On Monday, May 24, at 11:00am, Governor Bob Riley will christen the Dauphin Island Sea Lab’s newest research vessel, the R/V Alabama Discovery. 

Funded by an educational bond issue in 2008, this floating classroom is 65-feet long and 20-feet wide, and provides ample seating for up to 44 passengers and crew.  The large stern deck area provides the necessary space to examine trawl catches within Mobile Bay and the near shore waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The vessel is equipped with the state-of-the-art electronics, including a remote LCD panel in the lab area for students to observe live animals and plants under a camera-ready microscope.

Students of all ages will benefit from this investment by the State of Alabama.  During the academic year, students in grade K-12, and college will be able to take advantage of this educational platform.  The undergraduate, high school, middle school students and teachers enrolled in the summer courses will all venture out on the water using the R/V Discovery.

Another key mission of the Alabama/Discovery is to assist in research.  With 1200 horsepower, the vessel can reach speeds of 20 knots and get scientific personnel to sampling locations and back home quickly.  The vessel is very economical at 10-12 knots, which will be its main cruising speed. 

It is especially poignant that the receipt of this vessel at the Sea Lab coincided with the oil spill that threatens the Gulf of Mexico.  “The capacity for DISL to provide research services is due entirely to the decisions by Governor Bob Riley and Senator Richard Shelby to establish and support such activities at the Sea Lab. Otherwise the State would have very limited ability to address this growing emergency,” stated DISL Executive Director George F. Crozier.