Brent's Blog

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52637722651323787202012-01-29T16:13:59.644-08:00Brent's BlogHealthy Oceans--Healthy PlanetHubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.comBlogger211100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-68751678293404765002008-03-31T14:36:00.000-07:002008-03-31T15:04:34.616-07:00Catching up

The last few weeks have been pretty busy with other field projects and travel but also with some exciting developments on the Keny whale shark tagging project. I dragged into San Diego on 4 March after two long days of travel home from Mombasa. Two days later I headed out to San Nicolas Island and then San Miguel Island in Southern California waters to count northern elephant seal pups and

Brenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11607268230286464682noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-38771847328905104302008-03-02T10:08:00.000-08:002008-03-02T10:20:19.590-08:00Final effort, a magnificant day; 2 March

The past two days have been a bit frustrating spending much time on the water and a lot of hard work in the air by Rob and Peter. But today helped dissipate all of that. We headed out at around 1030hrs on fairly calm seas and winds; four boats with about 42 whale shark enthusiats on board. What started out pretty quietly worked quickly into a fully eventful day. Rob located several sharks

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-37207303431286593062008-03-01T22:02:00.000-08:002008-03-01T22:04:36.884-08:00Winding down in Watamu, gearing up for Diani Beach again: 29 February

This post evidently did not get published on Friday.....our server was down for a bit on Friday and Saturday so that might be why, but here it is again in any event.29 February 2008Last couple of days have been long and busy. Out mid-morning on Thursday and Friday...surveyd until around 1530 hrs on Thursday with water clarity improving and winds light. Rob and David in the microlight on Thursday

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-54421623621587741492008-03-01T21:48:00.000-08:002008-03-01T21:57:02.073-08:00Last days

We had another long day on the water yesterday with two boats full of hopeful whale shark watchers from around 1030hrs through 1600hrs. Good weather conditions all day with winds picking up from east and southeast (kusi winds) in the afternoon. Rob spotted one whale shark just after taking off near the outer reef but it was elusive in murky water and headed directly offshore and deep just as we

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-43991137345345926092008-02-27T17:03:00.001-08:002008-02-27T17:05:25.975-08:0027 February 2008

Today was another long day but an excellent one. Two sharks sighted, both tagged. Total tagged in 3 days at Watamu = 4; total for the past 9 days = 14 -bs

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-90138905984803689572008-02-27T17:00:00.000-08:002008-02-27T17:06:38.000-08:0026 February 2008

Long day but two sharks spotted late afternoon as microlight running was low on fuel. One located near Watamu Beach and tagged around 1530hrs. Brings total tagged to 12. We will go out again at 1030hrs tomorrow morning and will stay out as long as conditions and fuel allow. -bs

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-71471817314490135182008-02-24T20:25:00.000-08:002008-02-24T20:38:49.871-08:0025 February 2008

Jambo, Jambo!Had another good day yesterday, especially with far better weather. We launched at around 1100hrs in the Melia with our small tagging crew of Volker and I and also 21 hopeful whale shark snorklers. Also two other boats (Unique and Tinga Tanga) following behind. Seas and winds were very mild but they picked up a bit just after noon. Mike spotted one shark pretty far south of

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-62717924577135349002008-02-23T20:35:00.000-08:002008-02-23T20:52:29.650-08:0024 February 2008

Jambo! Yesterday was a challenging day for finding and tagging sharks. We went out in the Melia at around 0830hr with a small group of divers...headed several miles south past Chales Island to a spot known as Zig-Zag. Winds were already blowing about 10-12 kts from the north and surface was a bit rough. Solid overcast made aerial sighting tough too. After one drift dive we bobbed and

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-10894566531098232082008-02-22T16:19:00.000-08:002008-02-22T17:16:47.875-08:00A Fantastic Day!

Photo: Dr. Brent Stewart boarding a gyrocopter in search of whale sharks.Today was a fantastic day! It started out early with a 0730 takeoff with Mike Cheffings in his gyrocopter for a one-hour survey of the coast looking for whale sharks. Did not see any whale sharks but lots of other things including giant manta rays, green turtles, and bottlenose dolphins. We headed out on

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-44424684125446053812008-02-21T11:48:00.000-08:002008-02-22T17:17:35.209-08:00Kenya Whale Shark Tagging Expedition

Dr. Brent Stewart began a collaboration with the East African Whale Shark Trust (EAWST) in 2005 to study the ecology of whale sharks along the Kenyan coast. In February 2007 the collaborative team, including Volker Bassen and Nimu Njonjo of EAWST, tagged three whale sharks with pop-up archival satellite-linked data recorders and transmitters. The tags released from one of those sharks in May 2007

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-42546542925545495612007-10-28T20:15:00.000-07:002008-01-10T16:46:56.048-08:0027 October 2007

Photo: Crabeater seal triad: male, female and pupWe arrived at Peter I Island on 25th October at around midnight and stood off the island about 20 miles. The morning of the 26th was stunningly clear and brilliant. I was up just before dawn (~ 0430) and organized the plan for circumnavigating the island to get a general idea of what fauna was at or around it. The island (named by Bellingshausen in

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-48595651385007687002007-10-22T15:26:00.000-07:002008-01-10T16:32:12.876-08:00October 21

Photo: Dr. Brent Stewart (HSWRI, left) and Dr. Jean-Louis Tisson (head of the Belgian science team) sign out aboard the RVIB Palmer prior to leaving the ship for on-ice research activities.The last two days we have had fairly obnoxious weather with huge NE winds and blowing snow, obscuring visibility. We've been 'drifting' SW with the floe at about 0.5 to 0.8 knots and are now at 70S,93.5W--back

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-89324958272025760502007-10-12T17:04:00.000-07:002008-01-10T16:33:49.863-08:00October 12

I led a Zodiac science operation today (the first one of the cruise and my first solo Science Event of the cruise) - took the boat out about a mile to a second breeding pair of crabeater seals (another pregnant female and attending male have hauled out very near the icebreaker). No pups yet, but we should have a birth from one of the females within the next day or two. High pressure, light winds,

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-21306252665794584742007-10-09T17:55:00.000-07:002008-01-10T16:34:32.395-08:00October 8

Worked on the ice yesterday helpling to survey ice thicknesses (measurements every meter for 300 meters on two 300-m lines). Temps have been around -12 to-15C with wind chill at about -40C and blowing snow periodically to obscure. But we got it done.The pregnant female crabeater seal near the ship has not pupped yet but may today (it's 4th day she has hauled out) so I'm sticking in the ice tower

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-84195261407426074332007-10-04T10:32:00.001-07:002008-01-10T16:35:09.156-08:00First Monday in October (aka, the Supremes back on stage)

Weather has been a bit hoary but we worked on our big ice floe station for a few hours yesterday. We're going out again this morning, hopefully for most of the day. Winds are down to about 25 knots and the temperature is around -10C, with a wind-chill of -35C. We are now at 70deg24min south, 94deg07min west (i.e., just off eastern end of Thurston Island in the western Bellingshausen Sea).We are

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-12672164172831408262007-10-02T10:56:00.001-07:002008-01-10T16:36:51.915-08:00September 27

We made little headway today after finishing Ice Station III at about 0700hrs and then pushing south. But we did find a large floe to park at for the next couple of weeks and docked next to it tonight at about 1830hrs. It is at about 70deg41.1min south, 090deg59.15min west....and we are free drifting to the west at a fair rate. We should have a better idea tomorrow about our exact drift

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-46092085927478032922007-10-02T10:50:00.000-07:002008-01-10T16:37:12.515-08:00September 25

We arrived near Peter I Oy (Peter the First Island) in pretty miserable weather Monday night around 11:00 p.m. We then started heading due south to the ice which we penetrated sometime early Tuesday morning. I was in the ice tower early and started seeing lots of crabeater seals almost immediately. Later "lots" turned to huge numbers scattered all over the congested ice. We also saw leopard seals

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-11819777180490843962007-09-12T10:18:00.000-07:002008-01-10T16:37:32.434-08:00Greetings from Palmer Station!

We made an unscheduled stop on the Antarctic peninsula following a fire aboard ship a couple of days ago. No one was injured but the fire (on the main deck) was serious enough that two labs are now sealed for the remainder of the cruise - some items melted and others were damaged by heat and soot. Several days after cleaning, most of the thick soot is gone from the main deck though it still

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-36579232754387959962007-08-31T08:39:00.001-07:002008-01-10T16:37:54.851-08:00First Stop, Santiago, Chile

Departing San Diego is always difficult because it means leaving America´s Finest City and the best climate just about anywhere...especially when expecting a temperature shift from the comfortable 80 degrees F at Mission Bay to the late winter sub-sub-sub-freezing temperatures of the Antarctic. I arrived in Santiago, Chile early morning on 31st August to typical sister city weather and was met by

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-77007928334606533872007-08-27T15:21:00.001-07:002008-01-10T16:38:24.312-08:00SIMBA (Sea Ice Mass Balance in the Antarctic) Expedition 2007

Dr. Brent Stewart holds a Weddell seal pup on the sea ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Weddell seals are one of four species of ice seals Dr. Stewart will be studying during the SIMBA (Sea Ice Mass Balance in the Antarctic) expedition aboard the icebreaker RVIB Nathanial B. Palmer (see photo below) cruise, one of several international research efforts being conducted under the auspices of the

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263772265132378720.post-52362146565952721082007-08-27T14:17:00.000-07:002007-08-27T15:27:10.482-07:00International Polar Year

The International Polar Year (IPY), which begins in March 2007 and continues until 2009, is a program of international research and education focused on the Arctic and Antarctic regions. For more information on IPY, go to http://www.us-ipy.gov/.

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06198924087177178156noreply@blogger.com0