oceanography – research vessel
Requirement 8 for the Oceanography badge has an option to visit a research ship or an Oceanographic Institute.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s west coast operations are currently based in Seattle. What a wonderful opportunity for those of us who live here.
Oceanographic Institute
The Marine Operations Center is open for tours by reservation. This tour is brief (less than 60 minutes including a movie), and can easily be combined with a ship tour to get the most out of the trip. Located on the East Side of Lake Union.
USS David Starr Jordan
The David Starr Jordan is a retired research vessel ported at NOAA’s Sand Point facility. A full tour of the three deck ship is available at no charge (tour time is approximately 90 minutes). You will need to pre-arrange tours with Lt. Paul Chamberlain. Scouts’ names need to be made available to security in advance of the tour, and those over 13 should have a photo ID. The tour is mostly inside the ship, although there are very interesting things on the dock and outside as well. There are steep stairs and it is not wheelchair accessible. This is a good tour, especially for those boys who come armed with questions. Lt. Chamberlain is intelligent, engaging, funny, and likely closer to the Scouts’ ages than the SMs 
. Read Joshua’s field trip report here.
The Sand Point facility is directly north of Warren G. Magnuson park in Seattle.