Thursday August 15

I finally got my password right. Now I can post something. We left Woods Hole yesterday at 2:00. We headed south instead of north becasue a storm was heading our way. I was hoping to go north to see whales and such, but instead we are headed back to the Chesapeake Bay. We are taking water samples along the way . I will post some photos of how we get the samples and clean out the nets. It's quite a fashion statement. We put the plankton into jars and label them. There are different animals in each jar depending on where we get the sample. There are 400 billion salps- these little oval jelly-like clear things that look like clear glass marbles. They are actual animals. You have never heard of most of these other critters, so I will stick to some we are not catching or counting but can see. So far I saw 2 dolpins which was cool; 4 kinds of sea gull- 1 very far away from land. We caught a MOTH in one of the nets and I released it -still alive- It owes me. In the samples, we can see little fish larvae about as big as 3 of these letters, arrow worms which are related to sea squirts (that helped, didn't it?), amphipods, copepods and ctenophores (comb jellies) which are also cool.

OK, Mom. I know what you are thinking. Yes, the food is excellent. Monday night dinner scallops and shrimp in garlic sauce, steak, yellow squash, fresh green beans, ho-made mashed potatoes. Lunch today tuna wraps or lasagna, salads, blueberries and other fruits etc etc. Yes I am eating well. Yes, I am eating fruits and vegetables. And yes, I ate only 1, count 'em, 1 (one) brownie.

I am going to take a shower and sleep. Whoo- hoo!