February
25th, 2003: Leg 1, Day #7
We
are getting close to the tip of Baja. Our last major station will be at
7:00 pm local time on the 25th, 0200 Greenwich meridian time (GMT) on the
26th. We use GMT on the ship because it never changes, while
yesterday we changed from Pacific to Mountain time. We have just crossed
the Tropic of Cancer, so we are now officially in the tropics.
Temperatures continue to get warmer and shorts are being worn by almost
everyone. There is a buzz in the air. No one talks about it much, but
everyone is thinking about reaching La Paz. We will dock at a place called
Pichilingue.
We
feel quite happy about the results of our cruise although it will take a
return trip and then several months or maybe years of analysis to put it
all together. I for one have learnt a great deal about this part of the
world over the last several days. One of the tools we use in our studies
is a temperature-salinity or TS plot in oceanographic jargon. When we plot
our data in this space different water masses show up. The subarctic water
is cool and fresh, tropical surface water is warm and fresh, Pacific deep
water is the coldest, equatorial subsurface water is warm and salty, and
subtropical surface water is warmer and saltier. Can you find these water
masses in the plot? And determine which CTD drop was made where?
I
have gained great admiration for the Mexican scientists who have laid a
great foundation before us. They have done their work with tools that are
less modern and comfortable than ours but still have some outstanding
descriptions for the region. The same can be said about the early
oceanographers. In 1942 a man named Sverdrup published a book called The
Oceans. Many of us still go to it when we come across someplace that
we do not know about. Sixty years later we have difficulty improving upon these
early publications.
One
of the wonderful things about going to sea is that it gives you time to
think—to think about those things that we do not have time to normally because of
our busy schedules. And tomorrow that time will be gone as we dock at
Pichilingue.
Francisco
