After a short jaunt home, followed by several cancellations and delays, I have finally made it to Bermuda! Unfortunately, I arrived late-so while I was unable to meet the crew upon my arrival, I was welcomed with my first Bermudian sunset. After meeting the crew and my two mentors the following morning, I took a short walk around the BIOS station and familiarized myself with the boat. Around 14:30 this afternoon, we made a short transit to the other side of St. George to load up our science party- and to avoid issues with low tide. The rest of the day consisted of safety briefs, drills and a little bit of exploration. Bermuda is breathtaking and I am beyond elated to explore its beauty!
Cruise:
My first cruise will last less than a week and will consist primarily of BATS and Hydrostations. BATS, an ocean data time-series established in 1988, provides long-term data for the open ocean of Bermuda. Similiarly, a nearby relative HYDRO, is another data-time series established in 1954. Together, these two regoins have been supplying inumberable data, insight and measurements within the field of oceanography.
My first cruise consisted primarily of CTD work, along with a few PITS sediment traps, primary production arrays, zooplankton and phytoplankton tows. Additionally, we dragged a few in-situ pumps off the back deck. While I am familar with both the CTD and net tows, the PITS sediment traps and the primary production array were new to me. PITS stands for particle intercept trap system and is essentially a line towed off the back deck with flask at varying depth, which catch sediment onto a filter. The production array is a long winch rope line, fed through our a-frame wheely, and consists of a tray of erlenmeyer flasks filled with water. The flasks are set spatially along the line and sent deep down past the photsysnthetic zone. The array line is deployed early morning before the sun rises and retrieved after dark.
Photo Credit: Nick Mathews
Aside from similiar work, I was happy to find many familiarities between the technology of the Atlantic Explorer and prior boats I have spent time on- the Pelican and Point Sur. The CTD station is within the wheelhouse and is centered along a large flat screen TV – capable of changing its view to our navigation, ADCP and Knudsen- along with a winch monitor displaying tension, payout and speed. The system setup is reminiscent to a CTD movie theater and is an effective display method for scientists and techs alike. Additionally, the winch operator- also located in the wheelhouse- is no more than two feet from our stations, making communication very easy and effective. To make matters more coveninent, a CTD depth sensor is mounted to the winch station for optimal use. Aside from the CTD station, and the wide living plan of the Atlantic Explorer, the principle of technology and work is very similiar. Today, we made our way to several BATS stations, completed several CTD casts, along with several zooplankton and phytoplankton tows. The tows were dragged off our back deck, 250m below the surface at 1.5 knots for half an hour each.