We are in Biloxi!, ODYSSEY Gulf Blog (year 3), Day 43

Day 43, Friday, July 6, 2012
Dear Family and Friends,
As if mother nature read my last note, we had some wavy weather coming in. Nothing too serious for too long, but enough to rock us about a bit and give the new folks a taste of rougher seas. Not sure where exactly the storm came from (mom…) as it was not forecast, but we made it through just fine.
We are now headed into port and I imagine by the time I hit send, we will be there.  Here we will say goodbye to Amanda, Leah. Madison and Matt.  They were a great crew! When you exclude the sea time it takes to get out to the whales and then back into port, they averaged 7 whale biopsies a day a truly exceptional accomplishment! Port will be a time to relax, refresh, refuel and restock. James will be down for a weekend visit so it will be good to see him.  I will be in touch again when we return to sea.
I want to take one moment to recognize Matt. When we launched this effort in 2010, Matt was one of my first volunteers and one of only 4 to volunteer for sailing into the oil spill itself while the oil was still flowing. He showed exceptional courage and commitment to give up volunteer 4 months of his time that year to join us in this quest. He did every job we asked and worked through seasickness, heat, storms and exhaustion. He was unable to come last year, but here he was again volunteering to help this year in style.
For those who have followed since day 1, Matt was one of our original members of the monkey brotherhood and shared many a frozen banana with me in the bow. Our 2010 banana shopping spree remains a staple of voyage lore. Thanks Matt for 2 voyages of excellent help at sea. I look forward to seeing you back in the lab when I return.  Enjoy Minnesota and the family reunion!
We are in Biloxi!
Talk to you soon.
Good night.
John
If you want to read the previous days of these messages- they are
posted at www.usm.maine.edu/toxicology/gulf and click on “read logs
here”.
—
John Pierce Wise, Sr., Ph.D.