Author: Jacob Lowenherz

The day after my last post the sound of the boat’s engine turning on woke me up and I rushed to the bow to see us off. It felt surreal to watch the land recede behind us, but it also felt so natural.  As we did safety drills and briefings throughout the day, everything followed easily and seemed normal.  Somehow, existing on this ship doesn’t feel as intimidating as I thought it would.

Somehow, the schedule of working on Alvin has become normal already. We’re normally at work at 5:30am, do pre-dive checks on the sub until 8 (sometimes we have time to grab breakfast in between).  During the time between wake up and launch, I am primarily doing the “extra guy duties”, so I prepare the everything to go into the sub (all the towels, food, cameras, etc) and then prepare the external cameras.  At 8, the sub rolls out, and then I assist with adding ballast to each side and attaching pressure relief valves to the battery oil knobs (without those pressure relief valves, the hydrogen produced by the batteries could be enough to blow the battery cases). 

Because of how short Nick and my time on the boat is, we aren’t able to get trained on any of the more specialized jobs (which I’m slightly disappointed about, mostly because the water looks amazing, and I really want an excuse to get in).  However, it is still beyond magical to watch this 23 ton chunk of titanium and oil be lifted into the air as if it weights nothing.  No matter how many videos I watched, I still didn’t feel ready for how amazing it was to see it lifted off the ground.  

Our first dive day has been my favorite so far because 7 squid got stuck in various parts of the sub.  I certainly feel bad for the squid, but it was incredible to hold them and to see how big they were.  Later that day, I watched some of the footage from the dive and it was amazing to see the cloud of squid surround the sub and know that I had held one of the ones from he video. 

The sunsets out here have been incredible.  I have always loved sunsets, but seeing them completely unobstructed is unlike anything I’ve seen before.  Because we frequently work through sunset, I am almost always outside during sunset. I think that that is one of the things that I will miss the most.  Even though I am surrounded by people all the time when I’m onboard, I feel alone and so small and insignificant when I stand at the stern and look at the sunset.

Well, we leave for sea tomorrow, and its as if the ship has suddenly sprung to life.  In the past few days, one of our labs has been taken over by boxes, their numbers counting into the 400’s.  I was impressed at the number of boxes all the scientists had, until it was pointed out to me that that’s all from one lab, and that they only represented 4 out of the 24 scientists on the cruise.  But it is so nice to have all these new faces running around, everyone is moved onto the ship now (because the Falmouth road race is tomorrow, so people needed to come on at least 5 hours before we left).  I spoke to some of them at dinner, and it seems like they have a wide range of interests, which should be really fun.  I hope that I am able to learn more about each of their areas. 

My direct boss, Drew, just moved onto the ship a few days ago, so we are now able to go through the rest of the 3 month/25-30 dive check list that we had been holding off on.  Todd took little Nick and me on a shopping trip and then out to dinner (with Drew) which was a really nice bonding experience.  I had at first been really intimidated by Todd’s demeanor, but as I’ve continued working with him, I realize that his comments are a sign that he cares.

I have my alarm set for early because I want to be sure to see us off from shore (I’ll post pictures of that below).  I have had so many amazing experiences already, but I feel like the real adventure is about to start!

For the first time last night, after almost a week of being, I actually felt like a part of the Alvin Ops group.  The past week has been a whirlwind of getting settled on the ship and finding my way around WHOI. Ship life is so much more comfortable than I could have ever imagined, I have become so accustomed to the ship that walking around feels almost second nature. The food on here is so good!

Yesterday was the Science Stroll, a day long event where all the departments of WHOI bring out their work to show to thousands of community members who cycle through the docks and go to the different booths.  Many of the people who came did so simply for the opportunity to see Alvin up close.  We had to set Alvin up in the morning for public viewing, but we had the rest of the day off.   As we began setting up, all of the interns were given ALVIN OPS t-shirts, which I’d been coveting since I first saw someone wearing them.  Then, once we were released for the day, I hung around and watched each of the more experienced Alvin Ops group workers present on the history and abilities of the sub.  After a couple of hours of watching them and Vera White-ing,  I volunteered to give a group a tour, and that felt so cool.  After only being onboard for 5 days, it felt great that I knew enough about it to give a 4 minute presentation and then

answer questions. 

Finally, the day concluded with a bbq for the Alvin Ops group and some of the crew.

It was such a nice way to get to know my coworkers and to hear stories about their past.  But the best part was hearing stories about what Alvin used to be like from the people who were actually there.  One of the people who we were talking to pulled out a picture of the wreck of the titanic and pointed at the massive pile of sand in front of the bow and

said, “I ate my lunch right there”, as if it were the most casual thing ever.  He then went on to describe what it was like to drive the sub up to the main staircase of the Titanic as if it were a regular dive.  I couldn’t believe I was talking to one of the few people to lay eyes on the titanic in the past 100 years!

Finally, the night concluded with a big handshake from Bruce, the guy in charge of Alvin, as he said ”Welcome to the team!”

I’m so excited to see what the rest of this trip holds; I have such a good feeling that its going to be amazing!

Hi Everyone!

I can’t believe that in 3 days I will be heading to Woods Hole and will move onto R/V Atlantis.  The purpose of this voyage is to look for vulnerable deep-sea communities between Virginia and Georgia in advance of future hydrocarbon mining using HOV Alvin.  I will be working in the electronics shop doing pre- and post-dive checks of the sub.  

I’m currently a rising senior at the University of Rochester studying electrical and computer engineering, and I’ve spent my summer working for a defense contractor that makes computer boards for various military and civilian companies.  I spent my time creating a new testing plan for a new board that we were making, as well as writing a white paper on 1553 Communication.

After I heard about what the mission would be, I went to the Natural History Museum, and immediately started practing driving the sub that they have in their new Unseen Ocean Exhibit just in case I am called upon to drive Alvin. 

I’m really looking forward to going to Woods Hole and absorbing all the information that I can.  There is so much left to explore of the ocean, and I’m so excited to help make a dent in that.

Wow.  What an amazing opportunity this has been, I can’t believe that it is coming to a close. We pulled into shore earlier today and I am already on a bus to school.  

Last night, I was up till 2am finishing up a project, and I went up to the bridge and watched as the 2nd mate and an OS steered us into the harbor to wait for the tide to change in the morning.  It was a beautiful and peaceful site.  I could hear the haunting clangs of the bells on the buoys in the night, and watch the rhythmic turning of the light houses on shore.  I had never expected how peaceful sea would be, but every night for the past week we have had the most beautiful sunsets.  Whenever people ask me about my time, I think one of the first things I mention will be the sunsets, as they are breath-taking.  I have always been impressed by their beauty, but seeing them every night with no obstructions was incredible.

It felt natural to be back on shore, with the exception of walking out of the ET lab to be greeted with a tour group staring at me rather than the open sea.  Being back at WHOI felt so normal, and we were able to get everything done with enough time to chill with the interns before I got on the bus to head back.

The past week I worked on the standard maintenance as well as inventorying all the ET cables in the hold. 

Last night almost all of the interns and Bruce played a board game all together, it was a really nice way to decompress and to bond before we all headed our separate ways.

I feel so accomplished and amazed at all that I’ve done, this feels like it was a once in a life time opportunity, but I so hope that its not.  The community of scientists, pilots, and engineers that I got to work with was so incredible and confirmed for me that this is the place where I want to end up.

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you