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Hey there!

This week, we’ve gone through lots of sea ice as we sail through the Arctic, to the north of Barrow and Wainwright. The Arctic Ocean views have been really gorgeous and tranquil, with the water’s surface as still and smooth as glass, reflecting the oh-so-blue sky. We’ve also gotten to see polar bears, a whole walrus colony, and a few auroras!

With all this sea ice, the ship has been going a maximum of 2-3 knots, meaning there is more time between CTD stations.This week, I’ve learned to plot points in the Olex system, which helps us know our time to station. I’ve also relearned how to tie a bowline and a sheet bend. Sheets are ropes, or lines on a boat.

After getting through the ice, we’ve finally been able to start coring and using the supersucker. I really enjoy using the multi-corer because our camera system allows us to see what’s on the bottom. The multi-corer is also more hands-on than our CTD. It’s been fun to hop on the buddy lines, and use poles and hooks to safely deploy and recover the multi-corer.

I’ve also gotten to cut cores and sample water with Miguel Goni, a professor at Oregon State University, and his students. It’s been nice to be involved in science as well as science tech, particularly as someone interested in pursuing oceanography in graduate school. I’ve also gotten more involved this week overall. I finally got to operate the CTD, meaning that I got to direct the winch operator and tell them how deep to send the CTD, where to wait, etc. I think I was too laidback the first week, so other people got to operate the CTD and handle lines. I’ve realized that I just need to jump in more and ask to do things, rather than being shy and letting other people take the lead. Gotta take that plunge!

We’ve been sampling lots of lines: the Wainwright, Barrow, DB06 and DB04 lines, which means lots and lots of CTDs and a good bit of coring. The marine techs keep pulling intense hours, then resting when we tow the super sucker. The super sucker has to be towed continuously for 24 hours, so we can’t stop do CTDs or multi-core. This gives science a nice break, as there’s no water to process, and no cores to cut.

We’ve mostly been doing shallow water casts – 40 to 50 meters, but we also got to do some deep casts. These casts ranged from 1000-3900 meters, taking about 1 to 4 hours, respectively. We got to make souvenir cups on the deepest of the casts. We all decorated Styrofoam cups, packed them with paper towels, put them in mesh bags, then tied them onto the CTD rosette frame. We cast the CTD to 3930 meters, then pulled it back up. The cups came back bigger than a thimble, about the size of shot glasses. We all got to keep them for cruise souvenirs.

We also did test runs of the UAF carbon glider. My roommate, Brita, is the lab technician working on the glider project. Gliders are nice because you can launch them and they’ll continuously gather data for up to 4 months. One of the microcomputers on Brita’s glider went down though. We’re going to try launching it again tomorrow. We’ll do small boat ops to launch it. If we’re in the right area, we might also pick up another glider that is currently gliding around the Chukchi Sea to the North of us.

We’re at the midpoint of the cruise. I want to check in with the two marine techs for mid-internship feedback. I’ve also continued to appreciate the company of both science and crew. We’ve all gotten into a nice rhythm, and ops and data are flowing nicely. I’ve definitely made some great friends on the ship so far. Time on the R/V Sikuliaq is going far too quickly, if anything.

Blog 6: Day 28 – The End in Sight

By Justin Miyano

On September 11, 2016

In MATE Blog Archive, US Coast Guard, USCGC Healy

Hello World,

Well where did the time go. It has been almost a month since I began my adventure in Alaska and the Arctic through the MATE program. Tasks have been checked off lists, and we are closing in on the completion of this research mission. Today, we had initially planned on deploying a mooring at our Southeast station, which we had to recover once, due to the sound source malfunctioning. Because we also already deployed transponders around the mooring to triangulate, when we re-deploy this mooring, it has to be within the triangle of the 3 transponders, making this re-deployment a little tricky. The weather has been on the rougher side, so the mooring deployment was postponed until tomorrow, and instead, we are testing a different sound source, in preparation for our final mooring deployment station.

In case I was confusing with my wording, we have 2 more moorings left to deploy. And upon completion, we will head down to Nome, Alaska.

It has been a very calm week for the techs. Every system has been running well with no issues, thank goodness, but it has also been a little slow. When there are problems to solve and devices to prepare for deployment, there is more action and things to learn, and I have been missing that a little bit. So, my main mentor Brandon and I decided today that our final week, we will review all the equipment and systems that the marine technicians maintain on the ship, and also work on preparing to store away the CTD rosette. I am pretty excited about that.

Here is to one last week of learning and finishing up this Arctic adventure!

Aloha,

WEEK 9- Breakdown, Bottles and Bees

By John LaCross

On September 10, 2016

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V F.G. Walton Smith, University of Miami/RSMAS

WEEK 9
September 4-10

As I mentioned in the previous blog, R/V Walton Smith is scheduled for a month-long cruise to Cuba in October in order to conduct studies on the coral reef using an ROV. One of the many preparations requires all of the scientific equipment to be inventoried. An Export Control Classification Number, (ECCN), must be provided for each piece of equipment.

I was given the responsibility of tracking these down, which involved speaking with each manufacturer. I also had to record all serial numbers for each item, original purchase price paid, quantity, and a basic description. After all the data was entered into an Excel file, it was sent through the governmental channels for approval.

Early Wednesday morning we prepared to depart for a two-day cruise with NOAA as part of their continuous studies on the Gulf Stream current. The Chief Engineer was absent due to jury duty, and it appeared that the ship did not want to leave without him. Before we had even left the dock, problems with the electrical system forced us to abort.

It was later determined to be an issue with a breaker, and it was promptly replaced. Since next week’s schedule only consists of a three-day cruise beginning Wednesday, NOAA’s cruise is deferred to this coming Monday and Tuesday.

I spent the rest of the week fitting our CTD with brand new Niskin bottles, part of the shipment that arrived from Brazil last month. With new bottles and freshly calibrated sensors, and a newly terminated 322 cable, the CTD is now in tip top shape.

On Friday we were given the opportunity to attend shipboard crane operation training, conducted by Captain Lake. We were instructed on proper rules and safety involving crane operation and will be given the chance to be tested in order to obtain an official certificate.

Captain Lake is also a beekeeper on the side and I have had the opportunity to assist him in several related activities. This weekend we began a removal job that involved hives located in two different spots up inside a soffit of a house in North Miami.

It always impresses me that people spend the time and money to have honey bees removed, rather than simply killing them. By the end of the weekend we had one of the hives relocated into frames and placed into a special wooden hive, which was left in the yard in order for the stragglers to move into. We’ll return next weekend and tackle the other hive.

Stripping the CTD of the old Niskin bottles

Blog 5: Day 26 – Pictures!

By Justin Miyano

On September 9, 2016

In MATE Blog Archive, US Coast Guard, USCGC Healy

Myself, troubleshooting met data networks.

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency analyst, Jason Otero (left) and Oregon State Univ. marine technician Brandon D’Andrea (right)

Jason and two sea gliders that were deployed this cruise.

The ships crew craning one of the acoustic sources from up above to the back deck.

Scientists and technicians attaching floats to the mooring line as they are deployed.

The USCGC Healy bridge and some officers and crew on watch.

Healy crossfit coach, BM2 Ben Ahlin, during a workout.

The lowest the sun went one day, somewhere in the Arctic.

CTDs, Sea Ice and Polar Bears

By Kristie Okimoto

On September 8, 2016

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V Sikuliaq, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Hey there all!

After being in port in Nome, seeing some Northern Lights, swimming in the Bering Sea, moving lots of equipment onboard and singing karaoke with science and new crew, we’re finally underway! It’s been really nice to be cruising this week and getting into the flow of things.

The first couple days were mostly transiting, with some CTD (Conductivity Temperature Depth) casts and preparing an AON (Arctic Observation Network) mooring. We went through the Bering Strait, past the Chukchi Sea and into the Beaufort. At our max, we hit about 72.5 degrees North. We lost internet right as we went into the Arctic Circle. Due to our heading, our mainstay blocks our satellite dish at a very specific angle. You’re reading this because it’s gone back up though, intermittently at least. It’s actually been nice getting away from the internet though.

In the past week, I’ve learned to prepare, check, operate and clean a CTD. I’ve learned how we process CTD data and utilize that to reset our sound velocity profile. Knowing the speed of sound at a particular site is important because it helps us recalibrate our multi-beam sonar. Our TOPAS system and multi-beam sonar are used to map both the bathymetry of the sea floor, and the substrate beneath it. These both operate whenever we’re underway, helping add to worldwide knowledge of the seafloor, one cruise at a time.

I also got to help recover and deploy this Arctic Observation Network mooring. Moorings like this are used to monitor temperature, salinity and other environmental conditions in a location over a long period of time. This helps scientists track climate change or other continued patterns in an area over time. In the Arctic and off the Alaskan coasts for example, scientists are doing research into what role increased glacial melt plays in the ecosystem. In recent years, there has been a coccolithophore bloom off the Alaskan coast, turning the normally dark blue Bering Sea a pale shade of turquoise with their calcium carbonate shells. As we passed through the Bering Sea, we were actually able to observe this, registering an increased amount of carbon at that micron size and seeing the clear blue turquoise of this bloom. Our research ties into this, monitoring nitrogen fixation and primary productivity of the Arctic. This helps us to gauge the Arctic’s importance in fixing carbon and nitrogen, and what the Arctic ecosystem’s role is globally.

In other cool things, the AON mooring also had an ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) and an Aural whale recorder. Although tricky at times, it was really cool to work with the deck crew to both recover and deploy the AON mooring. We worked together in the stormy Arctic weather to get everything in and out safely. After that, science, science tech and ABs (able-bodied sailors) have come together to make CTD casts happen 24 hours a day for the next 3 days. I really enjoy how the boat pulls together for these operations, it makes the boat community that much more tight. All in all, it’s been really great learning a lot this week, finding my niche and becoming a part of the R/V Sikuliaq family.

Blog 4: Day 22 – White September

By Justin Miyano

On September 5, 2016

In MATE Blog Archive, US Coast Guard, USCGC Healy

Hello World,

Justin Miyano reporting from the Arctic again. It has been almsot 3 weeks at sea, and I seem to be the only remaining person excited about it. This morning, we woke up to some snow on the outside decks. The temperature has been fluctuating between 28 and 32 degrees, and it is quite cold, but I suppose it is way better than cold rain. Ugh, just the thought of it is giving me chicken skin.

Yesterday, we completed the deployment of our 5th acoustic mooring. Between the last blog I wrote and this blog post, I have communicated with some of the scientists to better understand this project better, and I have learned that, after the acoustic source mooring is deployed, 3 transponders are deployed so that at any given time the acoustic source produces sound, the transponders can triangulate the exact position of the source, which anables the scientists to calculate the distance and speed of the sound traveled between the moorings. Once the 3 transponders are deployed, we use an echosounder to locate the precise positions of the three.

On the tech side of things, everything has been working well and our days have been mellow, until 2 days ago, when we attempted the troubleshoot what could be the problem with our faulty GPS system and antenna (the POS-MV system). We power cycled the system (a fancy tech word for turn off and on) so that we could attempt various combinations of the 2 antennas, cables, and extensions to find the broken component, but then the whole system stopped functioning. For hours, we tried powercycling and looking at all the connections, reading the computer outputs to see what could have gone wrong but there were no obvious signs. After a long battle with the POS-MV and sending out an email to the manufacturer’s representative who had helped us in the beginning of the cruise, we called it a night. Then, we woke up to a see the POS-MV working again. The computer said that it had started logging information a couple hours prior to us noticing this morning. What a magical white September morning.

On another note, we recently learned that we have a protp-type buoy onboard from a project called UpTempO (Upper Layer Temperature of the Polar Oceans: http://psc.apl.washington.edu/UpTempO/). They study the seasurface temperatures in the polar oceans to help monitor global warming, using these simple buoy systems. The buoys have temperature and pressure sensors from 2.5 to 60 meters deep! The deployment of this buoy is STARC’s (Oregon State University and Scripps Institute of Oceanography) responsibility, so the two techs, Brandon and Keith are pretty excited that we will be working on the deck for a change!

Other than that, we have corn hole and ping pong tournaments to celebrate Labor Day! Woo for some fun. Happy Labor Day weekend everyone.

P.S. It took me 3 attempts to write this blog because the site kept freezing up when I would try to upload a photo so I am not going to upload a photo this time, sorry.

WEEK 8- Cable Termination, Nearing the End

By John LaCross

On September 3, 2016

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V F.G. Walton Smith, University of Miami/RSMAS

WEEK 8
August 28-September 3

The end of my stay here aboard R/V Walton Smith is in sight, and I’m pretty sure they are going to have to drag me away, kicking and screaming. I’ve really become attached to my new home and family. We are preparing for my final 3 cruises, making sure the dockside projects are all completed and that the vessel is in ship-shape.

We are still having issues with a monitor in the bridge, and we have replaced all the components and cables…twice. I’m beginning to think there is a ghost in the machine.

Denis, the ship’s Marine Tech, and I cut a 15 meter section from the 322 cable used to deploy the CTD. On the cruise that involved deploying the Tucker Trawl, it had become damaged as a result of the clumsy retrieval method.

A short section of the counter-torque cable was unraveled, exposing the wires inside. The stainless steel termination was heated to melt the cerrobend inside, a metal alloy with a very low melting point of 158 degrees, comprised of bismuth, lead, tin and cadmium. The strands of the counter-torque cable are wrapped in opposite directions, preventing the cable from twisting under a load. Individual strands were separated and peeled back, then secured back to the cable with a winding of wire. The exposed wires were fed through the termination and out a hole in the side, and the exposed strands of cable were inserted into the bottom. When the fresh cerrobend was melted and poured in, the splayed cable array served to secure the cable in place, much like rebar in cement. When the cerrobend solidified, the three wires protruding from the side were then terminated and the cable was once again ready for use, as good as new.

During the week we completed the horizontal testing of the deck tie-down sockets, using a load cell secured with shackles in line with a chain fall. The new records were updated and filed for future reference.

The ship is scheduled for a month-long trip to Cuba in October, and the extensive paperwork has been a nightmare for those involved in handling the logistics. Next week I’ll be tasked with inventory duties in order to assist with this daunting effort.

Preparing the 322 cable for termination

Transiting on the R/V Sikuliaq!

By Kristie Okimoto

On August 30, 2016

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V Sikuliaq, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Hey there!
This is Kristie Okimoto, the final MATE Summer Intern! I’m on the R/V Sikuliaq, also headed up to the Arctic. We are somewhere in the Bering Sea at the moment! Tomorrow, we’re docking in Nome, and will be loading equipment, food and fuel for the upcoming cruise.

The transit from Seward to Nome has gone pretty smoothly. This week has mostly been an orientation week of sorts. The science party has gotten safety talks, an engine room tour and done fire and abandon ship drills. Ethan, one of my two mentors on the ship, showed me around some of the ship systems I’ll be helping to maintain. We looked at the ship multibeam sonar, the TOPAS system, the pCO2 system and the seawater inflow system. These systems operate at all times on the ship, gathering data whenever the system is underway.

As the upcoming cruise will be researching nitrogen fixation and primary productivity of waters in the Arctic, the seawater inflow system will be super important. Scientists will continuously measure the nutrients and gasses of this seawater. The researchers will also utilize a CTD (conductivity, temperature, depth) rosette and an ADCP (acoustic doppler current profiler) to help gauge nutrients throughout the water column and to help gauge the related currents. As marine technicians, we will be supporting all of these instruments.

I am excited for the actual research cruise to get underway! All in all, I have really enjoyed being at sea so far. There really is something amazing about being surrounded by a vast expanse of blue, blue water on all sides. Alaska was also really beautiful! Well, onward to Nome, and then onto the Juranek cruise!

Blog 3: Day 14 – Waiting out the ice

By Justin Miyano

On August 28, 2016

In MATE Blog Archive, US Coast Guard, USCGC Healy

Hello world,

It is day 14th Sunday, and is time for me to update you on what has happened on the ship since the last update.

While I was writing my last post, the ship was just passing through the Bering Straight, and we were about to enter the Arctic circle. Since then, we have continuously traveled northeast up to 75 45N 151 15W, which is almsot as north as the middle Greenland! Woah, that’s pretty north. For the next 430 nautical miles (1 nm = 1.15 miles), the seafloor was between 30 and 40 meters! ONLY 40 METERS! That’s 130′, which is way less than half of the Healy’s full length, 420′. While being mindblown by that fact, we made a pit stop to deploy a NOAA mooring. Because we have expert mooring scientists and technicians onboard, notably chief scientist Peter Worcester and tech John Kemp amongst others, a group of NOAA scientists have ask us to deploy an passive acoustic mooring up here. A mooring has an anchor, a long line the links the anchor to devices to the buoy/s that keep the whole apparatus upright. We have been told that the primary objective of this mooring was to monitor bowhead whale vocolization, but since the hydrophones (underwater microphones) will be recording 24/7, it is expected to record ALL sounds produced underwater. The mooring will be recovered by University of Alaska’s R/V Sikuliaq in several months. After that quick deployment, we proceeded northeast to our stations.

Now, our main project, led by Peter Worcester, is to deploy 6 moorings with scoustic sources and 1 passive acoustic mooring with a ton of hydrophones on it. The 6 moorings will be deployed in a pentagon shape, with 1 mooring source being in the center of the pentagon. The hydrophone mooring will be deployed slightly west of the center acoustic source. Using this acoustic source and hydrophone setup, he wishes to study how sound propagates in the Arctic. What makes sense, but may not be thought of by us who do not study that Arctic, is that sound is affected by the physical properties of the medium is travels through. In water, sound has a very fast velocity (approx. 1400 meters per second), and if the water gets colder, the water becomes denser, and the sound speeds decreases. Once we locate the exact locations of all of the sources and the hydrophones, the scientists can use this to measure the sound velocity in the Arctic. Why is this being studied now? The ice coverage and the water temperature is changing, and it is important to know how the current Arctic deepwater affects sound travel.

Okay, so that’s the cool science that is happening on the ship. We deployed the NOAA buoy and one acoustic source. We traveled further north to our station location furtherest north, but because of slightly excessive winds and ice coverage at our station, we decided to relocate to another station. In the meanwhile, the techs identified that we possibly have a faulty GPS antenna, that is affecting our multibeam (seafloor mapping system)**. We have two antennas that help locate our position for the multibeam system, and since one of them is down, the multibeam is having to depend on a single satellite antenna, which is not ideal but still functions enough. For our mapping purposes, it is critical that we know our exact location so that the seafloor data is relevant. We even have a scientist from the government agency National Geospacial-Intelligence Agency to investigate the quality of our seafloor raw data, because they use it for their hydrographic charts. Other than that, the lab has been a quiet place; I have continuously been shadowing Brandon and Keith as they approach connectivity issues with some of the computers and systems, but everything has been smooth for the most part.

**I wrote that the faulty GPS system was part of the multibeam, but I misspoke. The GPS system associated with the multibeam is working perfectly, but actually the GPS not working well was associated with our MRU (motion reference unit). It is still being troubleshooted for.

The image below is myself redoing the connection between the antenna and the GPS cable. I was up way higher than it looks in the photo.

Photo by Sadie Wechsler

WEEK 7- An Unexpected Visit Home

By John LaCross

On August 27, 2016

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V F.G. Walton Smith, University of Miami/RSMAS

WEEK 7
August 21-27

Early Monday morning our Chef, Peter, was kind enough to drive me to the Fort Lauderdale Airport, which was about a 45 minute trek from the ship. I boarded a 737 bound for Detroit, en route to Lansing, Michigan, where the memorial service for my good friend would be taking place.
A week earlier, Chris Bapst had been killed as a result of an accident involving his own double-shot Derringer pistol. Anyone who knew Chris knows he would never have intentionally taken his own life, and the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death have left us with a mystery that may never be solved. His death remains an open investigation.
The memorial service was a heart-wrenching event, but at the same time it was uplifting and healing as his friends and family celebrated the life of a wonderful friend and father. A former bandmate and I had the honor of leading the service in song as we performed many of Chris’s favorites. His loss will leave a very painful hole in our lives and in the world as we all try to move on, striving to follow the righteous examples for living that he exhibited.
The next day I boarded a flight that took us through a tornado system in the Midwest, only to land in the path of a tropical storm, on its way toward developing into a hurricane.
We all watched the weather closely as we prepared to move the ship either inland up the Miami River, or else up the east coast of Florida, depending on the intensity of the storm. As it turned out, neither plan would be necessary. By the time it reached us we were on the outskirts of the storm, but we still experienced heavy (horizonal) rain and 45 mph winds. The storm continued to gather strength and had finally developed into a full-blown hurricane by the time it made landfall just north of Tampa Bay. This was the first to see land in Florida in some 10 years.
In the days leading up to the storm, we began the horizontal testing of the the deck tie-down sockets, and also replaced the cable in the starboard crane, which had begun to fray due to damage it had incurred the previous week.
On Saturday, Captain Lake, (who also plays the banjo), and I attended the weekly Bluegrass Jam Session in Hollywood, FL. This is an impressive gathering of talented musicians that meets every weekend at an old fire station and trades licks, performing a fine array of Bluegrass standards.
Afterward it was on to Luna Star Cafe in North Miami, where I was able to perform several of my original songs at their Open Mic session, which takes place every other weekend. I’m really growing to love this town.

RIP Chris Bapst