Show Date: August 24, 2005  
Pam Eastlick for THE DEEP on line

SAVING THE WHALES
AND
HILL CLIMBING

Greetings and welcome to The Deep column and the deepest radio show on Earth. The Deep is the science talk radio program that takes you from the depths of the ocean to the farthest reaches of the universe. This week on The Deep, aired at 6:00 this evening on K-57, we’ll talk about whales and robots. Then we’ll have some expedition calls, have some science news updates and we’ll be taking your phone calls. Tune in tonight and join host Jim Sullivan, Pam Eastlick and our expedition coordinator Peter Melyan for the latest in scientific news! Then log on to www.thedeepradioshow.com for more information on all the latest and deepest news!

WHALES IN JEOPARDY

Although nothing substantial changed in the June 2005 meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the world’s whales are still in danger. Iceland has recently ended its 2005 whaling season when the last whale was killed on the morning of 17 August 2005. Iceland continues to hunt whales, despite the international moratorium on commercial whaling, by exploiting a loophole in the international convention that regulates these activities. Every year Iceland issues a permit for ‘scientific research’, which allows a certain number of minke whales to be killed. The 2005 season began on 4 July. When the season closed last Wednesday, a total of 39 whales had been killed by Icelandic whalers. Reports suggest that Icelandic whalers plan to kill 100 whales next year. Japanese and Norwegian firms are both promoting whale meat consumption in an effort to stop the slumping sales of whale meat. Do we really need to eat whales? Will these magnificent creatures disappear in this century because of human greed? Tune in tonight on The Deep as we discuss this important issue.

REACHING THE PEAK
We do a lot of mountain climbing on The Deep. Christine Boskoff, one of the premier female mountain climbers is a frequent guest. Peter Melyan, our co-host has visited many of the world’s highest peaks and many of our expedition calls concern these incredible adventures.
But this week on The Deep, we’re featuring a climb not to a mountaintop, but to a hilltop. Why is it news? Because the hill isn’t on Earth, and the climber isn’t human. The Spirit rover on Mars is about to make it to the top of Husband Hill, the highest peak in the Columbia Hills, named in honor of the Columbia astronauts. It’s traveled almost three miles since touching down, and although Husband Hill is no Mt. Everest, it’s still the very first mountain climb on Mars!

	This overhead view shows Spirit’s path into the hills and its climb upward.
Spirit is in excellent shape and has been snapping pictures all the time. You’d think that there wasn’t much action on a dead world like Mars, but you’d be wrong. Those black streaks in the traverse photo were made by the infamous Martian dust devils; the very same ones that have swept over both rovers and cleaned dust from their solar panels.
Spirit looked back out over the plains last Sunday and snapped this picture of a couple of the visitors.
	Spirit has made 54 meters (177 feet) of forward progress towards the summit of "Husband Hill" this past week. This is excellent progress considering Spirit is on restricted sols, so it can only drive every other sol. (Restricted sols occur when the timing of the communications pass from the Odyssey orbiter is too late in the sol to gather vital location and health information about the rover after it executed recent commands. The team back on Earth must wait until the next sol to find out where and how the rover is.) Spirit has its sights set on the highest peak in the neighborhood. Only 70 more meters (230 feet) to go!

Whether we’re learning about saving whales or plucky little robots, The Deep, hosted by Jim Sullivan with Pam Eastlick and Peter Melyan is the place to be on K-57 tonight at 6:00 p.m. Don’t miss it