Tonight we were treated to a beautiful sunset over calm seas, setting off a frenzy of last minute photo taking. If all goes as planned this will be our last night with land out of sight, as current conditions should bring us to Victoria Monday evening, and Vancouver late Wednesday afternoon. We’ve seen signs of land over the past day or so, including stray bull kelp (at first mistaken for a new kind of plastic debris), increased boat traffic, and even a log.
Yesterday, Marcus disassembled the trawls, officially marking the end of ‘The Science,’ and has been busily assembling a research report (coming soon). Without fresh samples to preserve and photograph, Hank took up the ukulele and composed the official expedition theme song “Jin Bad and Juice,” an amazing sequence of pithy crew profiles and inside jokes about Tang and Korean hot sauce (“Wolff has the name but is built like a fairy, eats lots of plants but please hold the dairy”).
Afternoon activity involved packing preserved samples for transit. We lovingly swathed bottles of preserved plastics in disposable baby diapers (!) then sealed them in zip-lock bags. I met my souvenir sample for the first time and it looks like I managed to score a plastic cap amongst the bits. It is now snug in its huggie awaiting a permanent home in a glass jar of rubbing alcohol. I’m about to tuck myself into my bunk, to dream of salads and trees, and maybe even sunsets over the open seas.
Kim De Wolff 