Category: MATE Blog Archive Page 3 of 5

 

August 16th marked my fourth week aboard the R/V Pelican. 

We have continued to circumnavigate the Gulf of Mexico to recover and deploy acoustic moorings. 

08/16/2024 was the farthest South I have ever been in my life!

This latitude is the closest to the Equator I have ever been! (Hopefully that will change as time goes on!). 

 

There have been many long transits between stations, which has allowed for more time to ask questions and learn lots from both Maggie, my mentor, and the science crew. 

Some of the things I have learned this week include: 

• How to reconfigure accessory instruments on the SBE 9 (CTD) instrument, as well as in the SeaSave software. 

• How to repair the lanyard and internal latex band of a Niskin bottle.

• How the SBE 911plus CTD works with the SBE 32 and latch head assembly to collect water samples.

• How different acoustic release functions are used for mooring recovery and deployment procedures.

• How to splice a three-strand line. 

How to reconfigure accessory instruments on the SBE 9 (CTD) instrument, as well as in the SeaSave software. 

How to repair the lanyard and internal latex band of a Niskin bottle.

How the SBE 911plus CTD works with the SBE 32 and latch head assembly to collect water samples.

How different acoustic release functions are used for mooring recovery and deployment procedures.

How to splice a three-strand line. 

An “instrument configuration” is how the sensors, which are measuring different ocean characteristics, are plugged into the SBE 9. The SBE 9 is the CTD instrument that is controlled by a program called SeaSave. (Remember from last week’s blog that this is the case when the CTD Rosette is on a conducting wire).

This instrument configuration has to be defined in a configuration file in Seasave because it tells the program how to process the data stream.

Me switching out a temperature sensor on the CTD Rosette. 

 

In my “Week 1: R/V Pelican (Athena Abrahamsen)” post, I briefly explained how a Niskin bottle can work. I would like to clarify that when I was talking about the “elastic cord” that causes the bottle to close, the correct term for this “elastic cord” is a “lanyard”. The lanyard is an essential component as it is looped around the triggers of the latch head assembly. The latch head assembly will be described in more detail later. 🙂 The internal latex band is what will cause the Niskin bottle to actually close once the lanyard is no longer under tension. It is important to know how to repair these as, if they don’t work, you won’t be able to collect a water sample when needed! 

A diagram of the parts of a Niskin bottle, and me adding a crimp to the lanyard attached to a Niskin bottle cap. 

 

The SBE 911plus CTD is the system that includes every component between the CTD instruments and the deck box which connects to the SeaSave software.

The SBE 32 is what executes the command sent through SeaSave to fire specific Niskin bottles to collect water samples. Connected to the SBE 32 is a purely mechanical trigger unit, called a “latch head assembly”. This mechanism uses magnetic pulses sent by the SBE 32 to release the lanyards on the Niskin bottles and cause them to close. 

Here is a link to a diagram that could help better explain this process: https://www.seabird.com/mdf_cbc920edcd404fe249dc6533da767e35ed/en/seabird_com/cms/images/blocks/11w932Schematic.gif 

Here are what the SBE 32 and “latch head assembly” look like!

 

The three-strand line that I practiced a splice on. 

 

During the recovery and deployment operations, I have begun to help run slip taglines on segments of the moorings. It has been fun to get involved with deck ops!

In this picture I am running a slip tagline.  

 

This science party has also been deploying lagrangian drifters for their colleagues. “Lagrangian” is a frame of reference used for studying the ocean. This frame of reference follows a parcel of water as it moves throughout the ocean. It has been really cool to be hands-on with these drifters as I have learned so much about them in my coursework! 

 

A Lagrangian Drifter that was deployed off the Stern. 

 

Next week will be my last week aboard the R/V Pelican. I am soaking up every moment I can. Talk to you next week! 🙂

 

August 9th marked my third week aboard the R/V Pelican!

At the beginning of the week, the science party and crew worked to revise the cruise plan in order to avoid Hurricane Debby. We were successful at avoiding the storm while not falling too far behind schedule. 

During this period of waiting out the storm, Maggie taught me how to complete a .322 EM wire cable termination. 

For those who are not familiar, a CTD Rosette can either be deployed on a non-conducting or conducting cable. A CTD on a non-conducting cable is programmed before it is deployed to fire Niskin bottles at certain depths. A CTD on conducting cable does not have to be pre-programmed as the cable connects the instrument to a software called SeaSave, which is user-controlled in real time. 

There are both electrical and mechanical terminations involved in a .322 EM wire cable termination. The electrical termination is the splice (connection) between the CTD’s Seabird Sea Cable to the conducting cable within the wire spooled on the winch (.322 cable). The mechanical termination is the addition of a helical grip to the .322 cable so that the tension on the line is not pulling on the portion of the cable that has the electrical termination. 

To complete the electrical termination, the conducting cable within the wire spooled on the winch and CTD Seabird SeaCable are soldered together.

 

Here are some pictures of steps I had to take in order to electrically terminate the CTD Seabird SeaCable to the .322 cable. (To all of the people reading this who are well-versed in the realm of soldering and wiring, do not fret, I put heat shrink around each of the connections, as well as over both of them. Gotta make sure there are no weak points in the wire!)

 

After the connection was made and waterproofed (lots of electrical coating sealant, splicing tape, heat shrink, and electrical tape), we plugged the newly terminated SeaCable into the CTD instrument to see if it was operational. 

It worked!

 

This picture is showing that the electrical termination I completed was successful! We know that it worked as the software was showing real-time data acquisition. You can see this on the left-hand side of the computer monitor pictured.

 

It was rewarding to see that all of the hard work of completing the electrical termination was successful! 

After the electrical termination was completed, we moved on to completing the mechanical termination.

 

Placing the helical grip on the .322 cable.

 

This was a super cool process to learn how to complete!

 

I was very excited to have successfully completed a .322 wire cable termination! Thank you Maggie for teaching me how to do this!

 

Maggie and I also had to change out the magnetic induction sensor on one of the winches used for deck operations. 

 

That sentence was full of a lot of jargon, I know. Let’s break it down: a winch is a device used to pull in or let out wire. Knowing the amount of wire you need to let in/let out is important, so a sensor that uses the sheave (the piece that keeps the wire in place as the drum rotates) is used to do this. The sheave has magnets, and the magnetic induction sensor picks up these magnets. The distances between the magnets—and how much line is paid out— is known in the program the sensor uses, so it then can calculate and display how much wire has been paid out.

This was a fun project to help complete as it allowed me to practice creating electrical terminations, and familiarize myself with the components of a winch. Below I have an image of the winch that Maggie and I were working on, with the terms I have mentioned previously in this blog (“drum”, “sheave”, and “magnetic induction sensor”), as well as the term “block”. A block is used to redirect the direction of the line, as well as increase the pulling power of the machine.

 

A quick guide to *some* of the parts of a winch.

 

From left to right: A close-up image of the sheave, me installing the magnetic induction sensor, the magnetic induction sensor after being installed.

 

Alongside improving my technical skills, I have enjoyed expanding my understanding of how to safely deploy and recover oceanographic instrumentation– specifically relating to understanding when and where load transfers occur on moorings.  

I have also been able to learn more about how to service acoustic releases! I am really appreciative that the science party on board has allowed me to observe and take part in these procedures.

 

An acoustic release in the process of being serviced.

 

Some other skills that I have been working on improving have been my knot and hitch knowledge. I also had the opportunity to help the science party splice line segments needed in their mooring designs! 

 

Brummel Eye Splice with a plastic thimble! 

 

It has been a week full of learning, I’m eager to see what next week will entail. 🙂

 

 

(p.s., Something unique about this cruise is that we had to have a port stop in order to top off our water supply. The port stop occurred in Key West, Florida, and we were able to get off and explore the immediate surrounding area!)

August 2nd marked my second week aboard the R/V Pelican. This week was quite eventful! We completed the shelf-wide hypoxia survey cruise and demobilized, then we mobilized for the next cruise and set sail! We also got to do something really exciting during the period between the two cruises… but that’s for later. 😉 

“Mobilizing” a research vessel relates to the process of preparing the vessel to fulfill the objectives of the research cruise. For example, for this shelf-wide hypoxia survey cruise, a safe boat was needed to complete dive ops (Yes, dive ops! More on that in a little bit!), so we had to load – and subsequently unload at the end of the cruise –  a safe boat onto the back deck of the Pelican. 

The latter portion of the shelf-wide hypoxia cruise, as I alluded to in the last blog post, involved transiting to stations East of the Mississippi River. It took us about 27 hours to complete this transit! There were 37 more stations that were completed. Again, I was not on shift for all of the stations as operations were occurring at all hours of the day. My shift was from 14:00 to 02:00 for the duration of this cruise. I was involved with the completion of 15 of the 37 stations. The same standard operating procedure (SOP) from the stations West of the Mississippi occurred at this set of stations – a CTD cast was performed, as well as the deployment of a Niskin bottle with an EOX3 Multiparameter Sonde Instrument attached. 

In total during this cruise, 138 stations were completed! The time between stations on the transect lines varied between ~30 minutes to ~1 hour, and the time between transect lines was ~2-3 hours. In other words, this cruise felt very quick-paced. 

After the Chief Scientist determined that we had surveyed all of the bounds of the hypoxic region, there was time for members of the science party to complete dive operations. The objective of these dive operations was to survey the diversity and abundance of native and invasive species on and surrounding the pilings of uncrewed fixed oil/natural gas platforms. With these surveys, they were interested in seeing if there were differences in the species’ abundance and diversity in the regions above and below the hypoxic threshold (2 milligrams of Oxygen per liter of water). 

The “order of events” that occurred to make sure the dive operations happened safely and successfully were:

• The science party went through the stations sampled and picked sites based off of their oxygen and turbidity conditions, as well as their proximity to an uncrewed fixed oil/natural gas platform. The oxygen and turbidity conditions were measured using SBE 43 and transmissometer instruments attached to the CTD rosette.

• After the stations with the desired criteria were chosen, we started to transit to each of the sites. Once a station was reached, members of both the crew and science party would look at the uncrewed fixed oil/natural gas platform that had been previously selected and decide if it was actually a safe place to dive off of. The safety of the structure was determined based on whether or not the safe boat (the small boat that would be used to motor divers to and from the dive site) would be able to tie off to it. 

• Once the platform was deemed safe, the science party, myself, and Maggie, my mentor, would check the ADCP data for how strong (and in what direction) currents were throughout the water column. We would also refer to the data that was being collected by the Knudsen Chirp (a type of echosounder) to see how deep the water was at these particular locations. 

• If currents were a safe speed, and the structure was safe to be tied to, we moved forward with the operation and would deploy the safe boat off the starboard side of Pelican. I helped with these deployments by running a tagline attached to either the bow or stern of the safe boat. 

The science party went through the stations sampled and picked sites based off of their oxygen and turbidity conditions, as well as their proximity to an uncrewed fixed oil/natural gas platform. The oxygen and turbidity conditions were measured using SBE 43 and transmissometer instruments attached to the CTD rosette.

After the stations with the desired criteria were chosen, we started to transit to each of the sites. Once a station was reached, members of both the crew and science party would look at the uncrewed fixed oil/natural gas platform that had been previously selected and decide if it was actually a safe place to dive off of. The safety of the structure was determined based on whether or not the safe boat (the small boat that would be used to motor divers to and from the dive site) would be able to tie off to it. 

Once the platform was deemed safe, the science party, myself, and Maggie, my mentor, would check the ADCP data for how strong (and in what direction) currents were throughout the water column. We would also refer to the data that was being collected by the Knudsen Chirp (a type of echosounder) to see how deep the water was at these particular locations. 

If currents were a safe speed, and the structure was safe to be tied to, we moved forward with the operation and would deploy the safe boat off the starboard side of Pelican. I helped with these deployments by running a tagline attached to either the bow or stern of the safe boat. 

 

The safe boat about to be deployed.

• After the safe boat was in the water, we would move it forward to the CTD deck and tie it off on cleats. Once it was secured, I would help load dive gear onto the small boat, and help the divers get in safely. 

• After everything (and everyone) was loaded, we would motor to the uncrewed fixed oil/natural gas platform, tie off to a piling, deploy the dive float, complete a safety briefing and go over dive plan, help the divers safely get into water, and hand them their gear.

After the safe boat was in the water, we would move it forward to the CTD deck and tie it off on cleats. Once it was secured, I would help load dive gear onto the small boat, and help the divers get in safely. 

After everything (and everyone) was loaded, we would motor to the uncrewed fixed oil/natural gas platform, tie off to a piling, deploy the dive float, complete a safety briefing and go over dive plan, help the divers safely get into water, and hand them their gear.

 

My view from the safe boat that shows us tied up to the piling of an uncrewed oil/natural gas platform, and the divers about to start their descent.

• While divers were down, Maggie and I kept watch for their bubbles to make sure that they were not drifting away from the structure.  

• Once the dive was completed, I helped divers load their gear and then get back into the safe boat. 

• We would then motor back to the Pelican, load dive gear back onto the back deck, and help the divers get out of the safe boat. Once the divers were safely back on the vessel, then I would get out and help with tag lining the safe boat back onto the back deck.

While divers were down, Maggie and I kept watch for their bubbles to make sure that they were not drifting away from the structure.  

Once the dive was completed, I helped divers load their gear and then get back into the safe boat. 

We would then motor back to the Pelican, load dive gear back onto the back deck, and help the divers get out of the safe boat. Once the divers were safely back on the vessel, then I would get out and help with tag lining the safe boat back onto the back deck.

I was very excited to be a small boat co-operator as I have not been a part of this type of operation on previous cruises. These operations allowed me to practice: unit conversions (converting between knots and meters per second), operating taglines, tying knots, and radio communication skills. I also learned a lot about the logistics behind– and execution of– scientific dive operations. 

Prior to this internship, I had only ever been on cruises that took place in the Northeast Pacific. Experiencing a different region of the ocean has been really fun. I had never seen oil rigs or so many large shipping vessels in person before. It’s a different world over here in the Gulf of Mexico!

The shelf-wide hypoxia cruise ended very early the morning of August 1st. It was cool to observe how the vessel gets tied up to the dock. There is a lot of communication and coordination that needs to happen before, during, and after this event happens. This was the first time I was able to see how a boat gets docked from the Bridge (where the Captain and Mate sit in order to operate the vessel), as well as watch the lines get thrown from the vessel to shore. After docking, we worked on demobilizing, as well as mobilizing for the next cruise. I helped with rigging and operating taglines on the equipment that was being offloaded. 

The science party departed the vessel at 08:00 CT on August 1st. From 08:00 to 14:00 CT, Maggie and I worked to address Wi-Fi network concerns, and practiced maintenance procedures for the CTD setup and Flow Through System to get them prepared for the next cruise. Alongside routine maintenance procedures, we also performed a Deck Test of the CTD as we had rearranged the instrument configuration. This was done because some sensors needed to be sent back to SeaBird, an oceanographic instrument manufacturer, to be recalibrated.  

After 14:00 CT, we made our way to Houma Bollinger Shipyards. To those who aren’t familiar, this is the shipyard where the new Regional Class Research Vessels (RCRV) are being built! The three ships in this fleet are: R/V Taani, R/V Narragansett Dawn, and R/V Gilbert R. Mason. It was incredible to see this project in real life. Having read and heard so much about this program and the vessels being constructed, I was in awe while seeing it in person. In fact, I have an RCRV shirt that I was given through my position at the Ocean Observatories Initiative’s (OOI) Coastal Endurance Array. I brought it with me in hopes that I would get a glimpse of the R/V Taani at some point. I did not imagine that I would be able to visit the shipyard, let alone tour the inside the vessel!!!!

I am so grateful to all of the folks that made this tour possible, especially Kristin Beem. Thank you for staying after your work day had ended to give us a tour. I am glad that I was able to meet you, you are a force in the field. All of the information that you gave my group about the capabilities of the RCRVs will stay with me for a long time. I’m excited for the future of ocean research, and hope that I will be able to sail aboard them one day. 

(I will try to make another blog post about what I learned on the tour itself! It will take me a while to write if it does happen:)). 

 

Looking at the bows of the R/V Gilbert R. Mason (left) and R/V Narragansett Dawn (right)! 

 

My RCRV shirt in front of the R/V Taani. (I don’t think I’ll ever get over being able to go and visit the R/V Taani while it was still under construction. It was an incredible experience!!
 

After an awesome port day of learning and visiting the shipyard where the RCRVs are being built, we completed the mobilization of the Pelican for the next cruise. 

During this process, I successfully imported the station coordinates from UNOLS Cruise Planner into the navigational software that both the crew and science party use. I was proud of myself for being able to apply this knowledge, as this was a process I learned during the last cruise.

This new science party is deploying acoustic moorings throughout the Gulf of Mexico with the overarching goal of gaining a better understanding of the underwater soundscape of the region. If you’d like to learn more about this project, you can check out their website: https://sioml.ucsd.edu/. 

We departed at 16:00 on August 2nd, the sunset as we left the dock was beautiful! 

 

The sunset on our way out of the Bayou and into the Gulf!

 

Next morning, the first recovery and deployment of the cruise was completed! I am excited to be learning more about deck operations during this cruise! 

 

This was the first mooring that we recovered for the trip.

 

I’m excited to see what I will learn on this next cruise, talk to you next week! 🙂

Yesterday, July 26th, marked my first week aboard the R/V Pelican. The first cruise I am participating in during the course of this internship is conducting a shelf-wide hypoxia survey whose data will help continue a time-series data set that was started in 1985! For those who aren’t familiar with the word “hypoxia”, it means “low oxygen”. So, this science group is tracking zones of low oxygen along the continental shelf in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The purpose of this time-series data set is to monitor the extent and severity of the summer hypoxic events that occur in this region. If you’d like to learn more about this project, you can do so through this website: https://gulfhypoxia.net/! 

So far, 101 stations have been completed. All of these stations have occurred in locations West of the Mississippi River.  As I write this, we are transiting to the stations and transect lines that are East of the Mississippi River. I have not been involved in all 101 stations, mind you. We are doing 24 hour operations, so myself, and two other Marine Technicians, Maggie and Susie, are working staggered shifts. I have been on shift for 52 of these stations. 

At each of these stations, a CTD cast was completed, as well as the deployment of a Niskin bottle with a EOX3 Multiparameter Sonde Instrument attached. 

A CTD cast is obtained using a CTD Rosette. On a CTD Rosette, a CTD instrument is housed in an instrument frame that also holds Niskin bottles. The CTD instrument collects the conductivity, temperature, and depth data of a water column. It can be outfitted with accessory instruments that measure other biological, chemical, and physical properties of the water. The Niskin bottles are used to collect water samples at certain depths within the water column. Niskin bottles can be manually or electronically closed to collect water at a certain depth in the water column being observed and measured. In the case of the Niskin bottles that are mounted on the CTD Rosette’s frame, they are electronically closed, or “fired”. This is done by hooking the elastic cords that are attached to the stoppers on both sides of the Niskin bottles to a central release mechanism. Each Niskin bottle has its own corresponding number that is identified in the computer program and, when “fired” the elastic cord is unhooked from the released mechanism and causes for the bottle to close, with the water inside. 

During CTD casts, I have been involved with the physical deployment and recovery of the equipment (i.e., putting it into the water, and then taking it back out of the water, and getting the equipment back on the boat deck)., as well as the electronic/computer operations needed. I have enjoyed becoming more familiar with the SeaSave software, as well as becoming better able to troubleshoot issues faced during CTD cast operations. 

Below is a series of pictures that will attempt to show what was described previously. From left to the right, the pictures are: The CTD Rosette, a close-up image of what the CTD instrument looks like (this specific model is the Seabird SBE 911Plus CTD), and the release mechanism for the Niskin bottles on the CTD Rosette.

On the left is a picture of the CTD Rosette being deployed, and on the right is a picture of the data that was being collected by the CTD Rosette (this water profile was super cool, it was stratified!):

Like what was stated earlier, Niskin bottles can also be “fired” manually. This is done using a weight that is attached to the winch line (the line that connects the equipment in the water to a system, a winch, that can bring the equipment back on deck safely) and throwing it down the line so that the weight will trigger a release mechanism similar to the one seen on a Niskin bottle rosette set up. Again, I am glad that I have become more familiar with the deployment and recovery procedures associated with Niskin bottles. 

The EOX3 Multiparameter Sonde is an instrument that the science crew brought with them, from my understanding, it’s like a small CTD. They are using this instrument to get oxygen concentration measurements closer to the seafloor than can be done with the CTD Rosette, also as a backup for the CTD Rosette if something were to happen.

Here is a picture of the Niskin bottle we have been using, I don’t have a picture of the EOX3 Multiparameter Sonde at the moment:

Also, at five of these stations, box core samples were also taken. A Box Corer is used to collect sediment samples (though, there are many methods and designs used to take sediment samples). This group will use the core samples to look at total and relative abundance of benthic infauna (organisms that live in the sediment on the ocean floor). Gaining experience with preparing the box core for deployment, deploying, recovering, and maintaining the equipment has been fun! 

Here is a picture of myself and one of the other Marine Technicians on board, Susie, deploying the Box Corer: 

Some other responsibilities I have while on shift include: monitoring the Flow Through system’s status, and turning off the water to the Flow Through when we get into really shallow water depths (< 5 m); making sure the ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler, these instruments are able to determine current speed and direction within the water column) is working well; monitoring the Knudsen Chirp’s accuracy (the Knudsen Chirp is what we use to measure the water depth, it uses sound waves to do this); update transit times on the Navigation software; monitor the Science Computer System (SCS) (the SCS is where all of the background data constantly being collected is displayed and stored); and monitoring internet usage and connection. It has been interesting to learn more about computer networking! 

In the next picture, you’ll see the monitors I use to monitor the computer network that displays the Flow Through, ADCP, Knudsen Chirp, SCS, Navigation software, and Wi-Fi network:

Besides the operations that I have been a part of during this cruise, I also helped with pre-cruise preparations and mobilization for this cruise. During my first morning aboard the R/V Pelican, I helped my mentor, Maggie, with preparing the flow through system, as well as the CTD with the correct instrument set up. I also learned how to add station points into the ship’s navigation program, and got to go out on the small boat that we have on board to learn how to run it! It was awesome to see a Louisiana bayou as I have never been here before!

Here is a picture of me adding a sensor to the CTD:

Here is a picture of me operating the small boat:

Of course, all of this has been related to the Marine Technician Intern role that I have been learning to fill. BUT, on transits and during my personal time on board, I have seen some cool stuff! Among the vibrant sunsets (when it hasn’t been overcast), there have been dolphins, and when we went into the Mississippi River, I got to see a phenomenon, where two water masses meet (in this case the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico), but have not mixed yet!

Here are some pictures of what I just described seeing during transits and my off times: 

Until next week! 

Athena 

(p.s., I am finding that communicating about what goes on during my day is quite difficult! There are a lot of moving parts and pieces (literally!), and a lot that goes on!)