That s worldwide coverage that you can t get for anywhere near the cost. The society hopes the information can lead to timelier and more accurate weather forecasts, improved management of global fisheries, earlier detection of toxic algal blooms and improved detection of marine pollution and illegal ocean dumping. In return, SeaKeepers members will have exclusive access to NOAA, NASA and Navy weather satellite information and forecasts by a private Web site. While cruising, members also can have questions researched almost instantly by the Rosenstiel staff. Because of the real-time sampling, we can tell them the conditions of the area they re in, including weather conditions and descriptions of organisms in that area, Zika says.
People have a curiosity.
In essence, it s like having a scientist on board. Members also will get assistance in gaining entry to marine parks and sanctuaries and docking at government facilities. Since there will not be a qualified expert to test and tune the monitoring modules as on a typical research vessel the units will be designed to be tested by Rosenstiel staff using a satellite. A secondary benefit to having an armada of research vessels, according to Zika, is ground truthing, which allows scientists to compare satellite imagery and how it s interpreted with data taken from the surface by the SeaKeepers to make sure that what the satellite s saying is the truth on the ground.