Tom Hadzor of Wide Eye Productions and I began a great adventure today. After 18 months of planning, and four flights, we are on Western Samoa in the South Pacific. The purpose: to produce a documentary for University of Washington oceanographic scientists as they conduct research into deep-ocean currents and their relationship to global climate.
This is a project that had its genesis in my contact with UW professor Matthew Alford when I asked him to be the on-camera host for a TV show demo called Vanishing Islands. Although the demo, about the rise of ocean levels and the effect of that process on various low-lying islands, was not picked up by any broadcast television networks, Matthew called me when he wanted to hire a producer and crew to document his new endeavor.
Tom Hadzor and I flew on Air New Zealand from Auckland, NZ, to Samoa last night. In the process, we crossed and re-crossed the International Date Line, a situation that has us totally confused about the day of the week we left and the day we will arrive. I am relying on someone on Samoa to tell me whether it’s Tuesday or Wednesday today.
So, that’s the background of our two-week adventure, and this blog will relate mainly what we do and see on Samoa and on a large UW research vessel in the Samoan Passage.
