Cruises of 2008
Spring 2008 found the Derek M Baylis (DMB) in the San Francisco Bay teaching various school groups about the ecosystem and their daily impacts upon it. Here Captain Dave Robinson is teaching a young gentleman from an Oakland middle school the basics about being the helmsman aboard a sailing vessel.
While in San Francisco Bay, our crew continued their marine debris research from the 18’ Wyliecat skiff, Stacy, a very low impact, custom-built tender to the DMB. Our marine debris research took another step forward with a significant hardware upgrade in the form of a new GIS mapping tool. This new piece of gear has improved the accuracy and consistency of the data that we capture. This year we shared our findings with numerous organizations around the bay, including the Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Ocean Protection Council.
Oceana is one of the most influential non-profit organizations in setting marine policy. In summer 2007 they utilized the DMB twice as a meeting platform. Congressman Sam Farr (right) was aboard for this meeting along with Jim Ayers (middle) the Vice President of the Pacific chapter of Oceana, and Dan Cort (left), mayor of Pacific Grove. The goal of this meeting was to introduce Sam Farr’s Oceans bill to those assembled and explain Oceana’s efforts in support of his bill.
Summer 2008 marked our 5th year providing the Science Under Sail (SUS) program for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Our program is geared toward the general public and is focused on the marine life in the bay, the inter-connectedness of these life forms, and mankind’s daily impacts upon them. The kids to the left are observing bat stars (Asterina miniata) that were collected in a benthic sampler during SUS and listening to a naturalist explain the importance of these scavengers in our oceans.
Aboard the Derek M Baylis the role of a sailing research vessel and the use of non-petroleum and alternate energy are key discussion points among SUS participants. Here some younger participants are shown hoisting sail alongside our mate, Martijn Stiphout. We highlight the importance of hands-on experience during SUS, since a personal connection to the environment is often the strongest motivation for individuals to get involved and become passionate about protecting our oceans.
The DMB will set sail for the Farallon Islands west of San Francisco in October for our third annual White Shark Tagging Program with the TOPP (Tagging Of Pacific Pelagics) team. This photo illustrates Stacy being retrieved onto the work deck of the DMB at South East Farallon Island. Last year the team placed over thirty satellite and acoustic tags on white sharks while traveling with minimal environmental impact under sail whenever possible. This last fact, combined with the use of Stacy establishes our challenge to any other vessel that conducts research to leave a smaller footprint on our oceans.
