Mail Buoy
March 3, 2006
This year in science class, I learned that there were practical, industrial
uses for certain types of bacteria found around the hydrothermal vents in
the abyss. After following your expedition, I am curious if there are any
interesting uses for salps in industry, medicine, etc...? If there are,
could we harvest enough salps so that the population is a suitable size
and would that help increase the Antarctic krill population?
Wally N.
Ms. Shield's 7th Grade
Clarke
Middle School
Lexington, Massachusetts
Dear Wally:
Thanks for your question to Dive and Discover. It is true that people are discovering possible applications in medicine or industry for some marine organisms, particularly bacteria of various kinds. So far we don't know of any such use for salps, but nobody has really investigated that. Their bodies are mostly water, so it would be hard to make any kind of animal food out of them, like is done with krill. It's possible that there are interesting compounds in their blood or tissue that could be used. Scientists have found some potential medicines in sea squirts, which are related to salps. This is a new area of research and we don't know the answers yet.
If there was something valuable in salps, there are certainly enough of them to harvest down here in Antarctica, but I doubt that any harvesting could take enough of them to make a difference in their total population size, so this probably wouldn't have any effect on krill. I hope you continue to follow our expedition on Dive and Discover.
Larry Madin
Chief Scientist
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Hello my name is Brittany. I am a student from East Lyme, Connecticut, high school and I am in Mrs. Buckley’s marine biology class. We are doing a project on salps and krill. My topics are life history and the importance of salps. I am also wondering if you could send me some photos of salps for my presentation. Thank you
Brittany
Dear Brittany:
I'm glad to hear you're doing a project on salps! We have a new Hot Topic on the Web site about salps, so check that to see if the information and pictures there will work for your report. You should be able to download them as separate images. Because our email goes over satellite from the ship, the messages have to be short and pictures are too big to include. You should be able to locate some other salp information and pictures on the Web through Google. One of our salp photographs is in the Web site for the International Polar Year. Go here and scroll down: http://www.us-ipy.gov/index.cfm?id=fea
Good luck with your report!
Larry Madin
Chief Scientist
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Hi my name is Danny Costello and I attend St. Philip Neri School in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania. I was wondering what your favorite meal is. Also, how long can you stay under water when you dive? How big is your research vessel?
Hi Danny:
Thank you for watching our Web site and sending your questions.
All of the food on the ship has been great. At every meal there is a huge variety and a lot to choose from. My favorite meal of the day is midrats (midnight rations), which is served around midnight. Many of the scientist and crew on the ship work through the night and sleep during the day so midrats is a welcomed treat between dinner, which is at 5:30 p.m., and breakfast, which isn't until 7:30 a.m. The best part about midrats is that they serve breakfast foods and diner-type foods so you get your choice. My favorite single item is sweet and sour chicken that we had for dinner one night, although the root beer floats and desserts are always great.
The diving that we are doing on this research trip is fairly shallow, between 30 and 70 feet deep (9 to 21 meters). At these depths the factor that limits the length of our dives is the amount of air that we carry. On this cruise we are using two different size air tanks. The divers can chose between the different size tanks based on their air consumption needs. Larger divers, who typically have large lung capacities, need the extra air provided by the large tanks but some of the smaller divers prefer the less weight and size of the smaller tanks. The tank that I use holds 78 cubic feet of air when filled to the maximum pressure. Our dives typically last around 35 minutes from the time we descend until the time we reach the surface. To ensure that everyone returns to the dive boat safely, the divers are required to surface with a "reserve" air supply in their tanks, which is important to have in case of any problems. At deeper depths, dive times are often limited by a factor other than air supply. Nitrogen (air is 79% nitrogen) accumulates in the blood of divers and can cause problems if they go too deep, stay down to long, or ascend to the surface to quickly. All of the divers on this cruise wear little computers on their wrists that analyze the time and depth and informs us how long we can stay down without nitrogen levels becoming a problem.
To answer your last question, the ship is 230 feet long and 46 feet wide (70 meters by 14 meters). The ship is big enough for all the crew and scientist on board. I've been on the ship for 18 days now and still get confused with all of the different levels, hallways, and lab spaces. Read about the Gould in Deeper Discovery's Oceanographic Tools section »
Thanks again for your questions and checking out our site.
Jeff Mercer
University of Connecticut
Hello Crew:
We are finally connected! We've been having some difficulty on our end with the Internet connection (e-mail capabilities) but I think we are all set now and have caught up on your adventures at sea. We would like to congratulate you on your awesome efforts and success on retrieving the MOCNESS net. I can't imagine how much $$$ could have ended up on the bottom of the ocean, or, more importantly, the number of people that could have been hurt. Your captain and crew earned their keep today! BRAVO! Your slides and ideography really help us see what is going on. The wave hitting the side of the boat really gave us a feeling of the seas. AWESOME WORK! We look forward to your daily updates.
Fitch Marine Biology Class
Dear Fitch Marine Biology Class:
Thank you so much for this nice comment! We had quite a day, and are glad you could tell what a drama it was from the Web site! We're thrilled you can look in on the cruise now, and hope you'll continue.
Kate Madin
Writer
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Hi, my name is Erin Dunne.
I was wondering what it would be like living over the Arctic Ocean.
How cold does it get around at nighttime?
Also what do you do in your spare time?
Dear Erin:
I am Isabelle, Izzie for short, and am one of the scientists helping out with the salp research on this expedition.
We have been living and working on a ship doing most of our research out of sight of land to the west of the Antarctic Peninsula. This is the part of Antarctica that comes closest to South America. We are very far south in the southern hemisphere. The Arctic is north of the United States, but Antarctica is south of South America, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. One of the big differences is that there is land in Antarctica but no land in the Arctic.
Because we are in the southern hemisphere, it is late summer here. Right now it is night and it is about 37 degrees F (3 degrees C). outside. We wear very warm clothing when working outside on the deck of the ship.
The only people who live in Antarctica are scientists and support people who come for only short periods of time to do research. On this expedition, we are all living on the research ship Laurence M. Gould. We work many hours in the labs on the ship, have meals (four a day) in the galley, write e-mails in the electronic lab, read or watch videos and DVDs in the lounge, and work out in the gym. Photography is also popular onboard.
Personally, I have been to the gym every day for a workout on the treadmill and sometimes that has been hard to fit in the schedule. Also, I have read three books, a contemporary novel, a travel book, and a detective story. I haven't had time to see a movie nor have I touched a needlework project that I brought along.
I'm glad that you're watching our Expedition.
Sincerely,
Izzie Williams
Marine Biologist
ENSR Corporation
Dear Dive and Discover Crew:
My name is Sarah Zaccagni. I am in the 6th grade at St. Philip Neri School near Philadelphia. While I was reading the daily updates, I started to wonder how this trip will effect you mentally and physically? Also how do you think you will benefit from this experience?
Dear Sarah:
Great questions! I have been so busy this trip I haven’t had much time to stop and think about how it has been affecting me, but it is always a good thing to take time to do so. Antarctica is a really fascinating place, and very isolated… it really puts the rest of the Earth in perspective. Just going out to sea anywhere is a trip into open spaces with only a few people. Your world becomes very simple: work, eat, sleep, and work some more. Your mind becomes focused, and you learn a great deal. I sure am learning a lot on this trip!
Physically you get pretty worn out. No matter how hard you try to keep a regular schedule, being a scientist on board a research ship requires long hours. Every time I go to bed I’m asleep within a minute. Even so, all of us on board who are diving need to keep track of our sleep carefully so that when we do dive, we aren’t too tired that we are endangering ourselves or the other people who are diving with us. We all try to look out for each other and make sure everyone is getting enough sleep.
There are many ways in which I’m benefiting from this experience, but probably the best thing that I’m getting out of it is the opportunity to work alongside other scientists on this cruise. When it comes to salps, they really know their stuff—and it’s a great chance for me to learn from them. And, the diving is pretty cool too!
Brennan Phillips
Graduate Student
University of Connecticut
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