Author: Devin Farnham

Happy Saturday!

We just arrived in Woods Hole, MA. We are unloading equipment and loading some new equipment on the ship. Part of the science party is leaving today, but we are getting four new members of the science party tomorrow. The mooring we were supposed to deploy on leg one was having issues so we now have a tech on board who will hopfully fix the issue and we can deploy it on leg two. I wasnt on my phone as much this week and didnt take as many notes for each day unfortunatly. I forgot to mention earlier that the science party is made up of scientists and students from, Rutgers University, MIT, WHOI, VIMS, Skidaway and NRL. 

While doing the 2000m CTDs I talked to Jeff, Co-chief scientist (NRL), and he told me about the SOFAR Channel(SOund Fixing And Ranging) that starts about 1000m down. Whales and humans use this channel to emmit low frequency sound waves thst can travel thousands of miles. In certian areas of the North Sargasso Sea, which is where we were, there is also 18 degree mode water that allows for a simillar but smaller channel like the SOFAR to form closer to the surface. In the photo below you can see the sound velocity of the 2000m CTD cast where we see this happening. 

During the week I switched my 8am-8pm shift for two days to 12pm-12am in order to see some night time operations. During those shifts I worked with the science party deploying the Underway CTD off the aft deck of the ship. Jack and Bre, two students with the science party, showed me how to upload the UCTD data once we got the device back on board. We did these UCTDs twice a hour for almost 24 hours for a few days. 

On our steam to WHOI we ended up with some pretty nice, calm weather which was nice. At sunset on June 1st we saw our first whale! It was a sperm whale. Then on June 2nd we were on the bow taking a group picture when we saw a pod of pilot whales and then two humpback whales. We continued whale watching after the picture and ended up seeing some seals and a few more whales. 

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! 

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!

Hey!
My name is Devin and I am 27 years old. I have a bachelors degree in marine biology from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and I am about to graduate from the marine technology program at Cape Fear Community College. Im a cat mom and avid reader. I work at a local taproom in downtown which is hard cause I love my mornings but have to work late. Im originally from a small town in northern Vermont. I moved to North Carolina at 18 and fell in love with the ocean and ocean sciences. I’ve done three short overnight at sea trips on the RV Cape Hatteras through CFCC and have absolutely loved everything about it. Although im nervous about going for the month I’m super excited for all the experiences I will have and all the people I will meet.