Image

Home Away from Home

No matter what the nationality, the interior of virtually any research vessel becomes recognizable as a floating scientific lab almost as soon as it leaves port. Still, some differences remain. Here, WHOI research assistant Steve Pike works aboard Japan’s Tansei Maru in May to study the spread of radiation in the ocean from the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plants, much as he did in June 2011. Despite the cramped quarters and language differences, Pike said that the crew and science team were focused on completing their research, and it didn’t hurt that the meals were “as good as any four-star restaurant.”(Photo by Christopher Griner, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)