Curiosity about the sea

3/20/2022

From a little boat in the Race to Alaska, what can be learned about the marine environment?

Sailors are physical oceanographers and meteorologists. Is the current on the other side of this channel more favorable to get to us Ketchikan? What are the conditions going to be as we sail past this ebbing inlet with a swell from the southwest and fresh breeze from the west?

Yet, there are so many other questions.

What does that change in water color mean? What makes the crackling sound I hear through the hull in this anchorage? What does the presence of a pod of Pacific white-sided dolphins signify?

We are partnering with marine scientists to collect useful data about the waters we sail through and species we encounter. At this moment we are partnered for projects with the following scientists:

Dr. Deborah Giles, https://www.wildorca.org/

Dr. Nathan Robinson, https://linktr.ee/wild.blue.science

Dr. Robin Kodner, https://kodnerlab.wordpress.com/research/

What do you want to know? Please post in the comments.

Thank you for supporting our project.
Sockeye

2 Comments

Beth

4/13/2022 02:42:58 pm

I'm curious- What kind of data you will collect and what collection methods you will use. Are you collect data for a specific study? Or taking general observations like recording species seen? I'm also curious how you will balance racing and data collection!

Field science!!! You all rock.

Sockeye link

4/22/2022 10:33:49 pm

Hi Beth,
Thanks for your questions!
The marine mammal sightings data are for a genera database which will be hosted by Wild Orca and used to develop an app to encourage and ease sightings reporting by citizen scientists.
Dr. Robin Kodner is looking for genetic variation among specific plankton over the range of our voyage.
The Ocean Genome Atlas Project is actually endeavoring to map the DNA of as many marine organisms as can be collected.

Our balance of Racing and Research is a good question which gets to our racing strategy. While we will push to get to Ketchikan quickly, we will be anchoring most nights. The reasons are that there is a lot of debris in the water, specifically logs, so effective lookout is crucial for safety. Although there are only a few hours of darkness at that latitude and time of year, it is dark enough to not see big objects. Our vessel is small and light and, unfortunately, we have experienced this. Also, the operation of the vessel requires the attention and hands on of at least two of the three of us. While in theory that would allow one of us to rest while two sail/row, experience tells us that quality sleep will not be possible. A tired crew can make poor decisions, so Go Fast! yes, but safely getting to Alaska and home is the priority.
morning is the best time to conduct plankton tows given the night time rise towards the surface of plankton. Marine mammal sightings are a delightful benefit of this Race. Logging them for time, place, species, and number sighted is additional effort but part of our effort to share the experience with our followers and researchers.
Thanks for the questions!
Health and peace,
Sockeye

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