E-Mail From Indiana...

From: ryan turpen
Date: Wednesday, June 28, 1995 at 4:38:23 pm EDT
Hello, My name is Ryan Turpen and I live in Indiana. This is the first time that I have discovered MidLink. I think that it is very cool. I hope to learn more about your voyage. Today's date is June 28, 1995. Could you tell me where your ship is now? Could you also describe the area that you are in?

Answers from Captain Nelson...

Hello Ryan Turpen -

Welcome to the pages of MidLink. I'm pleased that you've navigated your way through the Internet and found MidLink and the articles written by students at the Discovery Middle School in Orlando, Florida, and from other schools about the around the world scientific voyage of the NOAA Ship MALCOLM BALDRIGE.

As I write this reply to you, we are just completing another of our many scientific cruises in the Indian Ocean. During this particular cruise, we have been studying the deep temperature, salinity, and oxygen properties of the central Indian Ocean circulation, as well as trying to map out the shallow and deep currents in the region.

The MALCOLM BALDRIGE left Muscat, Oman on 31 May 1995 with our crew of 46 men and women and an additional 15 scientists aboard to conduct the research. It took us approximately 5 days to steam from Muscat, Oman southwestward to our first station along latitude 08 degrees 30 minutes north, just about 15 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia. During this time of the year, the southwest monsoon sets up, and from the coast of Somalia, clear across the northern Indian Ocean, almost to India, the wind blows hard and the seas are rough. For almost two straight weeks, the ship was constantly rolling and pitching in 12 to 15 ft seas or greater and being blown around by 25 to 30 knot winds. Unfortunately because we are a research vessel, we often have to work in bad weather, and can't steam away from it, or around it. In fact, one of the primary objectives of our cruises in the Indian Ocean is to determine the effect of the southwest monsoon on the circulation and biological productivity in the Indian Ocean. So we have to work in the heavy weather. It just makes us all appreciate the beautiful weather that we do have at sea, when we get it.

From the coast of Somalia, we headed due east along 08-30 N, stopping approximately every 30 nautical miles to conduct a CTD cast to the bottom of the ocean (usually between 4000 and 5000 meters deep along our track). A CTD electronically measures pressure (related to depth), temperature, and conductivity (related to salinity) as the instrument is lowered in the water. From the temperature, salinity, and depth data made at a series of stations along the line, we can determine the current flow across the line, both in the surface layers and deep in the water column.

We completed our line of stations across the northern Indian Ocean when we reached the coast of Sri Lanka on June 19th. Then we turned around and headed back west again, but before returning to the northern Indian Ocean per se, the MALCOLM BALDRIGE stopped in Male, Maldives to complete a courtesy diplomatic visit that had been requested of us by the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Our stop in the Maldives proved to be very interesting. The Maldives are a colletion of over 1200 small coral atolls that comprise a large island archipelago that extends over several thousand miles of ocean. The total land area isn't very large, however, being something just under about 300 square kilometers. However, because of the internationally agreed upon Law of the Sea, and the recognized 200 n.mi. boundaries of the Exclusive Economic Zone around coastal countries, the Maldives controls a very large portion of the Indian Ocean. In the entire country of the Maldives there are fewer than 200,000 people.

Now the most interesting and perhaps shocking part of our visit to Male, Maldives was what we all discovered upon arrival. My expectation of the Maldives, before I read about the country and before I visited Male, was that we would see a true tropical paradise; islands with pure white sand beaches, palm trees swaying in the wind, beautiful coral reefs to dive on. Well, all of those images are true about the Maldives, only you have to go to one of the smaller outer islands to find that sort of paradise. In fact, several crew members did just that and had a wonderful time, although our stop was very short. However, on Male, the setting is much different.

Male is both the name of the small island and the capital city of the Maldives. The total size of the island is only approximately 1000 meters wide by 2000 meters long, and the highest part of the island itself (not including the buildings) stands only 2 meters above sea level. Think of that size perhaps as about 10 football stadiums lined up side by side and end to end. All of the land area is totally paved over, and built over with buildings, shops, etc. Now the most unbelievable fact is that there are over 65,000 people living on this small island. Because of the extreme population density, the people of this country have all (really more) of the environmental, economic, and social problems of a very large city, but in most cases they do not have the necessary resources to solve the problems.

One of those problems is very real to the Maldivians, and is the reason why we stopped in Male to conduct an open house and scientific briefing on the ship for officials of the Maldives. Because the islands in the Maldives only stand some 1 to 2 meters above sea level, changes in sea level that may possibly be due to climate change and global warming could eventually flood the Maldives. In the case of global warming, which some scientists believe may now be occurring, the oceans may warm up and expand, thus standing higher, or the fresh water locked up as ice in the Arctic or Antarctic may melt. Both phenomena could lead to rising sea level. Rising sea level in the Maldives means that the islands could be washed over, even under moderate wind and sea conditions. So climate change is a very real concern to the Maldivians, because if sea level is rising, the Maldivians will have to figure out ways to offset or counteract the rising sea level to protect their homes, businesses, and in fact, their country.

One of the reasons that the MALCOLM BALDRIGE is working in the Indian Ocean is to help determine the baseline oceanographic data in the region against which we will eventually be able to determine and predict global climate changes like global warming and sea level rise. Unfortunately, we do not yet have enough reliable data records to make those determinations, with a reasonable degree of certainty. For example, we'd like to be able to say that our global measurements of sea level indicate that sea level is rising at a rate of only 4-5 cm every 50 years. But the uncertainty in the data that we now have means that we really don't know yet if sea level is rising slowly or more rapidly, at something like 40-50 cm in 50 years. There is a big difference, as you can see. In some cases, decisions about how to protect our coastlines and countries against environmental changes must be made before all of the data are collected.

After the ship left the Maldives, we headed west again, and resumed our oceanographic sampling at a position located at 5N, 061E, and for the last week we have been working our way southwestward towards the another island group called the Seychelles. As I write this (Thursday evening, just about 9:00 pm ship time [1:00 pm EDT] 29 July 1995), we are just about 200 nautical miles north of the Seychelles, and we have 3 more CTD stations to complete. Tomorrow morning we will finish our last station, and about 7 hours after that station is completed, we will dock in Victoria, Seychelles, the capital of the Seychelles. For a quick lesson in world geography, see if you can locate the Seychelles group in the southern Indian Ocean (approximate latitude and longitude is 04S, 055E). The ship will remain in port in Victoria until 12 July 1995, after which we will again depart port to begin a short cruise from Victoria, Seychelles to Muscat, Oman. This stop in the Seychelles will provide a much needed rest for my crew at the mid-way point in our world cruise.

I know that I've written more than you asked for, but I've also copied this answer to the teacher (Mrs. Caroline McCullen) who is responsible for creating MidLink, and she will likely publish your name, questions, and these answers in MidLink. So with that in mind, we would like some more information about you. I know that you are from Indiana, but could you tell us a little bit about yourself? What school do you attend? What grade will you be in next year? What are your favorite school activities and interests, and how did you discover MidLink?

Thanks very much for writing and sending me your questions. Keep watching the pages of MidLink for new information about the cruise of the MALCOLM BALDRIGE, as we complete our work in the Indian Ocean and begin our voyage through the Pacific Ocean towards home.

Your Friend,
Captain Craig S. Nelson, NOAA
Commanding Officer
NOAA Ship MALCOLM BALDRIGE

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