Boom! Smash! Crash! They had to get one more drill out of the way before we disembarked, and the straight-faced reading of those onomatopoeias over the pipes really set the scene for that last collision and flooding drill. Make-believe obstacles aside, the rest of the transit home was pretty smooth. At the last all-hands meeting, I was surprised and delighted to learn I had received a “Coast Guard Arctic Service Medal,” which will definitely be going on my LinkedIn accomplishments. Another highlight was the second “science talk” of the voyage, featuring a member of the Finnish Border Guard. The previous talk was from our other international guest from the French Navy. They were both a joy to listen to, and it was fascinating hearing about marine operations in other parts of the world.
Collision-free view, labelled for your convenience!Learning all about Rajavartiolaitos!
The morning we were set to arrive in Kodiak, Tyler and I woke up early to meet Maya and Micah to turn off the science systems (and hopefully to start aligning our sleep schedules a little more). Our first step was shutting off the water walls, and simply enough involved closing off the main flow valves, running a freshwater flush, and powering down the system. Of course, overachievers that we are, we also decided to take off and wash each instrument one by one so they would be squeaky clean for the next cruise. Next, we headed back to the computer lab to shut off the sonars with a simple click of a few buttons. The science data logging was officially complete!
The multibeam was showing off at the last minute…And the EK80 fish finder gave us a nice rainbow as our final screen.
Data collection wrapped, Micah and I quickly pivoted to more artistic endeavors. Within the next two days, we had wound up with some 3D prints, an unofficial logo for STARC in the spirit of a Coast Guard request, and a sticker design featuring an adorably wonderful sketch that Micah drew and I digitized. I feel really lucky that I was paired with such an artistic and incredibly fun buddy for this trip, and will forever treasure Micah’s daily motivational drawings of Bing Bong the cat (and my favorite, his snarky antagonist, Ding Dong), our scrappy but ever-growing intern baton, and the polar bear journal she painted me! Good luck on the next voyages, Micah, I’ll be keeping posted!
While mindlessly staring out the window as one does, unaware there was anything other than the typical expanse of ocean to see, an IT guy informed me that I was looking in the wrong direction to see Kodiak. Land ho! Having just finished reading Endurance, a novel about Shackleton’s famous Antarctic escape, I had a special appreciation for the awe of seeing land and a new cast of characters for the first time. While not so dramatic after our monthlong, penguin-meat-free voyage, imagining the wonder in their return narratives really makes you appreciate the little things, like trees and a store that sells cashews. Unfortunately, I ate all of mine in the first three days of the trip.
For real, where did that come from?Hi Kodiak!
We were carefully bumped into the dock by two tug boats, which was a perk of being on such a huge ship and a new experience for me. And what better sight to greet us in port than a NOAA logo! Oscar Dyson was docked nearby. Time for liberty! We spent our time in Kodiak exploring town, getting fro-yo every day, visiting Walmart (I did secure cashews), hiking around the beaches, eating delicious and wildly affordable sushi, watching zombie salmon, and looking for bears. Before we knew it, we were saying our goodbyes and headed home from our Arctic adventure.
Of course we went right back to looking at the ocean.Green things exist again!
Some big thank yous are due to everyone who supported me along the way! Thank you to Micah for the excellent camaraderie and constant supply of intriguing tidbits. Thank you to Tyler and Maya, our mentors, who not only taught us so much about the work of marine techs, but also kept things fun, light, and full of shenanigans. Thank you to Christina, Brendon, Emily, and the rest of the STARC team for giving us this opportunity in the first place and for keeping Kodiak exciting. Thank you to the Coast Guard for having us and giving us shiny certificates, and to AMOS for indulging my impromptu TED Talk requests. And, finally, thank you to all of you for reading this blog! I’ve truly grown an unexpected level of fondness for writing it, and I’m so happy it’s been a source of science and silliness for many of you.
Polar bear count: 2!*
*Folks, it came down to the wire, but I’m ecstatic to report that we finally have two real bears to report this week! Shoutout to Brendon for surrendering our dinner table to let us go check out these two adorable Kodiak bears, who were playing, fishing, standing, and generally enamoring us. Kodiak bears are a type of brown bear that only live in this area of Alaska, and are bigger than grizzlies but smaller than polar bears. It counts!
With the ice floes far out of our sight, we began the transit into port. Our days were spent waving the ice goodbye, cleaning up our work stations and preparing for seas. The weather was predicted to pick up and become quite sporty as we headed in, so we began securing gear.
On the day we came into port, I awoke to the familiar feeling of a tug pushing along the hull of the ship. The Healy always has the aide of a tug or two to help guide them into port, as often times a novice is behind the controls up in the bridge. A little bit of help never hurts! Our team stood above on the flight deck, to watch the masters of their craft navigate. A tug boat is something akin to a glorified floating engine, with the sole purpose to push and shove other vessels around. Even so, there can be no understating the importance of their work! They are responsible for helping an endless amount of ships safely navigate water ways, and assist them to avoid running aground.
Hello NOAA ship Oscar Dyson!USCG helo!Healy!
As we docked in the small marina of Kodiak, Alaska, I was taken aback by how beautiful it truly is. The mountains stand tall and imposing over the bay. From over the hills, helicopters and planes soar above in the clouds. Kodiak is a “Coast Guard City”, and has one of the largest coast guard bases in our nation. Once we docked, we finally got our first good look at the outside of the ship! When we boarded, it was via small boat shuttle, so there was no time for gawking at the sheer size of the Healy. Now, looking up from the pier, holy moly! As the largest cutter in the fleet, she is Big Red, large and in charge! She dominates the pier space, and comes uncomfortably close to the fishing ship astern to her. It was a treat to share dock space with the NOAA ship Oscar Dyson, though we sadly had no time for tours. As a NOAA nerd and lover, it is always very exciting to see them out and about! Oscar, if you ever see this, hit me up. We’ll tour and swap CTD horror stories or something.
Truly we were blessed with an awesome group of people. HUGEST shoutout to Tyler and Maya, the coolest mentors around! As they were both previously UNOLS Mate interns, it feels very full circle. From mentee to mentors, they stepped up to the plate in huge ways. Kaleigh is the coolest kat on the west coast, and it was a pleasure to sail with her! Best of luck to all three of y’all, and I am certain we will cross paths again as ships in the night (or rather, on ships in the night. It’s a small world after all).
With a spare day in port, everyone on board was given liberty. Time to explore! The town is bustling with a surprising amount of energy. We ate at local restaurants, walked by the fishing piers, and enjoyed the wild sights of mountains meeting ocean. Though we saw no polar bears, we were extremely excited to see bears on shore! They were out for a stroll, enjoying easy meals out of the dying salmon. Salmon are mostly anadromous and semelparous, which sounds fancy, but simply means two things: they begin and end their lives in fresh water, and die after spawning just one time. During the summer, they return to the river they were born in to repeat the cycle over again. After they spawn, they die, providing abundant nutrients for the next generation of salmon. It is a truly striking cycle that I have always been deeply stirred by, and witnessing it firsthand was touching. The bears and birds take advantage of the weakened salmon by scooping up some easy meals.
Though our time onboard the Healy is done, the memories made and work completed will remain. Invaluable lessons learned and lifelong friends made, I head home. Alaska, wild and enchanting, streams 30,000 feet below me. I’m sure to return.
Special thanks to the Healy, for facilitating us interns to sail with you! The crew, for dealing with our shenanigans and endless questions. To Maria and the entire UNOLS team for helping us each step of the way. To our mentors Tyler and Maya, for sharing their knowledge and encouraging our learning environment always. We are grateful beyond words.
Thank you to my family, for supporting my crazy dreams and believing in my abilities. Without their undying love and unconditional support, I would never make it to this point. Mom, Zak; I love y’all, and work everyday to make you proud! Kayla and Joyce, thank you for encouraging me so I could believe in myself. Love y’all always, my voices of reason.
Howdy! I’m Wil, and I’ll be joining STARC aboard the USCGC Healy for its final cruise of the year this fall. I’m a senior at the University of Alaska Fairbanks majoring in geophysics, which is a fancy way of saying I like rocks. I’m originally from Southern Arizona, but moved up to Alaska four years ago for college, and despite going from 110 to -30 degree days, I love it up here, and all the chances to explore rugged and remote places through fieldwork.
In 2023, after pestering a professor for almost two years (and building up a good skill set), I got the opportunity to join the research team on the R/V Sikuliaq for a month as we took sediment cores in the Bering Sea- me, a former desert rat, who had never been on a boat in my life! It was an extremely difficult and rewarding trip, and I left with my eyes open to a new career path… boats?
UAF/GI, photo by JR Ancheta. Make sure your hat fits before setting sail.
I used this experience to join a Sikuliaq NGA LTER cruise- twins, Kaleigh! It must be a gateway cruise to marine technician work, because I’ve fallen in love with working at sea, supporting the science and helping collect data while always being in the field. My background is science-heavy, but low-tech, and I hope this upcoming internship will help bridge the gap between those and build a wider skill set for marine technician work. I look forward to sharing this journey!
This week was all about gliders! Underwater gliders are torpedo-looking instruments that glide up and down across the water column while autonomously collecting data similar to that of the CTD and moorings. When I did an REU internship with the Northern Gulf of Alaska Long-Term Ecological Research program, I worked with data from Slocum gliders, so I had a little experience going into this. While the University of Washington Seagliders used here are fairly similar, I’ve been blown away by how much there is to learn!
One of the most interesting things about underwater gliders is the simple principle of how they zigzag through the ocean. Rather than using a traditional engine or propeller to dive up and down, they instead rely on buoyancy by changing pumping oil in and out of an external bladder. To rise, they pump oil into the bladder, increasing their volume and making them more buoyant. To descend, they pump the oil back into an internal reservoir, decreasing their volume and making them less buoyant. Little wings on the side of the body help turn this vertical motion into horizontal propulsion.
Workshopping post recovery!Ready for deployment!
In tandem with this, the gliders also utilize gravity. The heaviest part is the battery, which powers them to travel through seas until recovery a year (or sometimes accidentally two!) later. The scientists use this to their advantage by placing the battery on a track, allowing the weight to slide from one side to the other, causing the glider’s path to tilt or bank in the same direction. Typically, scientists can communicate with the gliders while deployed to adjust their path, but out in the sea ice, it’s more of a “godspeed and hope to see ya next year!” In the meantime, the gliders will communicate with the moorings to check their position and with satellites if they can find an open patch of water to come up to. This can be tricky with so much ice coverage, so the glider first checks for freezing temperatures above before trying to surface.
With the hide-and-seek of glider recoveries also came small boat operations, which were fun to watch as the Coast Guard cruised around. After two recoveries and three more deployments of fresh gliders, science for the cruise was officially concluded. Onto the transit home!
Can you spot an antenna peeking out?A small boat, indeed.
Tyler and I have been continuing our organization and documentation projects. Now that we’ve retired from the cable factory, we’ve moved on to organizing other parts related to the CTD and water walls, including instruments, mounts, hardware, and tubing. I was, of course, stoked to be printing more labels on everything. I also finished up more diagrams, including ones showing the setup of the water walls themselves. Turns out, you can even make them into GIFs! At turnover, Micah has been teaching new knots, while Maya and Tyler have been assigning skills to both of us, such as making our own Ethernet cables or learning to successfully drill and tap like pros.
You can never have too many dividers.If only we could print the GIF.
Just as quickly as we came, we’ve now left both the sea ice and the Arctic Circle behind. While it’s a bummer we didn’t have a polar bear encounter, the open waters have brought the spouts and graceful breaches of whales aplenty! The transit through the Bering Sea has also brought us into the motion of the ocean that the ice secluded us from. Storm days have always been a part of being on a ship that I love, as I’ve never been seasick before. But as I’ve often heard in oceanography, “it’s not if, it’s when,” or as Christina said, “everyone has their frequency.” Turns out, big boat, little waves is just the right combo to chip away at my hubris. But nothing a power nap, whole wheat Goldfish, and some Bonine couldn’t solve! Now that we’ve moved onto some bigger 9- to 11-foot waves, I’m back to having a grand time sliding around the computer lab on my rolling chair.
It’s also been totally bizarre to experience the pitch black of night again as we head south. The first night, a beautiful full moon kindly welcomed us back to growing darkness. Now that science is complete and the changing sky makes our late shift end extra apparent, we’ve been using our spare time to take on some goofier tasks. This week’s non-exhaustive list includes: watching The Princess Bride while diagramming, testing all the sports equipment in the hangar, reading Endurance, darning an office chair, and teaching Tyler foosball (a feature that inexplicably exists in the forward machinery room). Until next week!
You’re telling me this is normal?The flight deck is for photoshoots…and also helicopters.
Polar bear count: In the Coast Guard, if you spend 21 days or more above the Arctic Circle, you unlock “polar bear” status and are allowed to wear the highly coveted and fashionable red gear. This week, Micah and I joined Maya and Tyler in achieving that! So, you could say there are four polar bears pictured below. And Micah drew me an exceptionally wonderful polar bear on a snow day, so let’s call that 4.5 for this week…
Finally, some polar bears!This is worth AT LEAST half of a point!
This week was one of the best yet – testing. With many weeks of work done on the vehicle by the highly skilled Sentry team, Sentry is almost ready to exit its overhaul period and get back to sea. The last step in the overhaul, as is traditionally the last step in any engineering implementation, is testing. Sentry can be tested in a number of ways, but for this testing period it was privy to all of them.
Sentry all ready for deck testing, in the vehicle bay
First was deck testing, which is exactly what it sounds like. Out of water, the general functionality of Sentry is tested. This includes engaging thrusters, moving servos, checking battery diagnostics, flashing strobes, beeping acoustic transmitters, and more. This is the first all-vehicle check to ensure that things are working after the extensive take-apart of the vehicle. During this iteration of testing, the team discovered some issues with the response time of the multibeam’s transmitting transducer, or its TX unit. We troubleshooted by changing the TX unit (a heavy–40lb–ceramic red rectangle that houses the necessary components and is bolted to the bottom of the vehicle) out for a spare. To do this, we didn’t actually change anything about the vehicle–a technician simply propped up the spare unit on a wooden block, so that the cable which connected the TX to the rest of the vehicle could reach the spare instead. This is an important bit of experienced/insider knowledge, because often the problem isn’t where you “think” it is, and if you were to actually switch out the whole TX unit and then discover it wasn’t the problem, you would have wasted at least an hour and a lot of nerves! It was discovered that the spare didn’t work either–so likely the issue wasn’t the spare, but really another component. Because the multibeam is a non-critical sensor, although a very important one, the team decided to defer the issue until well testing when more data could be gathered which would help troubleshoot the cause of the issue.
After deck testing–numerous times–comes well testing. Well testing is a lot more explanatory than I initially thought–it is essentially, sticking the robot in a well, and seeing how it does in water. This serves the same purpose as deck testing, as well as checking that all parts have been sealed properly (to prevent leaking of oil, which is annoying at surface but fatal under pressure) and the ability to actually gather data from the sensors and check that they are truly operating properly. Because most of the sensors rely upon acoustic data, and some even rely upon flushing ocean water through themselves, it is important that they are submerged to really understand how they are functioning.
That’s all for this week–hope you enjoyed! I sure did :).
It is currently day 24 aboard the USCG cutter Healy! We have successfully recovered and deployed all of the moorings that the science crew had set out to accomplish. What an achievement! The moorings we deployed will remain deep under the arctic ice floes, until the ship once again returns to repeat the process. The instruments attached will collect water column profiles, which, long term, can show trends and patterns in data. This enables scientists to predict future changes, as well as observe any changes over time. That’s a big deal!
We have officially passed the halfway point in our mission. With all of the moorings out of the way, we are shifting our focus to sea gliders! With a shift in mission comes a turnover of gear. The lab spaces on board are surprisingly small for such a large ship, and can get rather… crowded. The scientists are often awake into the wee hours of the night, tinkering away with their mechanical treasures. It’s difficult and precise work, but thankfully the Healy is very steady in all this ice. This may be the only ship where people set their things on a desk ledge with no worries of it tumbling off with each roll of the waves! Look’s as though the science crew has some cleaning up to do…
We have become quite accustomed to doing donuts out here in order to clear the ice, but the sight of it is always very interesting. We are still fairly far north, so finding open patches of water is a bit touch and go. When we can’t find one, we just have to make it ourselves! While watching the ice parting, and the patch widening, it is clear to see if someone with more experience is driving the boat, or if perhaps it is one of the greenhorns. Our experienced captains definitely hit the “circle” target bullseye, every time. The greenhorns however… well, they make some funky ovals, puddles, and other fun shapes, which I tend to appreciate more than the boring old circle. It’s art. Call that Picasso!
Everyone’s cups!My cups before…My cups after!
As the classic science nerds we are, we decided to make some shrunken cups! This is a relatively easy project, if you just so happen to have a way to get your simple styrofoam cup a couple thousand meters below the surface of the ocean. Easy peasy, right?!
Using markers, alcohol based such as Sharpies tend to work the best, decorate your cup to your hearts content. There are some astounding artists on board, and it seems as if every member of the crew made one! Once your cup is decorated, stuff it with a paper towel to keep it from collapsing in on itself. Place your stuffed cup into some sort of permeable bag, such as a mesh laundry bag or pillow cases (we filled two entire bags!), and attach it to something that will dive deep into the water. The obvious choice on a research vessel is the CTD rosette! Ziptied securely on for the ride of a lifetime, down down down they went. Into the inky abyss, all of the air within the styrofoam was compressed out, thus shrinking the cups. As an example, here are the cups I made, next to an example of what they looked like before. So teeny tiny! One of my turned out a bit wonky, but it’s all the more reason to love it. Peep the octopus! Cutting the cups before sending them down can make some really interesting shapes. Try it out if you get the chance!
From the same CTD cast, we decided to keep some personal water samples. Using empty hot sauce bottles we scavenged from the mess, the five of us are now the proud owners of arctic deep sea water. Though it may seem like a rather odd souvenir, it is a small sip of history as we know it. This water, while in the ocean, is extremely slow moving, and has probably been within the ocean basin for many, many years. Now, captured in water tight bottles, it wont enter back into the water cycle until the bottles are either emptied, or broken. How incredible it is, to have an encapsulated piece of the environment, and suspend this element in time. Of course, as all good oceanographers do, we simply just had to taste the water. Put your head under the rosette, and open up a spigot! The absolutely frigid water is extremely salty, and might even burn your mouth a bit. So, so worth it.
The floats are larger than I initially realized!There she goes…Just swim, bro!!
We have also deployed the remainder of our ARGO floats, chunking them out into the ocean to do their thang, solo style. To have the name ARGO float, they sure do sink pretty quickly… But don’t worry, once they wake up and get a little motivation, they begin their eternal journey of vertical migrations. They gently bob up and down the water column, until they eventually either fail or run out of batteries. Sigh, such is the sad, sad, life of an ARGO float. Their righteous self sacrificial mission is not in vain, as the researchers cherish the data that the floats have slaved over for so long. Once they have fulfilled their life mission, they aimlessly drift through the ocean. This cycle reminds me much of the mars rover, Opportunity. When the rover eventually ran out of battery, its final transmission amounted to: “My batteries are low and it’s getting dark”. I imagine the ARGO floats think much the same thing near their end.
Anywho, back to the lab! One of the laborious tasks the whole team has been pitching in on is inventory… dun dun dunnnn! This means enumerating, labelling, and testing just about everything on board. Maya and I spent all of one morning trouble shooting Adam modules, which is essentially a fancy signal converter for different devices. What should have been a quick, easy little project turned into hours of frustration and blatant confusion. The software used for trouble shooting was not interested in telling us anything, so we ultimately learned nothing about the current state of our spare modules. Are they still in usable condition? Who knows, but we’ve got ’em inventoried and put away in their proper place!
Go Kaleigh!Well hello there Maya!!
Happy birthday to the coast guard! In the spirit of Coast Guard day, Tyler and Kaleigh participated in a ship wide cornhole tournament, featuring our tech team lead Christina as DJ Oceans! It was right around bedtime for Maya and I, so sleepy as we were, Kaleigh and Tyler had the most monotone and unenergized cheerleaders you could ever want. Or I guess, not want? Unclear if I’m honest. This trivia crushing duo crushed cornhole only slightly less. But, if I do say so myself, they were the most spirited team on the flight deck! Read more about it over in Kaleigh’s blog! https://mateblog.unols.org/author/kaleigh/
One early morning, we were delightfully gifted with a pile of soft snow! Though it was rather chilly, we of course took our time to play and have a snow day. I mean, how couldn’t we? I made short work of snow angels and some little doodles in the powder, at the risk of freezing my fingers off. I may have even dared to throw a snowball at my mentor. Who knows! 😉
Look at her go!!Comin’ up!
Even through the snow, science must go on! We made it to our first glider operation, which was a recovery. The gliders are the same as the ones that I helped to deploy and recover in Thailand aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson. Shout out to Jen and Liz for all they taught me, I am seriously missing the tropical sun with you both right now!
This recovery was a bit different than how we ran things on the Thompson. Once we were ready to recover, the scientists communicated with the glider via software, telling it to come to the surface. Unfortunately, because of the ice, it is exceptionally hard to spot. The antenna is only 18″ long, and even though it is bright orange amidst calm water, it is nearly invisible. Once the glider surfaced, the bridge was bustling with spotters wielding binoculars, scanning the horizon for our little friend. This took considerable time!
Finally, after several ascents to the surface and constant searching, we had the glider in sight. Instead of driving the ship right next to the glider to make an approach, and reaching over the gunwale with a noose to snatch the glider as we did on the Thompson, the coasties actually deployed a small rib with science member Justin on board. They drove right up to the glider and hauled it out of the water like a prize tuna had just been caught. A short little ditty bop back over to the Healy, and they tied the glider to the A-frame wire. A simple little elevator ride up and the glider was back on board! So easy!
While we transit to our next stop, and dream of sea gliders soaring through the deep, we were gifted by the sight of one of the wonders of creation: a fog-bow! A sight I have always wanted to witness, and I am so blessed to have seen such an incredible display of God’s hard work of nature, physics, and light. Though this may seem insignificant to some, it has been on my techie bucket list since day one! Another one checked off. With time to go still, how many more can I mark off?! Stay tuned to find out!
Time is weird and often feels nonexistent when in the middle of the sea in perpetual daylight. While I frequently don’t know what day of the week it is and am now used to eating my third meal of the day at midnight, time must be progressing anyway, as last week we hit the mid-way point of the cruise! In stride with that milestone, we also concluded mooring operations this week. (If you haven’t already, check out Micah’s blog for an awesome detailed operation summary!) Throughout this, it’s been really interesting to learn more about the science behind them and how that interfaces with the work we do as techs.
During our midnight shift transitions, my sunset is Micah’s sunrise!Clearly this is 2am…
The scientists onboard use the moorings to research pockets of the ocean where sound travels more efficiently, called sound speed ducts. Underwater sound speed is affected by variations in water temperature, salinity, and pressure, causing these ducts to form in warmer, saltier, and deeper (higher pressure) waters. The researchers communicate with the moorings that are collecting these observations through acoustic pinging. To avoid interference while they chat, we turn off our acoustic instruments for that time, including the multibeam and ADCP.
But, after we complete a successful CTD or XBT cast, we can use the temperature, salinity, and density profiles we collect to enhance these instruments using the same sound speed velocity that the science team is studying. By updating this profile in acoustic instruments like the multibeam, it can more accurately understand how quickly its pings are traveling through the water and provide us with more accurate seafloor depths and bathymetry (seafloor topographic features). Pretty cool!
Looking for a mooring that popped up underneath the ship! All was safely recovered.CTD time! We run the computer from a control room up here.
That said, we did indeed conduct some more CTD casts this week. One cast happened late enough in the afternoon that my mentor, Tyler, and I got to prepare it, which involves climbing around on the frame and muscling bottles clipped open, so that they are ready to snap closed later to collect water when they’re 2000 meters away. On previous casts, we had noticed that one bottle wasn’t closing correctly and therefore wasn’t collecting water, so Tyler and I did some troubleshooting. I hypothesized that the lanyard connecting the top and bottom lid was likely too short, causing the bottom lid to be pulled too high and get stuck on a lip that the others sat below. We measured and crimped together a new, slightly longer lanyard that we then installed, and on the next cast, it shut perfectly! A win for for the scientific method.
It’s basically a mid-ocean jungle gym!This is where the cap should be sitting; the other lid was stuck above that line.
The casts this week were also accompanied by some classic oceanography shenanigans. Because styrofoam cups have so much air in them, if you send them down with the CTD to the bottom of the ocean, the intense pressure crushes all that air out, leaving you with an adorable, tiny, shot-glass-sized version! Micah, Maya, and Christina organized the process to great success. The cup decorating skills around the Healy were impressive to see, and I’m stoked that I got to make two of my own. Under the pressure of about 3800 meters of seawater in the Beaufort Sea, they shrank to a little less than half their original size!
Check out the many talented artists on Healy!The before and after size comparison, featuring my cups!
While I’ve still been grinding on the ship diagrams and got to deploy an Argo float myself (my first on-deck bowline knot!), the biggest project Tyler and I have been tackling this week is the “cable factory.” We’ve meticulously inventoried all the STARC cables living in drawers and storage tubs across the ship, tested them, labeled them, documented them in the spreadsheet, and stored them in new, organized homes. Shoutout to Micah for finding a real laminator to replace my janky heat gunned QR codes for the inventory lists!
This project has taught me a lot about the use and maintenance of all sorts of scientific equipment cables: CTD cables, water wall cables, sea cables, test cables, Y-cables, pigtails cables, you name it! It’s also given me a chance to better understand the workflow of how often they’re used to determine how accessible to leave them and what organizational systems are most effective onboard. Additionally, it was just pretty satisfying to complete, and will hopefully make life easier for the next techs onboard. Everyone go look at the newly organized drawers and say ooh-ahh. Thanks!
Primary cable drawer, our magnum opus.Secondary cable drawer, transfromed from chaotic spaghetti.
This project has also meant a fair amount of time in the science hold, which is a big area in the hull of the ship that we access through a little porthole in the floor right onto a staircase. When icebreaking, you can really hear the thrash of ice all around you, which is pretty awesome. Micah and Maya have been absolutely crushing the inventory game for literally everything else onboard, so Tyler and I naturally have been complicating it by rearranging the sprawling collection of boxes down there and consolidating some more CTD parts.
Just dropping in!Time to practice your ratchet strap skills!
The festivities of the week gave us plenty of enrichment breaks from the “cable factory,” given two important holidays occurred: Coast Guard Day (which was celebrated jovially around the ship) and National Intern Appreciation Day (which had slightly fewer accolades). Coast Guard Day brought a feast of meats and sweets alongside a cornhole tournament on the flight deck, which Tyler and I promptly were obliterated at. However, we did secure second place in Star Wars trivia thanks to Tyler’s expertise, winning a new friend: Decibar the Inflatable Shark! The biggest win of the week for me, though, was that for one night, the galley served breakfast for dinner. Brekkie, oh, how I’ve missed you. Until next week!
Don’t ask what the final score was…Meet Decibar the Shark! And Tyler’s prize, Jam the Jelly.
Polar bear count: 0*
*Holding out hope as we return closer to land here soon…
It is currently day 16 aboard the USCG cutter Healy! I am constantly surprised by the vessel and its capabilities, as well as the incredible crew that staffs her. The Healy is a coast guard ship where many freshly enlisted members come to train. Being such a large ship, with a variety of missions going on at any one moment, it makes for a new environment each day. On the back deck, you can see a rainbow of hardhats- each of the different colors have a different meaning! The green hats are those with the least experience, and as you gain knowledge and skills, you move up to a blue, yellow, and eventually a white hat. In this photo, you can see a yellow hat teaching the other deck members how to tie a knot. Seamanship skills such as knot tying, splicing, and line handling are of the utmost importance to work on the deck. This ensures safety of personnel and also the effectiveness of the scientific mission.
We arrived on station for our next evolution right as our night shift began. Science waits on no man, so we got to work immediately. I am very excited to finally get some science action on the night shift! Though, honestly, you could never tell that this photo was taken at midnight- it is all sunshine all the time in the arctic.
For a mooring recovery, there is an order of operations that we more or less follow each time. Every instrument package varies slightly, but it is the same process.
Once the scientists locate the mooring via a GPS transponder attached to the top float, the ship cuts ice in the area for several hours. The science crew then uses a pinger to communicate to the mooring release. Since the ship has other echosounders running at all times, it is the responsibility of the marine technician on shift to power down our multibeam and ADCP devices. This ensures that no interference will effect the mooring release. Once the anchor is released, the floats on the top of the mooring line drag it to the surface.
At this point, the ship can make its approach. We line up to the floats, keeping them on our starboard side. This can take some time and fine adjustments from the bridge, so the deck crew stands by patiently. We must be careful to avoid running over the mooring line, as well as potentially navigating around ice floes as they drift by. Dynamic environments require constant focus from every crew member involved!
Once we are along side the floats, you can see that they are attached to one another via line. Our goal is to hook onto the line, to pull it towards the deck. The man in yellow made quite an impressive grappling hook throw, and snagged the line perfectly. I always love to see people who have mastered their craft hard at work. Some of the green hats attempted to throw the hook, and Mr. Yellows skill was undeniable. A grappling hook is heavy, and a rather awkward shape to try and heave. So we were all thoroughly impressed!
Once the floats are at our side, we can hook the topmost one onto the winch line. The line is brought from the A-frame block, and held around the quarter by the deck crew. Once the floats are tied on, we allow the ship to float slowly forwards, bringing the floats aft to the A-frame. It takes many hands to ensure the line does not become snagged on anything while we can walk the float back assembly line style. Once it comes to our stern, it is time for the Lebus winch to start pulling the immense amount of gear onboard.
First up, the floats! Once the winch pulls up enough line to suspend them, the A-frame operator brings the frame inboard to the deckhands reach. They make off the line below the floats, so that the gear still in the water stays attached to the ship. At that point, the floats are no longer weight bearing, and can be removed from the main line. Special float stands are carried on a palette jack, so the floats can be stowed without rolling around like pinballs on deck. Once they are securely fastened down, the weight bearing line is attached back to the winch to haul up the next section of the instrument package.
The VLF is the next to be recovered! This device, which operates on a ‘very low frequency’ (hance the name VLF), communicates with seagliders. If you’ve been following along with my blog posts, you may remember seagliders from my time aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson. Those little yellow rockets dive up and down the water column collecting data, all by their selves! The VLF is so huge because of the extensive batteries that it must carry. It’s hard work under the ice, so they need their energy to stay awake until we come back for them!
This scientific crew has previously sailed in the area to deploy seagliders and moorings, which is what we are here to recover. These devices generally stay out for 1-3 years, autonomously collecting data which is critical for oceanographic research.
The VLF was brought back on board the same way as the floats, by transferring weight bearing lines. After that, its just a mere 3500 meters of line to hoist up! This takes a good chunk of time, as the winch can only pull in line so quickly. After a couple hours of line winding, the acoustic anchor release is the bitter end of the line. Finally the deck crew can head back inside and warm up for a bit!
While still sitting on the same station, science requested a CTD cast. After all of the testing we have put the CTD through, its time to put it through the true ringer- a cast to a depth of around 3700 meters! Luckily I was still on shift, so I was able to prep the CTD for deployment. We opened all of the bottles, and prepared them for water collecting. There I am, on deck finally! Hi me! I removed caps from all of the sensors, and the plungers from the oxygen sensors. I stood back as the deck crew deployed the rosette over the side, to ensure everything on the rosette looked correct. Similarly to how the line recovered from the mooring, it takes some time for the CTD to reach the requested depth. So it’s back to waiting around for you, deckies!
Go Kaleigh!That’s me!Thermocline my beloved… <3
Once the CTD was 3700m below us, dangling into the dark arctic waters, it was time for data collection. This was right around our turnover time, so it was lucky that both Kaleigh and I were able to fire some of the niskin bottles. Look at us go! The computer program, SeaSave, is fairly simple to use. It graphs the water column data in real time, and makes some pretty neat charts. You can clearly see the thermocline here, which is a depth at where the temperature changes drastically. I am a nerd, so this is fantastically exciting for me! To some it may just be a few lines, but it is a visual representation of all of the oceanographic theory I have studied before. I love to see science in action!
After the CTD came back on board during the dayshift, we allowed the full niskin bottles to settle and test for leaks. And wouldn’t you know it… Sigh. It’s back to testing for us! In an unusual turn of events, many of the bottles are leaking from the screws, which is a new one for me. Some drip from the spigots as well. So, time to try something else!
The niskin bottles we use are as big as I am! These bottles hold 12 litres of seawater each. With 24 bottles on the rosette at any one time, we can grab 288 litres of sea water in a single cast! Seldom will the science group need all 288 litres, but it does give them plenty to work with. Science needed no water for this station, it was actually just for our own testing purposes. We wanted to let the bottles sit so we could detect leaks, and detect them we did!
We couldn’t just pour the bottles onto the staging bay floor, so we had to take the bottles down while they were full. One full niskin bottle weighs approximately 35 lbs, so as you can see, it was a bit of a wrestle to pull them off the rosette. We emptied them all into the floor drains, and got to work with our repairs.
I have worked with rebuilding a niskin bottle as part of a school project, but never this many! We documented which bottles had which issues, and began trying to solve some leaks. We ran an experiment to try and figure out a solution. We replaced one bottles O-rings, one bottles spigot, and one bottles lower screws. We filled them back up and let them sit for a little while again.
When we came back to check, the only bottle that showed improvement was bottle number 2, where we replaced the spigot. This involves wrenching the bottles open, removing the spigot disc, removing O-rings, and popping out the old spigot. So, we took a sit down on the floor and got busy switching out all of the spigots. It is a bit of a delicate and involved process, so this took us much of our shift to accomplish. Once we had swapped out all of the affected pieces, we cleaned up the mess we made and hung the bottles back onto the rosette. Try again!
Another facet of the scientific mission on this deployment is ARGO floats. You can find out more about the floats and their mission on their website! These devices are deployed over the side and act much like a drifter. They go out and do their thing, collecting precious, precious data! An excitable member of sci allowed me to assist in the deployment of this float, which was a bit underwhelming and a ton of fun. More or less, we simply wait for a break in the ice and toss ‘er over the gunwale! We are a bit more precise than that, using a piece of line to slowly lower the float into the water, but you get the picture… Thanks, Justin!
The first sasquatch sighting in the arctic…They look like ants!
Oh right, this is the Coast Gaurd! Back to official matters. An incredible training opportunity presented itself while we are in such thick ice. Ice rescue! We spent a considerable amount of time looking for an appropriate floe, and posted up beside of the piece. Once the bridge felt confident it was a good spot, the deck department craned the gangway onto the ice, and the first man was down that quick. One small step for man!
They walked as far from the ship as the fog would allow. Each man on the ice carries equipment that they might need while off of the ship. They place little orange safety cones on spots where there might be tripping hazards or questionable ice. They even have a team member dedicated to watching for wildlife! With the fog, it would be relatively easy to accidentally creep up on an unsuspecting polar bear. It was a delight to watch them trudge across the frozen snow, and fade into to distant fog as ships in the night. The going is slow, walking carefully on slippery surfaces and uneven terrain.
Splish splash! Hi Nina!That’s us!
Then it was the time for their true trials- surviving a fall into the ice! If they were to step through a thin spot of ice, or have any other reason to end up in the water, they need to know how to respond. Their suits have a base of neoprene, which keeps them dry, and a snowsuit that keeps snow and wind off of them. These suits float very effectively, so theres no need to try and tread water. While in the water, they practice manuevers for rescuing an unconscious team member, best practices for crawling back up onto the ice, and more. This training, though surely strenuous, looked like the most fun you could have! What a crazy feeling it must be, floating in an ice hole with nothing but 4000 meters (13,000+ feet!) of ancient arctic water below you.Only those training were allowed to get onto the ice, so it is a bummer I was not able to participate. But even just watching was incredible!
My mentor Maya and I were jealous of the coasties play time on the ice, but we enjoyed our time on deck watching just as much!
It was surreal to see the vessel at a stand still in the ice, and I got this insane view of the bow. The ship is unbelievably huge, and I am always in awe of her stature. Once the ice training was complete, the coasties scaled the rather steep gangway back onboard, and we were back to crushing ice in no time. As we continue our efforts, with many more miles ahead of us, we say so long and farewell to our northern most point.
Fair winds and clear leads to you scallywags back home.
This week, it was finally time to put all our preparation to the test: we had a CTD deployment! Despite Tyler’s and my confidence in our setup, it was still a relief to see all the sensors working properly at 3700 meters and to watch everything come back in one piece. To give the system a little extra TLC after a successful deployment, I overengineered a new syringe (used to flush the CTD’s plumbing and keep the salinity sensors wet to prevent salt crystallization, which might skew later readings) since the old ones kept falling apart.
Poppin’ (Niskin) bottles!Don’t count how many zipties I used…
We were also able to observe more mooring deployments and recoveries in varying conditions. Moorings are essentially long lines of instruments placed at specific depths, anchored to the seafloor, and held upright by big buoys. If we’re lucky during a recovery, we’ll find a nice patch of open water where the mooring is expected to pop up. But more often, the ship has to spend a few hours breaking ice in circles to clear the area, which leads to some pretty silly-looking cruise tracks.
Deploying a very low frequency (VLF) device on the mooring that can communicate with underwater gliders.Science is about efficiency!
In an ideal world, scientists send a signal to an acoustic release at the bottom of the mooring, which tells us its location and triggers it to disconnect from the anchor so the whole array can float to the surface. The ship then spots the colorful buoys, drives up to them, and the crew uses grappling hooks to pull them closer and hook them to the winch line. The mooring is then dragged to the stern, where it’s hauled up and secured piece by piece using taglines to bear the weight below each instrument. In practice, the lines can tangle, buoys get stuck in ice, and many other complications arise. There’s more to learn every time!
We’ve also been deploying a couple of expendable bathythermographs (XBTs) and Argo floats. XBTs are corded probes launched off the ship that work almost like a single-use CTD. Argo floats are devices that take continuous temperature and salinity profiles for a global data network. Because the network relies on the accessibility of putting these floats out, they’re pretty simple to deploy. In fact, some cargo ships just throw them overboard in the cardboard boxes! We handled them a little more gingerly, though.
Making deck work look cool…It’s easy with that view.Tyler getting ready to deploy an Argo!
One of the most exciting deployments this week was…people! Which is to say, we had an impromptu ice station. Unfortunately, only the Coast Guard ice rescue team was allowed out to conduct training, but it was fun to watch anyway. While it was a serious exercise, seeing the team splash around in a pool on the ice looked like quite possibly the most fun imaginable. I was asked to take photos of the process for the NOAA Corps liaison on board, which felt like a fun crossover moment from my work back home.
Don’t you just want to take a dip?Tyler, me, Micah, and Maya on the ship during the ice station. It’s like we were there!
Back inside, Tyler and I started our next big project: taking an inventory of all the scientific cables STARC has onboard, which we affectionately refer to as “the cable factory.” That’s meant a lot of multimeter time for me, along with building a spreadsheet. And, if you know me, you know that the spreadsheet is beyond tricked out. The idea is to make it easier for the next person to fix or redo the CTD, with useful info like instrument-specific pinouts. To keep it accessible, I printed out QR codes that link to the spreadsheet and laminated them with a heat gun, since I couldn’t find the laminator. If it’s stupid but it works…
I’m beginning to believe there’s nothing a heat gun can’t fix!CCTV footage clearly shows me being an excellent water wall detective!
Coming from a science background, one of the coolest parts of being a marine tech is getting to test dozens of hypotheses on a cruise instead of just a few, like the science party. For example, we have two water walls onboard, each with two oxygen sensors. On one wall, one sensor consistently reads about 5 units higher than the others, no matter which sensor is installed in that spot. I hypothesized that the spinning flow meter between the two sensors was forcing bubbles through the line and causing the higher oxygen readout. Tyler gave me the okay to test my theory, and after several trials and alternative hypotheses (the Y valve is causing a pressure drop? the short tubing is causing too high local flow?), we’ve ruled them all out so far. Onto the next one! Maybe a float test…
Tyler has also been teaching me some cool basic tech skills, like tying nautical knots (I’ve got the bowline down) and soldering, which is super cool, though I haven’t quite mastered it yet. I’ve learned more “computer stuff” too, like serial and UDP communication, and SSH, amongst all the instruments and VMs onboard. Tyler tasked me with creating diagrams for related computer and electrical systems, so I’ve been enjoying applying my graphics skills to a new technical subject.
First time soldering! Don’t look at it too closely…You understand how to set up a CTD now, right?
Now that we’ve settled into the ship and its routine, I’ve begun to take more notice of the morale events happening. From Sunday sundaes and pizza parties to karaoke and crafternoons, there’s plenty of fun breaks to be found when you need them. Now that we’ve hit our highest latitude of the trip, I’m also happy to report: I’ve found the North Pole! Contrary to popular belief, it lives in storage in the hull of the Healy. Who knows what else we’ll find! Until next week.
Santa are you onboard?Coastie lore says this window sill is the best nap spot. Micah and I give it a try on a shift transition!
Side note: Thank you to everyone who reached out to check in on our safety following the massive earthquake off the coast of Russia and subsequent tsunami warnings. We are quite north and all safe! Tsunamis are generally not too big in deep water but grow to larger heights when they enter shallower water, so even if it did reach us, it would still be a small blip out in the open ocean. Thinking about those affected, and hope you are all safe!
On the 1st of July, we completed our final dive operation and started on post cruise tasks. Instead of rolling the sub all the way back into the hanger, we rolled to the middle of the deck and pulled off all the skins (large fiberglass panels that cover the exterior systems). Laying all of the skins on the deck of the ship, we began spraying down every inch of the submersible with a special titanium safe detergent solution. We used large scrub brushes to clean the syntactic foam surfaces and the removed skins. After the cleaning, we reinstalled most of the skins and rolled the sub back inside the hanger.
The Alvin submersible getting a thorough post cruise cleaning.
The next morning, we arrived back in Dutch Harbor and continued our post cruise duties. One of my roles during this period was to prepare all of the sub’s hydraulic and oil compensated systems for hibernation. This involved hooking up a vacuum pump to every junction box reservoir and hydraulic system one at a time. I then slightly drain down the fluid level in each volume. For humidity sensitive systems, such as the 2 main junction boxes, I would replace the oil as it was drained with nitrogen gas, ensuring no humid air would be introduced into the new atmosphere. Draining down these systems ensures temperature changes during transit and other expeditions will not build excess pressure inside the delicate boxes.
Beautiful morning arriving back into Dutch Harbor
Port side Main junction box (left), and battery contactor box (Right), both drained down a few inches.
Once all systems were prepared, we installed the huge blue car-style canvas cover, ensuring Alvin would stay nice and clean while not being used.
Alvin under the big cover.
The day of July 3rd, we finished tidying up all of the Alvin work spaces and buttoned down the equipment that won’t be used for a while. We then spent the next few hours cleaning our rooms and packing up all of our belongings, getting ready to disembark the Atlantis. In the early afternoon, I disembarked for the last time and got a ride to the grand Aleutian hotel! The Alvin team and I didn’t fly out of Dutch Harbor until the 5th, so we had a few days to explore the breathtaking landscape.
After we left Dutch Harbor on the 5th, we landed in Anchorage. I stayed another two days there with a few members of the Alvin team, exploring the area.
The following section is basically a photo album of my favorite pictures and fondest memories, including my adventures in Dutch harbor and anchorage.
Work in progress photo of my hand painted helmet!
The 2 most incredible dive day sunrises.
An awesome picture taken by Lance Wills. The picture shows the Alvin submersible being brought in by the tow line. The person standing at the right corner of the ship is me watching the recovery!
A silly picture of Myself, Alex on the left and Colten on the right. Two members of the ship’s crew.
Mt Cleveland left and Mt Carlisle right, two of the incredible volcanos that make up The Islands Of The Four Mountains.
One of the Aleutian islands emerging from the fog during a rainstorm.
Moving onto my land based adventures, there were many! From hiking to the summit of one of the Aleutian mountains to hanging out around a bonfire with some of the incredible folks that call Dutch Harbor home.
3 photos I captured from the peak of Amaknak Island Unalaska.
An incredible view and a snowmelt pond near one of Unalaska’s peaks.
A few of my favorite rock stacks I made on a beach in Dutch harbor.
Sitting around a bonfire behind the Norwegian Rat Saloon, after the cruise.
Resting in a meadow after a hike in anchorage, with some of the Alvin team. Wren, Molly, Janna, and Nick.
Two more pictures from our adventures in Anchorage.
Lastly here is a photo of me! This photo was taken the night we first arrived in Dutch harbor after the 11 day transit from San Diego.
This adventure has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life. The opportunity to work on the Alvin team as a mechanical technician, even for a month, is something truly unique and an adventure I won’t soon forget. Thank you for reading my blog posts! I hope you enjoyed my adventure, because I certainly did!
