Author: Tyler Hackett

The image above is a picture of myself  (far left) and a few other people onboard. In this picture I am in a harness just after we brought the seismic source up the slip.

            So tomorrow my last day onboard the RV Langseth and I head back home. The past 6 weeks have been a very challenging and life changing experience for me. We encountered both smooth and rough seas while off the coast of New Jersey. I’ve learned everything from spicing rope and air gun mechanics to p-cable operations, seismic operations, and life long people skills. I met people aboard that are now lifelong friends and people that I hope to work with in the future. The technicians and navigators on board helped to make me feel right at home and welcomed me into their family without question.

            The past week of operating was very hectic and busy. We were able to successfully be in production for several days straight. Even though the entire prospect was not filled in, we were able to complete over 90% of it. This is a miracle considering the difficulties the Langseth faced a year ago trying to complete the same project.  Once we made it to port we had to pack up everything to be sent back to Geometrics and NCS Subsea. The two days at the dock were filled with crane operations and preparations for the next cruise.  Even though I will not be joining them on the next cruise I wish them smooth seas and safe travels.

            This is the last blog I will be writing, if anyone would like to know more information about my cruise and my experience feel free to email me at thackett2012@my.fit.edu

            The image above is me helping to deploy the head float for the cross cable. This is done just prior to the cross cable and GeoEels being put in the water. 

            This past week has been very busy and a lot of hard work. At the beginning of the week we noticed we were having some issues with the P-cable. The decision was made to pull everything in and finish the survey without the 3 Kilometer 2D streamer. We spent all day Monday on the back deck trying to repair the p-cable, which we were unable to do. Several attempts were made to replace parts on the cross cable but a decision was made to pull everything and run in towards the Manasquan inlet to pick up a Geometrics employee.

            Tuesday morning we were close enough to shore that I was able to make a few calls. Once it was time for my shift to start I walked outside and found that we were replacing the entire signal cable. Finishing the signal cable and deploying the entire p-cable took most of the day but we were able to start shooting around 8pm that night. Ever since then we have been shooting and filling in the prospect. Like I have said before, boring seismic is good seismic. I also sat down with Dan from Geometrics and we started to design and draw up a few brackets that would fix several problems on the p-cable It has been decided that we will pick up the p-cable and head back to port on Monday. Next week will be my last blog post during my internship.

            The image above is me helping to deploy the head float for the cross cable. This is done just prior to the cross cable and GeoEels being put in the water. 

            This past week has been very busy and a lot of hard work. At the beginning of the week we noticed we were having some issues with the P-cable. The decision was made to pull everything in and finish the survey without the 3 Kilometer 2D streamer. We spent all day Monday on the back deck trying to repair the p-cable, which we were unable to do. Several attempts were made to replace parts on the cross cable but a decision was made to pull everything and run in towards the Manasquan inlet to pick up a Geometrics employee.

            Tuesday morning we were close enough to shore that I was able to make a few calls. Once it was time for my shift to start I walked outside and found that we were replacing the entire signal cable. Finishing the signal cable and deploying the entire p-cable took most of the day but we were able to start shooting around 8pm that night. Ever since then we have been shooting and filling in the prospect. Like I have said before, boring seismic is good seismic. I also sat down with Dan from Geometrics and we started to design and draw up a few brackets that would fix several problems on the p-cable It has been decided that we will pick up the p-cable and head back to port on Monday. Next week will be my last blog post during my internship.

The picture above is an example of a seismic air gun going off underwater and how it produces the sound wave that reflects off of geology well beneath the sea floor.

            Today we calculated that with the area we have covered we would be able to go around the world twice. We have been constantly shooting and recording data. Almost immediately after I posted my last blog we had to pick up the gear again because there was an issue. We noticed that there was a shark bite on one of the cables but that was not the issue. The true issue was that one of the GeoEels was missing. After further investigation we believe that a shark grabbed it and ripped it off. During the process of bringing in the P-cable I was in charge of the spares reel, a 12ft diameter reel that holds all of the eel cables.

            Besides that instance we have had a very relaxed time. The rest of the weekend and beginning of the week went well until today. Today around 4pm we lost communications and data with another eel. With the time constraints we are under the party chief decided that we would keep shooting without one of the eels. We believe that this is partially due to the fishing gear that was caught on our signal cable, bt we can not be sure until we bring the gear up. We also heard that this weekend is going got get rough and we may be picking everything up and heading to port but no one is sure yet. I will try and keep updating.

I have been very busy this past week learning more and more each day. We are now half way through the cruise and mowing away at the prospect area. My job as an observer is to monitor the guns, streamer, and p-cable. This means that I have to look at 8 different screens to make sure that everything is in working order. When the PSO (protected species observers) spot an animal that we have to power down or shut down for, it is my job to quickly turn the guns off and activate the mitigation gun. This is so we do not have to do a ramp up (gradual increase in noise level) and we can start right back up once the animal leaves the area. This past week I have gotten a lot of practice on turning the guns off and activating them in a timely manner.

            This week we also had and emergency where we had to pull the air-gun string in and do some maintenance. Since it was late at night and people were sleeping I was chosen to suit up and get in the gun slip. The slip is pictured above and while the guns are being pulled in the green safety net is not there. I did however have to wear a plethora of safety equipment, including a 4-point safety harness, work life vest, hardhat, steel-toe boots, and gloves. When the guns are coming in, everyone has to be focused and there has to be clear communication otherwise someone will get hurt. Needless to say we accomplished the maintenance without any issues and we were able to keep shooting soon after.

This week has been a difficult learning experience. Working 12 hour shifts can be very difficult and hard on the mind. At this point I thought that we would have been up and running without any interruptions, but it has been full of small issues and quick problem solving. Over the past week we have had 3 separate times when we had to power down due to a protected species in our area. All of these instances involved turtles being in the area.  During this time we are required to only fire the 40 in3 mitigation gun. This allows us to stay online without hurting the animals or having us completely shut down. We also had other problems with the P-cable not recording data properly and one of the EELs (p-cable streamer) on the  cross cable not functioning. These errors were generally fixed within several hours of them being present. Even with all of these issues, about 15% of the prospect area has been successfully completed.

             At this point I could safely and efficiently perform the duties of an observer after spending over 75 hours watching and training. I also spent time working with the gun mechanics this week. I got my first try at welding while on a boat. As you can imagine it is much more difficult than welding on land because you must move with every pitch and roll of the ship. I have also found my regular spot for recovery and deployment of the gear. When deploying or recovering the doors my job is controlling the wide tow winch and helping to handle the lift lines.  I have started to get an understanding of why we are out here doing this survey and how everything works. Everyone on board that I interact with has been very helpful and welcoming even though I am new to the vessel. One of the largest morale boosters is the food! Every night we have had some type of meat and fish along with vegetables and dessert of course.  My next few weeks will be focused on learning the navigation and data processing side of the operation.

This past week has been very busy. We spent all weekend getting ready to head out on Monday. I spent most of my weekend rebuilding the air guns. We were able to leave port about 9 am on Monday morning. While transiting to the survey site we deployed the cross cable, doors, and head floats. The doors are 4m tall floats that have fins designed to spread the cross cable to cover the intended area. While deploying and recovering the doors my job was to help disconnect the lift ropes and then run the 50 Ton winches that let the doors out and in. We were able to fully deploy the p-cable and streamer on Tuesday but we had to fix a few issues. Last night I got my first try as a data acquisition technician. This means that I was in charge of making sure the guns were firing at a proper rate and also logging any shots that were missed or not recorded.

            One of the best things about living on a boat is the food. Every night we have had a different meal. We have had everything from fish, steak and scallops, to chicken, potatoes, and pie. I will try and post next Wednesday but it depends on how well the mission is going.

            I decided to delay my second blog post because of the lack of news. I arrived in New York yesterday and made it to the boat just in time for dinner. The guys I’m working with have been showing me how things are done around here and explaining a little bit more in depth of what we will be doing.  I had some down time to explore the ship and start to figure out where everything is. This morning another tech and I checked out the birds that will go onto the streamer to make sure the program had the correct serial numbers to be able to communicate back and forth. After the morning everything slowed down a little bit while we were waiting for other people to arrive. I also helped to replace a UPS(Uninterruptible Power Supply) to keep the electronics running in the event that we lose power. Tomorrow will be busy because we will be spooling the P-cable that we will be towing.

            I found out that we will not be leaving port until Monday, which will give me time to get anything I may need while out at sea. The cruise plan is to complete a survey of an area approximately 20 miles off of the Barnegat Inlet in New Jersey to about 150 miles offshore. I was also informed that I will be working the day shift which is from 12 noon to Midnight while we are sailing. In the next few days as we prepare to leave I will be trying to get onto this schedule and I will make another post later on in the week as I get more involved and learn more about what we will be doing.

-Tyler

Hello everyone,

My name is Tyler Hackett and I have been choosen to be the MATE intern aboard the RV Langseth. I am currently a senior in Ocean Engineering at Florida Institute of Technology. My main focus within the field of Ocean Engineering is Marine Technology which includes Remotely Operated Vehicles, Instrumentation, and sub-sea technologies. My senior design project that was completed last year invloved a mechanical and electrical overhaul of ROSCo (Remotely operated sea crawler).

I am very excited to have this opportunity to spend time at sea doing research that I have a passion for. I have already started packing for my departure next tuesday. While on board the Langseth we will be testing and using several different types of marine instruments. Some of the instruments that will be used include ADCP (Acoustic doppler current profiler), 3D Siesmic scanners, 2D seismic scanners, gravimeters, and magnetometers. Throughout my internship I will be going more into depth on how each of these instruments work and the data that can be obtained from them.