Oceanography Meets Literature

Last Saturday, members of Bernie Shellem’s Oceanography class and Jeff Peterson’s English seminar on seafaring literature, “Deadliest Catches,” trekked to Marina Bay Harbor in Richmond, to board the Research Vessel (R/V) Robert G. Brownlee for an afternoon of marine science. The morning was dark and drizzly, but the skies cleared and the interdisciplinary crew of 29 students enjoyed a gorgeous afternoon on the San Francisco Bay. In small groups, each working closely with a naturalist, students cycled through the Marine Science Institute’s hands-on curriculum in three hour-long sessions: using a trawl net to catch and identify fish and crustaceans, a Petersen (no relation!) grab to collect and sift through mud samples for bottom-dwelling marine life, and a Van Dorn bottle to collect and identify plankton and study SF Bay water chemistry. All in all, a thoroughly satisfying field trip for all concerned, students and chaperones alike had fun in the sun, and learned about life on—and beneath—the Bay.
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mens conscia recti

a mind aware of what is right