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Last week I talked about the general objective of this mission. This week I want to speak more about one of the pieces of equipment that we are deploying frequently and every six hours, an expendable bathythermograph (XBT).

Try to picture a football but one that is overall about three times smaller. That is about the size and shape of this probe. There is a small divot in the nose of the probe, which has a small sensor in it. The probe is housed safely in a plastic tube that is secured with a pin to hold it in place and a plastic end cap to ensure it will not fall out while being transported. These probes are stored in the Bird Lab onboard in cardboard boxes until we are ready to deploy one.

When ready, we then take the plastic tube out to the streamer deck where there is a so-called “gun” that is used to launch it. This gun is made of plastic and metal brackets that are formed in the shape of a gun, hence the name. Attached to it is a wire that runs back and into a deck unit, which looks like a wall outlet in a box. This deck unit is used to bridge a connection between the probe and the main lab, which is three decks below. The probe is connected to the gun via thin copper wire that runs through the plastic tube. This wire is probably two times thicker then hair. It is wound around the end of the probe as well as the end of the plastic tube so that when we drop the probe into the water, they both unravel without any tension because it will break. When the probe is dropped from the ship into the water, it measures the temperature of the water as it travel to its depth of 700 meters where we then break the line.

Measuring the temperature of the water will provide us with more information then just how cold the water might be. Temperature shares an inverted relationship to density because as the temperature increases, the density decreases. Measuring the density will give us the data that we need tied with the salinity and depth of the water. All of these variables are used to determine how sound is affected in the water. Why do we care? Simply put, because we need to determine how the sound is being refracted throughout the water columns as it travels from the ship to the ocean floor. If we did not do these measurements then we would not be able to correctly calibrate the multibeam system that is shooting sound waves to make an image of the sea floor.

More information to come next week!

Multibeam/Coring Cruise

By Amber Batts

On August 13, 2015

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V Hugh R. Sharp, University of Delaware, College of Earth, Ocean and Environment

Well, we are currently heading back to Lewes, Delaware after completing leg two of the Navy Multibeam/Coring cruise. As always, the science team was awesome. We had terrible weather and had to spend a night at the docks at Woods Hole but still managed to get more than enough data needed from the coring. Unfortunately our Vibracorer was too large so we were only able to use the gravity corer and the multicorer. Either way, we collected lots of mud! And worms!

_{Operating the A-Frame}

I was very fortunate to meet family I had never met while we were docked in Woods Hole. They happened to be there for a week and my mom sent them to the boat. They showed me around and gave me information of the marine biology family history I have there. It goes back five generations.

While at Woods Hole we ran into the crew of the NOAA vessel The Bigelow and were given a tour of the ship. It’s so large and overwhelmingly confusing for your first run through. I was very intrigued and plan to look into a few jobs through NOAA once we arrive back at the dock. Just being within this community has opened a lot of doors I wouldn’t have had access to without this internship. I owe MATE a huge thanks for that!

_{Crew of R/V Sharp on NOAA’s Bigelow}

I didn’t blow up the ship!

By Amber Batts

On July 30, 2015

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V Hugh R. Sharp, University of Delaware, College of Earth, Ocean and Environment

For the past week on The Sharp we have been on a 24 hour multi beaming mission. Today we recovered the mooring we deployed on July 24th and the next few days we will begin to fill in missed or ruined (by dolphins) data.

_{^{Amber Batts and Mohsen Badiey (University of Delaware Dean) getting ready for mooring deployment (07/24/15)}}

One thing I can say about being on a ship is….things are constantly breaking. For example, one of the monitors used (for navigation software) on the bridge decided it no longer wanted to turn on. Thankfully there are two. A replacement monitor was ordered and should be at the dock when we return on Monday (even though I entered in the wrong credit card number – a big oops). Today, an external hard drive being used by the data processor for CARIS decided to freeze up. It is the hard drive that contains the past ten days worth of processed data from the multi beam survey. And even during recovery of the mooring, the acoustic release gave out an error that slightly held up operations.

Point being….one should always be prepared to solve a problem quickly!

I am on day 36 and cabin fever may be setting in but I do appreciate the ability to communicate via satellite internet! That definitely helps. I am at the halfway point of my internship and I believe my favorite part of this experience is getting to know some of these scientists. There are some very interesting people on these cruises and I enjoy hearing stories of how they ended up in their chosen fields. I don’t have anywhere near as interesting a story to tell back to them but it doesn’t matter.

I’ve learned how to turn on a generator, which is actually quite easy, but nerve racking at the same time. Well, for a first timer at least. I was told if I didn’t do it right…..I’d probably blow up the entire ship 🙂

Hence the look on my face in the picture. Needless to say, nothing blew up today.

_{Turning on generator #2 for mooring recovery 07/30/15}

My third and longest trip

By Ken McQuarrie

On July 27, 2015

In MATE Blog Archive, Moss Landing Marine Laboratory, R/V Point Sur

Well I am back from my longest trip of this internship. We were out to sea for 11 days. This trip was very interesting to me, mostly because we were using a ROV on it. After an 18 hour trip to our first deployment location we deployed wave gliders and other gear that we would eventually pick up on our return. The instruments we deployed were set in water that was over 2000 meters deep. We then moved to an area that was about 600 meters deep and deployed more gear. That is where we used the ROV. The ROV was recently reconfigured to operate at those depths but was never tested until we deployed it. During our first dive with it we had some video issues, the thrusters were causing noise in the line. After descending all the way to the bottom to view a package to make sure everything was going good with it we were bringing it back up. At about 150 feet the GFI on the deck box kept tripping.

Eventually we were able to retrieve it and bring it back on board. In between dives we were working on fixing the video. It never really got any better. The next day we made a second dive with it. We made it down to 575 meters, completed that mission and brought it back to the surface. At about 150 feet we started blowing the GFI again but was able to bring it back on board. The third dive was also to 575 meters. Once again we were able to complete the mission but on the way back up we had the same problems. The next morning I woke up to find out that at least one of the vertical thrusters was full of water. We spent the next day and a half tearing apart the ROV to check the rest of the thrusters. Come to find out that both of our vertical thrusters had water in them. After drying them out and cleaning them we hooked them back up to test to see if they worked. We were only able to get one back to working order. We had to reconfigure the ROV to accommodate only one vertical thruster before our fourth and final dive. The decent on the fourth dive was slower and the seas were the roughest that it has been the whole trip. It made for a huge challenge but eventually we made it to the bottom, viewed the package, and made the scientist happy and brought the ROV back to the surface safely. Over the next couple days we assisted the scientist deploy and recover their gear. It was an amazing learning experience for me. I will be taking back a great deal of knowledge back to my classmates to share with them. As for me, I am getting ready to head over the R/V Pelican for my final trip of this internship. We will be conducting a study of hypoxia zones from the flow of the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico using a CTD sensor array.

New England Mud Patch

By Amber Batts

On July 23, 2015

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V Hugh R. Sharp, University of Delaware, College of Earth, Ocean and Environment

We arrived in Lewes, Delaware last Saturday and had a few days at dock preparing for the next deployment. Three separate winches had to be added to the back deck. We also added a side frame, combustion chamber and CHIRP to be used on the cruise.

First 12 days on the Point Sur

By Ken McQuarrie

On July 17, 2015

In MATE Blog Archive, Moss Landing Marine Laboratory, R/V Point Sur

Well it has been twelve days since I arrived in Gulfport Mississippi and boarded the R/V Point Sur. Over these past days I have had many great experiences and have learned a lot. The first trip that we went on involved working with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). After leaving port we had a 40 hour transit to Galveston Texas where we picked up more scientists then an 18 hour trip down the coast to the Corpus Christi area. During the transit I was able to learn about the CTD, help change out the control bottle on it, troubleshoot why it wouldn’t talk to the computer and fixed the issue. I also had time to do some networking of computers on the boat. When we finally arrived at the testing site we took sediment samples, dredged for worms and clams, and photographed cross sectional views of the bottom.

We arrived back in port and the next day we took out a group of students from the University of Southern Mississippi out to do some research.

The crew on the Point Sur are wonderful to work with. The food is amazing.

This was my first time on a boat in the ocean. It is not much different than being on the Great Lakes. I did not realize how many oil rigs were really out in the Gulf of Mexico. At night it looks like a city on the water.

Right now we are getting ready to head back out for 11 days. The boat is being loaded with a bunch of gear. There is a rov and two big wave gliders and a few smaller ones. This trip is going to be exciting, it is geared toward what I want to do when I get out of school. When I get back from this next trip I will give another update.

Back to Corvallis

By Sonia Brugger

On July 14, 2015

In MATE Blog Archive, Oregon State University, CEOAS, R/V Oceanus

It’s been approximately a month since I left for San Diego. Since then I have completed a mooring deployment cruise and a sediment coring/imaging cruise. I must say it’s been a busy month and It feels rather strange to be back on shore.

While I am back I will have to head to our Newport storage facility to pick up some items for my next cruise (spare PMI grips, sensors, etc) and I will continue to try and solve my Triaxus problem.

Searching for Deep Sea Prey

By Amber Batts

On July 9, 2015

In MATE Blog Archive, R/V Hugh R. Sharp, University of Delaware, College of Earth, Ocean and Environment

I am one week into cruise 1 of 3 that I will be on during my internship. This cruise began in Nassau, Bahamas where we picked up the science crew. From there we have spent the last seven days traveling up and down the islands at a Navy base (AUTEC) with an AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle) collecting acoustic data. The AUV is deployed at 0600 and goes underwater along a pre programmed route that we follow so we can pick it up in the afternoon.

At the same location we deploy the AUV, a CTD scan is done at 600 meters to collect data about the water profile such as water temperature and salinity. Immediately after, a trawl is put out and pulled behind the vessel at a depth of about 1700 meters. The catch is used to determine the deep sea prey of whales. A hydrophone is also dropped into the water and pulled along behind the stern to pick up any sounds of whales. We do this entire process twice a day, putting the AUV back on board just before sunset (we tried once in the dark; QUITE difficult).

So far things have been operating smoothly. There was an issue with the CTD cable which was producing 9 modulo errors on a single cast, so the technician and I went up and pulled out the slip ring to the sea cable termination and soldered several wires and everything worked perfectly afterwards. Definitely a good learning experience for me. Other than that, the days are going by without any problems. I’ve also been learning a little bit from the engineers whenever I have a chance. I watched them fill up the hydraulic oil reservoir and operated the winch for the A frame today. I figure anything I can learn will be useful.

All together I have been on this boat for 15 days straight and still haven’t lost my mind or gotten sea sick so I think all is well! I still love it and I have so much more to learn. There are two people on this cruise that are former MATE interns. The Chief Scientist, Chad Waluk and the Marine Science Technician, Kenneth Fairbarn.

RV Langseth: Last blog post

By Tyler Hackett

On July 8, 2015

In Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, MATE Blog Archive, R/V Marcus G. Langseth

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

Dreams do come true

By Ken McQuarrie

On July 5, 2015

In MATE Blog Archive, Moss Landing Marine Laboratory, R/V Point Sur

Hello everyone, my name is Ken McQuarrie. I am a student at Alpena Community College which is located in Northeast Michigan on the shore of Lake Huron. I am enrolled in the Marine Technology program specializing in ROVs.

So let me tell you about myself more. I am 38 years old. When I was young I always wanted to work on the ocean. I wanted to be a marine biologist. When I was 17 I ended up having a child. At that point I gave up on my dream of working on the ocean. I left the small town of Alpena at the age of 19 and moved to Lansing, Mi. While there I worked many jobs but mostly I worked at a photo lab and I painted houses. When I was 22 I had another child. I raised him his whole life by myself. Almost two years ago I came to Alpena to visit for the holidays. When I was there I was helping cut down a huge maple tree at my grandma’s house. I climbed a ladder to tie a cable around the limb that was hanging over her house. When I reached the top of the ladder it broke. I fell 18 feet and broke my leg. It changed the direction of my life. I was no longer a painter.

While I was recovering, I was trying to figure out what to do next in my life. That is when I found the Marine Tech program at ACC. After finding this program, a flood of memories and dreams came back to the forefront of my mind. I decided to give school a try again. Going back to school after 18 years was a little scary. Fortunately the second time around was much easier. It is amazing what that time away from school has taught me. All those life experiences really helped me excel in my classes. Over the past year I have had so many amazing experiences. I have learned how to scuba dive, piloted rovs on over a dozen shipwrecks, met and worked with many amazing people in the industry and now this internship through MATE.

Growing up in Michigan, I have been out on the Great Lakes numerous times. I absolutely love being out on the water. I have never been on the ocean though. This will be another dream of mine that will be marked off my checklist. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I am sure I will make the best of this opportunity as I have all the others over the past year. So my message to everyone reading this is: No matter what life throws at you and how far gone your dreams seem to be, everything happens for a reason. Don’t be afraid to chase your dream, even if you are older like me.

I look forward to this opportunity and will keep everyone posted on my travels when possible. Thank you MATE, ACC, friends and family for your support. I will make you all proud.

Ken McQuarrie