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A is for Anchor,
B is for Bilge Pump...
March 3, 2000
@Sea correspondent/
photographer,
Tim Calver |
Dec. 8, 1999, Miami, Florida -- The list we're using to prepare for our shark research expedition is long and involved, cataloging hundreds of items -- everything we'll need. |
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| The Research Vessel SEWARD JOHNSON towers above us in dry dock, getting a regular dose of TLC as we contemplate loading her down with our supplies. |
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The list sends us on daily trips to Home Depot and into dusty storage lockers at the University of Miami. It sends us into the far reaches of the Internet in search of gear. Anchors, bilge pumps, biopsy punches, crew members, crimps, cylume sticks, data books, DNA vials, engine manuals, fuel funnels...everything alphabetized and enumerated. On a list, the exciting process of marine biology seems to come down to four different kinds of tape and five different kinds of batteries. It's the only way to make sure that every needed item is purchased, that every purchase is packed, and every package is shipped. For the past two weeks, I have lived to serve the list. |
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As the last of the gear gets carried into the RVSJ's storage van, Demain Chapman, Dr. Gruber, and I say good-bye to weeks of shopping and
packing. The next time these doors open, the ship will be in Natal, Brazil.
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Luckily, at the very end of the list is a trip to Brazil! For the second year in a row, a hand-picked international crew of researchers will join Dr. Samuel Gruber from the University of Miami as we sail to the tiny islands of Atol das Rocas and Fernando de Naronha aboard the Research Vessel SEWARD JOHNSON (RVSJ). There, Dr. Gruber and the rest of us will encounter our myterious research subjects. I am part of the science crew, and I'm documenting the mission. My mind is already filled with images of our adventure.
I'll wade through shallow water, plucking baby sharks from fine-meshed nets, scanning the Rocas lagoon for the fins of mature sharks (they regularly breed in the sheltered waters). I'll pilot small boats through large waves, and bait long lines to hook big reef sharks. I'lI dive into the clear equatorial waters to photograph sharks, turtles, and rays. These are the images that keep me going as I cross off completed tasks and bought items.
Today was a big event on the list -- loading day! We packed every bit of our gear into a truck in Miami. When we got to Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (HBOI) in Fort Pierce, we transferred all of our buckets and boxes into a big container belonging to the R/V SEWARD JOHNSON. |
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