East Lyme Man Prepares for a Journey to the Bottom of the Sea

Rev. Steve Hosking of East Lyme is about to go on the trip of a lifetime. He is one of 12 educators hand-picked from across the country to join Titanic discoverer Dr. Robert Ballard’s Nautilus Exploration Program, and he’s as excited as his students at New London’s Williams School would be if they found out they’d just won a trip to Disney World.

“Where we’re going is south of Cyprus to explore one of the sea mounts,” said Hosking. “The fact that we’re going to be doing some explorations that no one has ever done before, that’s pretty cool. That’s got to be a science teacher’s dream!”

As part of the Corps of Exploration aboard Nautilus, Hosking’s main duty will be to interact with shore-based audiences over the Internet via www.nautiluslive.org as they monitor the exploration of an undersea mud volcano in the Mediterranean Sea and the Eratosthenes Seamount, near Cyprus.

“I actually have a background in geology,” said Hosking. “This is what got me into this program to begin with. I’ve taught physical science for well over a dozen years and have sort of, in the last five or six years, migrated to technology. This was a pretty good fit for what they were doing on the research ship.”

Hosking will be aboard the surface ship, which might not seem quite as exciting as being on a submarine, but as the longest trip he's ever taken at sea was whale watch, it’s a pretty big deal. At 50, however, Hosking said he’s more than ready for the challenge.

“I can’t say I’m overly anxious about it. Either I’m going to be fine or I’m going to be sick, there’s nothing I can do about it,” he said. “Given the training was almost two months ago, the build up over the past two months has been fairly considerable. I’m just anxious to get out there finally.”

Hosking is scheduled to join the expedition on Friday, Aug. 10, and will be aboard the Nautilus for two weeks. Local students will be able to watch and ask him questions from the Nautilus Live Theater at the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic and from the Williams School in New London.

“We are thrilled to have Steve Hosking as an Educator at Sea on our expedition off Cyprus," said Dr. Ballard, president of the Ocean Exploration Trust, which operates the Nautilus Exploration Program, in a press statement. “The Williams School has already installed a remote console at their school so that their students and teachers can participate in our program in a meaningful way. I look forward to our collaboration with the Williams School becoming stronger each year.”