Dr. Ricardo M Letelier
Associate Professor of Oceanography
Oregon State University
Phytoplankton distribution and physiology / bio-optics

What was your most memorable cruise and why?

It took place in the Antarctic Peninsula during the austral summer of 1989. It was a memorable cruise not only for the excitement of the science and the beauty of the scenery, but also because we ran into an iceberg and I missed my wedding. Running into the iceberg was scary but, apart from a big dent in the ship haul and a twisted anchor, our research vessel did not suffer damage. We were supposed to fly back from King George Island into Punta Arenas (Chile) 10 days prior to my wedding date, but dense fog did not allow the C-130 plane that was coming to get us to land in the rendezvous point. Hence, after 5 days of waiting we were told to cross the Drake Passage using our research vessel. We had to postpone the wedding one week. And my wife still lets me go out at sea!

Ricardo