ARGONAUTS ADVENTURE ON WELL-EQUIPPED VESSEL

They call them "Argonauts" and, although their adventures at sea may rival the mythological Jason, the middle school and high school Argonauts will have their adventures in much more comfort.

Students from the JASON project are comparing the surface, mid-level and deep sea ocean environments of coral reefs in Bermuda and kelp beds in Monterey Bay. The two-week research voyage, March 16 - 27, will be shared by two teams of argonauts in Monterey, who will chat with scientists in Bermuda and students nationwide via the Internet. The students will be conducting their own research projects and will report back using journals and digital images on the Internet.

Their research is being conducted aboard the McArthur, a 175-foot NOAA research ship.

The ship acts as both home and research lab for the students. The stainless steel kitchen is about the size of a normal kitchen and has everything a restaurant would. On the research side, the ship has something called a bottom grabber, that goes to the ocean's bottom and grabs sludge and all of the tiny organisms living in the sludge. The on-board lab also contains computers which, among other things, tell the students what time it is, salinity, depth, knots of speed, and direction. The office aboard the McArthur has much of the same supplies found in offices on shore: computers, copy machines and file cabinets.

Fore more information, contact John Robinson, 408-647-4237.