A Strong Stomach

WHOI biologist Alfred Redfield (left) aboard WHOI’s first research ship Atlantis, was fond of telling this story about the second day of his first Atlantis cruise: “[T]here was a pretty good northwest breeze and the sea was pretty bobbely. I made my way aft and there I saw the ship’s carpenter in the scuppers, caulking the deck. As I watched, he laid down his caulking mallet, removed his dentures, put them in a safe place, leaned over the rail and put his breakfast. Then he came back, replaced the dentures, picked up the mallet and went right on with his job. I learned then the way an oceanographer behaves.”—from Down to the Sea for Science, a history of WHOI, by Vicky Cullen. (Photo courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Archives)