Author: Sydney Wewerka

The Conte cruise preparation takes two days – winches have to be respooled with mooring lines, and tones of equipment is brought on board. The Conte cruises consist of deploying and recovery a deep sea mooring in 4500 meters of water. The mooring line, which is broken into sections, also must have some sections replaced when the mooring is recovered. This means the operation takes almost two full days, and all hands available on deck.

At the top of the mooring is the ADCP buoy with, radio transmitters and flashers:

Then there are hard hat floats:

Sometimes the line becomes tangled as it comes to the surface, forming a wuzzle. This complicated recovery as hundreds of meters of line are now bundled together, with no clear indication where tension is highest.

Throughout the mooring are three sediment traps, that rotate the sample bottle every two weeks:

There is also a camera attached to the mooring that we deployed:

Finally, at the bottom of the mooring are the transducers, and 2000 lb weight:

When it is time to recover the mooring, transducers onboard communicate with those at the bottom of the mooring, and tell it to release, which sends the entire mooring line to the surface. The bottom of the mooring is recovered first, and then we slowly work our way to the top. During deployment, we do the reverse, deploying the top first.

The first few days of the cruise were quite rough, so we opted to recover/deploy the mooring at the end of the cruise when the sea was calmer. Throughout each operation, I helped by managing the deck lines, and tying off after they were attached. I would also assist in steadying the package being lifted in the air. I tried to keep everything neat and tidy so that no one would trip and keep important tools on hand and easily accessible.

Overall, the cruise was exciting and exhausting, like on big puzzle. I particularly enjoyed this because it was so hands-on, and everyone had to work together as a team. I feel loads more confident in my ability to work on the back deck after just a few days.

After we return to port, we have a few days before a one-day hydrostation cruise, which will be my final trip.

Until then!

Some of the small fish that (used to) live near the ship.

The CTD being deployed (I am on the tagline in the middle, cleated out of the frame)

This week was the next BATS cruise – the same routine and practiced mission that I went on in my first cruise. We started out with CTD casts along an ocean acidification transect, and eventually made it to the BATS station itself. We also recovered all three small gliders, and one of the large gliders. Then, we attached one of the small gliders to the CTD by lifting it up with the winch, so that it can be calibrated on a cast.

During this cruise, I tried to work on improving my deck handing during back deck operations and visualize how I might lead the operation. Timing the winches and a-frame apparently gets much easier with time. The common deck operation during this cruise is McLane pumps, and plankton net tows. Marine techs are responsible for relaying to the bridge the angle of the line if they cant see it, and for leading the winch and a-frame operators.

I also started working on a project with a Campbell Science 1000 datalogger. I downloaded new software and set up the logger so that it is ready to take instruments. Then, I wired a temp and humidity sensor into the analog pins and wrote the appropriate code in CRBasic to set up logging. This project was really cool, because it was a lot like the Arduino I had been using in past weeks but was a real application. I also finally finished inventorying and organizing the spare cables which felt very rewarding to finally be done.

This cruise was particularly exciting because the science team was large (15), and they were all brand new to BIOS. Their research involves viruses and microbes, primarily in the mixed layer. This means that the CTD casts were shallow – usually 500 to 1000 meters, and most niskin bottle samples were fired at the surface. This means the cruise was fast paced compared to a BATS cruise.

The first thing we did after arriving at the origin point, was deploy the drifter. This was a fun operation because it requires that everyone work together, and it was very hands on. A picture of the operation is below:

The recovery was also exciting because it was even more hands on! The drifter was basically pulled in by hand except for the highflyer buoy which was lifted aboard using the large a-frame:

The main event of the cruise were the CTD casts every 4 hours. This means I got a lot of practice deploying and recovering the package. One issue we had with the CTD was the secondary oxygen reading, which was coming in much lower than the primary reading. During troubleshooting, Jillon and I discovered that the small o-ring inside the pump head was dried up. Luckily I had just tested all of the spare pumps several weeks earlier, and was able to know which would be a good replacement.

On this cruise, there was a bit of concern about the MilliQ machines because there was excessive water in the room, indicating a possible leak. Throughout the cruise I monitored the room for spills/leaks and helped to inspect the inside of one of the machines with a potential leak.

Another project I worked on during this cruise was to connect the underway Thermosalinograph (TSG) instrument to a computer and run diagnostics. This was a bit challenging because we did not have the proper testing cable on board. To work around this, I wired a female DB9 connector directly to the TSG and plugged in a cable to the DB9 head. It took several tries to get the serial connection transmitting properly, but I eventually made the connection work, and have a better understanding of testing cables.

After this cruise, we have a quick 2 day turn around before heading out for a routine BATS mission for the next week.

Until next time!

We departed from San Juan, Puerto Rico on Saturday for the 5 day return to Bermuda. This cruise is much more mellow compared to the cruise down, because we have fewer stations to sample, and the CTD does not need to go to the bottom every time.

Once we returned to port, we began preparing for the Wilhelm cruise, which is a new group of scientists. This involved taking all the BATS equipment out of the labs and helping to get the new scientists set up. Their research plan is to deploy a drifter at the BATS station and follow it, taking CTD casts and samples every 4 hours. The drifter utilizes a high-flyer buoy, a sea anchor and trailing buoys. It is equipped with a flashing beacon with a radio signal (RDF), an AIS transponder, and an ARGOS transponder. On the mobilization day, I helped turn on and set up the equipment for deployment and secured some items on the CTD (See picture!)

Until next time!

The BATSVAL cruise is a yearly cruise that covers a transect of 15 stations between Bermuda and Puerto Rico. Each station involves at least a CTD casts to 20 m above the bottom, and 24 niskin bottle samples. Some also included plankton tows, or McLane filter pump deployments. Since the stations are about 6 hours or more apart, and the CTD casts take 3 or 4 hours, we normally only did 1 or 2 per day. This makes for a pretty slow cruise, but efficient and well prepared deployments.

During the ample down time, I made a point to continue working on Arduino projects and practicing knots that I learned from last week. Each of the Marine Techs have also been teaching me about the various data logging systems aboard the ship. I also continued the cable inventory and organizing from previous weeks.

There were three larger projects I spent the rest of the time working on: calibrating the flowmeters for the underway sampling systems, inspecting and testing backup CTD pumps, and creating quality control plots for the meteorological sensors.

Calibrating the flowmeters reminds me of the lab procedures I did in a Water Resources Engineering class. With one of the other Marine Techs, we controlled the flow to different rates with the valve, and did multiple time trials to fill a vessel. Then, we can use the timetables in combination with the raw Hertz reading that is sent to the data logger to create a calibration curve that relates Hertz to mL.

Inspecting and testing the CTD back up pumps was my favorite project as I was able to take apart the entire assembly and check out the circuit board that controls the pump motor. I was able to see the things I have been learning about with the Arduino board in use. The pumps used on the CTD are actually pretty simple and involve a similar program to one of the Arduino projects to power a rotor that spins a magnet. The magnet then spins an impeller that sucks in water through the pump head. I also inspected the o rings and re-lubricated each pump.

The final project I spent some time working on was to use the data logger built in software to create real-time plots that allow data from duplicate sensors to be compared. For example, I created a plot that displays data from the anemometers on each mast, so that we can compare in real time if one may be different from the other when it shouldn’t be. I also discovered that the humidity sensor on one of the masts is not working correctly, and collected a sample of data comparing it to the working sensor, so that it can be sent in to the manufacturer for troubleshooting.

We arrived to Puerto Rico this afternoon, ahead of schedule. It is great to have a bit of a break between cruises, and to visit San Juan for the second time. The ship is scheduled to depart on Saturday, with some extra sampling planned for the way back to fill in between stations.

Cheers to be in Puerto Rico!

Deploying the CTD for a deep bottom cast: 

The disassembled Seabird 5T pump: 

Inspecting the electronics:

Castillo San Feliple del Morro guarding the entrance to San Juan’s port:

This week Hurricane Jerry delayed our departure to Puerto Rico for the yearly cruise from Monday to Thursday. The strength of the storm was much weaker than Humberto, and really just felt like a bad rainstorm. Some items around the ship still had to be tied down and put away to prepare, but we did not have to do major shutdowns like for Hurricane Humberto.

While waiting for the storm to pass, I helped with a variety of smaller tasks around the ship. Having a long stretch of time in port is useful because it is often easier to get projects done without the motion of the ship. One project was to dissemble, clean, and replace the bearings in the block used with the CTD, which is pictured below. The high frequency of CTD casts was evident in the difference between the older, worn bearings and the new ones. I also have been practicing knot tying with the help of the ship mates and the bosun – some important knots I hadn’t known before are the double bowline, clove hitch, a variety of joining bends, and a monkeys fist.

One other project I work on during slower periods of time is an Arduino kit that is aboard the ship. So far, the projects have been relatively fun and simple, but give a good introduction to how programming and electronics go together, which was something I hadn’t done before. I intend transfer what I am learning to programming sensors and inspecting their electronics in the coming weeks.

Our departure on Thursday was very rough, since we headed North from Bermuda for the first leg of the trip, basically following Hurricane Jerry. Winds were sustained at 35 knots and seas were about 12 ft, however I did not get seasick! While the schedule is still up in the air, we are scheduled to head South on Saturday after completing the one Northern station, and arrive in Puerto Rico in a week after sampling 13 more stations.

Heres to a successful rest of the cruise!

The Harken Block opened for cleaning and inspection and worn down bearings.

One of the quick Arduino projects involving a basic circuit and programming.

After returning from the first cruise on September 12th, we decided to reterminate the CTD cable because it was very rusty. This was a really fun and useful procedure to learn because it utilizes a variety of skills. First, we cut out the rusty protion of the cable, about 50 meters beginning at the CTD and working back. Then, the outer jacket of the cable is dremeled away slowly, so as not to damage the insulation. Once the 3 conductors inside the cable are accessible, they are spliced with heavy duty connectors. We did not use heat shrink around the splices, because we pour a mould around the conductors that should fill in any gaps, and we did not want bubbles trapped inside the heat shrink. The mould set overnight and the cable was ready to use the next cruise.

Here I am using the dremel to remove the cable jacket.

After the weekend, we left on Monday for a two day cruise to Hydro station. The cruise was scheduled to leave on Tuesday, but in anticipation of Hurricane Humberto we left early. Joining us on the cruise was a student group from Oxford college, most on their first research cruise. We did several CTD casts, and a plankton tow which all went very smooth. 

After our return, we began to prepare for the hurricane mostly by turning of many of the computers that were not essential for ship function. We did leave our meterological sensors running so that we could see the wind, pressure, and rainfall as the storm progressed. The rest of BIOS and the crew were busy removing small boats from the water and tying things down. The hurricane finally arrived on Wednesday evening after a slow build up all afternoon. The ship was the best place to be, as we did not lose power and were tied up to the dock. Even our satellite internet connection remained strong during the storm! The most incredible part of the hurricane was the wind, and how much water was blown around off the reach where the ship is docked. On land, many trees were down, and power was lost. See some pictures below:

The middle plot shows the wind speed in knots, from the anemometor on the ship. The strongest gust we saw was 110 knots, but winds were sustained at about 75-80 knots during the hurricane (22:30 – 00:00).

The view from the bridge on a normal day (left), and during the start of the hurricane (right). Swells in the reach were about 4 feet high.

The reach from the main deck on a normal day (left) and during the hurricane (right). 

After the hurricane passed, we restarted all of the electronics aboard, and spent half the day fighting to connect the computer to the CTD. In the end, a new install of the SeaSave software from Seabird solved the problem. I also continued to inventory the underwater cables, and test the custom built cables to create pin-out drawings that display the connections. 

Overall, week 2 was a bit slower, but it has been a good time to think about the different skills and components of the ship that I want to learn more about. Next week, we are schedueld to head to Puerto Rico and back on an 18 day cruise, but may be delayed due to Hurricane Jerry. 

Until then!

On September 6th the R/V Atlantic Explorer departed for a routine cruise in the Sargasso Sea. Bermuda Atlantic TIme Series (BATS) cruises are one of the main missions for BIOS. Sampling at the BATS station has been going on for over 40 years, making it one of the longest running oceanographic time series in the world. 

The start of the cruise had rougher seas than normal, so I spent a few days seasick and finding out which medicine works best. After things smoothed out, and I adjusted to the ship, I was able to complete 3 am – 3 pm shifts with one of the two marine technicians working on the R/V AE. 

Some of the procedures carried out during the cruise included CTD rosette casts, mooring deployments, and glider deployments. I usually helped during each procedure by ensuring that the instruments or moorings were safely and properly deployed, and communicating between the scientists and crew members. 

Some other things I learned about on this cruise were the local network and satellite network connection aboard the ship. The marine tech is responsible for monitoring the connection, and making sure scientists have fast enough internet if needed. The local network is also important for making data available and backing it up in multiple places in case something were to happen. 

Additionally, I worked with the marine technician to organize and inventory the cables on the CTD and test for continuity. Some of the custom cables did have issues, which may be leading to some errors in the data. 

Here are some pictures from a glider recovery, and lubricating the CTD winch!

A small zodiac is launched from the ship to recover the glider when it becomes visible on the surface.

The winch cable should be lubed freqeuntly to prevent rust!

Until next week!

This week is bittersweet, as I begin wrapping up my projects aboard the AE. I help to replace the SBE 9 on the CTD and reinstall the instruments and bottles before departing for my final cruise. The one-day Hydrostation cruise is quick and only has a few issues with the CTD instruments that were easily fixed in the computer program. The seas were calm, and the cruise was very smooth.

It was hard not to be a bit sad as I went through the cruise routine one last time. My time aboard the AE has truly been incredible in many ways. I made some of the best friends, met people from all over the world, and learned more than I ever thought I would. The largest thing I will take away from this internship is that I can solve any problem I put my mind to, and to be confident in myself.

Bermuda is a beautiful, strange little island that will be a special place to me. I cannot wait to pursue other opportunities aboard ships and hope that the next ship I sail on will be just as wonderful as the Atlantic Explorer.

Until next time!

Sunset over the Atlantic Ocean

After a car ride, a train, a bus, two planes, and a taxi, I have finally arrived in Bermuda aboard the R/V Atlantic Explorer to begin my time as a Marine Technician Intern! 

Over the past few weeks, I slowly prepared for the trip, picking up waterproof clothing and boots, and deciding which things to leave behind. I also enjoyed an awesome group of friends for the last few times as summer in Seattle came to an end (see image below). After a very busy few months working at NOAA, and enjoying the Pacific Northwest outdoors, it was hard to say goodbye.

The weeks leading up to my departure went by too fast, but I feel prepared to leave for the first cruise this upcoming Saturday. I am well stocked in Bonine and Dramamine, and have the rest of the week to get familiar with the ship. Overall, I am looking forward to a great experience! 

Next week, I will check back in with the cruise schedule, and projects I have been up to around the ship!

The sun sets over Lake Washington during my last night with two of my closest friends in Seattle, Henry and Noah.