Timothy - Camp: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:10PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Here is a brief Bio for Francesca Cava: Francesca M. Cava currently serves as the Project Manager for the National Geographic Society's Sustainable Seas Expeditions. She is responsible for expedition planning, day-to-day operations, overseeing logistics arrangements for the submersibles, and encouraging new partnerships with other marine institutions. Since 1995 she has also served as a Commissioner of the California Coastal Commission and is actively engaged in a number of projects to find and promote solutions to major coastal problems associated with marine pollution, including advising a start-up effort for an aquarium based on the resources of the Santa Barbara Channel. During her 21-year tenure with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ms. Cava became the first woman promoted to the rank of Captain and served in several command postions aboard NOAA's reserch vessels.

Ken Decroo: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:26PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Hi Timonthy! The in-service is going great.... We are just breaking for refreshments and being of our Open House...

Cheryl Perez, Outpost Leader: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:27PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Trail Guide web does not liat information about Ms. Cava.

Linda Kleiner: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:31PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Hi: I am visiting your site for the first time.

: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:33PM PST (-0800 GMT)

Marcy, Camp Counselor: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:34PM PST (-0800 GMT)
That image is a satellite capture of the west coast provided by NOAA - a major Camp Internet partner. NOAA is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration and has challenging duties from weather prediction to managing our marine sanctuaries .....

Marcy, Camp Counselor: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:35PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Hello Cheryl - if you click on the button Timothy put in his first message, it links to the table of contents for the Trail Guides - Francesca is the first one ....

Marcy, Camp Counselor: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:37PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Hello Desert Sands and crew - glad to hear the Camp teachers have been enjoying learning the new technology skills today - from GIS to using the Remote Access Astronomy Project that lets us take a picture of the night sky over the Internet ! As teachers, we invite you to use tonight's chat to become familiar with the important Sustainable Seas Expedition that was launched this year by National Geographic Society to explore our national marine sanctuaries. Our Camp teachers have been provided with SSE classroom tools, and visiting tonight with Francesca is a great opportuntiy to hear first-hand about what lies ahead for the expedition - Hawaiian Humpback Whale Sanctuary is next on the list !

: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:41PM PST (-0800 GMT)
button

: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:45PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Here is a gallery of images of Humpback Whales that will be the focus of the next SSE Expedition - click on any/all buttons to see some great under/above water photographs ....button button button

Janice: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:47PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Hi Marcy, It has been an exciting day here at Desert Sands. I'm glad to be here. Will NOAA host chats when we do our meterology chat?

Timothy - Camp: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:55PM PST (-0800 GMT)
One of the most interesting tools used by the Sustainable Seas Expedition is the Submersible. There are two in use now, mapping and collecting data upto 2,000 ft. I'll try to upload a picture here of one of the submersibles. Goto button for more photos and information.

Marcy, Camp Counselor: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:56PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Janice - yes, the head of our region of NOAA's weather service was online last year and has asked to come back for the sessions in January - plus we will have the GIS project underway to chart student findings with those smithsonian weather kits we included in the learning materials.

Cheryl: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:56PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Marcy, we had great inservice. Are you keeping our display boards?

: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:56PM PST (-0800 GMT)

Francesca Cava: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:57PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Hi, This is Francesca Cava from the Sustainable Seas Expeditions ready to take your questions.

Timothy - Camp: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 4:59PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Welcome Francesca. Would you give us a brief overview of the SSE project.

Linda Kleiner: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:01PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Can you explain your program for high risk students?

Cheryl: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:02PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Hi Francesca -- Are you still involved in the bilingual marine education program? If so, has it shown success among the targeted students?

Paradise Home School: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:02PM PST (-0800 GMT)
To: Francesca Cava: Will the Sustainable Seas Expeditions lead to new maps of our Coastal areas?

JimJones: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:02PM PST (-0800 GMT)
At present what do you see as thye most pressingissue cincerningthe ocean

Paradise Home School: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:03PM PST (-0800 GMT)
We heard last year, during the SSE work in Santa Barbara, that there may be a giant squid out around the islands. Is that true?

William - 9th grade - SB: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:05PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Is there a way to follow the findings of the SSE scientists as the project evolves? Any regular online information / updates?

Francesca Cava: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:05PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Hi Timothy, The Sustainable Seas Expeditions is the modern day ocean equivalent of the famous Lewis and Clarke Expedition. Our goal is to use new 1-person submersibles to explore and photograph our 12 national marine sanctuaries. Marine sanctuaries are just like national parks, but in the ocean. So far we've completed 9 expeditions around the country. We started last April, off San Francisco and visited the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank sanctuaries, headed south to Monterey Bay, then to the Channel Islands and in June we were diving off the Washington Coast in the Olympic Coast sanctuary. In July we headed east to Boston, to the Stellwagen sanctuary, then south to Georgia, to Grays Reef, next to the Florida Keys and our last expedition was 110 miles off the coast of Texas, the Flower Gardens national marine sanctuary. Its been a great year and you can read all about each expedition at our web site: sustainableseas.NOAA.gov

Marcy, Camp Counselor: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:07PM PST (-0800 GMT)
To Linda Kleiner - I think you are directing your question at the Camp program. We have a variety of students in the Camp - the full range from the GATE to the high-risk kids. Ken Decroo, who is a counselor with you there tonight, is a good person for you to talk to personally. What we are experiencing is that by focusing on exciting content - vs the 'mechanics' of a computer - the Camp is helping students overcome barriers to technolgoy literacy because they are motivated by the learning content, and in the process of accessing the content, become computer literate. This is especially true for high-risk kids who have cultural, intellectual, or economic barriers to computer-facilitated learning. But it also is true for teachers who find the content motivation to learn to "drive the car" in order to get to a compelling destination....

Francesca Cava: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:08PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Hi Jim, We feel that the most pressing issue about the ocean is our lack of knowledge - we just don't know whats is there and what is changing. Before we had the ability to use these little subs, most people could only go to about 100 feet using scuba and then only stay for about an hour. Now we hope to spend many hours, both during the day and at night finally getting to see what is there and recording this information for others to see also. Our ultimate goal is to get people just like you really interested in learning more about the ocean and helping to make sure we do all we can to protect it.

Linda Kleiner: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:10PM PST (-0800 GMT)
I read in Francesca's bio about a program does with high risk students in Santa Barbara. Was I incorrect?

Francesca Cava: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:11PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Hi William, Right now we are planning for next year when our next expedition starts in Hawaii - on January 10th. In the meantime, you can visit our web site which has over 700 pages of what we found during our first 9 expeditions as well as several chats with students all around the country. There is also an extensive photo gallery for you to see what kind of ships we used and what the submersible, called DeepWorker looks like. Its really cool being able to dive in a sub and stay warm and dry and see what is happening just off our shore.

JimJones: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:12PM PST (-0800 GMT)
How can I best get students interested when they have grown up in the desert?

Paradise Home School: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:14PM PST (-0800 GMT)
To Francesca: Have there been any near accidents or scarry situations with the use of the submersible during the past year?

Laurey of Lake Arrowhead: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:14PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Francesca...I would like your opinion on a type of project that I could involve my 6th grade students in besides saving a whale. We are in an isolated mountain community and I think it would be a way to broaden their vision and get them involved in a conservation project. What would you suggest?

Marcy, Camp Counselor: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:15PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Here is a sample of a student art work made after reading the Chumash story of the Rainbow bridge that the Godess hutach created between Santa cruz island and the mainland to encourage the early islanders to migrate to the mainland .... button .......the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary works closely with the Chuamsh, and when the SSE submersibles pulled into the harbor at Santa Barbara, they were escorted by Chumash in a 'tomol' - a canoe made in the old style. High tech met traditional tech in a moving ceremony celebrating the exploration of the sea.

Francesca Cava: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:15PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Hi Linda, I first moved to Santa Barbara in 1987 when I was the Channel Islands sanctuary manager. At that time, with many other people helping, I started a program called Los Marineros, a bi-lingual program for 5th/6th graders that spent a year teaching students all about the Santa Barbara Channel and the marine sanctuary. It was a great program, we even go to go whale watching and visit Santa Cruz Island. We covered as many different curricula as possible, art, music, science, but the main goal was to get the students out of the class so they could experience learning about the ocean first hand through a series of field trips. Schools in Santa Barbara still offer this program. If you'd like more information on it, please contact Julie Goodson at the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.

Francesca Cava: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:18PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Hi Laurey, The really wonderful thing about studying the ocean is you reallyi can be anywhere. Everything you do, whether you live in the desert or in the mountains, eventually finds its way through rivers or even through the air to the ocean. Have your students ever thought about the number of things they do every day that could reach the ocean? And once it does, do they know what happens. Many people that live in places like Iowa, for example, may use pesticides or fertilizers that seep through the ground water or river systems and finally end up in the Gulf of Mexico. The one thing to remember is that we are all connected in a global system.

Silvia - Camp Internet: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:19PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Francesca: Have there been any consistant findings between all the Sanctuaries that were unexpected? Any new common features that are better understood as a result of the SSE program?

Ayami - 6th grade: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:20PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Francesca: Has the past year of use of the submersibles led you to suggest any redesigns?

Tsunami - 9th grade: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:21PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Francesca: Is this the first time this kind of survey of costal waters has been done?

JimJones: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:21PM PST (-0800 GMT)

Francesca Cava: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:23PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Hi Paradise, Luckily we haven't had any accidents with the subs, but we are always very aware that anything can happen when you are at sea. Amazingly enough, this is the first time that NOAA ships have deployed and recovered submersibles, so as you can imaging there was a great deal of training. One of our major problems, during the California expeditions was the weather. We had gale force winds for over 35 days. These types of winds make it very difficult to get the sub over the side of the ship, disconnect it from its handling lines and then recover it after its dive. The weather also made our visibility during dives very restricted. But we continued to learn every day and have laid the groundwork for many more studies when we start up again in Hawaii next January.

Marcy, Camp Counselor: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:23PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Linda - I found the passage you were refering to : "Working with many other institutions in the community Ms. Cava was responsible for founding the Los Marineros, a bilingual marine education program for high risk children which has since become a major part of the science curriculum for the 5th grade in the Santa Barbara school system".... this refers to a program that provides printed materials and a field trip for santa Barbara/Ventura area classes, and is a partner in the Camp Program's online activities - we host thier web site. You can learn more about it at button

Francesca Cava: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:25PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Hi Tsunami, There have been many research studies in the Channel Islands, but this is the first one that was dedicated to using 1-person submersibles and including pilots that were not only scientists, but teachers, writers, resource managers and many others. We had over 35 pilots from all over the country join us, learn how to pilot the sub, and try out their concepts for how to best collect data or photograph what they were seeing. We've really only just begun and have a lot more to do. Did you know that less than 3% of the ocean has been explored?

Laurey of Lake Arrowhead: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:27PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Thank you Francesca. I agree with your philosophy. What impact have you noticed on the whale population regarding pesticides?

Marcy, Camp Counselor: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:28PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Francesca - here is the link for you to point people to, to reach the SSE web on the NOAA server ......... button

Laurey of Lake Arrowhead: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:29PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Would there be a student field trip possible on a research vessel? If so, where?

Francesca Cava: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:30PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Hi Silvia, So far we have found many differences between sanctuaries but few similarities. Perhaps the only exception, is some disappointment in not finding really large fish. We expected in the Florida Keys, for example, to find large groupers, but instead, most of the fish were smaller than historic records showed. We hope we just missed them and that they are still out there to find! We will be looking for them again next year. There is also some speculation that the motoring sound of the subs may be scaring them off. However, we have had several pilots simply sit in one location for a couple of hours not making noise, and they still didn't see what they were expecting.

Francesca Cava: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:33PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Laurey, One of the really fun things that we have done during each expedition is to host a student summit and also to have an open house. During the student summit, students get an opportunity to talk with the pilots from the expeditions, and in some cases, actually help us plan for missions in the future. During most of our expeditions, we've also had open houses where people can visit the ship and see the subs. We will continue to do this next year, so be sure to check our web site for both of those events!

: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:33PM PST (-0800 GMT)
This button is another link to SSE resources on the Camp web that recorded the events at the Channel Islands Sanctuary.......

Ken Decroo: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:35PM PST (-0800 GMT)
What is the longest duration you can stay under in your one person submersibles?

August: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:37PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Hi Laurey I know about two programs for field trips 1- Classroom afloat L.A. County. Near the Vincent Thomas Bridge. Also UCLA has the UCLA Seaworld that they to take classrooms out into the Santa Monica Bay. Peggy Hamner phamner@ucla.edu e-mail me and I can give you more info. August Kraemer akraemer3@earthlink.net

Laurey of Lake Arrowhead: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:37PM PST (-0800 GMT)
What do you know about the effects of development at the tip of Kay West by a large hotel chain? It was a controversial topic about 3 years ago.

Francesca Cava: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:37PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Ayami, One of the big problems we had with the subs, are that they were designed in Canada and the manufacturers were not used to using these subs in hot weather. When we were off the East coast, in the middle of the summer, there were some days when it was over 100 degrees. The sub has a large plexiglass dome that is great for letting the pilot look around during a dive, but also made the sub very hot. There wasn't much we could do - no air conditioning. But the pilots did come up with one solution which was to wear a jacket full of frozen liquids to keep them cool. Not particularly sophisticated but very effective. I believe we will see considerable change with the subs as our Expeditions continue, especially with the kind of cameras we use or other equipment that allows us to collect data. Stay tuned on the web to see what comes next!

Laurey of Lake Arrowhead: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:39PM PST (-0800 GMT)
August, Thanks! I was so pleased to get a message from you. We are out here in the desert. Sorry I didn't get to visit with you yesterday.

Francesca Cava: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:39PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Ken, Theoretically, you can stay in the sub for about 100 hours. But since there are no bathroom facilities, we usually limit dives to no more than 4 to 6 hours. During our first year most of our dives were about 2 hours long, but I'm sure as we become more inquisitive, this will change and become longer.

Ken Decroo: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:40PM PST (-0800 GMT)
What is the longest duration you can stay under in your one person submersibles?

Marcy, Camp: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:41PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Francesca - at the '99 SSE student summit, one of the researchers described a huge line of jelly fish they encountered while under water - maybe it was Dr. Syliva Earle ? and that they were so bright her instrumentation panel was lit up as if by lamp light. Have then been any other unusual sightings ?

Francesca Cava: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:42PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Laurey, I'm afraid I don't know about the specific development that you are referring to, but I was very sad to see that most of the beaches were closed to swimmers when we were in the Keys because of pollution and bacterial contamination. This kind of problem is frequently brought on by either too much development or too many people. Over 3 million people visit the Florida Keys each year and it is having an impact, both on the land and in the ocean.

Janice: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:43PM PST (-0800 GMT)
What direction should a college student pursue in geography tobe a hopeful employee for National Geographics?

Francesca Cava: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:45PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Marcy, Another unusual sighting was during the Flower Gardens mission during the annual mass coral spawning. Only one night a year all the corals spawn at once, at night. It is an incredible thing to see and we were there during this years spawning. The Flower Gardens sanctuary is 110 miles off the coast of Texas and is an incredibly special place. The coral reef there truly seems like an ocean garden. I really recommend that you check this out on our web site to see it for yourself.

Janice: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:46PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Francesca - Key west is one of my favorite places and it is a shame - I hope nature will find it's way clear of our disrespect and greed!

Francesca Cava: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:49PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Janice, There are many opporutunities in geography that institutions are interested in, including the National Geographic. The best are in the computer field, especially in the up and coming area of Geographic Information Systems or GIS. Another area is in technology, with new subs and new cameras there is a whole world out there to find, photograph and tell others about, especially through the internet.

Francesca Cava: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:52PM PST (-0800 GMT)
I'd like to thank Timothy for asking me to join your chat. These were great questions and I hope you follow our Expeditions as we continue next year through our web site or when we come back to California. We should be here for about 40 days starting in Santa Barbara in late May and then heading north to Monterey. Thanks for all the questions!

Timothy - Camp: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:55PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Francesca - that you for a valuable chat session. We look forward to having Camp Expedition students share ideas with the SSE Student Summit Team in Hawaii in January. Perhaps we can do a chat with you from Sanctuary Headquarters like we did in October with Naomi Macintosh.

JimJones: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:55PM PST (-0800 GMT)
ed a We have enjoyed chatting with you and learned a lot.

Laurey of Lake Arrowhead: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 5:56PM PST (-0800 GMT)
Thank you Francesca. We were honored to chat with you online. Best to you in 2000 with your expedition to Hawaii. I will look forward to hearing about your experiences.

Eagle Dsvid: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 8:24PM PST (-0800 GMT)
How many square miles are the Channel Islands all together?? please reply soon

Eagle Dsvid: . . . . Wed, Dec 1, 8:27PM PST (-0800 GMT)
How many square miles are the Channel Islands all together?? please reply soon

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