We just set sail from Esquimalt Harbor, near Victoria BC and are heading to sea to try to recover and replace a scientific device known as a CORK. Originally placed in the seafloor 1991 in the ridge valley spreading ridge between the Pacific and Juan de Fuca plates, this CORK device gathered interesting and useful data for many years before succumbing to the harsh conditions at this location.
Our School of Rock cohort, consisting of 13 eager explorers and our teachers, have been learning about the IODP program and the work that this ship, the JOIDES Resolution makes possible. Our morning was spent with Instructor and Microbiologist Brandi Reese (in yellow shirt) learning to prepare samples of ocean sediment collected from beneath the docked ship. We hope by tomorrow to see some thriving signs of life in our petrie dishes and to see first- hand how scientists gather data about Earth’s Deep Biosphere. Instructors Jen Collins (in foreground), Don Duggan-Haas, and Jon Lewis are working hard to teach us about the science we are about to participate in and how we can bring back new and exciting lessons to our classrooms.