Preparatory School. We thought it best summed up the experience and deserved reprinting in full.

The Jason Project is an outstanding way to help children learn about the underwater environment, and maybe even help them to choose an exciting career as an oceanographer like Dr. R. Ballard is today. I also think that it was a very good idea to let students from the age of 7 to adults participate in the project worldwide, to help them learn that sometimes science is fun! So if you ever have a chance you should take part in The Jason V Project in 1994, which will be in the Rain Forest of Belize, in Central America, go for it and have a lot of fun! I think the things that could be improved in the Jason Project are that the scientists could have had more student participation, and that they could have let some control Jason, or ask questions to Dr. Ballard each day from each state, country, city, or province. I think that Jason is an excellent name for the project, because in the mythological story Jason was a famous Greek explorer, and The Jason Project is exploring the world around us.

The name Jason and the Argonauts comes from a Greek mythological story that has a prince named Jason and his Argonauts, as he called them, who were some of Greek's most powerful warriors ever known on the earth, journey to a country in the Black Sea. They went to retrieve a golden fleece and return in safety to Greece. On the island there was a castle that had a beautiful princess, named Medea, she was also a powerful enchantress, who used her magic to help Jason single-handedly overcome fire breathing bulls, and an army of 1,000 soldiers. Jason sailed and landed on the beach near the castle, and became very fond of her. She helped him on the journey to find the fleece, and even killed her own brother. On the journey home to Greece, Jason and the Argonauts got lost and travelled far off to unknown places near the end of the earth, but they eventually landed safely in Greece, and Jason became King and told people of the fertile land he saw in the lands of the Black Sea. That's why Dr. Robert Ballard named the project and one of his R.O.V.'s Jason and also his light scanner Medea that shines light over objects and takes pictures for research.

Dr. Ballard is famous for discovering the R.M.S. Titanic (an English passenger ship, said to be unsinkable!) and the Bismarck (a German World War II battle ship that was almost unsinkable like the Titanic was said to be.) He has found numerous other ships that had sunken tragically to the deep depths of the ocean floor.

The study of grey whales is another part of the project apart from the study of hydrothermal vents. Grey whales have two migration points, which are San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja California and the Bering Sea, Alaska. The whales travel from Bering Sea, Alaska, (their summer feeding grounds) past Vancouver Island, and into San Ignacio Lagoon- (their winter breeding rounds) hidden in the Sea of Cortez. They travel that route back and forth every year with their baby calves, until they are grown into full adults and can travel by themselves.

Some experiments made by the scientists was that they had made two mini model satellite dishes and a satellite that is made to look like the one that is orbiting the earth. When Dr. Lipschultz turned on the model of the satellite dishes the two light bulbs on the side of the satellite lit up like it does when they were transmitting a signal into space to the next satellite and then down to the participating areas that were watching live on a special television channel. I think the timing on the satellite when he turned on the dish was excellent, because it received it at the exact same time as the satellite in space would.

Dr. Ballard and his crew drove a stake into the ground at the bottom of the ocean floor that had a silver panel and a bunch of huge clams attached to it, they said they did that so they could see how the clams were affected underwater that deep, they are going to retrieve them in two years.

Places apart from Bermuda that were asking questions and places that were doing research were: Texas, London, Liverpool, Baja California, Florida, New York, and Ohio. My opinion on the questions they asked is that they asked very scientific questions, that were very precise, and that the students in Bermuda would never have thought of to ask Dr. Ballard.

Different brilliant people there from participating companies were from, The Biological Station, The Cable and Wireless Companies, and E.D.S., from the Biological Station, Dr. F. Lipschultz, Mrs. Cabral, Mr. Barnes, and Mr. Dilke.

From E.D.S (who donated $5 million to bring the Jason Project to Bermuda), Mr.

Rudolph, and from Cable and Wireless were representatives whose first names are Bob and Greg but whose last names are unknown to me.

For the Jason Project there is a list of "Did You Know Facts?'' I would like to share with you.

1. Did you know that they used about 10 miles of video tape to record what they saw through the video camera of the Jason R.O.V.? 2. More than 150 people in Baja California are helping with the Jason Project! 3. There were exactly 25 downlinks used just to get it live all over the world! 4. It costs more than a billion dollars to make the Jason Project actually just operational! Obviously we always have a few questions to ask, because we don't understand some things involved in the Jason Project. A few of my questions are: 1. Is it easy to have a career as an Oceanographer, or is it difficult for a career? 2. Who are all the sponsors that helped make the Jason Project happen? I would like to give big thanks to E.D.S, The Biological Station, and Cable and Wireless Co.

RG MAGAZINE MAY 1993