Festive ending

As we continue into the Straight of De Fuca, halfway between the U.S. and Canada, the final batch of sampling is being taken for analysis. I'm looking at the mountains in the Olympic National Forest as the familiar music plays as on the fantail, mostly infamous songs from the movie, "National Lapoon's Christmas Vacation." We have a few more locations of interest as we pull into the port at the University of Washington campus on Friday. It's now time to begin the equally difficult work of packing all that has been brought on board which will take all of the next 2-3 days. The sun is out and the mood is that of elation. Science at sea is not easy work. From preparation and planning to tackling problems with equipment and limited resources at sea, these marine scientists have persevered through it all.

The research has been successful, and the learning has been overwhelming, as everyone is eager to teach and learn. These are lifelong learners unlike any I have ever witnessed firsthand. Science is knowledge, an understanding of mysteries one test at a time. As Dr. Wells said to me, "If we knew everything that we were doing, it wouldn't be called research." 

After this research cruise, we are one step closer to understanding the vast unknown of the ocean and the future of life as we know it. 

I am currently working on videos to add to this blog once I get home to sufficient bandwidth. I will be interviewing each principal investigator and report as I have on the other parts of this journey. The day by day work with many more pictures and information can be found on my friend and collegue, Denis Costello's blog, socalcostello.blogspot.com. Feel free to comment if there is more that you'd like to see or know about life and science at sea.