being checked and re-checked...the ship was humming with the buzz of activity. Kehaulani, our cultural rep., made a ti leaf lei for the ship as a blessing and for safe passage through the Papahanumokuakea. Tenaya realized that she had never before heard the Mr. Roboto song by Styx, claiming that she had lead a sheltered childhood. But life on the ship is not all work and no play. The scientists found time for movies and episodes of Flight of the Conchords . And as is custom on the ship, all filled their bellies with many tasty delights from the galley: fresh Ono sashimi (caught by Kehaulani), homemade breads and pastries, strawberry shortcake, fresh fruit smoothies, homemade bluecheese dressing, gallons of ice cream, and much, much more.

Chapter V: Emergency at Sea! ... oh wait, just drills

MAN OVERBOARD! Three rings of the bell echo down the hallways signaling that some poor soul has fallen overboard into the big blue and is fading into the sunset as the ship powers along at 11 knots. Everyone jumps to action to get as many eyes up on deck to look for a tiny speck floating in the Pacific. This time it is just a drill and we are all looking for a orange flotation ring. Luckily, it was spotted quickly and pulled back on board.


Somewhere in this photo is the flotation ring.


When someone goes overboard, get them in view and point towards them. Never take your eyes of them. Here Tracy and Marie demonstrate proper pointing technique.





The fast rescue boat returns after
the harrowing rescue of the
flotation ring.





The rest of the day today is being spent doing cetacean observations and catching up on work in the real world. Hopefully one of the other contributors will jump in with an interesting tale.

Scientist of the Day: Chad Y.

Chad Y, also known as The Chad, T-Tubb, The Fridge with Eyes, and various other monikers, is not only our SOD but also the Chief Scientist on the cruise. Yep, he is the 'decider'. Or at least we let him think that he is. Chad holds the bitey part of seals when we catch them, runs the small boat program, and patiently teaches us scientists how to not make fools of ourselves on the ship. The most you can ever hope for from Chad is a short grunt of approval.

Chad's favorite song for research cruises and monk seal work is Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler.

Chad is one the best racquetball players in the state, well at least better than anyone else on the ship.

Chad loves Vegas.

Chapter IVb: Meanwhile the people stuck on the ship...

Its good to see some of the other research team getting involved with this blog. Particularly since Jason got to get of this ship and explore a rather amazing island. No jealousy here.


The rest of us stayed on the ship taking care of preparations for the upcoming field deployments. Jen S., Tenaya N. and I spent most of the morning and afternoon getting Tenaya's satellite tags ready for her research study.



Oh yeah...Forgot about Bingo. Last night Doc got a game of Bingo going in the mess. Las Vegas has nothing on Saturday Night Bingo on the Sette. Everyone who is anyone was at the game. The primary prizes were candy so most people were jacked up on sugar so it got a little crazy towards the end. Also, I am not usually a big believer in conspiracies but I thought it a bit strange that the CO of the ship won two of the biggest prizes...the fix was in...just saying.


In the photos here you can how intense Chad is, how much Tenaya loves photos, and the rest of the team getting into it. The table in the center with Marie, Jenny, and Brenda erupted into a tense debate on who shouted bingo first. Jenny had to be escorted out.





Scientist of the Day: Jason B.
Todays SOD is Jason B., one of the intrepid adventurers to explore Mokumanamana (Necker Island) today. Jason is in the population assessment program and headed out for the three week camp at Pearl and Hermes Reef.

Jason lives in Oregon with his wife Mary, bird Geddo, wonder dog Dima, and their horse Teardrop.

Jason feels that the most important piece of apparel is a good pair of shorts and shoes. ------------------------>

Jason's two new favorite tv shows are Heroes and Flight of the Conchords.