The hallmark of Walter Adey's career has been extensive field work carried out to collect geographic scale quantitative data that were often unavailable to coastal scientists. Since his days as a graduate student, he has built or reconstructed and then captained small vessels with laboratories and SCUBA facilities to cover extended coasts Arctic to tropics mostly in the North Atlantic and Caribbean.

Fig. A
Fig. A
During the 1980s and early 1990s the Marine Systems Laboratory operated the 100-foot ex-tuna clipper R/V Marsys Resolute throughout the western Atlantic and Caribbean. This work was supported by an Albatross amphibian which allowed custom aerial photography and the ability to rapidly transport specimens under environmental control to laboratory microcosms and mesocosms. 		  Fig. B
Fig. B
The 64-foot motor sailor R/V Alca i was built from 2000 to 2003 by Dr. Adey and his wife Karen for extensive seaweed biogeographic studies in the northwestern North Atlantic. Here it approaches a remote shore station in northernmost Newfoundland. Carrying dive boats and SCUBA gear with crew and providing laboratory facilities for analysis of collections, Alca i has supported extensive field research during summer seasons from 2003-2011.
 
Fig. C
Fig. C (above)
Dr. Adey at the helm of the R/V Alca i. Alca i's pilot house provided state- of-the-art navigational gear and a full set of charts for close inshore work from Labrador to Cape Cod. Equally critical the pilot house provides protection from the often inclement weather of this region.
Fig. D (right)
Alca i sailing in Lunenburg Bay, Nova Scotia. The sails provide comfort and additional speed in passage as well as being a safety device in a small vessel with a single engine. The Alca i is small enough to work closely inshore and yet has the capacity to make long offshore passages with considerable safety; it also provides enough electrical power to support crew and operations for weeks away from a shore base.
  Fig. D
 
Fig. E
Fig. E
Dr. Adey pointing out the newly laminated white oak stern post of Alca i during the early stages of construction of the Alca i. Constructed primarily of epoxy-laminated white and red oak, cut, sorted and solar kiln dried at their previous home in Gloucester, Virginia, the Adeys produced an extremely rugged boat for service in a unforgiving climate. See Wooden Boat Magazine, issue #182, p.40. 		  Fig. F
Fig. F
Laboratory of Alca i while on station. Analysis of community structure on rocky bottoms is carried out by harvesting meter-square quadrats by SCUBA. The collections need to be sorted, identified, weighed and vouchers preserved quickly after collection.The lab provides the sea water sorting trays, microscopes, reference material and weighing equipment to efficiently process the often bulky and rapidly decaying material.


Copyright © 2008-2013, Walter H. Adey, PhD.