I love echinoderms!

[jonny]

this is just a little ol pic of me holding a starfish at the UC Davis marine Laboratory. I have recently switched my major from Biology to Mechanical engineering. I just couldn't stand meiosis, and mitosis. I'll take fluid dynamics over cellular division, any day.
jonny

 

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[Lowbatts]

So you won't be abe to help us with detector elbow, but might end up creating Robo-Beep. Eh, it's all good.

 

[jonny]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, an echinoderm, is the phylum that star fish, and see urchins belong to. I am holding up a star fish (class asteroidea), that I pried off of a rock in the tide pools at the Outdoor Marine Lab. It's sort of a treasure I guess. Don't worry, I'm not a ruthless killer, I put him back.

 

[jeff of pa]

Welcome to the TreasureNet Jonny, And to our Obsession . I hope you get hooked too ; jeff

 

[jonny]

Thanks Jeff of Pa! One of the things I think I love doing the most is researching! I live near the San Francisco Bay, and since becoming a member of this site, I've found that I love to research the rich history of my area. I found a place on-line, that has historical records of shipping data from the San Francisco piers! I intend to scour their archives to find records of ships that sunk in the Bay. Then, I'm going to find them!!!

 

[lobsterman]

Hi Johnny, i've read that some of the areas around SF Bay are actually backfilled over wrecks and beached ships from the gold rush days, seems like that would be a neat area to do some detecting, good luck .

Pat.

 

[whiskers]

Hey Jonny,

Have you heard of the bay steamer "Jenny Lind", which blew up off Cooley's Landing (now East Palo Alto) in 1853? I'm not aware that it's ever been found (but maybe so - they don't tell me everything). If you're into SCUBA, this might interest you.

-Jim Lyons

 

[jonny]

Actually, I've never heard of that one before. I'll tell you all what though, I'm a vendor rep for a store down in EPA, next time I'm down, I'll have to swing by a local library, and check out some of the archives. I live in a great area still for prospecting, panning, or anything else. Sacramento, and Sutter's Fort are a short drive in one direction, while the Bay is a short drive the other direction. I bet yall wish you were me! I'll look into that ship, and let everyone know what I find. Does anyone have any idea what was on it?

 

[jonny]

According to the "Maritime Heritage Project" website, the "Jenny Lind" did not blow up, but was poorly navigated through the Golden Gate and crashed on some rocks. The website also talked about other ships that crashed in the Same location, most due to piloting errors. One ship mentioned was plundered by about 200 men, as it lay broken on the rocks. It was even said to have been reported that soldiers from Fort Point, crossed the strait, and took part in the plunder of the cargo worth about $400,000. The particular story mentioned was about the clipper ship "San Francisco"

Here's the address. Sorry to burst the bubble. I was getting excited about it too.
http://www.maritimeheritage.org/ships/wrecks.html

Oh yeah, because of the dangerous location, (tides, and currents), SCUBA would be impossible. You'd kill your self on the rocks. Not only that, even with a Dry suit, the San Fransisco Bay is not diver friendly. It's so cold! Not to mention the Shark breeding ground that the bay is. I know for a fact sharks use the bay as a place to breed. I did learn a little something on those 5th grade filed trips to the Golden Gate Bridge.

However, don't think I'm about to let those conditions scare me!

 

[whiskers]

Jonny, it seems there were two "Jenny Linds", perhaps not surprising considering her popularity at the time. I refer you to "San Francisco Bay: A Pictorial Maritime History", by John Haskell Kemble. Page 76 has a litho of the "Jenny Lind" exploding on Apr 11, 1853, off San Francisquito Creek, which divides Santa Clara & San Mateo Counties (i.e., off Palo Alto). 31 of the 125 passengers on board died. It was just a bay steamer; I don't know what was on board. Perhaps the newspaper accounts can tell you.

I didn't know that about sharks. I suggest you stay away if it's at all dangerous. There are too many other ships to dive on.

-Jim