Wednesday 2/9

I think the most important ship we've learned about in aquatic science is definitely the Meteor because it was the first ship to do ocean depth measurements using an electronic echo sounder.  It also then studied the Mid-Atlantic Ridge using this new technology. Without this new discovery of technology, scientists wouldn't be able to improve on it in the future to make even better equipment to explore the ocean.

The Study of The Ocean- Jacques Cousteau

The history of oceanography has changed over time especially thanks to new minds and new technology.  Maps, soundings, and measurements of the ocean started to be made and new diving equipment helped divers explore the ocean more thoroughly.  One event that I think changed the study of Ocean significantly was Jacques Cousteau's creation of the breathing device called the Aqua-Lung in the 19th century.  It was the first open circuit underwater breathing device that reached worldwide popularity and commercial success.  He also created better equipment for filming underwater.  So he and his crew could film parts of the ocean people have never seen before.  This contributed greatly to the future because people soon perfected his Aqua-Lung and waterproof filming gear to learn more and study the ocean. Cousteau also created many different documentaries about the ocean life that led to the amazement and curiosity of many more oceanographers to follow him.  Thanks to his new creation of equipment and ideas for studying the sea, we now have great advancements in underwater technology and SCUBA gear.

Monday's Blog- 5 Reasons to Study the Ocean

Five reasons for why it's important to study the ocean is (in my opinion):

1. To understand where our resources come from and to how to preserve them. Things like fish, oil, and the importance of the sea food chain.  

2. Our future could soon rely on the ocean, it's not all the way explored and some possibly important minerals could be hiding below the ocean floor.

3. To understand how the ocean affects our weather and climate and how they change.

4.  There are probably thousands of shipwrecks just waiting to be explored, so the ocean is like a big underwater museum waiting to be discovered. 

5. To understand plate tectonics and the continental drift.

Friday's Boat Race

In Aquatic Science we had to create boats and try to make it travel straightly. When we tested, the finished product of ours it worked great! Check out the video bellow, we made it around 2:30-2:50 seconds for the three times tested. Our boats name is "Blew By You"!(:

Thur. Jan. 31, 2013- Building the Boat

Our next assignment was the boat race and it was very hard for us to find the right design.
We started off with two water bottles glued together with a pointy. The sail failed and went either left or right.

Next we designed two sails that was curved, one that was tin foil and one that was cloth.  We placed two old cut up credit cards as keels at the bottom of the boat as well. It worked better but still was not consistent.  It would either go straight or hit the wall most of the time.

Then we tried a roman noodle bowl with a water bottle sticking through a pencil in the middle. The water bottle acted like our sail and yes it went straight but it was really slow.

FINALLY we made another two water bottle boat with a tinfoil sail that was wider and put the keel at the back of the boat and it kept it straight! We tested it in my pool with a hair drier and it went straight. (the clips are not at the top now though, the pencils are glued on)

Wed. Jan. 30, 2013 Favorite Animal

(this is not included from the 2 weeks of fish ID, I was absent when I did this didn't get instructions) ...I am definitely a dolphin girl.  The dolphin has been my favorite animal ever since I was a little girl and they have always amazed me with how intelligent they are and how they work together to catch fish sometimes.  Dolphins live in social groups from five up to several hundred, sometimes scientists think they ride on the waves that a boat makes to conserve energy.  They also shed their skin every 2 hours making their skin very soft and allowing them live up to 40 years old. I have actually experienced dolphins up close and have ridden one before. It was an amazing experience I will never forget!

Tuesday Jan 29, 2013- Instruments

Their are many different types of instruments used for certain Oceanographers.  The most common used piece of equipment is the CDT (conductivity, temperature and depth).  It allows, specifically Chemical  Oceanographers, to see the structure of the water and collect water samples at different depths.