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Port Hueneme
June 25, 2000
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After anchoring all night offshore from Santa Barbara, the NOAA ship McArthur steamed back to Port Hueneme where, in the afternoon, Change of Command ceremonies marked the departure of LCDR Wade Blake and promotion of LCDR Michele Bullock to Commanding Officer. For a while, Wade will command a desk in Silver Spring, Maryland, while Michele takes the lead as CO on expeditions that will range from her present assignment with SSE along the California coast to Hawaii and across the tropical South Pacific, to Peru and Panama by December.
Monday the 26th is a day in port, a time to service the subs, pick up supplies and regroup for the next phase of the expedition. At the southern end of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is the town of Cambria, and nearby is the legendary Hearst Castle, built as a palatial residence by publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst. Now a museum and popular tourist attraction, the Castle features a recently constructed large format National Geographic theater. An audience gathered there this evening to hear from me and Kip Evans about SSE, see films from past projects and have a preview of coming adventures. Early the next morning, the McArthur is set to sail north arriving on station early on the 28th to begin diving just offshore from Point Lobos in the Monterey Marine Sanctuary.
— Sylvia A. Earle
Project Director
Sustainable Seas Expeditions
[Note: nationalgeographic.com does not research or copyedit dispatches.]