Maplewood Richmond Heights seventh grade science teacher Bill Henske is aboard the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) research ship Nancy Foster for 15 days as part of the Teacher at Sea program.
Henske left Key West on Sunday and is helping a team of NOAA scientists map coral reefs and research fish populations with other science teachers. He’s is blogging about the experience through the NOAA website.
From Henske’s blog on June 16:
“You may have heard the saying there’s more than one fish in the sea. While certainly this is true, the aphorism does little to describe the condition of the sea. The assumption might be that because there are a large number of fish, the sea is a healthy one. But are the individual types of fish occurring in significant populations? Are the populations equally distributed or are they more likely in certain parts of the ocean? How do they change over time?”
Also, on a more personal note:
“I have to admit, for someone like me, it is hard to be the green horn. Most of the folks I know can piece together a picture of what working and living at sea would be like. I thought I had a pretty good mental collage going from my bits and pieces and random trivia knowledge. My maritime fantasy world was made of concepts and ideas from many experiences, books, friends and the like. Most of these are small snippets of truths that are sprinkled through all our memories. Drawers opening and closing with the rolling of the waves, portholes, the bustling mess at supper, escape hatches, smoke stacks, life rings. When I heard the “All aboard that’s coming aboard” as we prepared to leave port, the primeval neurons of my childhood sparked. I realized most of my snippets were from Popeye. Ak ak ak ak ak. Passing note, tonight’s wonderful dinner included spinach.”
Follow Henske’s blog, and follow his ship, the Nancy Foster, on Facebook.
