Blog – Page 2 – Marine Technical Internship Blog

Hello! My name is Christina and I am an intern on the upcoming Armstrong cruise from Woods Hole, MA to Reykjavik, Iceland. This cruise is primarily for the Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (OSNAP), but there will be some work with Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI).

I am taking a short break from my current position as a research assistant at WHOI to shadow and work alongside the marine techs onboard here. Over the past three years, I have sailed on various UNOLS vessels as a science member, so I’m excited to sail with and learn from the SSSG’s (Shipboard Scientific Services Group) over the next six weeks.

OBSessed

By Avery Wilson

On June 7, 2026

Another week down. This one was even calmer than the last, with only a few OBS deployments. The magnetometer continues to function as we “mow the lawn” southwest of Fiji, collecting bathymetric mapping data.

With the extra downtime, we’ve continued lessons and hands-on challenges to learn as much as possible from the onboard marine technicians. So far, that coursework has included networking challenges, cable management and termination, serial data communication, CTD setup, and a variety of other technical skills.

I presented some of my past research experience which was a fun opportunity to bring some physical oceanography and ecology topics to the onboard science team which largely consists of seismologists and geophysicists.

I am also learning an important lesson about the dangers of having auto updates enabled on a computer actively being used for data collection. Not only did we lose data during the update, but a driver had to be manually updated before we could resume data collection. Learn from our mistakes.

The menu onboard continues to impress. My favorite meal this week was a Rueben wrap, tuna steaks, and salad with Italian dressing.

The weather has been fantastic, with swell between two and five feet and many sunny days. I’m trying to enjoy the calm before the storm as we brace for a schedule packed full of deployments, larger swell, and rough weather in a few days.

Please enjoy this amazing sunset, which included a visit from some red-footed boobies!

-Avery

Week 02 – Survey Central

By Cate McLeod

On June 5, 2026

This week on the Thompson we are finishing up the deployments of the first OBS array. After a final deployment Friday night, we are starting to head to the western array, taking a detour to map more of the seabed that is critical to answering this cruise’s research questions.

The aftermath of deploying the magnetometer (Maggie affectionately) during a downpour

During these long stretches of multi beaming surveys, when deployments are on hold, we have more down time. Trying to take advantage of this time when we aren’t needed for operations, the marine technicians have been showing Avery, Benny, and me the components of being an at-sea technicians and the responsibilities they have during their 12 hour watches.

Sunrise on the fantail. One of the perks of waking up at 0100

On the last few survey/transit days, we have been tackling all things networking and cables. Because of the central role that the ship’s server plays in all of the operations, networking has become a major component of the MarTech role.

So far, Liz and Andy have gone over the basics of networking and how it is applied to the ship and their day to day activities. Once we have an overall concept of how things work, they give us tasks to apply what they taught us in scenarios similar to ones they would be responsible for troubleshooting. Andy started us out with a switchboard troubleshooting assignment where we had to reconfigure a switch and the setup of 2 laptops so that we were about to communicate with them through a management computer. Liz Then had us working with network cables starting out with terminating ethernet cables and splicing and soldering wires together. More recently, we had the task of taking an ethernet cable and terminating one end into a converted DB9 connector.

Successful data stream from converted ethernet to DB9 cable activity

We have been very grateful to the technicians for going out of their way to introduce us to their jobs and keeping us busy, especially during these quiet survey periods.

Bonus! A Booby impeded our Maggie deployment this morning. He was quite irked when we interrupted his feather cleaning

Week 5 – Cables, who knew?

By Paige FitzPatrick

On June 3, 2026

In R/V Sikuliaq, University of Alaska Fairbanks

A lot of this week has been learning the basics: cables! Though cables may not be the most eye-catching blog post ever, they are an extremely important part of marine research and are essential in the proper functionality of research equipment. This week, I developed wire mapping skills using a LinkRunner AT-2000. My goal was to trace the unlabeled cables running through our main patch panel to their instruments, effectively filling the gaps in the labeling system. This took me all over the ship – bridge, electricians workshop, mainlab, ect.

I also gained experience this week pulling and running a new cable for the OS 150 ADCP sonar system. Running a new cable is harder than it may appear – passing the cable through roxtec units designed to prevent any water penetration through bulkheads can be complicated. Additionally, I learned the importance of avoiding cable attenuation, particularly in cables transmitting sensitive data that can easily lose resolution. The Sikuliaq team accomplished replacing the OS 150 cable, running a smooth route through the ship to the transducer flat. The amount of cables onboard a research vessel can be staggering. Knowing how to map and trace their patterns really helped me put together how data is transmitted from one system to the next.

Additionally, this week I prepped the top of the centerboard for welding a new reference position mark. This required full PPE and working in a very tight environment (see photos below for PPE and a view of the workspace before wire wheeling/primer). I wire wheeled the surface of the centerboard to ensure it was smooth, and I will be adding a coat of primer next.

This was a challenging work environment. However, I now feel confident that I know how to properly utilize PPE and accomplish difficult tasks in tiny spaces. Wire wheeling rust away can also be very satisfying.

-Paige FitzPatrick

Week 4 – Hello from the Transducer Room

By Paige FitzPatrick

On June 3, 2026

In R/V Sikuliaq, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Hey everyone!

The highlight of this week has been working on the Ocean Surveyor 150 ADCP sonar transducer well. Sonar wells allow access to the transducer from inside of the hull. These wells must be completely watertight as the sonar can only operate effectively in water. We first removed the lid from the well, using a chainfall to lift the heavy lid above the well to give us access to the transducer. The OS 150 transducer was unplugged from its cable and lifted from the well for cleaning. I prepared the well for a fresh gasket to ensure a watertight seal when the ship goes back in the water, using a wire wheel and a fresh coat of primer to create a smooth gasket flange and well. I cut the new gasket and additionally prepped inside the well with sound-dampening corporene material using 5200 marine-grade adhesive.

Learning to work with equipment that must create a water-tight seal has been a very valuable learning experience. Additionally, using socket wrenches that are more than half my height has given me more confidence in taking on more challenging engineering and technology tasks (see giant socket wrench pictured below).

Choosing the right tool for the job is half the battle.

-Paige FitzPatrick

Loomings etc.

By Benny Adler

On May 30, 2026

In R/V Thomas G. Thompson

It’s been a great week of getting comfortable with the rhythms of the ship (and the ocean). I’ve always heard that the swell period in the Pacific tends to be longer than the Atlantic and after pulling out of port, I could instantly feel it under my feet.

For the first few days we assisted in final prep in the port of Lautoka, Fiji. We engaged in the most sacred of intern duties: carrying things for people. We lashed all the Ocean Bottom Seismographs (OBS) to the deck, cleaned and secured deck plugs, and got a lot of practice zip tying chords for various instrumentation connecting them from the deck to the computer labs in the ship.

Once we departed port, we almost immediately fired up the multi-beam echosounder and sub-bottom profiler to collect bathymetry in the fore-arc of the Mathew-Hunter Trench south of Fiji’s main island, Viti Levu. I have some prior experience with echosounders so it was nice to have something familiar, but the depths of the bathymetry we’re looking at are hard to fathom—4000-5000m down! Please forgive the pun.

Additionally, we deployed a magnetometer to measure fluctuations in Earth’s magnetic field to pair with the bathymetric data. This small, orange, torpedo-shaped device spools out 300m behind the ship in order to get a clear reading. It also happens that this device has given us the most trouble so far. During our first deployment, our magnetometer gave us wildly varying readings so we had to reel it all the way back in and swap it out with our backup. This was made all the more charming because it takes a couple minutes to spool it all the way out and it was pouring rain on us. Fortunately our tropical location meant that it was more like a nice shower…unfortunately water got in my boots and they took a few days to fully dry. I love wet socks!

Our survey has been punctuated by deploying OBS off the side of the ship. These rigs sink to the bottom where they will record earthquakes and small shifts in the plates over the next 15 months. Then another cruise will pick them up and they’ll have a bunch of seismic data to analyze. We’ve been assisting the OBS technicians in prepping each package for deployment. It’s been incredible to see how methodical the checklists are for preparing the devices. After all, there’s no changing things once the ship’s crane plucks them off the deck and swings them over the side. After they are deployed we use acoustics to lock into the position of the OBS and track it as it falls to the ocean floor.

Overall, it’s been an awesome first week. I’ve loved getting to know the crew and other science party members. My shift is from 16:00-2:00, so it’s been fun lurking in the late night and drinking more coffee than I should.

Looking forward to more lovely sunsets!

Gone Overboard (Professionally)

By Avery Wilson

On May 30, 2026

In R/V Thomas G. Thompson

Hello again!

I can’t believe it has already been a week since I stepped off land. It took about a day to get used to the seas and the maze that is the R/V Thompson, but I instantly felt at home.

We have successfully deployed eight of the 20 Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBSs) which will live on the seafloor recording earthquake activity over the next 15 months.

I’m now well-versed in the Marine Magnetics SeaSPY2 Operation Manual, as we spent a full day troubleshooting the two SeaSPYs onboard. After seven failed deployments and numerous deck tests, we are up and running again! If anyone is wondering, I am pretty sure it was the addition of plumbing tape at the main tow connector that finally did the trick. I also spent a morning helping fix the magnetometer winch, which is now back in action.

Magnetometer deployment. Winch pictured bottom right.

The first deployment of the magnetometer occurred during a deluge (see packing list below). Otherwise, the weather has been great! Swell around eight feet and decreasing, temps around 24°C, and about 80% humidity.

The galley crew has been serving up some amazing meals: fish, scallops, steak, grilled cheese, BLTs, hamburgers… My favorite so far was an asian lunch with glass noodle salad, fried rice, egg rolls, crab salad, and chili sauce.

Free time has been filled with Monopoly Deal, fiber arts, and learning how to splice cable on the aft deck.

Things I wish I packed: foul weather gear, waterproof steel toe boots, peanut butter.

Stay tuned for another week at sea!

Avery

Watch Out

By Cate McLeod

On May 29, 2026

In R/V Thomas G. Thompson

It has been a week since we left port in Lautoka, Fiji and science on board is well underway.

My days starts at 0100 when I wake up to get ready for watch. I head to the computer lab around 0145 to relieve Benny. We go over what happened during his watch and anything to keep an eye on for the next 8 hours. Now that all science operations are underway, watch standing can vary, but typically we monitor the incoming data for the multi beam, the sub-bottom profiler, and the magnetometer. So far, we have mapped over 900km of the seafloor and measured the Earth’s magnetic field over large segments of this track.

The Computer Lab, where we live data streams come in and can be monitored

If you squint, you can see a rainbow lands right on the magnetometer winch. We were very hopeful this was the good omen we needed after a full day of troubleshooting the instrument.

Watch during OBS deployments looks a bit different. A couple hours before the estimated time of deployment, I help the OBS technician on watch set the instrument clock and configuration and ensure the sensors are properly recording. We then tackle the acoustics, checking that communication with the instrument is functional.

45 minutes to half an hour before the ship reaches the deployment site, we assemble and mount the recovery aids and enable the acoustics. Once we are sitting on the site, the OBS is deployed over the side and sinks to the seafloor. We track the drop rate of the instrument from the main lab using the acoustics that were enabled just before the launch and a deck box that communicates with it. This is also how we survey the position of the OBS and determine its final location.

When the OBS surveys are completed, we get to deploy the magnetometer, which get recovered before the OBS deployments, and start monitoring the magnetic field strength. This week, the magnetometer gave us some trouble, but after troubleshooting and relaying our issues back to shore, we were able to get the instrument functioning and recording accurate readings once again.

My watch overlaps with breakfast so my watch mates and I take shifts eating and monitoring the data just in case one of the instruments starts to misbehave.

Breakfast tends to be my second meal of the day as it is served 6 hours after I wake up. My first meal is around 0230 when I raid the leftovers fridge like a raccoon and discover what was for dinner the night before.

Bagged noodles have become a new staple of my diet!

At 0945, I turnover with Avery and give her a rundown of the morning events and any other information that could be helpful while she stands watch.

At 1000, I am set loose and free to wreak havoc on the ship or take a nap. For the most part, I choose sleep.

Week 3 – R/V Sikuliaq Made It to Dry Dock!

By Paige FitzPatrick

On May 28, 2026

In R/V Sikuliaq, University of Alaska Fairbanks

We have officially made it into drydock! Early in the morning, a group of tugs helped push R/V Sikuliaq off our docking into the submerged drydock structure. The drydock is a large structure designed to lift large ships out of the water by pumping water from a submerged platform beneath the ship.

Getting out of the water has allowed the team to move forward with many projects. In our first few days dry, we were able to remove all of the ice windows and sonar systems from the flat region of the hull dedicated to sonar systems. This area is called the sonar flat. We removed the 75 kHz ADCP, OS 150 kHz ADCP, EM 302 multibeam transducer array, EM 710 multibeam transducer array, and TOPAS PS-18 parametric sub-bottom profiler. The transducers and the ice windows that protect the scientific equipment from polar ice impacts are both extremely heavy and extremely sensitive. There is just over 5 ft between the hull and the dock, leaving very limited room to work. We had to support the heavier instruments using wooden dunnage and support the lighter sonars by hand.

(Above) Sonar flat with ice windows and transducers still in place.

(Above) One portion of the EM 710 multibeam transducer array was removed.

All of these sonars are synchronized through a system called K-Sync, preventing the sonars from pinging at the same time. I have really enjoyed seeing how this system is physically connected throughout the ship. Working directly with the instrumentation has helped me clarify the transition of a sonar ping from physical signals to electrical signals that are carried to the lab through carefully considered cable routing.

-Paige FitzPatrick

Cate McLeod – Introduction

By Cate McLeod

On May 22, 2026

In R/V Thomas G. Thompson

Bula from Fiji!

I’m Cate McLeod, one of the 3 MATE Interns aboard the R/V Thompson for the next few weeks. I will be helping out the science party on this upcoming cruise to examine the early phases of subduction along the fault within Ocean Bottom Seismographs (OBS), multibeam surveys, and magnetometer tows!

I’m originally from the Northeast and have spent all of my life around if not on the ocean. I graduated with a B.S. in Geosciences with a concentration in Geophysics from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. During my undergrad, I participated on my first research cruise aboard the R/V Atlantis and since then, have found myself sailing with the science parties on various other cruises and ships. I love being at-sea and getting to know the amazing people who make oceanographic research possible.

We will be in port for another couple of days, mobilizing the oncoming science equipment and I cannot wait to set sail with the rest of the science party aboard cruise TN-453. I’m looking forward to aiding the science party and learning what I can from the marine technicians about their role on the Thompson!

-Cate