Month: July 2019 Page 1 of 3

Back on shore, we hit the ground running. Our major NSF and Navy inspections are in a week, and there are a lot of loose ends to tie up before we are ready.

Earlier in the month, we unspooled and respooled nearly 40,000 metres of wire. Some had become too damaged and rusty and needed to be replaced. The rest that was in decent shape still needed maintenance, which meant that all wires came off the boat, foot by foot, and were lubed on their way back on board. From each spool, we cut a ten meter sample, which usually gets shipped out to the wire pool headquarters for a break test. Coincidentally, we happen to be on the same dock. So we deliver our wire samples by hand.

Barbara greets us, I recognize her name from our wire records. The wire pool lab houses two machines that are able to inflict up to 100,000 lbs of tension on a section of wire. Which is pretty amazing, but in the history of break tests, no wire has been able to withstand more than 50,000 lbs. She shows us the termination casts, which takes her hours to attach to either end of the wire. They were designed in-house, specifically for withstanding extreme tension. For a long time, the terminations were the first to break during the wire test, but with the new design, higher tensions can be reached and the true strength of the wire can be measured.

A few days later, Barbara invites us over to view a break test of our .680 cable, which is supposedly one of the more spectacular breaks. Our cable is all hooked up when we arrive, pulled tight across the break machine. A cage closes over the wire and the stretching begins. We can watch the tension increase on the monitor, and Barbara warns us once we reach 30,000 lbs to prepare for a break. I can hear the wire snap, even though im wearing earplugs, and a huge cloud of dust and rust rises from the cage. The wire has broken close to the termination, causing it to snap towards the other end of the cage, bending and warping the wire into a beautiful twist. We made it to 36,000 lbs. We pass the test.

First Blog Post

By Alexander Sidelev

On July 30, 2019

In MATE Blog Archive, US Coast Guard, USCGC Healy

First blog post to introduce myself and test the Site Gen blog.

Week 1 Healy

By MacKenzie Smith

On July 29, 2019

In MATE Blog Archive, US Coast Guard, USCGC Healy

Weekly Up-date July 29^th

On this day the Healy is in Kodiak. Several of the technicians that were on the transit have packed up and gone home leaving behind two technicians and two MATE interns to oversee the transit to Nome Alaska where the Healy will welcome the science party and two additional technicians.

First day on board- July 21^st

We got a brief tour of the ship and some of the STARC instruments on board and then got settled into our rooms. After that, we hung out in Seattle for a bit.

Second day on board- July 22^nd

Mary gave everyone a start-up cruise intro where we learned about the MET (MET is a Scripps application) and how to start it up at the beginning of the cruise (setting cruise name, linking to .acq file, etc). The start-up cruise crash course also entailed an overview of the networking used on the ship and the communication of data between instruments and the network.

We learned about the interworking parts of communication of data as well as the importance of monitoring the flow of this information. The crash course provided a solid foundation for the continued education to come in the next couple of days.

Still getting lost on the magnificent Healy. Healy finally starts heading out of the pier.

Third-fifth day on board- July 23^rd -July 26^th

As the week progressed at sea the days seemed to blur together, but in the best way. We were constantly busy learning everything we could. So many new things to learn that extended beyond the daily operations of a Marine Tech. The Coast guard is doing their training which occasionally involved our participation (filing in to the science conference room for checks). There were a couple of times where the training got a little wild and an actual casualty occurred; before I would have been kind of worried about this but the coast guard does a really good job at keeping things under control. On the other hand…In the computer lab we have monitors that tune into the flight deck so we got to take a little break and watch the coast guard do flight crash training on the flight deck.

*Side note—I got sick during this time with a cold and the classic sea sickness. The best way I can describe it is by comparing it to the way you might feel after getting off a roller coaster that you’ve road 43 times straight while simultaneously trying to read Moby Dick.

Now back to the important stuff: The information download consisted of many more parts than the ones I will discuss below.

Two of the things that really grabbed my attention were the CTD and the Science Seawater Flow Through. I enjoyed learning about the set-up of the different instruments in the science seawater flow through, why the instruments are positioned the way they are (“real estate” as Mary likes to say) and what each instrument measured and how this contributed to different scientific research. The Healy has two science sea water flow throughs (SSW). The SSW on the port side is the only one of the two that has a pCO2 (one of the reasons why it’s the primary SSW flow through). The water that flows through the PortSSW will flow through the secondary SSW flow through located in the Biolab. Both of the SSW flow throughs have to be monitored and tinkered as the flow through from the main pipes can change. this is important becase of the mechnics in the TSG (conductivity and temperature). The MET helps us check the values when we are in the computer lab.

The CTD is probably my favorite instrument. There are several names to refer to the CTD (i.e. Fish, Rosette, CTD). I will probably be talking more about the CTD when we start casting! But for now: we learned how to open and close the pumps attached to the rosette as well as the different instruments connected to the fish and rosette. I like to creep on the CTD from my computer using the IP address of the camera placed in the Starboard Staging Bay. Its doesnt do much but sit there while we are in transit but there is a sense of satisfaction when I can sit in my bunk before bed and tap into the nanny cam.

July 27^th– 28^th

We ported in Kodiak and went through the end cruise protocol for the instruments. Made sure the pumps were turned off for the SSW (dont want to suck up all the gunk and filter it through the system). The EM 122 and the Knudsen were also turned off.

We got to explore Kodiak a bit. The second day we went to the south side of the island and hung out a bit. I saw a baby sea otter and got pretty close to it (Houston doesn’t have a lot of these hanging around downtown). There is a photo floating around somewhere and I will try to get that up later.

Week 1 on Healy – Seattle to Kodiak

By Amitav Mitra

On July 29, 2019

In MATE Blog Archive, US Coast Guard, USCGC Healy

My first week on board Healy went by quickly. After an early morning flight to Seattle from New York, I spent the first day taking a tour of the ship and getting familairized with the layout of the ship. Luckily, I have had experience working on ships before which made navigating the ship much easier. After a few confusing hours getting lost in the various passageways I developed a pretty good sense of how to get around.

The first leg of my journey was from Seattle to Kodiak, Alaska. This leg is just a transit, and apart from the other technicians none of the other science party members were on board. My daily routine during this transit cruise has been fairly constant. I get up around 0630 to eat breakfast with the other technicians, then work with and learn from them throughout the day.

Since the Healy is a Coast Guard vessel, things run differently than on other civilian UNOLS research vessels. Whereas on civilian ships the marine techs will do most of the deck work involved with science operations, on the Healy it’s all performed by crew. From what I’ve learned from the marine technicians who have spent time on the Healy, this means that the focus of their work is centered more around the instruments and ensuring they are properly displaying, storing, and backing up data to the lab computers.

One of the main components of science instrumentation I learned about in my first few days was the Science Seawater System (SSW). The ship’s engineering control center operates pumps which take in seawater to pass through the SSW system. The system is comprised of two stations, one located on the port side by the engineering spaces, and the other in the bio laboratory in the main science lab area. From the intake pipe the water gets diverted into a manifold which runs pipes to various instruments. One instrument is the fluorometer, which detects fluorescence in the water and can help determine the biological activity in the water. Other instruments measure temperature, salinity through conductivity, the flow rate of the water through the system, and CO2 levels in the water. All this information is then displayed on the lab computers, and it is the marine technicians’ job to ensure that the data is being properly logged and displayed and that the instruments are calibrated.

One of the most interesting tasks I’ve worked on so far has been learning how to provide the multibeam and echosounder instruments with proper sound speed data. The multibeam and echosounder use sound to map out the seafloor, with the multibeam operating in a wide swath on either side of the ship and the echosounder mapping directly underneath the ship. Because they use sound, the instruments need to know the speed of sound in the water they’re in, since sound speed differs based on the medium in which it’s traveling. The speed of sound through the water depends on the temperature and conductivity, which is what the marine technicians work to find and provide to the instruments. When there is no current temperature and salinity profile, you use an archived version. Otherwise, you would deploy a CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) instrument or an XBT (expendable temperature instrument) and measure the salinity and temperature as a function of depth. After you’ve collected the data, a sound speed program calculates the speed of sound in the water you’re in and the seafloor mapping instruments can function properly.

I also spent a lot of time working with Mary, a Scripps Institute technician who taught me a lot about the ship’s network and data acquisition software. Through her, I learned a lot about the IT side of a marine technician’s work. One project we worked on, along with another technician Austin, was to install and wire a new serial splitter in one of the server racks in the computer lab. This splitter took data in from a hull temperature sensor and diverted it out to two computers in the lab. It took some trial and error, because it turned out that one of the computers required bi-directional control in order to communicate with the sensor itself and request temperature readings. After getting all the fiber optics and serial connections properly managed, we labeled the cables and created diagrams for future use.

Since we are still in transit to the science mission, we have only been maintaining the instruments and troubleshooting. We just left Kodiak to head for Nome, where we will pick up the science party and transition into the standard 12 hour shifts alongside the actual marine technicians. It will be a lot of work, as the scientists will be running more or less continuous experiments, but I’m excited to see the real work that technicians perform when supporting science.

NSF Inspection

By Emma Shannon

On July 28, 2019

In Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences & Arizona State University, MATE Blog Archive, R/V Atlantic Explorer

The beginning of the week started with going through the vessel and making sure we had everything ready for the NSF inspection. This inspection occurs every two years and it is where members from NSF and JMS Naval Architects come aboard the ship and go throughout the ship making sure everything is in working order and we have all the proper safety requirements established. We continued to work on small projects throughout the week but our main focus was assisting the inspectors with anything they needed and wanted to see. They came aboard Wednesday and toured the whole vessel and examined the condition the vessel was in, all of the gear, winches, cranes, etc. that is aboard. They were making notes of anything they think we need improvement on or anything on the vessel that needs to be fixed. They do this to ensure that our vessel is in good condition and is suitable to keep on going with our research cruises. Wednesday evening we mobilized to St. George’s so we can get an early start to going out to sea at 0730. When we got to St. George’s there was another vessel docked in front of us called the DSSV Pressure Drop. I was lucky to be invited aboard to take a tour of the vessel and the submarine they have aboard. They have a mission to go to the deepest point of the five oceans. They’re mission is called the five deeps. They have gone into the Mariana Trench multiple times and they are the only submarine that can go as deep and as quickly than another other submarine created. They have completed four locations and they are on their way to go to the fifth location. If they succeed, they will have completed something no one has done before. There is a film crew aboard and they are filming a show for Discovery Channel called Deep Planet. We left Thursday morning to head out to sea with the inspectors on board and we also brought along thirteen students. We deployed a CTD and the MOCNESS as well as an XBT and it was good for the inspectors to see us working with science groups and what our day to day operations are like while we are on a cruise. We went through all the drills and tests for all of the gear and the winches and cables. The inspectors split up and went with different groups of the crew to examine different things. For example there was an inspector with the marine techs, one with the engineers, and one with the crew, and one with the captain himself. At the end of the day we all gathered in the galley so the inspectors could relay to us any problems they saw that needed to be addressed and an overall assessment of what they saw. This boat is a little bit older so its bound to have some things that need to be fixed. All in all the inspection went well and they were happy with what they saw and gave us approval to keep operating normally and keep going ahead with our research cruises. The rest of the weekend we had off of work. I explored this trail that goes along the coastline called the Railway Trail. It is one of the most beautiful trails because you get to see the aqua blue water the whole way of the trail and at the end it gets to Whalebone Bay. I cannot get over how beautiful it is here.

Modern life at sea

By Ella Cedarholm

On July 24, 2019

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V Neil Armstrong, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

When you go to sea, you’re signing up to enter the wilderness. Civilization is hundreds of miles away, you have limited resources, and conditions can be unexpected and ruthless. Often times the closest people to you (other than your shipmates, of course) are not even on this planet, but rather they’re orbiting earth in the international space station 250 miles above the ocean surface. Yet, we don’t have to give up freshly baked bread, working out at a fully equip gym, vegging out on a couch watching movies, showering with hot water every day, surfing the web, or even calling our family and friends back home. In fact, if we wanted, we could spend a whole day in the confinement of the ship without ever experiencing the conditions outside.

The technology on board has given us the privilege to stay connected to our land lives, and we can largely maintain our normal everyday habits. Considering how much different going to sea is now than it once was, I wanted to investigate the structures which have allowed for the luxuries of our time. So, in between learning to suture open wounds, fire emergency procedures, soldering electrical wires, taking apart motor bearings, and many more miscellaneous learning opportunities, I’ve been exploring the structure I’ve found most puzzling (and most applicable to my future career): shipboard networking.

In addition to facilitating smooth science sampling and instrument maintenance, the shipboard science support group is also responsible for internet operations. The R/V Neil Armstrong accesses the off ship web through a HiSeasNet satellite antenna, in addition to its own shipboard wifi network which cannot surf the web but allows for communication between all computers on board. Each cruise participant is allotted a limited amount of HiSeasNet data (200MB in my case), and has access to the science and library computers with unlimited data for work-related surfing.

My introduction to this technology began by climbing into the HiSeasNet antenna globe on the pilothouse top (the seventh level of the ship) and has evolved into learning syntax for the command line interface (CLI) on my computer. This interface is the key to navigating the shipboard network and computer web. It allows shipboard science support to troubleshoot internet issues, manipulate instrument computers without displays, automatically upload data to shipboard computers, and much more. Proficiency in this software will certainly come in handy not just aboard ships in my future career, but even in my own computer navigation and networking. If you are interested in exploring this software, check out the beginner Bandit games on OverTheWire.org and explore your own computer’s CLI.

Photo: Ella using a compressed air angle grinder to cut open a motor bearing

Photographer: Lila Bellucci, MATE Intern

Sweet somber sailing

By Jacob Cooper

On July 22, 2019

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V Neil Armstrong, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Not much has transpired since my last post. Time has continued to fly by and business has been as usual. The reality of departing from all of these new friends I think is starting to set in. We’ve played more board and card games than I ever did with my family growing up which says a lot about ship life. We have had a lot of fun and shared many jokes. We’ve consumed millions of calories from sugar while chasing a sugar high. We’ve bickered about current events. We’ve pulled all-nighters. We’ve sprawled out on the fantail on the maybe 4 days that we actually had sunny weather. We philosophized about life and the potential existence of life on other planets. This was truly a great group! I preached about always learning in my week 1 blog and that is not limited to just marine tech knowledge for this internship. In fact, I think meeting these people, learning about them and their goals, and making memories are the most important part in making the MATE internship an experience.

Learning From Different Perspectives

By Lila Bellucci

On July 21, 2019

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V Neil Armstrong, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Although I had already been at sea for three weeks, this week, I still managed to find myself in spaces on the ship that I had not yet been to. For one, I finally found myself in the engine room working on a project with the electrician to disassemble and replace the ball bearings in a hydraulic pressure pump motor running to the propellers. While down there, I got to learn from the engineers and oilers about the fascinating machinery that keeps this baby running and the many ways in which each of them interacts with and maintains it.

I also had the chance this week to practice stick welding with one of the oilers again. This time using 60 rod and stainless steel rod, both of which are somewhat different from the 70 rod I learned with last week and slightly more challenging to weld with. Still, each is useful for different fabrication applications, and fun to work with in its own way.r

Later on in the week, while going over the basics of marine fire emergency operations with the Captain, I once again found myself being exposed to spaces and equipment on the ship that I had not previously seen or noticed. It is incredible how differently each member of our team looks at any given ship space through the lens of their responsibilities and specialties. Each of us operates within such a niche role, and although we often interact with one another, it can be easy to start looking at the ship and its operations from a narrow perspective. However, it’s always good to be reminded how much there is to be learned from the other people you share this floating home with. If there is one thing this experience has exposed me to, it is the seemingly endless pieces of equipment, feats of engineering, and unique skillsets that make the work we do possible…and how much there will always be to learn about it all!

Bermuda Atlantic Time Series Study

By Emma Shannon

On July 21, 2019

In Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences & Arizona State University, MATE Blog Archive, R/V Atlantic Explorer

This week was my second week for my internship but also my second cruise. This week was for the BATS team (Bermuda Atlantic Time Series Study). We left Sunday morning July 14th and returned Friday morning July 19th. The BATS team does a cruise once a month so they have got it down to a routine and very structured where they sample and what they are looking for. ?”They have collected data on the physical, biological, and chemical properties of the ocean since 1988” as said on the BATS website. ?They are learning about the role of carbon in the ocean and about the effects climate change has on the ocean. This cruise is incredibly interesting and important for understanding how our earth’s climate is changing over time. We did a very deep deployment of the CTD to 4500 meters. It is really amazing to feel water from the bottom of the ocean it is so cold and it is really cool to experience being out in the ocean in such deep water. We did a lot of CTD deployments, water samples through niskin bottles, sediment traps, and plankton nets. Along with all those other pieces of gear, we deployed the MOCNESS 3 times which was great because our last cruise we were having issues with this piece of gear. We were able to fix it in time for this cruise and it worked every time we deployed it which was very exciting. In the early morning on wednesday we deployed a production array that has a solution in each flask and we attach floats and a spar buoy so it can sample in the ocean all day testing amounts of carbon. We retrieved it later that night. This piece of gear is a little more complicated with the depoyment and recovery than the other gear so it is great to learn more about different kinds of gear and how to properly deploy and recover so that there is a successful sample. There have been the most beautiful sunsets while being out at sea as well as the full moon this week. The colors of the ocean are gorgeous and its great being out at sea with nothing around and experience the beauty the ocean has to offer. We had great weather the entire time and calm seas. We got back to BIOS on friday morning and began to make sure we have everything prepared for the NSF inspection. The crew went through a refresher on SCBA (self contained breathing apparatus) training to have a refresher on how to use them so if there was a fire or a dangerous situation and there needed to be an escape through dangerous atmospheres. This was conducted just to make sure they would be prepared. They all have been through this training before but it helps to go through a refresher and they let me participate as well. The picture attached is of me learning how to use the SCBA. I’ve only been here for two weeks but it has gone great so far and I am learning so much. I cannot wait to see what the rest of my time here has in store.

Introduction

By MacKenzie Smith

On July 20, 2019

In MATE Blog Archive, US Coast Guard, USCGC Healy

Hello my name is MacKenzie and I am one of the MATE interns aboard the Healy 1901 cruise. My major is in Environmental Geoscience at Texas A&M University. My background, as it relates to this internship, is in microbial and biological oceanography with a touch of GIS. I worked for the International Ocean Discover Program for a couple of years on the shoreside end of core sampling and XRF imaging. I’m excited to learn about the Tech side of science and work hands on with the various instruments. I have never been on a ship like this before and don’t really know much about the coast guard so all of this is completely new and exciting!