31 March, 2001

Tidbit of History

Quasi War of 1798-1801 The original ten cutters placed into service in 1791 were soon replaced by larger ones. In 1798, the United States was without a navy, the Continental Navy having been disbanded following the Revolutionary War. Aggressive military and naval activity by France resulted in the seizure of several merchant vessels by armed French vessels on the high seas. The naval response of the United States was to employ the revenue cutters in the defense of our merchant fleet. In these operations, the cutters responded effectively, as they would in future conflicts in support of the nation's naval missions. Especially outstanding were the Pickering, Commodore Preble's first command, and the Eagle. The Eagle fought a memorable engagement with the French privateer Revenge in 1799, recapturing the American vessels Nancy and Mehitable.

Science Observations

We had an opportunity to practice using the HAPS multicorer today. Throughout the trip a single core sample has been collected. The single HAPS core goes into down three times. One core samples is sieved, and placed in a container with formalin, sealed, and sent to the University of Tennessee for further analysis. The remaining samples are used for respiration experiments. Dr. Jackie Grebmeier designed the HAPS multicorer. This piece of equipment is very similar to the HAPS core however, it is able to gather four HAPS sediment samples with each drop. The University of Tennessee machine shop constructed the piece of equipment. We had a perfect day for launching the corer. The weather was not as cold and the ocean and winds were calm.

We conducted two dredges. These dredges involved lowering a metal mesh like bag by winch, over the side of the ship. The bag drags along the body of the ocean floor collecting a deeper sediment sample, which contains a variety of animals. Once it is lifted out of the ocean, it is sprayed with water to release the sediment and the animals are collected and brought into the wet lab for sorting and observation.

Daily Update

We completed two science stations today. We are able to do some extra station work as a result of finishing the scheduled stations. We have returned to some previous work areas to gather additional samples. It was really nice being able to conduct some additional experiments with different pieces of equipment.

The afternoon was spent preparing for my departure by helo to St. Lawrence Island on Sunday. Laundry was finished, bags were packed and location for delivery of each bag was determined.

Three Marine Mammal surveys were completed today, one in the morning and two in the afternoon. These surveys will continue for several more days.

<> Dr. Grebmeier along with Polar Star Marine Science Technicians (MST) launch the HAPS multicorer.

<> The dredge is lifted out of the ocean and hosed down to release sediment. Boris Sirenko is holding the water hose.

<> The science group is busy sorting the contents collected from the dredge. This took several hours to complete.