I can't believe it but it's 15:00 and that means tea-time aboard the Maersk Launcher, though I haven't found my way to the Mess just yet. I am still reeling because WE DID IT!!! You can (re)watch the Live Stream of the launch of Wilson (see original post if you don't know who that is) here. And the absolutely crazy part is I get to have him in my sights ALL THE WAY until we arrive at the testing location for the Pacific Trials (more information on what that means here,) and then on to the Garbage Patch (which is located in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre about halfway between San Francisco and Honolulu) where he will begin his job as passive trash collector! So to begin, I woke up this morning and ate breakfast like any other day aboard the Launcher - you know that good morning shuffle until you can wrap your hands around a mug of steaming hot coffee and then around 8am (or 0800 if I'm really being annoyingly precise with this boat stuff) the anchor was raised. Steel transmits noise like NO OTHER so it was a relatively noisy process which culminated in us moving towards the Bay Bridge between San Francsico and Oakland. After lunch I donned my PPE (personal protective equipment for those not in the know ;p) and was greeted as I strolled out on deck by the San Francisco Fire Department spraying water like a fountain/boat as we passed under the Bay Bridge! It was totally crazy! We spent the two hours between lunch and passing under the Golden Gate Bridge at the top of the bridge (this bridge being the place where the captain can see everything and essentially the mission control center for the boat....SHIP...[gotta work on that offshore lingo and also finding out how to format my blog so I can strike through words]...). The way got really breezy after we passed south of Alcatraz AGAINST SHIPPING DIRECTION I MIGHT ADD BECAUSE we were approved to AND WE'RE JUST THAT COOL!!! But as we approached the bridge the ship had a lovely companion for the span of a few minutes - a great big male California Sea Lion (Zalophus californianus [only because I know that one off the top of my head...])! It was great to have that reminder of home as we were getting ready to get out onto the Pacific Ocean proper. For those wondering - no there are no pinnipeds (the biological group of seals, sea lions, and walruses) in Florida due to the human-driven extinction of the Caribbean Monk Seal. Tragic, but that's how the cookie crumbles, and in this case it means I get WAYYYY too excited upon seeing the beloved pinnipeds of my home state. Anyway... We passed under the Golden Gate Bridge to much cheering and festivities - the captain even honked (tooted? blew?) the horn of the ship! He definitely almost scared the entire crew of us standing on top of the bridge overboard! With the rolling sea underneath us and the absolutely incredible view of the Golden Gate Bridge and Wilson behind us we were in a celebratory mood when DOLPHINS came jumping into our line of site! Just at the start of a journey? What better luck could we ask for? And then as we continued past Baker Beach (which I had been to just last Saturday) we spotted a WHALE!!!! Good omens for the journey indeed. I'm going to wrap this up because I think there are goodies associated with tea time and if nothing else I could use a banana because its definitely two hours to dinner and I need something to get me there! One last moment: WOW! I'M A PART OF THE BIGGEST OCEAN CLEANUP IN HISTORY!
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AuthorBree Gibbs, here. I'm a recent Master's Grad just trying to share what it's like to be a trash scientist (for those who aren't in the know, I'm a marine biologist). Categories
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