Expedition Journal

April 21, 1996
Being a Coral Diver

I am a week two Argo. (short for Argonaut) I can't describe my feelings, about what it feels like to be an Argo, because if I did It would take me ten full pages! It is the greatest feeling to be part of this project because I know that I am going to inspire other young people to get involved in science.

I am a coral diver, and what my job is, as a coral diver is to dive off the M.S.B.(Mobil Support Barge). I dive down to do research with Jerry Wellington. When I go down and meet Jerry he gives me a few tasks to do. One of those tasks is to go to a few corals that Jerry has selected and take a light tester to record how light effects the growth of each coral. Because the different amounts of light do appear to have a dramatic affect on how the corals grow and produce. And at this very moment we are analizing data that all the scientists that are underwater have collected dealing with the currents, and how they affect the way that the corals eat. It may sound boring, but is really getting interesting. We'll be posting the information on the web, so look for it!

Derek Pettigrew
Student Argonaut

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Gene Carl Feldman (gene@seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov) (301) 286-9428
Todd Carlo Viola, JASON Foundation for Education (todd@jason.org)
Revised: 21 April 1996