5/4/2024 – 5/10/2024
At the time this blog is written we have been at sea for 12 days. I can’t describe the feeling I have each morning waking up and seeing nothing but ocean for miles in every direction. I have seen some of the best sunrises of my life looking out my porthole each morning and the best sunsets after a hard day’s work. There’s nothing like going out to sea and being the only ship for miles to make you realise how small we truly are in this big and beautiful world of ours.
Saturday 5/4 and Friday 5/10 were spent working on the air guns. These “guns” are able to release powerful sound waves that are capable of reaching the seafloor and pass through multiple layers of sediment before bouncing back allowing us to be able see what the seafloor (and below) looks like. The guns need to be routinely serviced to prevent damage and corrosion from sea water, but mainly to replace all of the O-Rings. Once a gun is disassembled, cleaned, and put back together it is test fired on deck to insure that it is working properly. When firing the gun on deck all safety protocols are taken and the guns are fired at approximately 100 psi. At this strength, you are definitely able to feel the force of the blast in your chest, but when the guns are in the water and in use they are fired at approximately 2,000 psi.
Sunday 5/5, I spent the morning greasing and covering various pieces of equipment on board. The rest of the day was spent inventorying the streamer recovery devices (SRDs). These SRDs allow the ship’s crew to be able to recover the streamer in the event that it is lost at sea.
Monday 5/6 through Wednesday 5/8 was spent working on the Digibirds again. During that time I was able to test all Digibirds on board and create a document that contained information on all of the birds to include: their serial numbers, whether they are operational or not and other problems with the Digibirds. The next step would be to go through all of the non-operational birds and try to fix them.
Thursday 5/9 was spent assisting in installing a new radio antenna on the observation tower. This required a lot of work and planning to ensure that the antena was level and would be secure for the inevitable rough seas.
Stay tuned for my next post!