Daily Logs
Week 5

Date: Sunday, September 30, 2001
Photos: Weather balloon, SPMR, and painting the deck
Latitude: 9o 54.4 N
Longitude: 95o 1.9 W
Temperature: 28.0o C
Seas: Sea wave height: 3-4 feet
Swell wave height: 4-6 feet
Visibility: 8-10 miles
Cloud cover: 6/8
Water Temp: 28.5oC

Science Log: OK, I realize this is pretty late, but I was just revisiting the Cruise Instructions, written by our Chief Scientist, Dr. Chris Fairall, and I found a nice big-picture overview of the research being conducted on this cruise. I thought it might help put things in perspective, so here it is, taken directly from that document:

NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown (RHB) will participate in the Eastern Pacific Investigation of Climate Processes in the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere System (EPIC) to study several aspects of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL)/Cold Tongue and the Stratocumulus region during the EPIC 2001 field program. The RHB will be equipped with a suite of instruments for measurements of atmospheric and oceanographic processes. The emphasis will be on observations of precipitating systems, clouds, and atmospheric boundary layer structure and their coupling to oceanic mixed layer structure through the sea surface temperature field.

On the first leg of the cruise, the ship will operate predominantly in the ITCZ region near the TAO buoy at 95 W 10 N for joint measurements with the R/V New Horizon and the NCAR C-130 and the NOAA P-3 research aircraft. The RHB will make a transect of the cold tongue region from 10 N to 10 S along the 95 W TAO buoy line with a diversion to the Galapagos Islands to exchange personnel.

Travel Log: Today is a landmark day. This is the last of 18 straight days that we will be sitting at 10N, 95W, and while it's a perfectly fine spot in the ocean, most everyone on the ship has agreed that it's time to move on. There's plenty of, uh, fish in the sea, and it's time we go visit some new ones.

We are still feeling the effects of a large tropical depression in the area, which is causing a pretty large swell. Of course, this is nothing compared to REALLY bad conditions, but the ship is rocking much more than usual, and enough to cause a little seasickness. I am really looking forward to sleeping in a bed that doesn't sway all night! I'm starting to count the days until we hit land.

Question of the day: Quito is the capital of Ecuador. Name 3 U.S. cities that are located on the same line of longitude as Quito.

Photo Descriptions: Today's photos: Just a reminder of the many activities happening on the ship. There are 2 pictures of a weather balloon ready to be launched by Janet Intrieri (helping out the CSU team). There's a picture of Carter Ohlmann and Dave Menzies from UCSB getting the SPMR ready to deploy. I'm also sending pictures of some of the crew relaxing on the stern, and one of a deck getting spruced up with touch-up paint (a never-ending job).

Keep in touch,
Jennifer Richards

Date: Monday, October 1, 2001
Photos: The lidar and graphic representation of lidar results
Latitude: 8o 19.0 N
Longitude: 94o 56.6 W
Temperature: 24.3o C
Seas: Sea wave height: 1-2 feet
Swell wave height: 3-5 feet
Visibility: 2-4 miles
Cloud cover: 8/8
Water Temp: 28.4oC

Science Log: We have finally departed the operations center at 10N, 95W! In the concise, yet brilliant, words of Homer Simpson…woo hoo! We are all excited about moving on, and a lot of the data gathering on the ship has been reduced or eliminated, giving many (but not all) scientists a much-needed break. Finally, the 8 team members from the University of Washington can do something besides standing at the winch, deploying and pulling the MMP for 24 hours a day!

As a follow-up to yesterday's cruise overview, taken from the Cruise Instructions, I am sharing with you today the cruise objectives that relate to leg 1 of this cruise. This may help put all the information I provided over the last 26 days into perspective.

Objective I. To observe and understand the ocean-atmosphere processes responsible for the structure and evolution of the large-scale atmospheric heating gradients in the equatorial and northeastern Pacific portions of the cold-tongue/ITCZ complex, including
(a) mechanisms governing temperature and salinity field evolution across the oceanic cold tongue through the ITCZ

(b) atmospheric planetary boundary layer structure and evolution from the equator through the ITCZ, primarily in the southerly monsoonal regime; and

(c) the processes determining the existence, character and strength of deep convection in the northeast Pacific ITCZ.

Objective II. To observe and understand the dynamic, radiative and microphysical properties of the extensive boundary layer cloud decks in the southeasterly tradewind and cross-equatorial flow regime and their interactions with the ocean below.

If you look at each science log I've written, you can relate all of the research being conducted to at least one of the objectives listed above. Although the objectives are written in fairly technical terms, I am reprinting them here to give you a big-picture view of what's going on here on the Ronald H. Brown EPIC cruise.

Travel Log: Today there was a 20-30 feet long, 3 feet diameter, log floating near the ship. This is a perfect example of why there is someone on watch 24 hours a day in the bridge. Some objects, like debris floating in the water, just isn't large enough to show up on the ship's radar. The log was big enough that, had we hit it, it could have done some real damage. There is SCUBA equipment on the ship, and a couple divers would have been sent down to inspect the hull. Of course, since we didn't hit it, everything is OK.

Question of the day: The water temperature at 10N, 95W is approximately 29 degrees Celsius. Is the water temperature in the Galapagos Islands warmer or cooler? Why?

Photo Descriptions: Today's photos: One of the operations that will continue through the end of the trip is the lidar. So today I am sending pictures of the lidar, graphic representation of lidar results, Janet Intrieri making adjustments to the lidar on the roof of the van, and a handmade scientific instrument called "worker guy/party guy." Yes, I'm serious. He is actually a dessicator, whose purpose is to keep moisture away from the equipment (like those little packets that are often in the boxes when you buy new shoes). When Janet and Raul are working, the worker guy side of the dessicator keeps them company. When the work is done, the party guy side comes out to play. Who ever said scientists don't know how to have fun?!

Keep in touch,
Jennifer Richards

Date: Monday, October 1, 2001 - Jane
I wanted to take a moment to say hi and tell you that all is fine here (At least I think it is and I haven't heard otherwise from anybody else). It's quite an interesting group of people on this mission. Very focused, all with their own agendas. Everyone has bent over backwards to be nice to me. Some very intriguing science happening!

Of course my mind is reeling with learning it for myself and thinking about translating it into English for my students. Speaking of students, today we had
the most wonderful school visit! It was all arranged by Jose (Deputy Director of Ops) in a VERY short amount of time. It was a small private school run by
2 sisters (siblings, not nuns). It is an immersion type school where subjects are taught in both Spanish and English so as to learn the English language.

Preschoolers read us a story, 3rd graders sang us a song, and high schoolers are very excited about coming up to the ops center next week for a field trip. They
have internet access and Dr. Kermond invited them to log on the live streams.He was so excited by the video he shot, he can't wait to edit it as he sees it in his head. It will be great.

Tommorrow we are going up in the C130. It will be a 9 hour flight along 95W and
we will go directly over the Ron Brown and communicate by radio with them! I'm a tad nervous about it but am excited none the less. Wish me luck.

I have several digital shots that are wonderful! The ops center is an amazing assortment of equipment, but it smells funny and has lots of mosquitos! However, Hualtuco is fabulous! Very romantic.

Keep in touch,
Jane

Date: Tuesday, October 2, 2001 - Jennifer
Photos: TAO buoy repair
Latitude: 5o 4.9 N
Longitude: 94o 50.0 W
Temperature: 26.9o C
Seas: Sea wave height: 1-2 feet
Swell wave height: 2-4 feet
Visibility: 6-8 miles
Cloud cover: 8/8
Water Temp: 27.2oC

Science Log: The focus of this last week of the cruise is the TAO buoys. The only research group that I haven't talked about yet is Mr. John Shanley from NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, Washington. His entire job on the ship is the buoy work. While on land he builds the equipment that will be mounted on the buoys to collect oceanographic and atmospheric data, and he spends approximately 3 months a year at sea installing the equipment, deploying buoys, etc.

We are now making progress toward the Galapagos Islands, but there will be stops at 5 buoys along the way that require maintenance or replacement. We stopped at one buoy yesterday to replace a sensor that had stopped working. Two or three guys from the ship used the rescue boat to get out to the buoy- the swell looked enormous compared to their little 20 foot boat. It's amazing to watch John Shanley climbing the buoy and bouncing all over the place- I'm surprised he's able to hang on as well as he does!

According to Larry Bennett, one of the crew members who went out to the buoy in the rescue boat, they found a tupperware container with a note inside, duct-taped to the buoy! The bummer of it is that they were so preoccupied with their jobs, that they forgot to bring the container with them! Isn't that neat to be in the middle of the ocean and get a note from someone? I heard that on a previous cruise John got a note on a buoy from a friend on another ship that had been in the area. The note had a photograph of the guy holding a huge fish, and a challenge to John to catch something bigger.

On the subject of buoys, I was fascinated to learn about "mail buoys." You leave your outgoing mail on them, and your incoming mail will be waiting for you there. Pretty neat system, huh? The US Postal Service really goes out of their way to do a great job! However, if you even halfway believe the story about the mail buoys, don't admit it to anyone on the ship or you'll surely be picked on for the rest of the cruise. Luckily, we were all too smart to fall for it. There are no "mail buoys." :-)

Travel Log: The Ronald H. Brown is 6 decks tall. The laundry room is 5 decks below my stateroom. There are 11 stairs between each deck. This means that every time I do laundry- put my clothes in the washing machine, put them in the dryer, take them back to my room- I walk up and down 165 stairs. I'm thinking of starting a new diet fad- "The Laundry Diet." The cleaner your clothes, the more weight you lose!

Question of the day: What is the call sign of the NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown?

Photo Descriptions: Today's photos: Today I am sending buoy-related pictures. The rescue boat is used to transport John Shanley and crew to the buoy for repairs. In one picture you can see some replacement TAO buoys on the deck of the ship.

Only 4 more days until land,
Jennifer Richards

Date: Tuesday, October 2, 2001 - Jane
Just got back from a fabulous C-130 flight! It was a long day but well worth it. The video and digital pictures will be amazing. They let me fly the plane!!!!! for real!!!! Then I dropped several air expendable bathythermographs (AXBT) - in other words big plastic tubes out of a hole in the floor of the plane.

The chief scientist, Nick Bond, also gave mr a job to do which required using the onboard computers to note the exact time and longitude of each drop. The plane "porpoised" for 6 hours to just south of the equator. Porpoising means we flew at an altitude of 5000 feet for 7 min. and then descended to 100 feet! for 7 minutes and then back up to 5000 ft. Of course Dr. Kermond filmed everything so there will be lots to see. Everybody on board was very accomodating.

Please share my historic flight with my students tomorrow. I'm sure they will be impressed. We did fly over the Ron Brown - just barely because we were only at 100 ft! Then on our way back I was able to speak with Jennifer via the cockpit radio. Very exciting.

Keep in touch,
Jane

Date: Wednesday, October 3, 2001 - Jennifer
Photos: TAO buoy deployment
Latitude: 2o 2.43 N
Longitude: 95o 20.7 W
Temperature: 23.2o C
Seas: Sea wave height: 3-4 feet
Swell wave height: 4-6 feet
Visibility: 8 miles
Cloud cover: 7/8
Water Temp: 25.7oC

Science Log: Today was a pretty exciting one. I started it by reading an entire 350-page book from midnight to 4:30 am. My roommate's alarm clock went off at 5:00 am and I was still wide awake. I decided I might as well be productive, so I worked on some lesson plans. Then it was time to prep for the last live video feed from the ship, which was broadcast from the bridge. Right after that the C-130 flew over, and I got some good video of it. All afternoon was spent watching John Shanley and the crew readying one of the TAO buoys and deploying it. See what I mean? Exciting day!

I was surprised at the amount of effort that went into deploying the buoy. It's not just a matter of dropping something into the water. Because we're on a moving platform, moving any large object is quite tricky. There were so many cables and people around, it looked like a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade! There were sensors on a cable hanging from the bottom of the buoy at good100 feet. After the cable was lowered into the water, the ship's crane and a half-dozen crew members fought to get the buoy in the water. Then there was 3 miles of cable to spool out into the water, and at the end of the cable are the anchors. By the time the anchors were dropped, the buoy had drifted quite a way out to sea. As the anchors fell, they pulled the buoy back to the ship. Dr. John Kermond from NOAA had told me about all this before my trip, and said it was his dream to surf the buoy as it races across the ocean to the anchor. I think it sounds like fun!
Travel Log: Today was the last live web feed for leg 1 of the cruise, but don't worry, Mrs. Temoshok will be doing the same thing on leg 2, from the Galapagos Islands to Arica, Chile. The highlight of today's broadcast was showing you all a weather balloon and sonde, and my fabulous demonstration putting on the gumby suit.

Here is the list of the live video broadcast participants:
· My classes at Guajome Park Academy in Vista, CA
· Jane Temoshok's class at Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy in Alexandria, VA
· Instituto Mexico de Huatulco, Professoras Zimbron Carranza and Zimbon
· Gay Byer's class at Northley Middle School in PA
· Mike Stern's class at Westhoff Independent School District in TX
· Plainfield Elementary School in New Hampshire
· Science Center in Fort Wayne, IN
· NOAA's Office of Global Programs
· Admiral Fields at NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations
· NOAA Research Public Relation Offices
· National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Atmospheric Sciences

Question of the day: When I return home to California I will be flying from Quito, Ecuador to Miami, Florida to Los Angeles, California, and finally to San Diego, California. Approximately how many frequent flyer miles will I rack up?

Photo Descriptions: Today's photos: The TAO buoy! Lots of pictures of the buoy as it was prepared for deployment, and lowered into the ocean.

Only 3 more days until land,
Jennifer Richards

Date: Thursday, October 4, 2001 - Jennifer
Photos: A good day of fishing
Latitude: 0o 1.1 S
Longitude: 94o 56.5 W
Temperature: 19.8o C
Seas: Sea wave height: 2-4 feet
Swell wave height: 3-5 feet
Visibility: 3-5 miles
Cloud cover: 8/8
Water Temp: 18.3oC

Science Log: We have now entered the "cold tongue" region. If you look at the water temperature today (18.3 o C or 64.9 o F) and compare it to the water temperature over the course of this trip (highest on September 15 at 29.9 o C or 85.8 o F) you'll notice that it is significantly cooler all of a sudden. The question of the day from October 1 can be answered right here. Why is the water temperature here at the equator suddenly so much cooler than in the areas surrounding the equator?

Remember the coriolis effect, which results from the earth spinning. At the equator, winds and ocean currents move westward. The surface waters are moving towards Indonesia, and when they get there they submerse deeper in the ocean and cycle back to the east. When they reach the eastern boundaries of the Pacific Ocean, they upwell. This means that the cold deep water rises to the surface, and starts traveling west again. So in this part of the ocean, the eastern Pacific, we have very cool water rising from the deep ocean. This water brings a lot of nutrients with it, allowing for good fishing off the west coast of Ecuador. The cool water also causes the air temperature to drop and today we've experienced the coolest air temperature on the entire trip- 19.8 o C (67.6 o F) compared to a high of 31.3 o C (88.3o F) recorded September 9 off the coast of Baja California, Mexico. It's really neat to actually experience something that the textbooks tell you about, and to realize that the textbook authors were right!

A little bit of trivia for you… Dr. Dennis Boccippio, one of the radar scientists working with the group from Colorado State University, apparently had a little too much time on his hands the other day. He actually took the time to use his radar data to calculate that over an 18-day period on this cruise, 28 billion tons of rain fell within a 300 km x 300 km area centered over the ship! That's an incredible amount of water, don't you think?!

Travel Log: Today we reached the equator and installed a buoy. Rumor has it that there may be some sort of initiation tonight for those of us who have never crossed the equator via ship (I guess it doesn't count if you fly across- darn!). If the rumor is true, I will certainly let you know how it goes.

Everyone is getting excited about reaching land in 2 days. Now that we have left the operations station at 10N, 95W many groups have started packing their equipment. The labs are starting to look pretty empty. What happens to the equipment once it is all packed? Well, there are two choices- you can try to ship it all from Ecuador to the U.S., which will involve several months of sitting in customs lines and waiting to be inspected, or you can leave it on the ship until the ship reaches the next U.S. port, Charleston, South Carolina. From there, the equipment will be loaded on to trucks to be transported to the scientists in their labs, all on the west coast. Although the ship won't arrive in the U.S. until December, it is still faster to transport it this way, leaving it on the ship, rather than deal with customs issues.

Question of the day: What is a "pollywog"? You may have to search a little, but give me the definition that relates to the ocean.

Photo Descriptions: Todays photos: While we're doing buoy operations this is prime opportunity for good fishing. So I am sending you pictures of the crew and scientific party fishing, and some of the mahi they caught. Nice looking fish, eh? The picture of the fishermen and their prized mahi shows (from left to right) John Shanley (buoy guy), Janet Intrieri (lidar gal), Bruce Cowden (crew- Chief Bosun), Pat McManus (crew- engine guy) and Paul Aguilar (University of Washington).

Only 2 more days until land,
Jennifer Richards

Date: Friday, October 5, 2001
Photos: will be published soon
Latitude: 1 o 3.2 S
Longitude: 93 o 6.7 W
Temperature: 19.0 o C
Seas: Sea wave height: 1-2 feet
Swell wave height: 3-4 feet
Visibility: 10 miles
Cloud cover: 3/8
Water Temp: 17.0o C

Science Log: I am going to get a little ahead of myself on today's science log by telling you about what I hope to see on the Galapagos Islands. I feel like Charles Darwin has prepped me well and I am so excited about the unique animals that are waiting for me. It fascinates me to think that at age 29 I will be visiting the same place Darwin visited at age 26, and that his observations on the Galapagos Islands lead to a revolution in the scientific community- the theory of evolution. I would like to read you some quotes from Darwin's journal "Voyage of the Beagle" about his visit to the Galapagos Islands exactly 166 years ago in September and October of 1835. I find it so amazing to read the journal and see foreshadowing of the theory of evolution which he developed in the Origin of Species, published 24 years after his visit.

Excerpts from "Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the various countries visited by the H.M.S. Beagle, under the command of Captain Fitzroy, R.N. from 1832 to 1836" by Charles Darwin Esq., M.A. F.R.S. Secretary to the Geological Society.

"Considering that these islands are placed directly under the equator, the climate is far from being excessively hot; a circumstance which, perhaps, is chiefly owing to the singularly low temperature of the surrounding sea.

Nothing could be less inviting than the first appearance. A broken field of black basaltic lava is every where covered by a stunted brushwood, which shows little signs of life… such wretched-looking little weeds would have better become an arctic, than an equatorial Flora.

The natural history of this archipelago is very remarkable: it seems to be a little world within itself; the greater number of its inhabitants, both vegetable and animal, being found nowhere else.

…the birds are strangers to man. So tame and unsuspecting were they, that they did not even understand what was meant by stones being thrown at them…

…many of the islands possess trees and plants which do not occur on the others…Unfortunately, I was not aware of these facts till my collection was nearly completed: it never occurred to me, that the productions of islands only a few miles apart, and placed under the same physical conditions, would be dissimilar.

…I must describe more in detail the tameness of the birds…A gun here is almost superfluous; for with the muzzle of one I pushed a hawk off the branch of a tree.
Regarding the tortoise…there are many wild pigs and goats, but the main article of animal food is derived from the tortoise. Their numbers in this island have of course been greatly reduced… It is said that formerly single vessels have taken away as many as 700 of these animals.

In my collections from these islands, Mr Gould considers that there are twenty-six different species of land birds. With the exception of one, al probably are undescribed kinds, which inhabit this archipelago, and no other part of the world.
The inhabitants, when walking in the lower district, and overcome with thirst, often take advantage of this circumstance, by killing a tortoise, and if the bladder is full, drinking its contents.

…the instant I passed, it would draw in its head and legs, and uttering a deep hiss fall to the ground with a heavy sound, as if struck dead. I frequently got on their backs, and then, upon giving a few raps on the hinder part of the shell, they would rise up and walk away; but I found it very difficult to keep my balance.
Regarding the aquatic lizards.

It is a hideous-looking creature, of a dirty black colour, stupid and sluggish in its movements… A seaman on board sank one, with a heavy weight attached to it, thinking thus to kill it directly; but when an hour afterwards he drew up the line, the lizard was quite active.

…when frightened it will not enter the water…One day I carried one to a deep pool left by the retiring tide, and threw it in several times as far as I was able. It invariably returned in a direct line to the spot where I stood…I several times caught this same lizard, by driving it down to a point, and though possessed of such perfect powers of diving and swimming, nothing would induce it to enter the water; and so often as I threw it in, it returned in the manner above described. Perhaps this singular piece of apparent stupidity may be accounted for by the circumstance, that this reptile has no enemy whatever on shore, whereas at sea it must often fall prey to the numerous sharks.

Regarding the terrestrial lizards
The lizards, like their brothers the sea-kind, are ugly animals; and from their low facial angle have a singularly stupid appearance.

The inhabit burrows; which they sometimes excavate between fragments of lava, but more generally on level patches of the soft volcanic sandstone…I watched one for a long time, till half its body was buried; I then walked up and pulled it by the tail; at this is was greatly astonished, and soon shuffled up to see what was the matter; and then stared at me in the face, as much to say, 'What made you pull my tail?'

The little birds are aware how harmless these creatures are: I have seen one of the thick-billed finches picking at one end of a piece of cactus, whilst a lizard was eating at the other; and afterwards the little bird with the utmost indifference hopped on the back of the reptile."

Travel Log: Well, there were no initiation rites last night to mark our crossing the equator. I guess everyone is just preoccupied with last minutes plans for our arrival in the Galapagos Islands.

The weather today is even cooler than yesterday. John Mickett from the University of Washington is hoping to find a t-shirt in the Galapagos that says "I froze my butt off at the equator!" I'd buy one.

A lot of activity on the ship today as people burn CDs of data, make backup tapes, pack research equipment and personal belongings, and plan for our shore visit. A bunch of people are going SCUBA diving, and I am bummed that I didn't bring my c-card or gear. That's OK, as long as I get a chance to go swimming with the marine iguanas. And maybe some penguins. Oh, and some turtles and sea lions, too. That's not too much to ask, is it?

Question of the day: How many people live in the Galapagos Islands?
In an unprecedented move, I am going to give you an answer to yesterday's question of the day. A pollywog, according to the Captain and seafaring tradition, is "an unworthy, slimy intruder to the realm of King Neptune," or someone who has never crossed the equator via ship. By the way, a "shellback" is the term for someone who has crossed the equator via ship- that's me!

Photo Descriptions: Today I am sending a couple pictures taken at the equator buoy- one of me, and one of Glenn Carter and Dave Winkel from the University of Washington. As hard as we looked, we just couldn't see the line marking the equator in the water (kidding- ha!). Notice how overcast it is, a side effect of the suddenly cooler temperatures. I am also sending some more buoy pictures today. You'll see some buoy parts on the deck in various stages of assembly, the rescue boat going out to a buoy for repairs, and Ensign Jenn Pralgo overseeing buoy deployment from the bridge.

Only 1 more day until land,
Jennifer Richards

Date: Saturday, October 6, 2001
Photos: will be published soon
Latitude: 0.5o S
Longitude: 91.5o W

Science Log: As you can probably guess, this is a big packing day for all the scientists. There are a lot of equipment and personal belongings that will start their journey home today. We have to get that all done so we will have plenty of time to explore the Galapagos Islands as soon as we arrive!

Travel Log: Today is my last day on the ship. We are scheduled to arrive at Puerto Ayora, on the island of Santa Cruz, in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador at 8 am. What happens next? Well, I will be meeting Mrs. Jane Temoshok, the teacher on Leg 2 of this cruise to Arica, Chile. She and I will tour the islands with Mike Patterson, Program Manager at NOAA's Office of Global Programs (one of the sponsors of the EPIC Teacher at Sea Program) and Dr. John Kermond, a cruise coordinator and public relations guy who is never seen without a video camera in his hands.

Some of you may recall that our original plan was to travel to the island of San Cristobal to watch the pilot-less aerosonde airplanes takeoff. From what little I know about them so far, these planes fly for a full 24 hours on a pre-programmed flight path to collect atmospheric data. Then they land, and are sent on another mission. This data is used in conjunction with the data collected on the ship and by the C-130 and P-3 planes (which flew over the ocean while the ship was on station at 10N, 95W) to gain a better understanding of atmospheric conditions in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Eventually, all of this data will help improve the ability to forecast climate. Well, as it turns out, the aerosondes have still not arrived in the Galapagos and the decision was made to abort that project. The operations center on San Cristobal is being closed so there won't be anything for Jane and I to visit there.

After our impromptu explorations of the islands we will return to the ship, anchored in Academy Bay off the island of Santa Cruz to send Mrs. Temoshok off on her ship-board adventure to Chile. The following day, October 10, I depart for Quito, the capital of Ecuador, where I will fly to Miami and back home to San Diego, California.

So I will sign off for now and email this to Jennifer Hammond, the web master at the NOAA offices in Maryland, while I still have Internet access. I hope you have enjoyed reading my journals and getting a glimpse at ship life the last 33 days on our cruise from San Diego to the Galapagos Islands. I've really enjoyed receiving email from so many of you- please feel free to keep writing with any questions or comments you may have.

Question of the day: What is the elevation of Quito, Ecuador? What is the elevation of the highest city in the United States?

Photo Descriptions: Today's pictures include a few of tropical clouds (afterall, clouds are such a large focus of the research on the ship), a silhouette shot of the Doppler radar dome, view from the stern, and the various scientific and ship equipment on deck.

Adios!
Jennifer

Read Week 6 Daily Logs

Note for educators: Although Jennifer and Jane's reseearch cruise ended, the EPIC research continues. Please use this web site, Jennifer and Jane's lesson plans, daily logs, the videos, and the photos to educate your students about climate, El Niño, and scientific research in general.

Consider this web site, as well as the TAO web site, a resource for teaching your students.

Many organizations and countries are involved in funding the EPIC Experiment. Primary U. S. funding is provided by The National Science Foundation and The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

This website is maintained and frequently updated by
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