Research Vessel Falkor is on a mission, steaming full ahead for a tiny spec of land in the central Pacific Ocean called Palmyra Island.We do not know what we will find in the shallow seas there, but we have got to go.It is not just another point on the map - it is a place with huge potential to help us solve a puzzle about how sea level rose after the last ice age and where (geographically) the ice melt that drove the sea level rise originated. Palmyra (and its sister land mass called Kingman Reef) were not picked at random. Rather, they are positioned roughly halfway between Hawaii and Tahiti, two places where previous work tells different stories about the timing and amount of sea level change over the past 20,000 years. Palmyra may hold the key to understanding this difference, and how that impacts our forecasts of future sea level change. So we are on our way.
Off to ExploreROV SuBastian
Taking the Chance
But instead, we decided to head off into the unknown - to visit a site 1000 miles away that we have never seen before - in order to look for similar drowned coral reefs that we are not sure actually exist. Many marine scientists are explorers at heart, and this is the best sort of exploration: one motivated by a compelling reason to go!Importantly, Schmidt Ocean Institute supports this exploration.They believe enough in the scientific rationale to fund a voyage of discovery.Let’s face it: it is unlikely that the Palmyra field research would be supported by the US National Science Foundation:The project is not “safe” enough for them. Schmidt Ocean Institute also supported the intense planning effort for this visit, which included a lengthy permitting process to visit a nature reserve in a US National Monument
Now, all the scientific and logistical planning is behind us.The ship is making way to Palmyra. There is energy on the ship as the science party and crew alike anticipate this visit.They have seen the photos on Goggle Images and read the entry on Wikipedia, which make this small speck of land in the middle of the ocean all the more intriguing. We are now two days into a three and a half day transit, and preparation activities have slowed enough for me to write this blog post.I am hoping for a successful visit and that the captain lets me place the next pin on ship’s map of sites visited!