Hatfield Marine Science Center Newsletter

January 2000 Pam Rogers, Editor

Yellow Sub Returns Home

The Newmas, a 13-foot, two-person submarine built by Waldport resident Kenny Sanford in 1984, has been donated to the HMSC Visitor Center. The sub sits on a specially-made trailer near the public parking lot and will be used at fairs and parades to promote interest in the Visitor Center. When the sub is not on tour, it will be displayed with interpretive materials about the vessel's history, how it was built, and the role of minisubs in undersea research and exploration.

Sanford and a friend built the sub on the Newport waterfront from a kit for about $55,000. The sub was originally built for underwater recreation, but its only expedition was an unsuccessful salvage operation in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Having lost interest in the sub after incurring thousands of dollars in expenses during this venture, they donated it to OMSI.

OMSI had no use for the sub, so they contacted Bill Hanshumaker, marine education specialist for the Visitor Center, who jumped at the chance to display it at HMSC. Sanford worked with HMSC volunteers to repaint and refurbish the 4,000 vessel.

New Boat Shed Protects Research Vessels

The newest building on the HMSC campus is designed to house vessels rather than scientists. The Marine Mammal Endowment is paying for the construction of the 1728 square foot facility (24'x72') that will protect five research boats, including the HMSC boat. It will also include space for the emergency generator and storage for 350 sonobuoys used in Bruce Mate's whale research.

Former covered storage areas in the RSF building courtyards have been reclaimed by the National Marine Fisheries Service and off-campus storage was becoming prohibitively expensive. The inflatable rubber boats in particular, used by Mate for whale research, cannot be stored outdoors because of the degradation by ultraviolet light and our harsh coastal weather.

Tom Nickerson Construction is doing the work and they will be finished by the end of January. Actual final painting over the existing primer will be delayed until good weather.

Library Notes

Self Service Circulation

We are experimenting with electronic self service circulation. For

years, everybody has checked out library items using the cards. Now,

there's a computer on the desk. You can type in your name and id number

(usually you social security number). Then, you scan in the barcode using

the scanner next to the computer. The monitor will display the book title

and the due date. If an item does not have a barcode, you'll still have to

fill out the card. If this works, we can do away with the cards and the

tedium of filling them out. Let me know how it works for you.

New Books of Interest:

If you were intrigued by The Perfect Storm, you might enjoy Linda

Greenlaw's book, The Hungry Ocean : A Swordboat Captain's Journey. It is

not an adventure story, but rather describes life aboard a fishing boat in

the NW Atlantic. She writes adequately, though not eloquently, and is very

well knowledgeable about gear and crew issues.

New Book of Note:

Marine Algae of Japan by Tadao Yoshida is a mammoth work on the taxonomy of

that region's phycology. It is the current authoritative work in the field.

Although the text is in Japanese, the nature of the work still makes it

valuable. It has an extensive bibliography, a good index, and adequate

illustrations (although none in color.) Gayle Hansen has assured me that we

need this one in the library. As this examples proves, I usually take your

recommendations on books to add to the collection.

Personnel Notes

Watch for Bruce Mate and his crew on the PBS Nature Special on the Humpback Whale, to be aired on Sunday, January 9 from 8-9 p.m. and on Sunday, January 16 from 10-11 a.m.

Congratulations for our holiday baby, Sophia Helen Dziak! Her proud parents are Bob Dziak (VENTS) and Julie Fiore. Sophia arrived early on the morning of December 21, weighing in at 7 pounds, 4 ounces.

We need to have more babies, because we keep losing people to new jobs. NOAA Corps Lt. Commander Robert Kamphaus of the NOAA Tsunami Inundation Mapping Effort is leaving to board the NOAA ship Ron Brown for a term at sea. He'll get to wear his uniform more often now.

Deborah Goldstein will be leaving the Marine Mammal Endowment group and taking a job at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (better known as OMSI) in Portland. She will be working on grant writing, much the same type of thing as she has been doing for Bruce Mate.

Linda and Ray Conser will leave for the San Diego area the first week in January. Ray is transferring to the Southwest Fisheries Science Center from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Linda will be looking for less stressful work than scheduling hundreds of school groups.

Linda poses with Luke McIlvenny (left) and Dave Adamson (right) at her farewell party.