Month: May 2023 Page 1 of 2

Week 2

May 17: Alan and I continued to check over the digibird collars for salty erosion and bad latches. Later that evening, I covered for Riley in the main lab to monitor the streamer cable, digibirds and airguns. I kept a close eye on our SOG (speed over ground) and STW (speed through water) to make sure the bridge didn’t go over our speed target which is usually set at approximately five knots. Any speed higher than six knots would lead to high tension on the streamer being towed. This would lead to unnecessary stress and equipment failure. I was able to monitor 10 screens for 10 hours!

May 18: Cody and I went through a weekly gravity check that I was now expected to do every monday for the following weeks. That night Josh (Chief gunner) invited me down to the gun shop where we dismantled an airgun so we could replace O rings. While doing so, Josh walked me through the process of how an airgun works. It was very helpful to have a visual description of the process and it allowed me to have a better understanding of how the air guns create sound waves in the water. I was also able to talk to Bill (geologist technician) and have him explain the sonar pod below the boat. The sonar pod is unique in the fact that it has an ADCP, a transducer, a receiver and a sub-bottom profiler all in one unit that is mounted in the haul! Cool stuff!

May 19: I was finally able to get some laundry washed throughout the day. I also assembled and calibrated 10 digibirds on standby while the crew started retrieving everything out of the water because we had lost signal from our tailbuoy. After I completed my task with the birds I ran around the boat looking for parts and tools that the technicians needed to be able to troubleshoot and fix various instruments. Lastly, I reevaluated 24 birds and put them in order so they were ready for deployment.

May 20 : Alan and I completed our inventory checklist of about 500 digibird collars. Riley needed me to cover him in the lab today so he could continue on another one of his projects he was working on around the boat. During my time in the lab, I had to turn off gun array one so it would be safe for the gunners to retrieve the array out of the water for maintenance.

Another one of my responsibilities is to convert all navigation and observer logs into PDF format and save them in the correct folders on the server. I also updated the digi bird log on excel. We had been surveying in the gulf stream which led to our streamer feathering off line. With the vessel only allowed to go five to six knots we ended up having to crab our way through the Gulf Stream to stay on line. The navigation screens showed the streamer cable being towed about 90 degrees off our line!

Week 3

May 21: Together Cody and I went through the rest of the digibirds on deck to test for motors, compass, depth, heading and wing movement on each one so future technicians could keep up with the inventory. I organized the streamer deck from last night’s deployment and touched up the loose piled lines with some line management. Later that evening, we had to bring the guns onboard again due to some electrical leakage. We eventually found where the source of the leakage was through troubleshooting different cable connections with a multimeter for conductivity. After replacing an electrical cable and a GPS unit for the airguns, we had a successful deployment and got off shift.

May 22: Started my day by completing my work plan assignment with Cody for one of my internship requirements. Cody had then asked me to spray paint all the new radios used for the science team and make sure the current ones were still in good condition. I completed my first weekly gravity check alone with a multimeter and a deck unit in the main lab. Lastly, I ended my night with relabeling most of the monitors, keyboards and mouses in the lab which helped me get a better understanding of the hardware management setup used in the lab.

May 24: This was a steady day of monitoring data and active equipment throughout our survey. Cody also taught me how to end one line and pre-plot another in the navigation software. We had four meter swells for the majority of the day which eventually became normal to everyone as we kept rolling starboard to port all day.

May 25: Another steady day of monitoring screens in the lab until 10 pm. At this time, seas had picked up and the digibirds started to struggle to stay at six meter’s depth. At one point, part of the streamer cable surfaced. Cody and I had to keep switching fin angles and changing depths throughout all the digibirds to fight the sea surface turbulence. Eventually after 90 minutes we were able to stabilize the streamer at eight meters before we got off shift.

May 26: First thing after waking up, I had to throw on my PPE and go out onto the airgun deck to assist with recovering all airguns and buoys. After that was completed, the technicians and I went upstairs onto the streamer deck to recover all six kilometers of streamer cable that was deployed. My job was to assist with removing the digibirds and replace the collars for each of them (two collars per bird). I also had to assemble and recalibrate 10 more spare birds on standby just in case we had to replace any as we were deploying. We ended up using all 10 birds on standby as replacements for the bad ones that were previously deployed. The bad digibirds that had been taken off were definitely the leading cause for the streamer surfacing to the top yesterday. Recovery and deployment on deck started for me at 12 pm and ended at 10:30 pm. After a long day on deck, I finished a nav log for survey line 40 and created another for line 41.

May 27: The common phrase I hear on the boat is, “boring data is good data”. After replacing, fixing and a thorough check of all the equipment yesterday everything seemed to be working accordingly. Today was good for data collection while also relaxing due to no errors appearing on our monitors. Our shift led to good conversation and even better laughs while observing data in the main lab.

Week Three – Breaker Fixed

By Jacob Stremlow

On May 30, 2023

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V Hugh R. Sharp, University of Delaware, College of Earth, Ocean and Environment

Welcome back. This week has been very interesting, we got a lot accomplished. I’ll start with the good news, the circuit breaker was ordered and has finally been installed and tested. The boat is operational and the crew is busy preparing for the last leg of the mission. The marine technician’s director mentioned that there may be an extension of our internship and another mission for us to get more time at sea. This was great news and it felt like maybe our luck had turned around.

This week we have been busy finishing the keel pods that we prepared for painting last week. Alex and I painted the pods with blue anti-fouling paint, it took several days to get all the sides painted and touched up but we did a great job and they look fantastic. The next step will be setting up the sensors and attaching them to the pods so they are ready to insert into the keel. We also helped to troubleshoot the hydrophone system. The technicians were not receiving a data readout on the computer but they could hear underwater sounds in the attached headphones so we determined the data wasn’t being transmitted to the computer. After tracing the circuit out and testing a few connections we came to the conclusion that the new Windows operating system may be causing the issues with data transfer. The lead tech is emailing SoundGuard, the company that makes the hydrophone software, to see if the problem is related to software compatibility.

Thanks for checking in,

Jake the Intern

Hello Bermuda- Week Two

By Devin Farnham

On May 27, 2023

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

Been out to sea for almost a week now. We are in the North Atlantic where we are deploying gliders, recovering gliders and doing three types of CTDs. The food is amazing and I’ve tried a few new Filipino desserts that were unexpectedly really good. One was a coconut and rice bar and the other a corn and pineapple jello like cake.

May 23

We were still in transit to our first station and so I worked on a task Rory gave us. It’s a cyber security type task, where I’m gathering information on all the apps and what versions are on all the computers. Around 330/4pm we were at our first station where we were recovering a spray glider that was in trouble. I helped search for it on the bridge and then mostly watched the recovery with a few of the science crew. After dinner I worked with Oban on building a holder for the acoustic device that needed to be taken on and off the CTD frame for short 300m cast. We had to get creative and try a few things and by the time 930 rolled around I was a hour and a half over my shift and decided to head to bed. In the morning I saw that they had stuck with the original idea but instead of using hose clamps to hold it to the CTD they used ratchet straps.

May 24

Got on shift at 8am to a 2000m CTD cast and recovery. After that we moved to the Underway CTD. A Underway CTD is put off the back of the boat and is dragged on a long line behind the boat while going at a speed of 3-4 knots. It collects the same time of data the CTD collects but it gets horizontal data and not vertical data. Then we tried to do a 300m acoustic CTD every hour on the hour if possible where I got to do tag lines and help deploy and recover. The weather was getting a little iffy and rainy and Lydia and the ABs were working on a hydrological issue so I was given a radio to be the marine tech on deck for the next UCTD cast which was cool. The weather started to get bad after lunch and all further science was put on hold. I worked some more on the cyber security task and then Oban said I was free for the night. I watched two movies with the science crew, the Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Insidious chapter 3.

May 25

Woke up and the weather was better and there was some blue sky and the sun was out! Although it went back to overcast a few hours later. We did more 300m acoustic CTDs and some 2000m water profile CTDs. After lunch we launched two gliders which took all afternoon. The scientist had to make sure they were communicating with shore operations. After dinner we planned to launch another one and it ended up taking a while so I got off at 8 before it was deployed. I have been reading a lot during meal times and when I am off and finished two books already!

May 26

Finally Friday and all we had on the docket was 2000m CTD casts going into the Gulf Stream. These 2000m CTD cast take around 2 hours deployment to recovery. After deploying we go up to the bridge to fill out a CTD sheet. We write down time, location, air temp, wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, humidity, barometric pressure, sea state, swell height, wind wave height and the name of the station and what number cast it is. Then we sit and wait while it goes down 2000m. In that time a few of us read and watch the screen that’s showing real time data as it goes down. We are keeping an eye out for spikes that may indicate a sensor error. After lunch during one of the 2000m CTDs we started noticing a few of these spikes and Lydia went and fiddled with the sensors and after she went to bed at 3pm Oban and I still saw a few spikes so we replaced the sensor and it seams to be working better now. We did these 2000m casts all day long. I got off around 8pm and went straight to bed.

May 27

Another long day of 2000m CTDs! I have been mostly having a good time! It’s always hard being the odd one out, the science party all knows each-other and then the crew is all close and I’m in the middle. I’ve been spending a lot of time between talking to the Rutgers/VIMS students and Oban(marien tech) and Eli(chief mate). Got another long week ahead of us before we head into WHOI June 3rd for a quick port call before we head back out!

Intern Introduction

By Claire Mayorga

On May 25, 2023

In Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, MATE Blog Archive, R/V Marcus G. Langseth

My name is Claire Mayorga.

I’m really excited to join the R/V Langseth at-sea. It is such a unique opportunity to join scientists that are mapping the most inaccessible part of our oceans and retrieving deep-sea sediment cores.

I first became interested in marine geochemistry in university, where I completed my honors thesis collecting sediment cores in salt marshes to study carbon storage. Then, I went on an oceanography research cruise, and fell in love with remote field work.

I’ve spent the last couple years as a field biologist working on different projects, the most recent being a research assistant in the Kalahari Desert. I spent 4 months following groups of meerkats around collecting behavioral data.

WEEKS 1-2 on the R/V Langseth

By Jared Gursslin

On May 24, 2023

In Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, MATE Blog Archive, R/V Marcus G. Langseth

Hello everyone! Between mobilization and simply learning how the crew and equipment work I didn’t have a chance to post my week 1 blog last week but here I go with week 1 and 2 for this post!

SEISMIC SURVEY MISSION

Why:

The scientists onboard believe there are methane pockets that are trapped in ice that are known as methane hydrates, which is a potential reason for subsea landslides in the deep sea. To help prove this hypothesis we have to go through the survey data and mark the locations where methane hydrates have been located so we can return to these coordinates and drop gravity cores down into the sediment. The gravity core will then collect layers of sediment in a tube and bring it back onboard the vessel where scientists can cut different sections off and freeze them to be studied in a lab back onshore.

How:

Off the stern of the vessel the technicians and gunners work together to deploy 6km of SSAS streamer cable that record sound waves that are bounced off the bottom of the seafloor. Some sound waves are able to penetrate up to 10km under the seafloor surface. Similar to sub bottom profiler data and we are able to see that data as well. After all the streamer cable is deployed the gunners and technicians will deploy the air guns which are all attached to long sausage buoys that are towed between the cables and vessel. The air guns use compressed air to create a loud blast of noise similar to a gun firing which creates the sound waves that collect data.

Week 1

May 6th

I arrived at the Virgina, Norfolk airport and caught a 20 min uber to the NOAA pier where the Langseth was tied up at. The uber driver dropped me off at the gate and the NOAA security guard checked my ID and let me in. As I walked to the ship I passed the NOAA office and one of their vessels. They had a big catamaran dock ahead of us which was being prepared for one of their missions. Cool stuff! As soon as I got on, Cody (cheif technican) introduced himself to me and showed me where my room was. I had to find my way down 3 decks to the main lab (the cook had to help me out because I had walked through the galley 3 times and he figured I was lost). I also had a chance to meet the other technicians and gunners onboard. Todd (a technician) helped me get all my PPE which I posted in my introduction blog post.

May 7th

I woke up at 6 am and helped lift floor tiles so I could reconfigure some wires for the main lab which has over 40 monitors! Afterwards, Cody and I attached a RVIM (Rubber Vibration Isolation Model) to the end of one of the streamer cables so the tail buoy would not create tension on the cable while in the water.

May 8th

Me and Cody went up on the bridge tower so we could set up the PSO’s stations on port and starboard sides where they can keep a lookout through their high grade binoculars for whales, dolphins, turtles, etc.

May 9th

This day was my first day on my 12 hour shift schedule (12pm – 12am). We also set sail between 13:00-14:00. Norfolk was interesting to see as we departed from the dock. I saw a fleet of US naval ships docked up and plenty of commercial ports and vessels coming in and out the bay.

May 10th

I woke up and put my PPE on to help out with deployment of 6km streamer cables on the deck. While deploying I assisted with changing out modules (for more efficient data transfer) and attaching digibirds (model 5000) so we could tow the cables at an appropriate altitude.

May 12

I helped out one of the gunners drill rust off the hydraulic systems and re-grease it with some heavy duty industrial grease. After I was observing data in the main lab when all of a sudden one of the air guns started to auto fire. We retrieved that gun string and realize the air gun was auto firing due to a corrupt seal. After replacing the air gun and some air hoses we deployed them back into the water and started collecting accurate data again.

May 13th

Cody assigned me 3 daily tasks to do at the start and end of my shift.

1. Checking the server for recent incoming raw data

2. Emptying the dehumidifiers in the mainframe room

3. Check the wet lab for running water so we can have updated salinity measurements.

I proceeded to help the gunners replace air lines to some more air guns before redeploying. Cody then showed me how to fill out daily scientific reports for the National Science Foundation (they are responsible for funding this whole mission). The rest of the evening I was recalibrating all the digibirds that were marked red for not usable. I tested the digibirds for accurate heading, depth, pressure, and wing movement. I then removed the bad bird modules and replaced them with working ones.

Week 2

May 14th

Continued recalibrating digibirds and observing data in the main lab.

May 15th

Me and another technician named Alan who I learned is an alumni of the CFCC Marine Technology Program went through the bird collars to fix the latches on the bad collars. We also had to soak some of them in freshwater due to salt erosion locking some of them up.

May 16th

I spent most of the day studying the different softwares used in the main lab to track different aspects of our survey.

Orca software: is used for navigation of boat, streamer cable, digibirds, survey lines, and general positioning.

Digicourse: Displays location of digibirds in the water column so we can keep the streamer cable at the correct depth.

Gunlink: shows electrical signals being transferred to airguns simultaneously. It also displays sound output from the hydrophones and airgun health by color.

Seal: shows sound being received as a whole streamer cable using sound bars.

Seal QC: Graphs sound return by Time (s) and length of streamer cable.

Week Two – Still Stuck in Lewes

By Jacob Stremlow

On May 22, 2023

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V Hugh R. Sharp, University of Delaware, College of Earth, Ocean and Environment

Welcome back, don’t worry I haven’t gone anywhere. We have been delayed due to a circuit breaker issue. The issue has caused the first leg of the mission to be scrapped. Alex, the other intern, and I have been given tasks to work on while we are stuck at port.

This operation issue has been a big letdown, and with the first leg of the mission being scrapped, we will be spending the first three weeks of our internship at port. Thankful there are great and friendly people who work with us and have helped us continue to learn even stuck at port. The big project we have been working on this week is sanding and preparing the keel pods to be painted.

Alex and I had to get safety glasses and respirators so we could scrap and sand off the old paint from the pods. The pods are made of aluminum and need to be coated in marine antifouling paint. The antifouling paint helps to prevent barnacle buildup while under the water. In an effort to be more environmentally friendly, the direct John Swallows had us gather and vacuum up all the paint chips and dust to keep it from running into the bay.

The issues with the circuit breaker have been very disappointing and the time lost at sea even more so but I am still trying to make the best of the situation and learn from the wise and friendly staff here. I also purchased an old bike so I could ride around and explore more of Lewes.

Until next time,

Jake the Intern

Hello Bermuda-Week One

By Devin Farnham

On May 20, 2023

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

Good afternoon readers!

I got to BIOS saftley on Tuesday May 16th around 130pm. I got a tour of the facilitys and got settled into my room and rested before dinner at 5pm. I meet the crew and the other Marine Techs I will be learning from, Rory, Lydia and Oban. Lydia will be our lead tech for the Miller cruise. I got invited to go with a few of the crew to some local caverns and we ended up swimming in one of the deep pools located in the caves which was amazing!

On Wednesday I got right into working, since we are at port for the week we work 8-5pm everyday with a lunch break at 12pm. We have a morning meeting everyday at 8 with all crew to go over what needs to be done that day and then we had a marine tech specific meeting to discuss what would be on our task list for the day. I helped Oban with getting a wind sonic sensor from the mast down that needs to be fixed. Rory then showed Oban and I how to do a rinse of the underway water system using a simple green mix that we let sit in the pipes for 24 hours before rinsing it out with freshwater. I then started on fixing some parts on the niskin bottles and quickly realized the bolts on the hose clamps were really stuck and needed to soak in a penetrating catlyst that helps break down rust. Was shown a few things around the ship and then it was time for dinner. After Dinner I took a walk on the “rail trail” to a local cove and went swimming and saw some really beautiful parrot fish. Then Eli, the chief mate, took me into St. George by boat to get a few things at the store I forgot to pack.

Thursday I finished the niskin bottles with Obans help which took up all of the morning. I helped dispose of the lithium and alkaline batterys aboard the ship and then we did that underway system fresh water rinse. We then washed all the niskin bottles and let them dry before removing them off the boat for storage since we will not be using them on this cruise. After dinner I took a short walk and hungout with some of the crew before bed.

Friday Lydia gave me the task of fixing a slip ring and then I watched as they removed the RAD van from the vessel to make more room. Rory took me up top to show me the internet domes and how they work! The domes are very large and allow for us to have access to the internet at sea! After lunch we had a meeting with some of the scientist to discuss the deployment of the deep sea mooring we will be doing. I believe its going down 2223m with the top being 300m from the surface. Lydia then had me help with the GPS anntenas that are not quite working like they should and then we called it a day around 245pm for a birthday pig roast for one of the engineers!

Today (Saturday) we are moblizing for the cruise and the scientist are coming abourd the ship. Lydia showed me the moonpool where a transducer can be attatched. Now time for a safty talk! I’m also having a hard time uploading pics so I will try again later!

Week One – Stuck at port

By Jacob Stremlow

On May 16, 2023

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V Hugh R. Sharp, University of Delaware, College of Earth, Ocean and Environment

The first week has been a wild ride. When I arrived the crew and the lead scientist were in the process of mobilizing the operation. I helped with loading equipment and food supplies. The crew has been very welcoming and friendly to me. Above is a picture of Huxley, he taught me how to crip a cable loop on the end of a steel cable. We were scheduled to leave port last Saturday but as we were in the process of taking off there was an issue with the breaker for the bus coupler that sends power to the drives. The engineers have been working hard to solve the issue but now we are waiting for a replacement part from Italy. The hope is that the part will be here before this weekend and we will be off on the mission.

This unfortunate event has allowed me time to see the town of Lewes, Delaware. I have explored the state park and visited several beaches. My favorite place has been the “conch hole” as I like to call it. Pictured above is that area and me holding one of the conch snails. I have never seen live conch snails and there are so many of them. They are very interesting to me, some are even larger than my fist. I found out that they can live up to 30 years.

I am very excited to get underway and hope that the engineers are able to get the ship back up and operational.

Until next time, Jake the Intern

2023 Long Term Internship!

By Sarah Sergent

On May 11, 2023

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V Thomas G. Thompson, University of Washington, School of Oceanography

Hello and good morning! I am this year’s long-term internship recipient! I wanted to jump on and introduce myself. Last summer I was honored to complete the MATE short-term internship where I ventured out with WHOI’s ROV JASON team to tackle sample collection/exploration/data acquisition of areas around the Blanco Fracture Zone and Mount Axial from May 23rd through July 5th, 2022.
This year, I will again be setting sail with WHOI onboard the Thompson, off the coast of Newport, Oregon. The first three months-ish (June 29th-Sept 24th) will be at-sea, and then I will travel to the east coast and finish the final three months (Oct 1st- Dec 23rd) at the WHOI facility where I get the opportunity to be apart of the maintenance/rebuild of JASON.
I just graduated with my associate’s degree in the Marine Technology Program at Northwestern Michigan College. I cannot wait to get back out with WHOI and look forward to keeping you all updated on the adventures along the way!

Week 2 aboard Hugh R. Sharp

By Alejandro Dominguez

On May 9, 2023

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V Hugh R. Sharp, University of Delaware, College of Earth, Ocean and Environment

Hello again everyone! I hope you are all doing well. it’s been quite an exciting and eventful time since my last update. In the past twelve days, I have been exposed to many new and interesting things about the Sharp, its crew and equipment, and the logistics of setting up this type of survey.

Let’s start from the beginning. On May 9th I landed in Salisbury Maryland, and was greeted by the oceanographic manager for the University of Delaware’s Earth, Ocean & Atmosphere College. He drove us roughly an hour to Lewes, Deleware where the Hugh R. Sharp is docked. We got our first tour of the vessel and the surrounding area and were shown where we would sleep for the night.

The Hugh, pre-mobilization:

The following day we met most of the operational crew and started the process of loading up everything we needed for the survey. The Habcam and wet lab were hauled on the R/V using a huge crane, and I helped set up and secure a few things with help from the techs onboard. It was a pleasure to work alongside such professionals and I was in awe of how much they were able to get done in one afternoon. They were extremely accommodating and even asked us if we wanted anything specific for the grocery list (I wanted some minestrone soup and trail mix).

Hugh R. Sharp (left) alongside the Delriver (right):

On the eleventh, we got to meet most of the science team (the rest of them would arrive at a later date) and had fun crimping 1/2″ steel cable. It would be the secure point between the LCI 90 port wench system and the Habcam. This wench would be used to slowly lower the Habcam in the water column once it was time for deployment. It took us a couple of tries to get it right, as the cable was pretty oily and hard to handle.

One of the crimps that didn’t make the cut (didn’t have a long enough “tail”):

I also learned a lot more about the different functionalities and sensors that the Habcam is equipped with. It’s a really unique piece of hardware that has port/starboard sides-scan transducers and a forward-facing BlueView sonar (plus a multitude of other oceanographic sensors). I’ve actually had some experience working with this sonar and it’s one of the most advanced I’ve seen so far, it’s got an extremely quick refresh rate to the point where you’re basically seeing objects in real-time in a 180-degree swath.

BlueView mounted to the front of the Habcam for obstacle avoidance:

The next day was for shopping! The generous folk at UDEL paid for any necessities we forgot to bring and got us a complete set of high-quality wet gear! The awesome thing is that we get to keep our stuff even after the survey is over. The wet gear will keep us warm and dry during the long days on the dredge shoveling scallops and what-have-you. Once we got back from our shopping trip we helped restock the R/V with all the groceries they got for the survey ($3,600 worth of food!).

Then, May 15th rolls around. The big day! We donned our immersion suits (I volunteered to do it for the safety drill, it was pretty heavy and hot) and went over the process of the abandon ship protocol. After several briefs, we prepared to leave the dock at 1600. We had a twelve-hour steam directly to the first fisheries station and I signed up for the night shift (2400-1200). This is where stuff turned downhill. The vessel’s breaker that routed power to the drivers (which powered the thrusters) had a mechanical failure due to years of wear and tear from the movement of the ocean. Everyone who could help immediately went to work to diagnose and remedy the issue, I stood by watching the troubleshooting process, and tried to learn as much as I could without getting in the way.

After a couple of days of being dead in the water and the engineers working late into the night, they found the issue and discovered there was practically no way to fix it without getting a completely new breaker. The breaker we needed was only made in Italy of all places, and they immediately ordered a new one with expedited shipping. This brings us to the current day! Since the part that we need will roughly take a week to arrive, I have been spending time exploring and hanging out in the beautiful city of Lewes, Deleware. The crew has also taken us around town and showed us all the cool spots and sights to see, so I’ve been having lots of fun.

Though I am a little saddened that we will miss the first leg of the trip, I understand that these things happen and it’s better we discovered it now at port instead of being several miles offshore! Plus we still have the whole second leg of the trip, where we get to stop by Woods Hole, Massachusetts and I’m really excited for that! Anyways, that’s it for now! thanks for reading and I’ll be here again next week to update you all on how it’s going, take care and have a good one!

– Alejandro Dominguez