Month: August 2021

Our last full day offshore was on August 10th. I shadowed Corey, an Oiler, on his morning rounds and got to see the engine room. The interns and I spent time cleaning things up and getting ready for land the next day. It was easy to tell that everyone was getting excited to be back on land. The next day I saw the first sight of land, Nomans land, around breakfast. The fog was heavy coming into Woods Hole, so heavy that I couldn’t see boats approaching and passing us until they were 30 feet away. We arrived at the pier around 1330, where a large crowd gathered to greet Atlantis back home. I recognized some of the people on the pier as those who had traveled with us from Anacortes to San Francisco. One of them was the lead scientist who had worked on the EK80 and multibeam, Jennifer. She showed us around the town of Woods Hole, it was very small but had history. Everyone on the ship ended the work day early and we all spent the evening enjoying the solid ground again. 

The rest of the week we did more cleaning, moving totes, helping people move things in and out of the office, and we got a tour of the Alvin on Friday! The Alvin is bigger than I imagined. It was really cool to see her deconstructed with all the electrical panels and wires out. The pilot who showed us around said that the Alvin should be done within a week and then it’ll be brought back on board the Atlantis. 

Bella, a fellow intern, and I took Saturday and Sunday off so we could see more of the town and visit Martha’s Vineyard. We took the ferry Saturday and spent most of the day on the MV Island. We saw the cookie cutter houses, the flying horses carousel, and more “The Black Dog ” shops than I have ever seen in one day. The weather was great and admittedly it was nice to have a day off after working for 33 days straight. On Sunday we visited The Kobb, a local lookout over Buzzards Bay and Quissett Harbor. We went swimming and ate lunch in Woods Hole, then I spent the rest of my day relaxing and finalizing all my traveling plans. 

It was back to work on Monday, unloading a container ship and moving around more furniture and securing 2 more Lista cabinets. That evening I went for a walk to Nobska beach and the lighthouse which had a beautiful view. Tuesday was my last day of work, and that morning Bella, Catie, and I mounted a hive, put on harnesses and climbed to the very top of the ship to look at the satellite on the mast. We could see all of Woods Hole from up there and it was an incredible view. After lunch David gave Bella and I a tour of WHOI. We started at the Alvin, then saw the scuba center, then the metal and welding workshop, a gift shop and visitors center, the compression chambers, and then we walked through the AUV Lab. It was great to see more of WHOI and learn more of its history. After the tour I spent the rest of my day packing and cleaning my room. 

On day 37 I ate breakfast with the crew, said my goodbyes and took the bus to Boston at 0800. Although I am excited to get back home and see my loved ones and sleep in my own bed, I am also low spirited to be leaving such a great group and great ship. Knowing there is a chance I might not work on that ship again, or with that crew is a sad thought to me, but I am also keeping in mind that there is still always a chance that I will. I reached Boston around 10, I dropped off my bags at my hotel and I went into the city. I visited museums and the aquarium, and I determined that Boston is way too big of a city for me. 

This morning I flew back home to North Carolina. Today is officially my last day of the internship and I have come home with no regrets. I feel that I took advantage of every opportunity and put my best foot forward in all situations. I am proud of the work I accomplished, what I learned during my time on the ship and I am so thankful for everyone who contributed to that. I am walking away with more seamanship experience, knowledge of research vessels, and a more thorough appreciation of all the work that has to be put into one. This was a valuable, rewarding and worthwhile experience that I will remember for a long time and carry forward with me. 

It’s been a pleasure-

Grace M. Fulton

Heavy fog entering Woods Hole

The HOV Alvin

The R/V Atlantis from the ferry to Marthas Vineyard

View from the Knob

The Lighthouse at Nobska Beach

Climbing to the top of the mast, standing right under the satellite located inside the big while sphere. 

The morning of my departure.

It has been absolutely busy, but hearing that land was near gave us something to work harder for!

Since our internship is coming to a close with Woods Hole drawing near, we have upped our work to double time! Trying to get s much stuff done and scrambling to find anything we can perfect before our arrival for all those folks waiting to see the R/V Atlantis since it has been dry docked for the better part of a year and retrofitted with brand new equipment. Working with SSSG (both Allison and Chris) has given me such confidence with working with so many different tools, I feel like I can take this knowledge and apply it to things in my future. One thing is particular I am excited to try applying what I picked up and learned from the internship is creating my very own live-in van and customize it myself for all my traveling needs.

I am sad to be leaving everyone and the boat, a place I dedicated a month and a week, but happy for the opportunity to work alongside some very dedicated and hard working people, seeing all the sights that I would have never had the opportunity to do otherwise, and making long lasting connections. I hope that in the near future I would have the opportunity to do another internship to be able to work on more research vessels, or better yet see if any employment opportunities come up that fulfill everything I wish to dedicate myself to the scientific community.

A safety test conducted at sea before our arrival, all with expired safety equipment. Never fired off a flare, was pretty exciting!

Came by some drifting hardware that attracted an ecosystem of fish, including these mahi-mahi! They’re such beautiful fish, just amazing. Truth be told, I did feel a bit sad but at the same time the cook on board utilized both the whole fishes. Fillets taken, roe collected, and bones acquired for a great stock.

Obligatory fish photo, the bull was me sized!

One of the last sunsets I was able to enjoy before woods hole

The welcome we got when we arrived! Not pictured was the fanfare of boat horns also welcoming us  in.

It is day 28 on the Atlantis. We have spent the past 5 days going through the Caribbean Sea into Florida. 3 days ago we passed Cuba and we were close enough to see it in the distance. The water is a beautiful deep blue and the air is hot and humid. Since we entered the Bermuda triangle I swear the stars are shining a little brighter than normal. Most of my jobs this week were setting up benches, securing drawers, installing floating cabinets and moving around other various furniture. The lab spaces are starting to actually come together, and once we finish with the furniture we can actually unpack totes and put things away. However there is still a lot that needs to get done before we can do that. We also had a safety meeting a few days ago where we were allowed to shoot off expired flares and smoke signals off the stern. I haven’t had hands-on experience with any flares prior so it was beneficial to see them in action and learn how to set one off in case of emergency. 

Earlier today we reached a buoy off the coast of NC which marked a good fishing spot, so we stopped and cast a line or two. It didn’t take long for 2 Mahi to get hooked on the lines at the same time. They pulled them in, gutted them and gave them to the cook. We will likely have mahi for dinner tomorrow. 

We are supposed to reach Woods Hole on the 11th, that’s 2 days away! I am excited to get back on land and see the area. I am also looking forward to finally seeing the Alvin!  

Until next time-

It has been slow and steady progress getting the R/V Atlantis ready after she’s been on ‘vacation’ for a better part of the year. Old furniture either being thrown out or reused, new furniture being placed or fitted, totes being emptied then filled again with more stuff that happens to get dumped there by another person also in a hurry to finish a task, just absolute chaos. However, through the sweat and frustrations we are finally seeing big leaps in progress around the ship. It finally feels like all the labor we’ve been putting in for nearly a month straight is finally coming together for some seblance of order! I just wish I had taken some before and after pictures of the entire floor we have been focusing on.

The highlight of this week for me was not the fruits of our labor paying off at a visual observation, but some pretty spectacular inginuity and environmental manipulation. I finally had the chance to go through the Panama Canal (something I learned of as a child from ‘Animaniacs’, guess my age), observing and learning about how the canal actually functions. Pretty exciting stuff, tried to stay up for the majority of it but quickly ran out of steam around 1am. We began going through roughly 8:30pm and from what I was told we didnt finish getting through until 2:30am. Needless to say, the entire crew was pretty wiped from either staying up to watch/having to deal with the canal workers that had to come on board to handle the line.

Right now, we are close to Cuba and it’s gorgeously blue over here. Sea turtles have been spotted a couple of times, just need to be out there at the right time with my camera out!

Bella Dina Lax and I working on putting together one of the many benches around the labs (Thanks for the great shot Grace Fulton!)

Before getting to the canal, I was outside watching the city get closer and a HUGE pod of dolphins came to play. I’m talking like a pod of 50 at least. Quite a magical moment, you can hear these guys when they’re around. I didn’t know they were so loud with their prolific squeals and clicks!

Outside Panama Canal waiting for our turn in the que.

Starting to go through the canal, what you don’t see is all the fun and noisy blackbirds, tons of bats, and a croco-gator (couldn’t tell) off to the right.

Another week aboard the RV Atlantis has gone by, and we have begun falling into a routine. Recently, we secured lab equipment and started to set up the labs. I am currently sitting in one of the labs typing my blog.

Grace, my fellow intern, and I were tasked to set up the sensors from the saltwater intake at the hull of the ship to the sinks. The system line up from the intake to the outlet is a debubbler (a tool for removal of visible bubbles from water flow streams), flowmeter (allows for the monitoring of a range of fluids), thermosalinograph (measure sea surface temperature and conductivity while the ship is in motion), fluorometer (an instrument that detects fluorescence), transmissometer (measures the fraction of light, from a collimated light source, reaching a light detector a set distance away), pump, and rotor flow sensor. We had to figure out a way to mount the sensors on a 45.5”x21.5” panel in the bow thruster room. We enjoyed working on this project and reading about how the sensors worked while learning how to set them up properly. The data collected from the sensors are displayed in real-time in each of the lab spaces.

***Flow-through system bypassing the debubbler***

For the most part, we experienced relatively calm seas, with the exception of a lightning storm which was amazing as it flashed in the sky and reflected on the water. We arrived in Panama on August 2, and I learned we needed to wait our turn to go through the canal.  Smaller ships enter at night, so many of us will be pulling an all-nighter to take in this experience. Everyone I spoke to before my trip told of their time going through the canal and all were awestruck.  I feel very fortunate to be an intern on the R/V Atlantis.

***Before lightning storm at sea***

After saying good bye to most of the science crew back in San Francisco, there has not been any down time to relax after quick crash course on some of the many scientific equipment on board. The ship has been dry docked for about a year and a half now, and the R/V Atlantis has been fixed with all new interiors. Now everything that was originally inside has been in storage and also new eqipment has been bought to fit all new appliances and rooms, so it has been the interns job to be ready and available for any labor that is given to us or we sought after.

This is the first time being this far down the Pacific Ocean, and let me say that California dry heat is a blessing compared to the sheer humidity that all of Mexico has been providing for us. It has certainly made unpacking unventilated cargo vans full of furniture, totes of tools, and other bits and ends a extremely sweaty and laborious process! I think my crowning achievment for the past week is learning different tools and how to use them for different jobs around the ship. Whether we’re securing spaces for sea, painting, extracting various deck plugs in the floors, setting up IP addresses on transmitters/recievers, just to name a few things! I think I am most proud of the matrix-style wall of monitors for a wench control station here in the computer labs. I got to set up the measurements, best method of mounting, and execute the plan. I think that’s what I am most proud of this week.

On a brighter end of things, though I have spent a better part of the year in the Bering Sea, these oceans are just so blue and full of fun and active critters. I have seen dolphins galore (no good pictures, but some pretty spectacular videos), floating debris creating mini ecosystems for tropical fish communities, a mahi-mahi, and whales breaching. Another first for me is seeing a clear sky so far away from any lights and seeing the sheer amount of stars that has been gorgeously humbling, shooting stars every night, and the milky way. Truly a beautiful part of the world and one I feel so lucky to have the chance to experience it even after a hard days work.

Before we started

Putting up the unistraps (An all day effort…just getting them parallel…)

And a 90% completed job! Only 3 more monitors on the left side, but a job well done!