Author: Maya Thompson

My last morning on the R/V Atlantic Explorer has arrived. Everyone is clearing off the ship from the previous cruise and I am packing my things, making sure I don’t leave anything behind. 

This last cruise was different than the previous cruises I had been on since my time on the R/V Atlantic Explorer. It consisted of different back deck operations, which were awesome to watch and help out with. 

I got to experience a recovery and deployment of a subsurface mooring that is anchored in 4500 meters of water. The Oceanic Flux Program (OFP) site is located 75km SE of Bermuda and has been around for the past 40 years. It is the longest running time-series, which has helped to understand the ocean biogeochemical cycles. The team for this mooring site has come out twice a year (spring and fall) to recover the mooring and make all of the repairs needed before it gets redeployed. 

Recovery of the Teledyn-RDI Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP)

This cruise also consisted of some MOCNESS tows, which stands for Multiple Opening/Closing Net and Environmental Sensing System. The net we had consisted of 9 nets, which and be manually controlled by the scientists when to open and close a particular net. Each net is designed for capturing zooplankton at various depths in the water column. 

Night MOCNESS deployment

Photo by Liz Cunningham

Well I am off to say my last goodbyes and taking in the last moments here in Bermuda. Thanks to all that have made is possible for me to have this wonderful experience. 

Fair Winds!

And I am back to better internet. I had tried to wrote this blog post while we were out on the second leg of this cruise but the internet was spotty. A few rain storms came through and heavy cloud coverage impacting the satellites.

On this second leg of this past cruise we had Clio aboard. Clio is an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), that was shipped to the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) earlier this year from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI). This is the third time Clio has come aboard the Atlantic Explorer. It is being deployed at the BATS station, 45 miles (75 kilometers) off of Bermuda.

Maya and CLIO

Clio is operated by the scientist on board and can give up to a maximum depth of 3.7 miles (6 kilometers), working up to 12 -14 hours at a time. The AUV is required to travel vertical during its time in the water for long periods of time rather than horizontal and travel at a constant depth, which is more common on AUVs.

The purpose for Clio is to help gather samples for with biological and chemical analysis throughout the ocean water column. Once Clio is lowered into the water it will stop at certain depths, programmed by the scientists, collecting particles via pumps that suck the water through the filters. If all goes well during these dives, Clio could be used to collect data while other science deployments occur. Currently it is not possible to do to many deployments when a wire based deployment is in progress.

I have less than a week left here, it has all gone by too fast. I have been gaining so much information and learning the various aspects that marine technicians are responsible for on a research vessel. I have one more cruise before I head back home. 

The R/V Atlantic Explorer has made its way home to the Bermuda Institude of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), thursday morning. I was up for the CTD cast at 2230 and then went to bed so that I could wake up in time for the ship to arrive at the dock. Once we arrived we waited for customs to clear us. As the ship was making its way back, Jillon showed me the various tasks that marine techs are responsible for at the end of a crusie. We also had to prepare for the ship to be dockside for the next five days. After being cleared by customs, the scientists and crew on shore were able to come on to the ship and retrieve the samples they had collected during the trip and bring them to the lab. The crew on the boat began the various tasks that had to be done during the demob of the ship. There was a bunch of activity as we hadn’t seen these people for the past two weeks. This is when I met the other marine techs, Rory and Mason, that I would be sailing with during the last three weeks of my internship. 

I helped out the other marine techs take apart the CTD so that we could switch the sensors out. First we had to dump all of the water that was collected in the Niskin bottles, then we had to take the Niskin bottles off so that we could get to the sensors. I had never seen a CTD without all of the bottles on. Then began the task of unplugging all of the wires, labeling each one and protecting each of the plugs. During this process we made sure that everything was labeled clearly so that when we had to put it all back together, it would be much easier. It took us the rest of thursday to get all of the sensors off.

Maya working on the CTD. 

Photo Credit: Jillon McGreal

On friday, the task was to get the new sensors back on. We took our time in putting the sensors back on, making sure that they were in the right places and were accurately put together. Electrical tape and zip ties were used to secure the tubes and rings holding the sensors into place. One of the tasks that I had was to write down which sensor was used and if it was attached to the primary or secondary set or sensors. This is beacuse each sensor as its own calibration and when we set it up on the computer we have to let it know which sensor is being used. Once all the sensors were in place it was time to plug everything back in and check to see if it was working. With the labeling done correctly yesterday it was easy to see where each of the connections went. Then it was time for a deck test. This is where we go up to the CTD computer, and turn it on to see if the CTD will communicate with the program. it was all good. During this test we checked to see if the sensors were reading numbers that made sense. According to the marine techs I was working with, it looked good. This brought us to the end of the day so we cleaned up and on Monday we will finish putting the CTD back together. There are a few more tasks that have to be done before we head out mid-week for the next cruise.

We have arrived in Puerto Rico! The first leg of this cruise has come to an end. During this past 8 days I have held the night shift (1500-0300) with my mentor, Nick. This was an adjustment since I am normally more of a morning person, but I made it through. Sleeping most of the day until my shift began later in the day. 

During this cruise the main piece of equipment deployed was the CTD, where it would be deployed down to the bottom of the ocean. As we got closer to Puerto Rico the depths we were sending the CTD down were in the 5000 meters range. Our last station where we deployed the CTD was in the Puerto Rico Trench, which is located on the boundary between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean and has maximum depth of 8,648 meters. Although when we got here, there we only sent the CTD down to 6000 meters, since that was the maximum depth for some of the senors we had it. Other deployments that were done during this leg were zooplankton tows and saito-pumps.

CTD being deployed

During the times that were transiting to the next station or while we wer wating for a CTD to come back to the surface, I worked on raspberry pi. This is a small single-board computer that is used to help learn about programming though various projects. I was able to make a light turn on and off along with various other projects, using linux and python, two computer coding languages. I am still just beginning to understand them, but through the practice of the different prrojects I am understanding a lot more than I started out knowing (which was none). 

                 Maya working on Raspberry Pi                         Raspberry Pi breadboard set up

                 Image taken by Nick Mathews 

We are have the rest of today and the morning of tomorrow off. Then it is time to head back to Bermuda. 

Hello again! 

I have now spent a week on the R/V Atlantic Explorer and one research cruise complete. Prior to the BATS-Val cruise, which I am currently on, heading to Puerto Rico, there was a 24 hour curise with a group of students from Oxford University. Once we leave the Bermuda Institute for Ocean Science (BIOS), the home of the R/V Atlantic Explorer, we run through some of the saftey drills. We practiced putting on the immersion suits, which would be used if we had to abandon ship. The immersion suit is a special type of waterproof dry suit that protects the body from hypothermia. The suit a bit big on me.

Maya in Immersion Suit

On this cruise we headed out to Hyrdostation “S”, a bi-weekly cruise to supplement for the Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series Study (BATS). While at this station we deploy the Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) to monitor the physical and chemical properties of the water column. As the CTD makes its way down to the bottom (or another depth decided on by the scientists) a profile collecting the temperature, salinity, oxygen and fluorescence is created. On the way back to the surface water samples at certain depths are collected in bottles, which will then be sampled. 

This was the first cruise I went out on with the R/V Atlantic Explorer and the first time I have been back out on the ocean in three years. I had to get used to the motion of the boat and deal with sea sickness for the first day. Luckily it only lasted one day and since then I have been fine. 

It has a been a day in since we left Bermuda for Puerto Rico and we had already stopped at a station north of Bermuda to do CTD’s, zooplankton tows and put pumps in the water. During each of these deployments I was able to observe Nick and Jillon, watching the steps for each of the casts so that I would be able to do them soon. This week has been full learning and I am excited to become more involved as the internship continues.                                                                                    

Hello Bermuda, 

The day has finally come were I will take a plane for hour and a half and land in Bermuda! This is probably the shortest plane ride I have ever been on. By the time the drinks and snacks were passed out, the seatbelt light went back on. We were preparing for our descent and landing! As the plane was landing I could see the white caps along the surface of the clear blue ocean. Once we got closer, it became easier to see underneath the surface of the water. 

Approaching landing at the BDA, Bermuda airport. 

I have offically landed in Bermuda and made my way to the Bermuda Institue of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), which is home to R/V Atalntic Explorer (RVAE). Although on this day the ship is still out so I will have to wait until morning. Once I dropped off my bags in my room for the night I was given a tour of BIOS and then dropped off at the Marine Opperations Building where I met Jillon, the marine technician on the RVAE and the previous MATE-intern Emily. As I was waiting, Rick, the port captian, asked for Emily’s and my help, moving crates around in the warehouse, trying to make more room. There wasn’t much to move, but boy was it hot and humid out, quite the difference than this morning when I left Boston, MA. I was then on my own for the rest of the night, where I explored a few of the beaches and bays around BIOS. 

The next moring, as I was eating breakfast, I saw the RVAE coming back to the dock! I will finally get to meet everyone aboard and begin to learn the layout of the ship. After breakfast, I went down and meet the ship and the crew (I am beginning to remember everyones name). Nick, my mentor shows me my room on board and then gives me a tour of the ship. I begin to explore and get my bearings of the ship. Since the ship just returned, there is not much for me to do yet, so I go and explore more the island. I took a walk into St. Georges and made it to another bay on the other side of the island. During this trip I got rained on four different times, but luckily it was warm rain and I was dry soon after the shower passed. It is the first night and it feels good to be sleeping back on a ship. Even though I have only been here for a day, it has already begun to feel like home. The first cruise departs Monday morning!

R/V Atlantic Explorer returning to BIOS

Hello! 

In one week I will be boarding a plane to Bermuda where I will spend the next six weeks aboard the R/V Atlantic Explorer. I am a recent graduate of the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor’s degree in marine science. This will be my second time out to sea, but a much different experience than my first. While I was an undergrad, I did a semester through the Sea Education Association where I spent six weeks sailing aboard the SSV Robert C. Seamans. We sailed form Christchurch, New Zealand to Pape’ete, Tahiti. Along the way we made two port stops at Chatham Island, New Zealand and Raivavae, an island located in French Polynesia. Ever since experiencing what it is like to be out in the middle of the ocean, I have been itching to get back out on the water. This opportunity to be a MATE intern and learning to be a Marine Technician is an area that will combine my interest with the use of technology and working on a research vessel, participating in ground-breaking marine and oceanographic research. I am looking forward to doing reasearch in the Atlantic ocean.

I have never lived aboard a research vessel and I am looking forward to all the challanges, experiences and adventures that I will have over the next six weeks. Everything is laid out ready to be packed as I am going over my list of items to bring, making sure I am not forgetting anything. My excitment and anticipation of this trip has heightened as the days go by. 

See you soon, Bermuda! 

Maya