Russ Vetter, Leg II SHARK CRUISE. Here we are on Leg III. It's sad to see some crew leave, but great to see new faces and many old friends from shark cruises past. Jeff Graham, a fellow shark biologist and Scripps professor, is on board. as is Ann Coleman, a curator of the shark exhibits at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We also have a “NOAA Teacher at Sea” -- Elizabeth Eubanks from south Florida. The Teacher at Sea program allows a schoolteacher to come aboard a NOAA vessel and participate in some form of oceanographic or marine biological encounter. The selected teacher writes a daily posting back to their home school and gets to incorporate what they have learned into their school’s curriculum.

It is a bittersweet experience to spend such a short time (Thursday evening to Sunday morning) on land. Good to jump back in with family and friends and do some land activities, good to get re-supplied with needed equipment, but the trip to the dock on Sunday was harder than expected, even though this cruise is the centerpiece of our scientific year.

The circle- vs. J-hook experiments are beginning in earnest this leg (See my previous blog entry). I have included a better photo of the differences and we are hopeful that the new circle hooks will limit mortality and hooking injuries.

Nowadays, ship navigation is highly automated with global positioning systems (GPS) and electronic charts. However, there's always the need to stay sharp with traditional navigational techniques. In case we run out of power and have to abandon ship, then it’s back to the 18th Century in short order. In this photo, ship's crew Pat Patana and Peter Lepman take a reading from a sextant at solar noon to calculate our latitude. ABOARD THE DAVID STARR JORDAN, Off San Diego, California.