The Marion Dufresne is a French research vessel that serves as the coring platform for the international IMAGES coring program. This ship is capable of taking the longest continuous cores in the world. I took this photograph in San Diego before heading out on the MONA Expedition in the summer of 2002. We set a world record on this expedition with a core 64.4 m long. The ship also serves as the resupply ship for French possessions in the southwest Pacific and Southern Ocean.