Author: Josie Adams

Hi all, it has been a packed week and a half! Two days ago, we made a relatively unplanned stop in Boston Harbor after spending the previous week 400 miles offshore. The primary piece of equipment that the scientists are using to collect their data, an oil-filled acoustic array, THORA, went down a few days ago and they did not have the parts they needed to fix it onboard due to 4 packages that contained their troubleshooting equipment and spare parts being lost by the airline. We had to leave port without them at the beginning of the cruise due to time constraints, but they were found a few days ago. The Chief Scientist decided that getting the equipment onboard to fix the array was worth the two-day transit to pick it up, so we’ve spent the past 5 days primarily transiting from our study site to Boston and back. 

So far, we have done multiple CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) and XBT (eXpendable BathyThermograph) deployments and a whole bunch of acoustic tow tracks. The acoustic array looks like a long, thick cable with a long, oil-filled tube attached to it that extends hundreds of feet in the water behind the ship. It listens for sounds in the surrounding water, including sound broadcasted from the R/V Roger Revelle, which has been operating acoustic research equipment in the area for the same project. The Revelle has been deploying an acoustic source, and the THORA array that we tow behind the ship has been listening for the sound emitted by the Revelle to understand how sound transmission through the water is affected by the Gulf Stream and the seamounts at our study site. CTDs and XBTs both give us a vertical profile of sound velocity in the ocean, since sound velocity is a factor of temperature and salinity. 

When I first came onboard the ship, I expressed interest in gaining experience in troubleshooting science systems. Well, I’ve definitely gotten my fair share of it over the last week and a half. The CTD was giving us data transmission errors on one of our winches for almost all of the first week, with some of the errors corrupting an entire upcast and others just being small blips in the data. So, myself and the two full-time marine techs, Bonny and Jason, have spent a significant amount of time troubleshooting the source of the errors. The current list of things we’ve done to troubleshoot is nearly in the double-digits, but the CTD is now working error-free on our second winch and we are planning on testing it on winch 1 again soon!

We are currently towing the acoustic array behind the ship and doing coordinated operations with the R/V Revelle and deploying XBTs about every hour along our track. Later today, we will put the SeaTrac, an autonomous boat, in the water to collect additional acoustic data from an array that it tows beneath it. In my downtime while on shift, I’ve mostly been reading manuals for the various shipboard science systems, learning more about the computer networking systems onboard, helping out with regular maintenance tasks like cleaning and organizing, and various other tasks given to me by my mentors.

TTYL!

Armored THORA cable after a suspected shark attack. The science team suspects that the stress inflected on the cable during the attack may have partially caused the system to go down a few days later. Photo credit: Johnathan Todd.

THORA acoustic array being deployed.

Bosun Oscar securing the XBT launcher to the rail.

Myself (left) and my mentor Bonny (right) re-terminating the CTD cable as part of our troubleshooting efforts.

Bonny deploying a CTD at sunset.

We embarked on cruise EN719 aboard the R/V Endeavor yesterday morning at 10am! Currently, we are steaming towards our first study site, the Atlantis II Seamount Group, and testing some of the acoustic systems the scientists brought aboard. Since this cruise is studying underwater acoustics, we will be doing multiple CTD casts and XBT deployments to get a profile of sound velocity in the ocean, towing acoustic sources and receivers, and collecting passive acoustic data (listening for sounds in the ocean). The CTD is a profiling instrument that collects data on conductivity (salinity), temperature, depth, and often other data such as oxygen, pH, and turbidity. XBT stands for eXpendable BathyThermograph, and it is a single-use probe that measures temperature throughout the water column. 

This morning, we successfully tested one of the onboard winches and a towed acoustic receiver, and I performed some basic maintenance including changing the o-rings on two Niskin bottles and cleaning/changing the filters of the two -80 degree C freezers. The Endeavor has one flow-through system with two sensor packages, the SBE21 and SBE45, which take seawater from near the water’s surface (5m) and return real-time data on temperature, conductivity/salinity, and chlorophyll fluorescence. This afternoon, the salinity sensor on the SBE21 was measuring about 1 full PSU lower than the sensor on the SBE45, so we decided to clean the sensor to see if biological fouling was the cause of the problem. Surprise: it was! The offset was fixed once the system was cleaned and re-installed. After dinner, my mentor Bonny and I changed the CTD connection from winch 2 to winch 1 and did a deck test of the system to make sure everything was working the way it should be. 

For the week and a half before we left port, I spent the majority of my time getting situated on the ship, learning a bit about the systems and instruments I’ll be working with, and helping out with all of the various pre-cruise tasks. I arrived at the R/V Endeavor on Thursday, June 27th, and on my first full day of work, I got an introduction to the computers/displays for the underway flow-through system, CTD, CCTV cameras, navigation, ADCP, and the various network connections. The following week, I learned about how power is supplied to the labs and instruments, including the flow-through system, and how data is transferred from instruments to the databases and displays throughout the ship. I also got an introduction to the satellite internet systems on the ship. There are 4 different satellite internet systems on board, so there is a backup to the backup to the backup! Each one has a different speed and coverage, with the fastest being Starlink. We should be under Starlink coverage for the entire cruise (Yay!), which means that the internet is good enough to do video calls, if necessary. The second fastest satellite connection is called Sealink Plus, or the KU band, and its antenna lives in a big white dome on the 01 deck. Prior to embarking, we inspected the antenna and everything looked good!

Seas have been gentle so far, and I am excited to keep learning more!

Marine Technician and former MATE Intern Claire Mayorga (right) and me (left) inside the KU band antenna dome 07/03/2024

Leaving Narragansett Bay on 07/08/2024

Flow-through wall in the wet lab

Acoustic array being deployed 07/09/2024

Hi everyone! My name is Josie Adams. I am originally from Batavia, Illinois, and I graduated from the University of Washington, Seattle with a B.S. in Oceanography at the beginning of this month. I will be interning on the R/V Endeavor for the month of July and I am super excited to learn more about marine technology aboard research vessels. I have previously sailed on the R/V Rachel Carson, R/V Thomas G. Thompson, R/V Sikuliaq, and RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer and I worked at the Argo Float Lab at the University of Washington for 3 years while earning my undergraduate degree. Watching and learning from the marine technicians and scientists I’ve met during my time at sea and at UW guided me towards wanting to be a marine technician for the academic research fleet, so I am very excited to continue the learning process aboard the R/V Endeavor!

In my free time, I enjoy volleyball, sewing, art, running, and being outdoors! I am super passionate about travel and hope to continue traveling throughout my career. Tune in for more updates!