R/V Sally Ride is currently home to the scientists from CalCOFI’s teams from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and NOAA. It’s their fourth time aboard, and CTD casts, net tows, and marine mammal observations are underway as usual. Today, however, was far from a normal day. Science operations were briefly paused in order to allow the ship’s crew to recover a … Read More
Geology of the Ocean Floor
R/V Sally Ride is doing work out of her first foreign port – Manzanillo, Mexico. The ship arrived after a recent cruise and stayed for a well-deserved few days of rest and relaxation for the crew, as well as resupplying food, and fuel. A new science party came aboard, and the ship headed off again for a month-long trip that … Read More
Bioluminescence
The last few days, the San Diego coastline has put on a gorgeous light show. Tiny creatures called dinoflagellates have shown up in droves. During the day, the ocean turns the color of red wine as they congregate near the surface. But at night, they bioluminesce, flashing bright turquoise whenever they’re disturbed. Every wave crashes with color, as does every … Read More
Sally Ride to the Rescue
Today was a big day for R/V Sally Ride, as the ship and her crew carried out a Coast Guard-coordinated mission to assist a catamaran in distress. A report from Third Mate Randy: “We received a call from the Coast Guard two nights ago, asking if we could render assistance [to] a dismasted catamaran out of Papeete, Tahiti, bound for … Read More
Mapping and Coring
Many of the recent cruises on R/V Sally Ride have been student-led, thanks to the UC Ship Funds program. Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) graduate student James Holmes was awarded ship time in December. As Chief Scientist, he led a partnership of SIO and San Diego State University students, along with scientists from Utah State and the Museum of Natural History … Read More
Studying the Thomas Fire From Sea
The attention garnered to the team of graduate students who sailed on R/V Sally Ride in December has been well above normal. That is what happens when a research project happens to time up with a natural environmental event. In this case, a long-planned cruise into the coastal waters of Santa Barbara, led by UCSB students, took place during the … Read More
Student Cruise Visits the Central Coast
On a recent research cruise aboard R/V Sally Ride, Scripps Institution of Oceanography graduate student Angel Ruacho acted as Chief Scientist. He, along with a team of other students, graduate and undergraduate alike, headed out to collect water and sediment samples along the coast of Southern California. For many of the scientists, it was their first time living and working … Read More
An Opportunistic Mission
R/V Sally Ride heads out this weekend with a full science party made up mostly of graduate students from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Chief Scientist Nick Huynh and Co-Chief Kelsey Bisson have been planning the cruise for over a year. The main purpose is to study plankton movements in the Santa Barbara Channel on a constant 24-hour per … Read More
Notes from the Field
The current project on R/V Sally Ride has made SIO’s photo of the week! I’m currently assigned to a different research vessel in the Southern Atlantic Ocean working and writing for the SOCCOM project, so it’s hard to keep in touch with the goings on of the ship. Apologies for the lack of regular posts. There are ongoing posts and pictures … Read More
Sally Ride, Team Player
R/V Sally Ride is finishing up mooring operations for Chief Scientist Dr. Bill Hodgkiss and will soon be headed back to port. It’s another quick turnaround, the ship heads out next week to an area just off the coast of Southern California between Point Conception and Avila Beach. An ONR (Office of Naval Research) funded project, scientists will be aboard … Read More