NOWRAMP
2002
Updates
from the Townsend Cromwell
(9/20 - 9/21/02)
Midway
Atoll
Posted
by Stephani Holzwarth
Photography by Jim Watt
Sept
20, 2002. Midway Atoll. Long, gorgeous day. We launched
the SAFE boat at sunrise this morning, at the entrance to
the main ship channel at Midway. In our small fast boat
we buzzed past the Rapture, our sister research vessel,
headed in to tie up at Midway. The Cromwell tied
up as well and some of our ships crew got a much needed
half a day off. Not the scientists though! We were plenty
busy until almost sundown- swapping out another CREWS buoy,
towing the outer barrier, and the fish and benthic divers
revisiting sites that Ed and Bob and others (NOAA fisheries
biologists) have been surveying since the early 1980s. Brian
and I were on a quest to see rare and beautiful angelfish.
We came across masked angels, which I always look at as
long as possible, drinking in their perfect simple beauty.
The girl fish are creamy white with a charcoal black mask
and gold fins. The guy fish have a gold mask, and harems
if they are lucky! We looked and looked for the elusive
Japanese angel, and saw hundreds of Potters angels, which
are similar, but not a one Japanese. The Potters are quite
pretty as well and look to me like a bed of embers glowing
dark red in smoky black, with blue flames along the trailing
edges of their fins.
After
almost 12 hours on the water we ran the boat home to tie
up next to the ship. I did the quick version of my nightly
GIS data tasks so I could bike to the treehouse near Rusty
Bucket beach for sunset. As much as I love the ship, it
felt amazing to be free of it for an hour. I couldn't have
been happier- riding a bicycle, no noise, no people, just
me and a million colors in the sky and on the water. A fairy
tern chick decided to sit next to me on the tree platform,
so I enjoyed its quiet company for awhile, though it nipped
at me when I got up to leave. :o)
Sept
21. Midway. In spite of however much fun anyone had on land,
we all returned dutifully to the ship and all were bright-eyed
and bushytailed by our morning sendoff. We finished 6 more
tows, making that 10 for Midway. The fish and benthic teams
surveyed near the entrance to the inner lagoon where Navy
ships used to enter for a protected harbor. Another full
day, and now we're headed to Kure Atoll, 60 miles to the
northwest, at 178' longitude, which is a scant 2 degrees
east of the dateline. We could cross over, and it would
be tomorrow. ;o)
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