A trip down memory lane... images from my first ocean research cruise, 22 years ago, in the Santa Barbara Basin, looking for 1400 year old sediments... FYI, this article/news release includes photos from my first volunteer ocean research voyage, in 1992, aboard a Scripps Institution of Oceanography vessel in the Santa Barbara basin. We were using cores lowered deep into the ocean floor, looking at 1400 year old sediments. This article was published nearly15 years ago, based on research done by a graduate student who worked with the original researchers who did the off-shore collection. So when preserved and stored properly, the samples collected on these voyages can be used for various studies for years, even decades, after the initial recovery is done. Thats good, since collecting them is labor intensive and expensive. But storage is also expensive if it requires freezing or refrigeration. So...the cost of doing science continues to escalate, and often funding in the US does not keep up. The researcher who has asked for us to collect water for the cesium investigation is based out of Woods Hole, MA. He has received some funding from the National Science Foundation, but also relies on crowd sourcing contributions from people who want to support his research. Likewise, surfers in Santa Cruz collect and send him samples they collect offshore, near their surfing spots, and pay approximately $500 per specimen for analysis, shipping etc. Crowd sourcing to do science in the US is becoming a necessity, as the federal budget shrinks. Tiny marine organisms reflect ocean warming and are found in samples of these deep-ocean sediments. Fish scale deposition also tells a story. To read more go to: mbari.org/news/news_releases/2006/forams-images.html
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 00:00:11 +0000
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