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Article:
Traditional Ship Finds Work in Modern Era by: Eric Smith Brought to you by www.discovereronline.com - Educational research - 305.293.8514 The Discoverer Ketty Lund is a classic Danish North Sea trawler supporting scientific research on the sea. 73 feet long and built of oak, her charter is to assist all manor of scientific endeavor, from underwater archaeology to the study of deep ocean currents or the breeding habits of whales. Cruising just off the shore off Hillsboro Inlet, Florida, this week to support the work of Beach Restorations INC investigating coastal erosion issues is an example of Discoverers participation in research projects. Under the direction of Beach Restorations president Tim Engle, the Discoverer and crew will assist in the deployment and recovery of scientific equipment used to collect information about coastal erosion on FloridaÃs famous coastline. ì There is no comparison to making a model in a lab verses actually diving the site with working with a crew that you know and trust.î Said Beach Restorations coastal engineer Dr. Kelly Rankin. It is much more difficult to deploy this equipment ( wave gauges and current meters) in the surf zone than it is to make a computer model, thatÃs why nobody has ever measured the wave forces here before. By using the Discoverer as a platform and her crew as divers, we were able to record information that will tell us exactly why the beach is being eroded, and how we can best mitigate it.î Another benefit of actually getting in the water to install the gauges was Rankins ability to observe the coral reef condition on the site. Although not a healthy , thriving reef, the coral was there. ìImagine these tiny organisms ( coral polyps) are able to build a reef structure that can protect these giant man made buildings from the oceans harm during a storm. If we can help them to do that it certainly would be better than burying them under millions of tons of sand fill over and over againî HISTORY: The Discoverer Ketty Lund was originally built to fish the North Sea for Cod out of Denmark. Fisherman Kai Lund commissioned and named for his wife Ketty to be constructed in heavy oak the style and technique that the Danish fishermen had always used and had descended from the Viking ships. Among her few concessions to modernism include the slow turning Burmeister-Wain engine, with a range of '2
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