CUPS!!!

The cups have been successfully shrunken! None were lost.

Sea Pen

This is a sea pen (a type of coral) that we found in one of our cores. It's a strange looking thing, isn't it? Not a typical coral.

Melayu and Bahasa and Scottish language

Hi Mrs. Berry, Mrs. Wood, and Class,

Here in Borneo (Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia...all three countries comprise Borneo) people speak Melayu or Bahasa, although most everyone also speaks some English. My Scottish friends on board the ship wanted me to further translate English to Melayu/Bahasa to Scottish (Doric): Here are some common words that I learned:

Thank you - Terima Kasih - Cheers Min
Good Morning - Selamat pagi - Like the Day
How are you - Apa khabar - Fit Like?
Yes - Ya - Aye
No - Tidak - Nae
Fine - Baik - Nae Bad
Good afternoon - Selamat Petang - Like the afternoon
Good night - Selamat Malam - Like the night
Goodbye - Selamat Jalan - Cheery Bye
I don't know - Saya Tidak Tahu - Dinna Ken

This is one of the fun things about working with people from many places. We learn about each other's languages and where we live, what is the same and what is different.

Pam

Sunrise on the South China Sea

Hi Everyone,

Here I am with my coworker Yusrein, with the sun rising over the South China Sea. The water is bright blue here, very different from the water back in Falmouth, which is greener in color.

Pam

Big Squid

One of the crew members was fishing earlier today and caugh this big squid. What a treat to see such a beautiful animal. Squids are in a group of animals called mollusks. Can you think of any other mollusks that you might see at the beach in Falmouth?

Pam

problems with photos

Connection not so great today. I'll try to upload the hauling of the sea trash photos later.

Pam

Hauling in Sea Trash

Hi Everyone,

Today we found a huge fishing net full of trash and driftwood. We decided to bring it on board the ship to help clean up the ocean. Here are a few photos of the process. You'll see some people that I'm working with in these photos. Kyle has his name on his helmet, he is one of our two camera technicians. Miko is running the winch. Rusmintardi is down by the net.

Pam

Where we eat and do laundry

Yes, we can do laundry on the ship and here's a photo of the mess room where we eat.

Our Sampling Equipment

One is a box corer to collect sediment. The other is a frame with camera and bottles to collect water.

my room

photos from the ship

Hi Everyone,
Will try to get some more people photos later today. Here are a few photos of the ship. This is Pira eating his dinner. He works with me on my shift.

Pam

6.1.2011 Location

Hi Everyone,
We've moved our location. Here's an updated photo.
Pam

June 1, 2011

Hi Class,

Happy June! It the last month of school. I hope the weather is getting warmer and everyone is having outdoor recess. Today, I started coring and camera work. I will post ship photos sometime after midnight (your time when you should all be sleeping). We were very lucky today as a huge pod (100's) of dolphins has been following our boat. Since I'm working at night, it's difficult to take photos to see the dolphins but we're trying so that we can show you also. The best part is that there are tiny dolphin babies following their moms around. I have to say, they are quite cute. I hope that one of our photos will turn out so that you can see them also.

Can anyone name a type of dolphin or whale? I'll write more soon.

Miss you all,

Pam

Beautiful Moth

Does anyone know how you can tell the difference between a moth and a butterfly? I will send you the answer on my next blog post. I don't know what species this is and have been trying to figure this out on the internet. If anyone could let me know this would be great.

Pam

Calibration station

We are on site calibrating our navigation equipment. Here are two photos to show you where we traveled since yesterday.

Transiting May 31 2010

Ship's position

I will keep this updated as best I can so you can see my track. Click on the image to make bigger. Pam

photos from the ship

Hi Mrs. Berry, Mrs. Wood and Class,

We left the dock at 6:30PM this evening heading to a place where we will test our equipment before we arrive at our first deepwater station. I've taken some photos of the different places on the ship but am having trouble posting these. I will keep trying. Both the ship and equipment are very different from what I used on the California survey. The camera system we have is to take pictures of what lives on top of the seafloor, not what's living inside the sediment. We also have a box corer to take big mud samples, we didn't have this in California. I will try to take photos of the people I work with so you can meet them, too.

Pam

Downtown Brunei

Hi Everyone,
Today I had an opportunity to see some of downtown Darussalam in Brunei (see photos). The ship will arrive tomorrow. I will take photos of the ship and will show you the set up for the field work ahead.
Pam

Train Station and on the Train, Hong Kong

Mud Crabs at the Fish Market in Hong Kong

click on map to make bigger

Tuesday, May 25, 2011

Hi Mrs. Berry, Mrs. Wood and Class,

It's Tuesday evening here in Hong Kong. I traveled yesterday and today from Boston to Toronto to Hong Kong. There's a small delay with the ship we will use to sample so I am lucky enough to have one overnight. It is a big city, just like New York or San Francisco. Has anyone visited these cities? I took a train from my hotel to the downtown market area. Above is a map of the train system. My hotel is on Lantau Island (not Kowloon or Hong Kong Island). See if you can find it on the map. Downtown Hong Kong is on Hong Kong Island so you can follow my path from Asia World Trade stop to Hong Kong stop. On the big map north of Brunei is Hong Kong, see if you can find this, also.

While I was downtown, I went to the markets where they sell all sorts of fish, prawns, meats and other things. Let me know what you think.

Pam (Abby's Mom)

May 22, 2011

Only one more day to go before I leave for Brunei. Brunei is a small country on the island of Borneo. On the map I have circled it in red and put a large red arrow at the location where I will be sampling with my coworkers. Keep checking for updates. I have all your cups packed and ready for the journey.

Pam

presurvey information

Hi Everyone,

With about a week before I leave for Singapore I thought it would be a good time to post some information. My email will work but I'm not sure about my phone. If my number changes I will post it here. Our survey is anticipated to start on May 23rd. I will receive a ship email and will post this to the blog, also.

Pam