Q: How did the humpback whale evolve? From dinosaurs? WHALE STORY:
A: The earliest whales we know about are from the early Eocene period which was 53 million years ago. The early whales may have started as land animals and returned to the sea! We are almost certain that they did not evolve directly from dinosaurs.
On our expedition so far we have not seen any whales. We look most of the day hours and if we have our air seismic equipment on, we use some really cool see-in-the-dark binoculars to look at night. The Marine Mammal Observers watch and sometimes the scientists will also help.
We think that the best chance to see whales will be when we go back toward Singapore near the end of our expedition. All of us would like to see some!
Student Resources:
Science Challenge Questions in Hard-copy format (Word.doc)
Online Science Challenge 1 Online Science Challenge 2 Online Science Challenge 3 Online Science Challenge 4
Student Questions and Answers from Scientists:
Is it Difficult to be at Sea for Two Months?
How big is the dredge & how many rocks do we collect when we dredge?
Do Sharks Attack Your Seismic Floats?
What Are We Doing on July 4th in the Indian Ocean?
Ship Speed: How Fast are we traveling at sea?
Where are the Real-time Web-Cameras on the RV Roger Revelle?
Expedition Background Articles:
Hotspots and Ninetyeast Ridge: What’s a hotspot?, by Will Sager
Anatomy of a Seamount Survey, by Will Sager
Dredging Operations onboard the R/V Revelle, by Amy Eisin
Geochemistry of Volcanic Rocks, by Fred Frey
Cool Expedition Discoveries Already!, by Will Sager
What is Bathymetry?, by Will Sager
Acoustics: Substitute for Superman Vision?, by Will Sager
Magnetometers (“Maggie”) and Attracting Sharks, by Rory Wilson
High.Seas.HIGHTECH/ analyze!ocean@voyages, by lots of us...
How to Become a Captain, by the Captain
The Search for the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin, by Leslie Nemazi.
Rocks Rock! (or ) The Fresh Cut Surface of Beautiful Ocean Rock, by Evelyn Mervine
Exploring the Bridge of the RV Roger Revelle
Teacher Resources:
Sample Student Responses to the Navigation Challenge Question (Word.doc)
CCTM PowerPoint presentation: An Introduction to the Sea90e Expedition
The Official NER Science Cruise Report including Educational Outreach
