Author: Sarah Sergent Page 1 of 3

Monday, Sept 11th – Sunday, Sept 24th

The first week started off with adding and attaching hydraulic lines to JASON and mounting a frame on JASON’s basket/face which would hold a large crawl profiler. After testing, we were able to launch and attach several profilers to lines at different locations. After completing the attachments, we then would lock into old profilers and recover them for servicing. 

We spent several days transiting back and forth to and from locations to swap out equipment and complete water sampling and visual inspections of hydrothermal vents. During this time, JASON’s main power box (Jetway) began to produce a burning smell. Once inspected, we realized the mount for the large transformer had given out, so the team worked together to remount the transormer using what materials and tools we had at hand. Luckily, it stabilized the system and once testing was completed, we were able to resume diving within a day. 

The water sampling dives continued through until the 12th week. JASON’s last dive was at a depth of 2900 meters, where we connected and tested cables/connectors to junction boxes and then surveyed the surrounding area. Once finished, the team immediately began demobilization. Some of the first tasks were to complete one final post-dive check, drain the vehicle, cut the cable/tether, replace all filters, and remove fiber and power connections. 

Once at port, the demob was in full swing. It only took a few days to disconnect the remaining power, network, and video connections, organize, fill, and load the tool, rigging, and control vans, break down the crane and winch systems, and crane over all equipment, vans, and systems off of the R/V Thompson. It was impressive to see how efficiently the team worked together to complete a full demob in only 2.5 days. 

On Sept. 20th, once everything was loaded off the ship and onto trucks, the team left to head to Portland. We celebrated a successful season by having dinner together and reminiscing on the last few months. I felt honored and priveledged to have been with these amazing individuals, I learned so many things from each one, and I look forward to seeing many of them out at Woods Hole. 

Tip of the Week: “Take notes.”

One of the biggest suggestions I could offer is to make sure you take notes at the end of each day, and even during the day too! There were so many times I would go back, again and again, to verify procedures, hardware, tools, helpful hints, or even small notes to myself as reminders when working this summer. When I would learn a new skill, or replacing thruster seals, or even draining and filling the vehicle, I would refer to my notes to confirm I remembered the steps involved. 

The time out here goes by quicker than you think, and I am grateful for all of it. We have been home a few days now, but we are already checking in on eachother to see how people are adjusting to home life again. This team, the science members, and the ship’s crew were all fantastic! I hope to work with them again someday. 

Best time of my life!!!!  Thank you MATE!!!

(9/4/23-9/10/23)

Another exciting week with the JASON team! This week we wrapped up leg 3 of the Kelley Cruise. On Monday the team had to reterminate JASON’s cable because it was compromised on one of the dives. Luckily with everyone working together, the turnover time was approximately 8 hours, and we were back in action and launching by 5:30am. The multi-dive shifts continued into Tuesday where we ended up flying around some really amazing hydrothermal vent sites! Some of them ranged in height from 12 to 18 meters! Absolutely fantastic to see. By 6pm Tuesday, we began the transit back to port. We were able to finish all science objectives for this 3rd leg and spend the last little bit of time exploring and surveying the area.

Our days back at port were spent prepping the ROV for the 4th and final leg of the Kelley Cruise. I was even able to replace the starboard horizontal thruster seals on Wednesday by myself! Since I was trained the week before, the steps were fresh in my mind and then I was able to help guide another team member through replacing the port horizontal thruster. On Thursday, September 7th, our team met at a local park called Tsunami Hill, where we grilled steaks and had ourselves a team cookout. It was a really nice reprieve to get off the ship and get together for something like this. We shared our stories of struggles and successes on not just these current cruises, but previous ones as well. There was music, super delicious food, and a lot of laughter.

By Friday, September 8th, we were prediving the ROV and preparing for transit. Those of us on the midnight shift had to adjust back from a couple of day shifts to the midnight shift, so we primarily napped in the afternoon so we would be ready come midnight. The first dive of the 4th leg started at 1am Saturday morning. JASON was used to carry down and attach a float to a buoy system, survey cable hookups, and was recovered by 4am. We then launched again at 5:30am, where we attached a large winch system to JASON’s basket and connected it to the buoy. By 7am, JASON was back on deck and the science and ship’s crew were switching the buoy’s line from JASON to their own winch system on the back deck. They were able to recover the buoy but lost a beacon that was placed on the buoy for location. It most likely popped out of its location on the buoy while they were recovering it.

On Sunday, September 10, we started our shift with recovering the lost beacon and then flying around the seafloor, following different cable systems from junction boxes, and verifying their locations while dodging hundreds upon hundreds of fish. One even wedged itself in our latch/winch system and I was able to remove it once on deck. By 2:30am, JASON was recovered, and science started work on deploying moorings.

My time at-sea is quickly coming to an end. There is only another week left before we head back to port, so I am making sure to enjoy this last week and learn as much as I can.

Tip of the week: “Timeout while at port.”

When working at-sea for extended periods of time, make sure you take time off the ship while at port. The days can melt together, and especially working the midnight shift, you never really know which day is what, or what time it is. One of the port days, I was able to walk over to a local beach and lay out in the sun for a few hours. It was invigorating! Many of us will go out to eat together, have bonfires on the beach, or just run to the store for needed essentials. Although there is work to be done, I have found that in our time off in the evenings, we each tend to leave the ship and spend some self-care time on land. This little oasis time off ship can reignite your energy levels!

Monday August 28th – Sunday September 3rd

Started off this week with multiple dives on the midnight to noon shift. My team continued to swap out junction boxes, BEPs, and cameras. I was excited on Monday to take the port vertical thruster apart to replace the seals, clean, and reassemble it. During the previous dive, I noticed that the thruster comp had dropped slightly, so I knew there was a slight leak somewhere. Once JASON was on deck, I was able to identify the leak coming from the port vertical thruster.

On Monday, August 29th, I sat copilot until 6am, and then was able to finish off the dive flying JASON for an hour while transiting to an undervator location. I was able to practice flying laterally around objects on the seafloor, landing JASON without kicking up sediment, and maintaining appropriate altitudes so science could complete visual inspection of the area being covered. Once this dive ended and we recovered JASON, we finished our post-dive checks and began our transit back to port.

Unfortunately, over the last few days, multiple covid cases were verified on board so when we reached port, the JASON crew was sent to a local hotel to help minimize the potential exposure. We spent 2 nights there and enjoyed a much-needed rest. By Thursday morning, we were back in action prepping the vehicle for the 3rd leg of the Kelley Cruises by draining the junction boxes, wiring in, and testing the science cables, and then filling the j-boxes and bleeding out the air bubbles. We were originally scheduled to leave port this afternoon, but due to weather concerns, our transit was delayed until the afternoon on Friday, September 1st.

For this leg, we started out near the Axial Seamount, which meant around a 24 hour transit, so Saturday was spent transiting and completing notes/logging/data management tasks. When we first arrives onsite, the weather was not adequate enough to safely launch JASON, so my shift completed predive checks and set up the basket so when the weather calmed down, we could go right in the water. Luckily, by 9am, the weather subsided, and we began launching JASON at 11, but while the rov was hovering over the water, about to be lowered down, the winch’s emergency stop alarm was raised, so we immediately returned and secured JASON onto the deck. The vehicle was in good condition, but the next shift who relieved us after this incident would have to work on identifying and fixing the winch issue.

Tip of the week: “Covid caution is still appreciated.”

We have been lucky the first 7 weeks to have no covid issues on board during previous cruises. The covid protocols were no longer in effect as of the spring, but caution is appreciated for these kinds of jobs, especially working so closely with others for extended periods of time. Even though people have relaxed a bit surrounding covid, it can quickly end a cruise when not taken seriously. Before coming out on the Thompson, I minimized my exposure for 2 weeks and made sure to test a week before leaving, 3 days before traveling, and the morning I boarded the ship to keep my possible exposure at a minimum. When at sea, if someone becomes ill or is injured in any way, there is minimal medical assistance out here, and depending on where you are located, can take days to get back to port for emergencies.

In this situation with positive covid cases, it was nice to see that people responded appropriately, and worked together (or technically, separately) to stop the spread so we could continue with our work.

August 21st-August 27th

Two months in and it just keeps getting better! This last week we finished up the first leg of the Kelley Cruise, and even though we had a few weather days, we finished strong with 3 successful dives on Tuesday, August 22nd and were back at port by 6pm. Since these cruises were follow-ups of each other, we were given the day off on Wednesday, August 23rd. It was much needed, and many of us spent the day running into town to get supplies and then ended the evening with a fire on the beach, enjoying the ocean sunset.

This port stop was short lived, and by Thursday, August 24th, we were heading out again by 6am. This time, we transited for 18 hours over to the Mt. Axial locations to continue replacing science equipment. Along the way, we prepped JASON and completed predive checks so it was dive-ready as soon as we got on location. Friday and Saturday 12am-12pm shifts were composed of multiple dives, replacing cameras and junction boxes at various depths ranging from 2000-2200 meters. One of the sites we visited is called the Ashes location and was absolutely stunning! Seeing these hydrothermal vent locations and stacks is definitely a favorite of mine.

Nearing the end of our shift on Saturday, our crew received a distress call from a nearby MBARI team, who lost their AUV in the thermocline area at approximately 60 meters. It was incredible to see not just our JASON team, but the science members and Thompson’s crew all pitch in to help out. I assisted in concocting a quick, clip-on float that we rigged to JASON’s basket that would be connected one of the AUV’s handles, which would give the vehicle enough positive buoyancy to bring it to the surface. In under one hour, we launched JASON with the float and utilized the AUV’s tracking address (provided by MBARI’s team) with our own Sonardyne system to track the AUV. Within 15 minutes, we had visual of the AUV, grabbed onto it with one of JASON’s manips, while the other manip removed the float from the basket and attached it to the AUV’s handle. The Thompson repositioned itself so it would be clear of both JASON and the AUV upon surfacing, and we were able to release the float, which promptly surfaced the AUV within seconds. I was so very excited and proud to be a part of something like this!

Once the AUV was recovered, we began a long transit back to shallower locations (700-800 meters) and spent Sunday, August 27th visually surveying the seafloor and then swapping out junction boxes, cables, and connectors. With only a couple days left of this leg of the cruise, we are hoping to complete all science objectives tomorrow and use the added morning on Tuesday for exploration of uncharted areas.

***Look closely! You can see JASON about to surface (left), the recovered AUV at the surface (above and to the right of JASON), and the vessel in the background (on the right) waiting to swoop in and collect the AUV***

**Here is a shot of the clip-on float we attached to the basket that carried the AUV to the surface (left)

Tip of the week: “Shift and eating adjustments are a must! Plan ahead.”

Changing shifts can be quite the task, especially going from 4hr-split shifts to 12-hr shifts. I am usually in bed early and an early riser, but this shift has me flipping my natural rhythm. I now work 12am-12pm, work out, shower, eat lunch (well, to me it is “late night dinner”) and then try to sleep from 2:30pm-10:30pm. I have struggled with falling asleep, especially since I am used to split shifts and only sleeping 4-6 hours. As I start to adjust, we then head into port, where we flip back to day shift for only a day or two, and then switch right back to our 12-hr shifts. I continuously plan my days out to be sure I am resting enough, but also eating too! Since I work at unregular serving times, I tend to stash meals from one day to eat that following morning from 12am-8am. So when I wake up before my midnight shift start, I have a sort of “breakfast” and “lunch” option. Otherwise, you can get stuck in the cycle of grazing through the sugary snack treats available in the mess throughout the night. I have been nicknamed “the squirrel” since I squirrel away meals for my next midnight shift. In the end, I feel better with the healthier options and have more energy without the sugar crash later on. Just a little something to think about if you consider working in this field!

My oh my, how the time is flying by! Another week in the books from Monday August 14th to Monday, August 21st of the first leg in the Kelley Cruise series. This leg focused on utilizing JASON to carry down equipment ranging from BEPs (benthic environment profilers), to junction boxes (power supply boxes essentially), and undervators which are extremely large and heavy under-water elevators (thus the name undervator) which we used to transport camera and light systems to the seafloor.

We started out of port on Monday and immediately switched to our 12-hour shifts. I was assigned to the 12am-12pm shift, which took a couple days to adjust to. This is set up so teams can work 24/7, with each team consisting of 5 people: 2 pilots, 1 engineering position, 1 navigator, and 1 data/support person. My role continues to be in the engineering position. This expedition entailed multiple dives each shift usually. We would latch JASON onto the science equipment on deck, crane it over, and gently fly it to the seafloor where the rov would detach, assemble, plug in, and turn on these pieces to start collecting data. Once completed, JASON would then load up the older equipment and bring it up, where it was unloaded on deck. This swapping of equipment was done quickly but carefully. The larger loads can be dangerous to launch with JASON, especially when applying the tether floats in large swells. The load sway can create slack in the tether cable and then snap back with thousands of pounds of force, so communication with the football handlers (myself included) and the crane operator were very important.

Our multi-dive shifts continued throughout the week until the weather worsened with high winds, waves, and large swells. Unfortunately, this led to a weather hold which lasted Saturday and Sunday. By Monday morning the weather calmed, and we were able to get back to diving! We started out at an 80-meter site, which is a new one for me! These shallow dives can be very challenging, but we were able to launch a dive test first at 9am and successfully completed it. By 11:15am we recovered JASON and finished post dive checks so that the next shift would be dive-ready!

We only have 1 more day left before returning to port, but the new experiences I have gained in the last week alone is incredible! I look forward to what tomorrow brings!

Tip of the week: “Team building is a must.”

In a career like this one, you become close with the members of your team not just because you are on a ship for weeks on end, but because you work together for a goal: to maintain and operate JASON to complete all science objectives. All aspects of doing this requires a level of trust and respect, knowing that we each have a vital position in making this happen. There was no better representation of this than a few days ago, when the weather worsened, and my team had to recover JASON carrying a heavy BEP in the dark. Myself and another team member were removing the tether floats, timing each one just right to avoid the dangers of the slack-snap but without seeing the wave actions. Thankfully, our crane operator had a light out to monitor the water and would call out to us when the small few seconds of a window would open for us to safely get in and remove a float. Yes, this process took some time, but we were able to finish it without injury, and safely load both JASON and the BEP back onto the deck. Without this trust and communication, the likelihood of a serious injury happening would be extremely high. I consider myself privileged to be working alongside these amazing individuals.

6th week with JASON – WHOI

Monday, August 7th – Sunday, August 13th

The new week marked the end of the Orcutt Cruise as we began transit back to port. Unfortunately we hit a few “bumps” in the cruise and are heading home with a faulty winch/level-wind system and an elusive ground fault in the temperature probe that we have been unable to track down. The demob kicked off with emptying the vehicle’s oils to remove science cables from the j-boxes, repeated test casts to try and identify the level-wind issue, and clearing out the rov’s front basket to prepare for the next mission.

Once at port, the team detached JASON’s sled and swapped it out for a heavier, slightly shorter sled made for the heavy lifting Kelley Cruise. The last cruise is actually broken up into 4 legs, each lasting between 1-2 weeks and will go until the end of my at-sea internship, approximately September 20th. The days this week were spent mobilizing for this new, highly-technical cruise. I have been informed that when we leave port, the first dive will be within a couple hours and only 80 meters deep. We will be launching JASON up to 5 times a day to transport equipment to the seafloor, bring up old set-ups, and make adjustments/altercations as requested by the science/engineering party. The shifts will also be changing to 12 hour on/off shifts. Each shift will consist of 5 people; 3 in the control van and 2 on deck for launch/recoveries. This is a welcome change from the split shifts primarily because during your 12 hours off, you get the full 12 hours. Even if there are issues with the vehicle, the shift that is on is the only one that responds.

The weekend was spent reterminating the tether cable and completing a pull test. After that was successful, I was able to spend an afternoon prepping and splicing the optical fibers, fed it into JASON’s mainframe, connected and tested them to ensure acceptable light levels. It was my first solo optical fiber term and I was able to do it next to the vehicle, during high wind gusts, and constant crane operations overhead. It tested my focus but I really enjoyed doing it!

By Sunday, we finished all repairs and maintenance and were ready to leave port. Unfortunately, due to high winds offshore, the departure was pushed to tomorrow. I am looking forward to the new style of dives and fast-paced, technical aspects of this cruise.

Tip of the week: “Treat yourself”

It can be hard being away from home/family for long periods of time, but one perk of coming back to port is that you can receive packages that either were sent to you or that you ordered. Since coming out, I have ordered some colder-weather gear and it was almost Christmas-like when we loaded everyone’s mail onto the ship. Some people get mail from their loved ones, and others get the packages and shipments they purchased while at sea. It is also a nice treat to order some snacks or healthy options (whatever you prefer) to have while you are working. There are some snacks/food in the mess hall, but there is something special about having your own little snack station at your desk area. The comfort of your favorite treat is a little reprieve you can get while so far away from home.

For me, I like to have a bag of jerky, honey roasted pistachios, peanut butter m&m’s, electrolyte packets to flavor my water, and protein powder to have. It is a little mix of healthy and snacky that suits me just right!