Link to the R/V Jane Yarn Information Page  GPTV and Gray's Reef Archaeology Cruise On Monday August 16th GPTV Producer Frank Loose and his son Jeff acting as his assistant joined the crew of Gray's Reef for a cruise out to the reef to document on going paleo-archaeological surveys. Dr. Erv Garrison of the University of Georgia and his graduate student Wendy Weaver brought their equipment to core their study site providing the camera crew with good underwater working footage. Marine Educator Cathy Sakas creator and co-producer of the GPTV series assisted in the underwater filming directing shots and guiding the crew to representative spots on the reef. Even though the visibility was not great the crew was delighted with the footage and the dockside interviews of Erv, Bruce Cowden, Marine Operations Coordinator who assists Erv in fossil hunting and Reed Bohne, Sanctuary Manager. LT. Ralph Rogers captained the Jane Yarn and managed to get one working dive in before the crew headed home. The GPTV series is an in depth look at the relationship of the coastal people to their land and how they have managed to keep it one of the wildest coastlines in the country despite pressure to develope. The series will connect Gray's Reef with the coast and the possibility that it was once a hunting ground for early Indians.   More Scouts at Sea On August's Friday the 13, 1999 two troops of Boy Scouts from Effingham County, Georgia were treated to a two-hour cruise on the Wilmington River. LT. Ralph Rogers captained the cruise with Sanctuary Manager Reed Bohne and Marine Educator Cathy Sakas on board. This was a unique opportunity for the scouts to learn about the sanctuary and the natural history of the area. The boys gave good answers to detailed questions and were delighted to explore the boat taking turns serving as look outs in the"tuna tower".   Turtle Tagging Cruise Turtle Tagging Cruise: R/V JANE YARN conducted a cruise to Gray's Reef June 8-10, 1999 to tag loggerhead sea turtles. Although no male loggerheads were observed, a juvenile loggerhead was captured and tagged with reflector tags so divers would be able to identify different turtles under water without bringing them to the surface. To date we have had five sightings of this turtle. More information on this cruise and pictures of the loggerhead can be found at http://www.graysreef.nos.noaa.gov/PPD335.html   Fish Census/Turtle Cruise April 26 - 28, Gray's Reef's Research Vessel JANE YARN supported two research projects at the sanctuary. A seasonal fish count on the research site was conducted by SCUBA divers Deena Feely of Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF), Roger Mays of National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Beaufort Lab, Tom Potts of GRNMS/National Undersea Research Center (NURC) and Ralph Rogers of GRNMS. Visual observation at 27 sites were made, logging diversity and abundance of fish species within the sanctuary. Mike Frick and Kris Williams of the Savannah Science Museum's Caretta Project and Kevin Palmer of Georgia Southern University were aboard studying Loggerhead sea turtles. Two turtle decoys designed and made by Mike Frick of the Caretta Project and by Bruce Cowden of GRNMS to lure male turtles during mating season were tested. Several SCUBA dives were made to observe and attempt a capture of a male Loggerhead. Though no turtles were tagged, many sightings were logged both on the surface and underwater.   Picture: Mike Frick from the Caretta Project inspecting the turtle decoy before deployment.     UGA Student Cruise April 9, Gray's Reef's Research Vessel JANE YARN hosted three University of Georgia (UGA) classes taught by Dr. Ervan Garrison and Dr. Raymond Freeman-Lynde. During an all day cruise, forty undergraduate and graduate students conducted bathymetric, oceanographic, and marine geologic sampling in Wassaw Sound and on Wassaw Island. This investigation of the Georgia coastal environment will supplement their classroom studies.   Scouts at Sea March 20, 1999 the R/V Jane Yarn hosted a Savannah Boy Scout Troop during a three hour cruise in Wassaw Sound. During this cruise, sanctuary employee Bruce Cowden demonstrated safety procedures and fire fighting skills to the scouts and adult leaders. The 20 scouts also were shown the navigation electronics package on the bridge by sanctuary employee LT Ralph Rogers and even had a chance to steer the vessel. After having a picnic lunch on the foredeck, the scouts returned with the vessel and some new knowledge to the dock at Skidaway Institute of Oceanography.   Right Whale Tagging Cruise January-Febraury, 1999 The R/V Jane Yarn served as the tracking vessel during 1999 Right Whale calving season. During this cruise, researchers coordinated their tagging efforts with the EarlyWarning System (EWS) aerial survey, which helped them find whales for tagging and relocated them using a receiver in the plane. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) were also helping with the sightings. They conducted aerial surveys along the Florida coast during the course of the cruise. Once researchers located the whales in the high-density areas of the calving grounds, they used tagging equipment to attach a VHF radio transmitter. The R/V Jane Yarn maintained a distance of at least a mile from the whales at night and during times of reduced visibility to prevent affecting the pair's behavior. For this cruise logs and more information link to www.rightwhale.noaa.gov