A great experience at SEASCape, SEA’s high school summer program in Woods Hole, inspired one recent alumna to share what she learned about plastic pollution in the ocean, and in doing so, to give back to SEA!

On Wednesday, two of SEA Semester’s most recent alumni, Cecilia Howard (Johns Hopkins University) and Andrew Meashaw (SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry), who sailed this spring on the Marine Biodiversity & Conservation Program (C-285), joined their professors, Dr. Kerry Whittaker and Dr. Porter Hoagland, to serve on a panel and make a presentation at a meeting of the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development at the United Nations in New York.

Jonathan Harris, C-112, winner of the 2019 Armin E. Elsaesser III Fellowship, continues his research along the Gulf Coast as part of his project, “Pirates, Blockades and Commerce: an expedition to explore the maritime history, fortifications, and lighthouses of the Gulf Islands National Seashore.”

SEA Semester in the NEWS
Cook Islands News
Tall Ship Call In

Registered in the US, the vessel is dedicated to oceanographic science research –that entails the sampling of seawater and marine life for close study – which teaches people about the ocean and traditional sail training.

The ship is one of two tall ship scientific research vessels operated by the United States-based Sea Education Association (SEA).

Read the full story.

In this microcosmal world, life is both busy and simple at the same time.

There are lines to memorize, sails to haul, mouths to feed, and projects to finish, but there is still the simplicity and peace that accompanies the realization that this is your world, at least for the moment. What we have, and who we have, is all we have

SEA Semester in the NEWS
“Student Experiences Natural Wonders, National Tragedy in New Zealand”
by Phuc Huynh Le ’22
Grinnell College News

Standing watch on a 134-foot-long sailboat from 1 to 7 a.m., Isaac Ferber sighted what appeared to be a fast line of light traveling near the ocean surface off the coast of New Zealand.

“It was cloudy that night. I heard what sounded like something breathing in the water, which is somewhat alarming in the pitch dark,” Ferber says. After scanning the water, he spotted a dolphin maneuvering in such a way as to cause water-suspended bacteria to glow brightly due to fluorescence. He figured they were likely from the Vibrionaceae family of bacteria because he had learned about their fluorescent properties in his classes aboard ship.

Student Researchers Investigate the Microbiome of the Sargasso Sea

In the high seas region of the Sargasso Sea, college researchers pluck samples from the ocean’s twilight zone to study how microbes might affect climate change. On March 30th, undergraduates of Sea Education Association’s Marine Biodiversity and Conservation Program (MBC) boarded the SSV Corwith Cramer, and sailed East from Key West, FL toward the Sargasso Sea, also known as the North Atlantic Gyre. Student researchers Sharla Friend, Mary Noyes and Sarah Stover investigated the microbial biodiversity of the Sargasso Sea’s deep and surface regions, specifically targeting the twilight zone; the region where the sun’s light begins to fade away, sampling communities from as deep as 650m which is about a half mile below the sea’s surface is nearly.

Researchers study the isopod parasite infecting slender Sargassum shrimp

Known as the slender Sargassum shrimp, Latreutes fucorum plays a critical role in the Sargasso Sea ecosystem, but could a common parasite be a threat? Students of SEA’s Marine Biodiversity and Conservation program recently returned from a six-week voyage sailing north through the Atlantic aboard the tall ship ocean research vessel SSV Corwith Cramer.

Beige sand sifts through my feet as I look up to see the many mounds of an expansive desert. Behind me, a pillar of burnt orange sandstone rises out of the dry air and dominates the horizon… “Julien, hey, Julien.” Confused I turn to hear, “it’s um 12:30 on the 13th and you have dawn watch in like 30 minutes.

This one-day symposium is the capstone experience for students from SEA Semester class C-285 Marine Biodiversity & Conservation. The event includes oral presentations of the students’ science, policy and conservation research to a panel of invited experts, and contributes directly to international effort to protect the Sargasso Sea.  Student presentations will be interspersed with related talks given by some of the invited participants. The public is invited to attend. Space is limited.