Hello everyone, This week has still been exciting even with the conclusion of all our dives. The ship still had some mapping routes to finish before we returned to port in Astoria, Oregon. During that time, we prepared for offload. Offload occurs once every five years, when Alvin, essential equipment, and parts are removed from the R/V Atlantis and shipped back to Woods Hole, Massachusetts, for maintenance and any planned upgrades.
As a mechanical intern, I spent two days draining all the oil from Alvin, including the compensation reservoirs. I think we drained about 70 gallons—way more than I anticipated—and it took a long time because, even though we created a vacuum to suck the oil out, we didn’t want to increase the pressure too much on the junction boxes and risk damaging them. I was also able to watch the post-dive process with one of the members of the electrical team inside the sphere, which was neat since I normally do not work with them. I did some other cleaning tasks, but the real fun of the week began when we docked in Astoria.
We went through the Columbia River Bar, which is extremely dangerous and difficult to navigate, so a pilot specifically trained to bring ships in and out of the bar was brought onboard by boat to help us safely dock. Conversely, on the way out of the Columbia a few days later, the pilot attempted to use a helicopter to get off the ship. Unfortunately, while the pilot was harnessed in and standing on the bow of the ship, the wind shifted, making it unsafe for him to continue, so he unclipped himself from the line to avoid injury. However, the pilot in the helicopter did not see him do this, so out of precaution the emergency line was cut from the helicopter. Apparently, the pilots at this location have not had to cut a line in many years, so it was a unique experience. Everyone erred on the side of caution and made all the right choices—so everyone was safe. The pilot then had to wait an hour for a vessel to come pick him up from our ship, which was still a really cool sight.
While in Astoria, the scientists hosted a science party at the Workers Tavern to thank the crew and Alvin team for collecting the data. It was a sweet gesture and a lot of fun to spend time with everyone before all the scientists left. The following day, the Alvin team all had the day off—which was wonderful. It was our first day off in weeks, so sleeping in was luxurious. Some members of the team and I went to Sunset Beach. Being from Florida, it was amazing to see mountains at the beach. It was also freezing, but I had a goal to swim in the Pacific Ocean, so I did—for about two minutes—because the water temperature was around 68°F and the rip current was strong. It was a nice change from Florida beaches; here there was so much space to walk and set up. We even stopped at a second beach where The Goonies was filmed and got to see the notorious boulder the ship sailed out from behind in the final scenes.
We proceeded to go into town for lunch before continuing our sightseeing. I went to the Astoria Column, where I climbed 186 steps for a breathtaking view. I was very lucky with our timing because, as I learned from speaking to a local named Boats, the weather had been rainy and foggy for some time and was expected to return, which would have obscured our view from the tower. At the same park, there are hiking trails, so I walked a couple of miles on one of them to reach the Cathedral Tree—a giant spruce. The weather and greenery made it a perfect hike.
Now, we are transiting from Astoria, Oregon, to San Diego, California, our final leg of the cruise. This has entailed much cleaning and packing, but I am looking forward to getting into port on the 30th.
Astoria has come and gone to usher in a new era! We left on the 25th and we may actually be on track to arrive earlier than expected, so we’re slowing down our transit a little just so that we get into port on the 30th as established just to avoid the logistic issues.
Astoria is a pretty nice port town all in all (plus the security at the port was slightly buffed compared to Newport’s – they actually asked for identification cards this time). It’s got a cute trolley that rolls around occasionally, a delightful sparkling lemonade at the Columbia River Coffee Roaster near port, and truly beautiful beaches. I’m told that the weather wasn’t usually as nice as it was when we were out exploring the town, so I’m glad I got to explore it in its full glory.
you would think that they would add some sort of protective measure to this thing
My haul from the coffee place. Excited to try when I get home
When I say that the beaches (specifically Sunset Beach) are beautiful, I mean they’re REALLY good. This is genuinely the most optimal place I’ve seen to run on sand – barely any people, spans for miles (probably), no sharp objects to step on, stunning view, you name it. Wish I could have gone on a couple more jogs here!
I haven’t gotten enough of the ocean yet, apparently
this place is HUGE
There was also a whale carcass here too. It was a little odd that there were no decomposers or flies or seagulls or anything chipping away at it, but I just assumed that it was pretty old and that the scavengers got to the good parts already. We were kind of worried about the corpse exploding from buildups of gas during decomposition (there have been several reports of this event occurring) so I observed it from a distance. Despite being decently old, it still smelled horrendous, as expected.
oh… that’s gore of my comfort character…
They have wild rabbits at Cannon Beach. I don’t mean the brown ones that graze on lawns and stuff, these ones look like people literally released the local pet shop population upon the ecosystem. Somehow they seem to be thriving – do they not have any predators in this region?? I can tell that they’re wild by the way they react to humans but they also seem very used to the presence of people. Intriguing.
bnuuy
Most of my actual work on the ship during our transit has been packing things up and getting ready for moving out. We started running low on crates to put supplies in, so things have been getting a little stagnant recently. I’m trying to counteract this by keeping myself busy designing printed circuit boards and having them fabricated and sent to San Diego so I can pick them up when I get there. There’s a lot of talented electrical engineers on the Alvin team that I can request advice from, so I’m grateful for this opportunity to bother them about extremely trivial KiCAD questions. I also gained a newfound hatred for tariffs.
please excuse my suboptimal pcb layout
you’re kidding me…
They gave a tour of the engine room today and showed us some of the tools and equipment they use to maintain smooth operations of the ship like power distribution and propulsion. It was very interesting and yet very loud. Also smelled like chemicals.
way bigger down here than I thought it would be
I didn’t expect to see so much wildlife on this stretch of the trip, but so far there have been a lot of sea lions, plus several whales! The whales have been frustratingly difficult to capture on camera, so you’ll just have to excuse the cryptid-like photo of this one. If you can figure out what species this is from this image alone, tell me in the blog comments or something. I’ll be very impressed.
top 10 haunting photos before disaster or something
im pretty sure these are sea lions?
I think I have one or two more blog posts left in me before the internship ends. Now that the end is so close in sight, the four weeks I spent out here didn’t feel so long. I’m a little sad that it’s ending so soon now but I’ve been having a lot of fun out here. See you guys in San Diego!
Let the science begin! At long last, the Coast Guard duties are over, and we’ve moved east for our science stations. The scientists’ morale had nearly hit rock bottom, and a collective thrill ran through them as the captain announced the end of the Coast Guard operation. Unfortunately, it was short lived. In the absence of foreign icebreakers, the wind and ice teamed up to thwart our science ops, and our first couple stations had the ship fighting tooth and nail to maintain position in 30+ knot winds and massive, drifting ice floes. Finally, we conceded defeat, and began a day long transit south to lower stations, hoping for gentler weather and less ice, which we found (along with more polar bears along the way!).
Science is now in full swing, and I’m not sure any of the scientists are sleeping. We’re doing round-the-clock CTDs and mooring recoveries and deployments. I was curious what STARC’s role would be in this- in my experience on other vessels, marine technicians are typically closely involved in every step of the process. However, the Coast Guard deck crew handles pretty much everything on the deck, and the science team has two members overseeing the moorings. It was beginning to seem like our role would be pretty small, but that impression didn’t last long.
Between sensor maintenance, things going wrong and breaking, old issues being found as the gear gets put into use, and supporting the deck team and science, STARC has had plenty to do. I got an awesome opportunity when the CTD cable got kinked again and needed to be reterminated overnight for the next station. Because I’d walked through it the first time with Brandon and Cora and had the old one to check my work with, I felt pretty confident reterminating the cable solo. And I did for the most part! I stripped the new cable, soldered, and taped it while referencing the old one, and it worked like new. Brendon and Bowman helped me with the finishing touches, and getting the grips on where it attaches to the CTD- a deeply aggravating, multi-hand procedure. We all got it set and ready to go, and it worked! Additionally, we took the opportunity while the CTD was down to poke around the altimeter, which had been giving some funky readings as it approached the seafloor. We’d messed around with the positioning and had no idea what was going on, to the point I think we suspected the sensor itself might be malfunction. But Brandon and I poked around the cables and realized the cable itself was bad- apparently a pretty rare issue, and cool to see the problem in action as the multimeter’s beep-beep-beeeeep broke up while Brandon wiggled the cable.
The retermination in progress
In the quiet times during transit or a long CTD cast, I’ve started tackling design projects with STARC’s fancy 3D printer, which can print with rubber, a carbon fiber composite, and kevlar. I made some goofy little fish, then transitioned to functional things. I made a slip-ring-thing designed to keep the serial connections to the winch cables on board from getting twisted, which took four tries to get just right. I’m currently working on dummy plugs for some of our Seabird sensors while they’re not in use. My first four-pin plug came out perfectly- deceptively easy, as I’ve hit a wall with the two- and three-pin plugs. I’m on take 5, at least, and losing my mind- they’re off by fractions of millimeters EVERY time!
Digging for supplies in the hold.
Taking a break from that, I made a couple little shims for the mooring winch. Although the deck’s got it handled, I’ve been trying to get outside during the moorings to learn what I can about mooring ops. The mooring-tech-in-chief asked if I could print something to wedge under the joystick to fix its speed, so I printed some shims that stick it in the right place. My second iteration was a success, a triumphant breath of fresh air. In my procrastination, dreading returning to the dummy plugs, I’ve begun knitting a sweater when my hands aren’t busy. I started this sweater a few years ago on my first scientific cruise, and I’m determined to get it done now- I want an extra warm layer!
Sunrise… or sunset? The days are so long, it’s hard to tell.
Part of me feels like we’ve just begun science and part of me feels like it’s been going on forever, but the shocking truth is we don’t even have two more weeks before we head for home. It feels unreal, but so amazing, especially as it gets colder and we’re getting to watch the ice form. Today I saw pancake ice, an early stage of ice formation, for the first time, which speaks for itself:
Anyway, on to the next station! I’m having a great time, learning a lot, and only a little chilly. And the polar bear count is at 11- what a crazy experience!
It is officially day 21 onboard the R/V Point Sur, and… wait, is that… Land ho, land ho! Though it is a bittersweet time, demobilization of the cruise is a certainty. The science crew has concluded their work, gear has been packed up, and the deck swabbed. The only things left to do are unload it all and wave our white handkerchiefs in goodbyes. What else is there for it but to get started!
Science brought aboard their own winch with matching block. It is no small endeavor to take it back down, requiring two men to climb the A-frame, one to operate the crane, and at least one more on deck to help facilitate. Equipped with safety harnesses, the climbers take to the frame and attach the crane hook to the extremely heavy block. Once detached, the crane can support said weight and lower it to the ground. The ships standard block is put back into its rightful home, and our courageous climbers can make their descent.
Hey, that looks like fun! Seeing the strength and importance of the crane for this operation gave my mentor Grace an excellent idea: “Let the new guy try it!”
Though I am certainly still hesitant, I can now confess that I have a rudimentary understanding of crane operations. I wouldn’t quite trust myself to move anything too important, but it is a skill I look forward to cultivating more in the future. Having a multitude of people on the ships crew that know how to operate machinery can be a life saver! This ensures that at any one time, you can find a crane operator that is both on duty and not actively involved in another operation.
For deploying the ROV, the crew had attached a soft line to the end of the winch wire. While it worked perfectly for the operations of the cruise, it was no longer needed. For removing the line, we set up a clever little DIY station. All it takes is a boat hook and an empty spool, and spinning away we went! The line was coiled up for storage, and the tarp removed from the winch spool. All ready for the next cruise!
To complete our offloading, we needed a crane with a bit more power than the ones on board posses. We mosied on over to the port pier, where we could have some help with the lifting. This is the first time I have seen the forward crane used, to lower the gangway off of the bow. Unlike the crane on the back deck, this particular model has two ‘knuckles’. With two places to bend, it has a greater mobility but also requires greater skill to operate. Skilled crane operator mark slowly lifted and lowered the gangway to the pier, where forklift driver Grace could position it.
With demobilization of the cruise coming to an end, we began preparations for the next scientific mission. Part of our maintenance included cleaning! The whole boat gets a decent scrub down, and the tech lab gets a good polishing. We opened up some of the computers, and dusted out the insides with a high powered blower. The high seas have some serious dust!
A little back story no one asked for:
The Pt. Sur is the sistership to my school’s vessel the Cape Hatteras. A dream I always had while sailing on the Hatteras was to climb the mast, or the yellow ladder as we called it. For liability issues, obviously I was never able to as a student.
Though this mast did not include a yellow ladder, I finally was able to summit my mountain of the mast and had a little climb up while in port! Grace ensured I was harnessed in for safety, and up we went. It was a great view of the port from the top! Even though it is by technicality only, I can finally say I’ve seen my white whale.
Now that mobilization of the next cruise had begun, gear was being moved to the ship in preparation. This is the primma donna of our mission- the Megacore. Even though the name sounds like something out of the Transformers movies, it has a fairly simple purpose. Mud is the name of the game, so much so that this science group refers to them selves as “The Mud People”. Equipped with 12 plastic tubes, this rosette sinks all the way to the seafloor to grab mud. All going well, we pull it back up with 12 perfect cores of mud. Fingers crossed!
The sight of this screen first thing in the morning makes you rub your eyes and wonder if you ever woke up in the first place! This seeming gibberish means that something is amiss within our software setup. It turned out to be a simple baud rate issue. Phew.
The lovely gentleman sitting next to Grace is Roy. He came aboard to help us set up the gear and ensure everything is working. Much like the previous trip, this group had brought a transducer to be mounted the the ships pole. This transducer specifically tracks the mud core as it sinks, which relays an accurate position of the mud sample. It takes a surprising amount of configuring to achieve this!
With all gear stowed, electronics set up, and science crew on board, it was time to head out! Even during transit, there is never any time to waste. The Megacore can be a finicky machine- every piece and part must be perfectly aligned and set in just the right way.
It was with baited breath and a stern glare that we deployed the core for the first sample of the trip…
The anxiety was well deserved, but as all things do, it worked out in the end. We successfully recover the core, and 11 out of the 12 tubes were full of delicious and delectable mud samples! Once the gear is on deck, it is an immediate all hands in to get the mud processed before the next station can begin.
The cores themselves detach from the frame, where they are photographed for documentations sake. Caps are added to each end of the tubes and sealed with tape to ensure no sample material is lost. One of the coolest aspects of these samples, in my uneducated opinion, is that the core also collects the water immediately above the sediment as well. This means that any benthic critters hanging out in the water come up with the mud! We got to see some polychaete worms in one tube, which are some of my favorite animals to witness. What a rare treat to see our wiggly little friends from the abyss!
The water is siphoned from the tubes for filter sampling, and then the mud processing begins. Some tubes are kept whole, to look at the layering of sediment, and some are chopped up into perfect 3 centimeter mudcakes. This allows the scientists to look through the material thoroughly. It’s messy work, but it looks pretty fun!
As the mud crew clean out their final cores for the day and turn to bed, a gorgeous sunset signals our time for the week has ended. Though a great deal has been accomplished, there is work yet to be finished! I’m hoping to find some wormy friends in the mud, and maybe even find friends in my fellow shipmates. Who knows! Until next week…
This week marked the completion of all the dives Alvin will partake in for this cruise, for a total of 10 dives. It truly was an amazing sight that I am sad to see come to an end; I felt like I was finally getting into a rhythm of completing pre- and post-dive activities somewhat independently. However, I do have many fun memories to share.
One of the highlights this week was getting another perspective of the recovery process by riding in the lifeboat that brought the swimmers to Alvin upon resurfacing. During this process, I witnessed how the swimmers contacted the pilot and observers in the sphere using a standard plug-in phone, secured the safety lines on the science basket, retrieved the tow from the stern of the ship, and swiftly attached the tow line to the sub. It was a beautiful day out on the water, and I am so grateful to the crew and Alvin team for allowing me to see this part of recovery up close. At that moment, I realized I could definitely do this as a job one day.
At the start of the week the swell picked up, which made me a little sick, but I have since acclimated and now enjoy the rocking. It can be quite fun when it gets bumpy, but I also learned how important it is to secure items even when the swell is expected to be tame. At one point, a random wave came through at just the right angle for the ship to roll significantly; I braced myself in the hangar as I watched crates of ratchet straps and hose clamps come flying out of the shelves. We made sure everything was strapped down tight after that. Otherwise, we had wonderful weather and some great sunrises and sunsets, with only a couple of rainy days.
We solved the mystery leak we were experiencing last week with the main ballast blow box—a faulty check valve! Although it passed testing, we swapped it for a ready spare and, after the following dive, there were no more leaks. The work was predominantly the same as the previous week, except for the last dive. For the final dive, we had what’s oddly called, in my opinion, a “skin party.” This is where we removed all the “skins,” or protective plating, from Alvin to be washed. It was like a car wash for a submersible and quite fun; whenever we scrub the hangar or deck we put on music, which makes it a good time.
Additionally, I learned a bit more about the sub’s navigation. The ship has piezoelectric transducers that locate the sub and then relay its position back to Alvin. Once the sub is at the bottom, it can set its current location as a reference point and use the Doppler Velocity Logger on its tail to track movements from there. I also learned about an important safety protocol: the sub must contact top lab every 30 minutes using FM frequency. If this does not happen for one hour plus the time it would take the sub to return to the surface from the designated dive location, the top lab must notify the Navy and other authorities. They have very strict regulations for diving to maintain safety.
As for the science this week, we completed a couple of lander deployments. The lander was used to collect video data of the hydrothermal vents and Alvin itself. I also spoke with some of the scientists on board and learned about their equipment. I helped set up some IGTs on the science basket, which are water samplers designed to maintain the pressure, temperature, and gas content of the sample as it was collected. Since the team is studying nitrogen cycling, they are adding tracers to these samples to understand how microorganisms process chemicals under these conditions. This may be a bit of an oversimplification—I tried my best to follow their explanations, but it’s not really my background. Apparently, IGTs are rare, with only about 20 in existence, making it a very cool sight!
Anyway, the dives are done, but I still have a few weeks left in the internship. More to come, Katie
We’re done with dives! Yesterday was the last Alvin dive of the cruise and we’re heading back to Astoria, Oregon to drop off the scientists before we go on our transit to San Diego for offloading. Most of the week has felt relatively routine by now – getting Alvin ready for dives in the morning, turning on various beacons and radio devices, cleaning camera lenses, refilling CO2 scrubbers, etc. so I’m going to be recapping some notable highlights. Hard to believe we’re already done with dives and switching to a new schedule right as I was getting the hang of things!
The variety of people on board the Atlantis has been pretty interesting to talk to. Since our professions and backgrounds are so different, it’s been fun to chat with scientists, maritime crew, and educators about their roles on and off the ship.
Every time Alvin returns from a dive with the bio box used for collecting organism samples, it’s always entertaining to see what fruits the depths have yielded for us that day. In this picture, they’re mostly tube worms with bacterial growths (the white fuzzy parts).
horrifying creatures of the deep, as usual
Some students from Arizonan schools have sent in decorated Styrofoam cups for the sub to bring down to the seafloor. Due to the extreme water pressure (more than 200atm at over 2000m of depth) that’s down there, the cups end up getting squashed into these cute Shrinky Dink-like crush cups. I made one for myself on Monday, and the result is in the pic below. I’m quite fond of it.
Little alien I drew on a crush cup
On the final dive, I got to ride on the small boat that retrieves the swimmers. It was a nice feeling to be out on the water on a smaller dinghy, and I got some new POVs of the dive procedure. All in all it was quite entertaining, and I feel like I got a better understanding of the diving process from all roles.
Alvin and Atlantis, taken from the small deployment boat
It’s not all work out here anyway – there’s also plenty we do to keep morale high during monotonous hours when work feels stressful. Once when the seas were calm and the sun was out, the galley moved out onto the front deck for lunch to grill burgers and hot dogs. I really wasn’t expecting something like this, so it was a nice change of pace to rewind with a soda and chat with the crew.
we like having fun sometimes and by fun i mean a truly absurd number of grilled burgers
benefits of being in the middle of the ocean with literally nothing
A silly picture of me in the sub helping pilots run end-of-cruise maintenance checks. Learning about all the procedures and failsafes built into the sub was very intriguing.
Joyous whimsy
This evening, another pod of dolphins came to visit the bow of the ship again! There’s no way to really tell if they were from the same pod, but they were of the same species at least. It felt like there were a lot more than last time – I’m taking it as a sign of good luck and safe voyages seeing as they also greeted me when I came out to the ocean for the first time.
Dolphins on our way back!
Offloading at Astoria and transit starts tomorrow, so that’s what my next update is going to be about. See you soon!
Welcome back everyone! It is now my second week aboard the R/V Point Sur. Morale on the ship is high as science is rolling smoothly, the weather has calmed down, and we all wear our matching Hawaiian shirts on Fridays! Let’s take a look at the week, shall we?
To get my day kicking, I always like to go straight for the power tools! Yippee! The winch wire is more than just a long line of tough metal- it’s special metal. On the inside of the slightly rusty exterior, is an electrical communication cable that is able to send data back and forth to equipment and sensors. This enables whatever we send into the water to communicate with us in live time! To connect the wire to equipment, we must make a connecting end called a termination. This process is begun by dremelling off the hard exterior layers as you see pictured. (Hi me!)
After the metal is removed, you reveal the inner wires which are coated in rubber insulation for protection. Once you have your winch wire and the cable for your equipment ready, you begin the process of joining them together. The wire is soldered together, and tested for communication. Once it is confirmed they can ‘talk’ to each other, you have to make a semi-malleable shell to protect this connection. It’s going in the ocean after all!
Heat shrink, many layers of hot glue, and electrical tape are the ingredients in this special recipe. These onion like layers work in tandem to offer protection from water, cross talk between cables, mechanical strength and shielding, and ensure that the termination lasts for many, many casts.
The ROV, affectionately named “Mohawk” by the team, has been swimming nonstop these days. While piloting over a smooth seafloor with limited obstructions, the ROV team decided it was a safe place for test drives! Anyone who wanted to was allowed to pilot the ROV and get a feel for the operation of the machine. With a simple videogame style joystick, Mohawk can move in 3D. Being covered in cameras and lights, the vehicle is surprisingly nimble and well equipped to navigate the dark and often murky depths.
Deep sea ROVs have been a passion of mine for quite some time, and piloting one has been on my science bucket list forever- CHECK! A huge thank you to the Mohawk team for allowing me to achieve one of my science dreams!
This screen may look like gibberish- and that’s because it totally is! This is a classic “blame the intern” moment, but allow me to back up a bit. When performing a CTD cast and sending the rosette down, we get a live stream of data from the sensors. The instrument package is connected to the winch wire with the same hot glue termination as previously displayed, allowing data to stream back to the computers shipside. This screen is where we watch the data come in, see how deep in the water the rosette is, and any other information we need to know while operating the machine. Those wide streaking lines however, are not normal. Why is my graph broken!
In this CTD software, there are a few steps that must be taken prior to launch. One of those steps includes turning the water pumps on. You know, the one that pushes water past all of the sensors. Kind of the important part. Yeah, so I forgot to turn those pumps on. My bad team.
When we recovered the CTD, we noticed this- a busted O-ring! My arch nemesis returns, the faulty niskin bottle… thankfully, its a quick little swap and all is well. Daily checks and routine maintenance are an often overlooked aspect of keeping life at sea running, but they are ever so important! Making immediate repairs, and ensuring all equipment is working well with each use keeps the malfunctions and disasters at bay.
These gloves were made for workin…Goop!
Oh yeah, we’re doing ROV ops! One of my jobs on the back deck is to keep a wrastle hold on the winch wire as mentioned in my last blog. This is a much thicker winch wire than what the boat usually has onboard. When in use, these wires must be heavily greased for corrosion resistance and for smooth recovery and deployment. This makes handling the line a bit of a sticky situation. The science crew brought their own pair of sacrificial grease gloves for me to use, which keeps my normal work gloves looking spick and span in comparison!
Let’s take a better look at whats happening when we deploy Mohawk. The winch wire I have been handling comes out of a large pulley hanging from the A-frame at the top, just like the empty one that is hanging in the picture. It is raised and lowered with the winch spool by the winch operator.
Attached to the end of this thick line is the “clump weight”. Pictured in my previous blogs, this weight acts as a landmark for the ROV, and is covered in lights and additional sensors. From the weight, the ROV has maybe a hundred meters of tether line attached to it. This keeps the ROV communicating, and ensures that we can’t lose the little guy even if steering and propulsion of the vehicle fails. We could just drag him up by his tail, worst case scenario!
When we deploy, we first send the ROV into the water and allow the tether to ‘pay out’, or unspool into the water. After the ROV is driven away from the ship as far as it can reach, we can safely send the weight to the seafloor. The two sink down to depth together, holding hands. Once the weight is settled securely, and the ROV operators have their bearings, it’s off to explore!
Coral!Marker!FISH!
The ROV has spent considerable hours in the water this trip which has been an absolute delight. The Mohawk teams focus is mainly on this white coral, that really loves to take over these shipwrecks. They collected a huge assortment of samples for studying!
Other important places to see are the yellow markers. They are named and cataloged, and every time they visit they redocument the same place. Over time, they are able to see how the feature shifts and changes, and how the animals grow or die.
The ship wrecks may be one of the most fascinating things I have seen on my adventures so far! This little guy is called a Blackbelly Rosefish, or Helicolenus dactylopterus. He is sat right on an old bollard of the ship, like a king on his throne! We saw many of these guys and a wide assortment of other spectacular species.
Once the ROV is back on deck, the science crew has a field day with their samples. They are examined, photographed, cataloged, and stored properly. The lab becomes a busy space when samples are being processed! I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the limitless passion and curiosity driven brilliance at work on board this cruise. It is inspiring to see so many intelligent people coming together in big ways.
Many ships have the ability to install what is known as a “transduer pole”. Thie is simply a large metal pipe, that can swivel up and down over the side. At the end, the scientists can attach any transducer they need to have in the water for their operations. This allows for a very easy installation of sensors, rather than trying to find a way to mount them to the hull of the vessel. For this cruise, we used the pole for one small transducer, which helped with positioning of the ROV.
When the pole is in the water, we have to reduce our travelling speed for vibration and drag. Meaning, when it is time to steam to the next site, we use the crane to lift the pole from the water and secure it upright. As we wrapped up this cruise, we secured the pole out of the water, and science was free to remove their transducer from it.
With ROV operations finished for this cruise, we began steaming back to the dock. When we arrive, busy days of offloading the ship will begin, and the next science crew will come aboard. I can’t wait to see what the next cruise will hold, so come along with me!
We are officially into the Chukchi Sea, and the Arctic Ocean! The difference is palpable. The Bering is shallow, muddy, and full of life, and the water has a more greenish hue that reminds me of fluoride. The water here is blue. Bright, sharp, cold, empty. Jellyfish don’t drift lazily around the surface up here, or at least not in the quantities of the Bering. The Chukchi feels like a sleeping sea, drifting quietly as ice crusts over its face. We haven’t gone through big ice yet, but small chunks- ice floes? Have begun bobbing by. Some are small chunks, the size of a chair or coffee table, but others are massive- the size of large rooms or the science labs on the Healy. And some of them have polar bears on them!!!!!!
The call came while I was working out in the Healy’s weight room. A person working out nearby suddenly dropped their weight, spun to me, said “We’re passing a polar bear!” And raced out of the room. I followed, heart in my throat, and after racing up several flights of stairs we popped out onto a port-side deck, where at least fifteen scientists and crew members were pointing everything from iPhones to absurdly large, telescoping cameras at a distant ice flow. I couldn’t see jack. But, as the Healy made a slow circle back around, I could make out a fuzzy, yellowish shape. I peered through binoculars someone handed me and there was not one, not two, but THREE polar bears! A mama stood up on the flow, regarding us suspiciously, while her two babies, probably the size of Great Danes, bumbled around the ice. The cuteness was unbelievable. Cora got a video of one of the babies flopping over. Coming from someone who ranks lower on the bear appreciation charts, I’m still utterly awestruck. I sent my extremely-fuzzy-shot-through-binoculars video to everyone I know. One of those moments I’m so, so grateful to be here.
We also saw a vaguely walrus-shaped lump! I really can’t describe it as anything but a lump, perched on a far ice floe floating away into the mist. I don’t *really* count it as a walrus sighting, but cool to have seen one in theory.
We’ve taken a break from our transit to the science locations for various Coast Guard activities, which has given the STARC team more time to troubleshoot and work through old issues before we get on station and it’s all-hands on the CTD. I’m amazed by how many problems can be solved just by turning something off and on again. Our ancient gravimeter, which Brendon introduced to me as a decrepit, suspicious machine so old its manual was carved on stone tablets lost to time, went dark a couple days ago, and at first everyone was like “Well, we saw it coming.” After a few days floating around the Chukchi with our to-do list getting shorter, Cora and I finally ventured into the depths of the ship to poke around the gravimeter, affectionally labeled “James” with a sticky note by some long ago martech of yore. Cora and I poked around, restarted the computer James was hooked up to, and lo and behold- gravimeter data.
Polar Blurs!
The largest project of the last few days has been reterminating the CTD. During a winch operation, its massive cable got kinked, so the last 20 feet were cut off. Brandon taught Cora and I how to strip and solder wires, something I’ve wanted to learn for a while. We practiced on some junk cable, and then took it to the real thing! I couldn’t believe they trusted the intern to touch the cable, but they let me solder one of the connections. It was a long process: stripping the wires, removing the cable from the CTD, soldering, wrapping in tape, reconnecting, reattaching the “thimbles” that hook the cable to the CTD, and more, but we finished just in time for lunch. It was an awesome experience to learn such a useful skill like soldering, then turn around and actually apply it. As I write this, the Coast Guard deck team just weight-tested the cable, and it sounds like it held up. I’m nervous but excited for its first deployment.
Practice……and the real thing!
I’m not sure what’s next on our agenda. I think the Coast Guard is going to continue their activities in the Chukchi for a while longer. The science party is definitely getting a little stir crazy, but I’m sure we’ll all miss the calm once we’re recovering and deploying moorings and doing CTD casts ‘round the clock. For now, I’m going to continue my current project- trying to build a bathymetry chart in QGIS that we can use on OpenCPN, our map/tracking software. The process is painstaking and frustrating at every turn, and thus far I’ve had no success. Hopefully my next blog post has a better update.
Cheers, Wil
Wildlife count:
1 walrus (kind of)
3 polar bears
1 lost looking shorebird that almost flew into Cora
It has been a busy second week. This week I finally got to see the launch and recovery process of Alvin, which was amazing. The weather was ideal at first, with very calm seas—almost flat for the first couple of days, which is uncharacteristic of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Later on, the swell returned to double digits, which took some getting used to. Nevertheless, I had the opportunity to get my hands dirty with the pre- and post-dive operations alongside the mechanical team.
Most mornings during pre-dive, I helped flush the lines of any air or water with either Carnation, hydraulic, or Brey oil, depending on the system. This ensures proper pressure compensation in the junction boxes that house the electronics for the ballast systems, communications, etc. Brey oil, I learned, is used instead of Carnation to prevent arcing in electrical boxes that draw more current. I also helped load the sub after the pilot finished their pre-dive checks inside the sphere. During this time, I handed down CO₂ scrubbers, towels to remove condensation, blankets for comfort (since it gets quite cold), and lunch for the pilot and observers.
The sphere is very well taken care of. Before each dive, all passengers must shower and wear clothing made of natural fibers to ensure safety. Synthetic materials can be flammable and may wedge themselves in the window seals, which play a crucial role in maintaining the pressure boundary. Even when the hatch is inspected in the morning, the person conducting the inspection must be free of oil and dirt to maintain cleanliness. After the sub is launched, we scrub the hangar and refill the oil containers so that everything is ready for any evening maintenance.
Post-dive operations can be a little fast-paced. As soon as the Launch Coordinator indicates the sub is secured on deck, we quickly rinse down the entire sub to prevent corrosion, cover the windows, and remove access panels to begin inspections. I always do a general “mech inspection,” which involves walking around the sub and checking for any loose bolts, wiring, or abnormalities. This past week we had water intrusion issues with the port main ballast blow box. We spent a few late nights draining and pressure testing the box, as well as testing the check valve and bladder for leaks. Unfortunately, we still haven’t found the culprit, but hopefully by the next update I’ll have an answer.
Additionally, there was water in the port thruster—which is bad, but also good for me, because I got to help take it apart. First, we swapped the motor for a ready spare so the sub was dive-ready, then made the repairs. We drained the motor of hydraulic oil, replaced a damaged O-ring and crane seal, and then carefully refilled the motor. This was fun but tedious, since every bit of air introduced into the system has to be removed. You wouldn’t think it would be much, but it is—so we had to slowly fill the motor using a tube while shaking it to release all the air.
All in all, it was a great week. I was able to watch the recovery process from the bridge and see the captain’s role in retrieving the sub, and I even got to check out some of the critters scientists collected in a bio box from the hydrothermal vents!
It feels kind of odd to say that it’s only been two weeks since I left, but I found that being on a vessel tends to screw up your sense of time. I’m sure the other members of the crew agree with me.
We’ve had a total of five dives so far, and dredged up plenty of interesting things. The dives for yesterday and the day before were cancelled due to unfavorable weather conditions, but it went somewhat back to normal today so we got to have a pilot-in-training dive, albeit the deployment was later than usual.
There’s a wide variety of samples that we collect on this specific cruise – sometimes we take water samples of the hydrothermal vents using isobaric gas-tight samplers (IGTs) which help keep contents pressurized when the scientists are doing experiments on the nitrogen-cycling properties of the microbes in the water. Sometimes we also bring up freaky little creatures like tube worms and this scale worm in the picture below!
A scale worm we dredged from the Endeavour hydrothermal vents
Depending on what kind of samples we want to collect, naturally we would have to change tools for the job. The basket in front of the HOV Alvin typically holds all the equipment needed to complete the dive objectives of the science team for a dive, and it is our duty as the maintainers and technicians of Alvin to swap these out as needed per dive.
Us handling a Universal Fluid Obtainer (UFO) on the basket
As an intern, my daily routine usually consists of getting up early start helping the team with pre-dive checks – making sure that cameras are striped, calibrated and properly cleaned, ensuring parts on the HOV are secured, refilling CO2 scrubbers, etc. We roll Alvin out on the tracks leading to the A-Frame at the aft of the ship, where we attach stacks of ballasting weights to it and put the pilot and observers in before we send it into the water.
Sending Alvin out using the hydraulic-powered A-Frame
Once the HOV is in the water, swimmers on a smaller boat will go to it and do some last minute checkups like unhooking safety lines and verifying communications are good to go. The phone the swimmers use to talk to the passengers of the sub is actually not waterproof, so while they’re verifying comms they also have to be very careful not to get it wet. The design is kind of counterintuitive, but the fact that the phone does not need to be powered independently makes the drawbacks worth it. Still, it is pretty comedic to see the swimmers make their way back to the little boat raising what looks like an old landline phone above them the whole time.
Almost done with deployment. Boat and swimmers.
After the sub goes down, we have someone in the top lab to monitor GPS position and to maintain communications with it every so often. Us interns usually take this time to clean up our messes from the morning of deployment, and then it’s time to muck around until we get the signal to get ready for retrieval.
swabbin timeBringing him back in
During retrieval, we finish up with post-dive tasks like hosing down the sub to wash off the saltwater and securing him back in the hangar for safety and in case bad weather starts rocking the boat around. We usually get some sort of report from the pilot about equipment or components that didn’t work so well and may need to be fixed or replaced, and our evenings are pretty much occupied with post-dive and fixing up the sub for tomorrow’s dive.
Of course, if the weather conditions are unsafe for swimmers or pilots we may have to call off some of our dive days. The swells were pretty big yesterday and the day before that, and we used the time not diving to finish up any maintenance that we’ve been putting off – fixing of lasers, replacement of important wires to the propellers that route inside the sub, things like that.
The weather’s getting a little rougher…
I’m learning lots of things out here. I haven’t needed to do any of this in my daily work, but the crew and the Alvin team taught me a whole array of knot-tying techniques which I’m sure is going to come in handy someday…? During downtime I also try to see what the other departments are up to, like bothering the scientists in the lab to find out what they’re doing with the water samples we bring them, or pestering the bridge about navigation. It’s been lots of fun, but it’s also starting to feel like I already spent a month or two at sea. Time is not real on this vessel.
