Endeavor Logs 500th Research Cruise [Video]

A group of about 40, consisting of well wishers, state and University of Rhode Island officials, waved as the Endeavor left the Bay Campus on Wednesday morning on its 500^th research cruise.

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, State Rep. Eileen Naughton of Warwick, State Senator Glen Shibley of Coventry, and URI officials Robert Weygand, Peter Alfonso and Steven D’Hondt were among those watching as the Endeavor pulled away from the Bay Campus dock at about 9:15 a.m.

According to a press release from the university, the ship is carrying a group of faculty members, graduate and undergraduate students across the Gulf Stream and into the Sargasso Sea on a seven-day expedition.

The Endeavor has logged more than one million nautical miles, according to URI. On the current trip, students will be sampling air and water for pollutants, and collecting samples of phytoplankton.

Please view the attached video for comments from Chafee and Naughton on the Endeavor’s 500^th trip.