Category: Vessel/Laboratory Page 73 of 89

Since my last report, we are currently steaming offshore to begin the final leg of the cruise. I have received a request, from one of the scientist, that had to depart from us following the 3rd leg of the cruise. He wanted me to try, and monitor the flow through system on the ship every 6 hours instead of once a day. In our transient back to port, I had discovered small organisms that had been trapped in the filter, of the ships flow through system. I collected them, and took them to Scott (the scientist on board that studies planktonic organisms). He put them under the microscope, and identified them as Pteropods, Limacina, Foraminifera, and Amphipods. He had a particular interest in the Pteropods, because he wants to conduct further studies on their abundance. The Pteropods play a major role in balancing ocean acidification. Scott stressed, that if these organisms were to disappear the levels C02 in our atmosphere could likely be effected. On this final cruise leg, I will be monitoring the filter for their presence, and record the Lat/Long, of the general area they were collected in.

On this final leg, of the cruise, we are getting the chance to perform more CTD cast. KG is allowing me to prepare the CTD for deployment, and record, as well as process the data. A salinity sample is also collected every 12-hour period. CTD cast were suspended through several days, of the cruise, due to sea state conditions. One of the important skills I have gotten the chance to assist with, is performing a termination on the EM cable and CTD unit. We had to re-terminate it, because the CTD jumped the sheave during a cast in rough conditions, and damaged the cable.

Things have been running smooth, so far on the final leg of the cruise. We will continue to alternate HAB CAM operations, with deploying dredges. Also, the science team has scheduled CTD cast at certain locations.

Till next time,

Chris Petroff

Pre-internship blog

By Gerardo Acosta

On June 19, 2016

In MATE Blog Archive, US Coast Guard, USCGC Healy

Hi my name is Gerardo Acosta, a student from Long Beach City College. I have been given this chance to participate in the MATE internship. This internship is a great opportunity and I intend to take full advantage of it. This is the first of my blogs that I will do throughout the two weeks I will be at sea on board the USCG Healy. To begin with, going into this internship I feel it to be a bit intimidating. The science coordinator, David and I had a phone call in which he briefly discussed my job on the ship. We talked for about thirty and while on the phone I typed notes on my laptop of the details about the job so that I can research specific components at a later time. When I talked with David, I was able to speak with Kyle Yusen who is the other intern that will be joining me on the cruise. Kyle Yusen sounded like a very intelligent and friendly person. I look forward to working with him on this cruise. David briefly explained to us the complex system of piping that Kyle and I will be working on. The components I will be working on for the ships vital information system that the crew needs in order to make decisions for navigation. The whole idea of this cruise seemed very intimidating for several reasons. One, the people I spoke with were well education and had lots of experience. The last reason is because the moment I learned that I received the internship, I researched the history, missions and accolades of Healy. I googled the name and clicked on the first Wikipedia page. The first sentence on Wikipedia read, “The United States’ largest and most technologically advanced icebreaker“. This gave me the idea that work here will be serious because one, I will be working with US coast guards, two, even if it’s just an internship I will need to give it my full attention to have correct data for the ships navigation, and three because I feel like I have a duty to do my job with zero mistakes to get our ship to safely cross the ocean. When I finished talking on the phone with David, I was under the impression that he had lots of experience and that if I had any question about the trip he would answer. Also, after telling my professor at Long Beach City College about this cruise, he told me to just focus on my work and try to get as much experience as I can in this trip and if I had any questions to no hesitate to call and ask him.

A few days later Nandita the MATE internship coordinator called me to conduct a phone interview and discuss the details of my flights and travel plans. Nandita was very helpful when it came to setting up travel plans. The plan is to leave from LAX to Honolulu and meet up with the rest of the team. Then conduct all emergency details required to be on the boat. Then, be on our way for our cruise and arrive at Seward Alaska. There, we take a train to Anchorage with Andrew Woogen and Kyle and then catch our individual fights back home. In this cruise I will give it my best and gain as much experience as possible to someday get that dream job.

After this cruise my goal is to use this experience to get a job in the field. Most importantly though, I will try and network with ship crew members to see if they would happen to know any opportunities to actually work with them and getting paid full time to conduct research on the ship. Over all though I think this will be an excellent work experience opportunity. My dream job involves doing something I love to do. Being able to travel the world while working in the field I studied is life goal.

BATS Cruise

By Mason Schettig

On June 16, 2016

In Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences & Arizona State University, MATE Blog Archive, R/V Atlantic Explorer

So after returning from our short one day cruise out to our hydrostation, we spend a couple days prepping everything up for our BATS cruise (Bermuda Atlantic Time Series). This is a 7 day cruise that takes place once a month and is one of the longest running oceanographic time series. So far we have been out 5 days and aside from a few minor set backs, everything has been running smoothly.

The first issue we encountered was an oxygen senor with our CTD. For some reason it would only work below 20 meter, and after tinkering with it we only made more issues trying to fix this one. After a while we called it a wrap and put the CTD back to its original setting and just left the issue to deal with at the dock because we did have a secondary sensor that worked just fine.

After a few days of deployments we encountered our second problem which was our COM7 winch that we were using to tow our MOCNESS. We were performing a test run without collecting samples and while we were towing the device back in our winch kept tripping its breaker and shutting off mid recovery. Luckily this was the test run and we did not deploy it too deep but it was an extended effort to get it back on board.

Aside from that the trip has been a great success. We’ve had a very successful MOCNESS operation were all 8 nets collected great data and with this particular device, that can be difficult. The MOCNESS is comprised of 9 nets that are triggered electronically to open one while closing another to collect plankton samples at varying depths.

Unfortunately this is my last blog because my internship will come to an end next Tuesday (June 21st). I wish I could stay much longer but am very grateful for the opportunity that I have been given to be an intern at BIOS (Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences). I have gained so much knowledge and experience in just the short 6 weeks that I have been here. I will attach a last picture when we make it to shore because it would probably take the rest of the trip to upload anyway haha.

All the best,

Mason Schettig

Week 4 Aboard the R/V sharp

By Chris Petroff

On June 14, 2016

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

Since I talked to everyone last, I received a great opportunity to go aboard the new research vessel, the R/V Neil Armstrong. KG, Chip, and myself were allowed to give ourselves a self-guided tour of the vessel, and had the chance to briefly talk to one of the technicians on board. We were also allowed in the warehouse to view the Alvin, and talk to one of technicians there as well. The Alvin is transported, and deployed from the R/V Atlantis, which was also in port at Woods Hole at the time.

Currently, we are out to sea on our third leg of the cruise plan. We have been using both the HAB CAM, and NOAA scallop dredge system for data collection. When the CAM is being towed, it allows for some free time, so I have continued to work on creating system schematics for KG. Also, we have spent some time trying to trace, and label the wire feeds, which run power to the deck lighting and doghouse locations. I also got tasked, with giving a tour below deck, to one of the scientist on board. He wanted to see the underway flow through, and how it worked.

I have really had a great experience aboard the R/V Sharp, so far. The crew has been great, and everyone on the science team is very nice as well. I have enjoyed talking to the science crew about their experiences, and backgrounds. Most of the science team is made up of NOAA, and Woods Hole employees. We will be making our way back to Woods Hole in a couple of days, to pick up a new group of scientist, for the final leg of the cruise. Hopefully, things will continue to run smooth, and on schedule, for the duration of their fisheries survey.

Till next time,

Chris Petroff

Back at it

By Elizabeth Ricci

On June 14, 2016

In Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences & Arizona State University, MATE Blog Archive, R/V Atlantic Explorer

Hello again!
I have finally returned from my hiatus back at home in Minnesota and
now come to you all the way from sunny Bermuda. Being home was quite
a nice and unexpected break, especially after nearly 7 weeks at sea on
my last cruise in Hawaii but it feels good to be back on the water
again. I am now aboard the R/V Atlantic Explorer (AE) where I will
finish out the last 3 months of my internship.

It has been really interesting to see all the differences between the R/V Kilo Moana (KM)
and this ship and the most obvious one is the size. The KM was very
distinct in that it was a double hulled ship which made it over twice
as wide as the AE. It could carry over 50 people (crew and
scientists), had a very spacious back deck, a large galley, big
storage spaces, etc. The AE has about half of all of those things
which has affected many different aspects of my time here already!
First and foremost of these is that I really haven’t been lost at all
on the ship (yay me!). I spent the first couple of weeks in Hawaii
trying to figure out the very bizarre layout of the ship. Even when I
knew my way around it pretty well I still managed to turn a corner
every now and then and end up someplace I didn’t even know was there!
So far I have found the layout here to be a little less confusing
which I am always a fan of.

   Another thing that is very different is the positioning of one of
the most commonly used pieces of equipment in oceanographic work: the
CTD. On the KM everything went into the water from the back deck
because of the ample space available there, the layout of the ship,
and because that is where the A-frame is. Here on the AE the CTD goes
into the water from the side of the ship. They have a large A-frame
across the back deck for most pieces of equipment, but they also have
a smaller A-frame and launching site along the starboard side that is
used basically just for the CTD. It calls for a little bit different
procedure for deploying the CTD than I was familiar with but it easy
to see how convenient it is to have an isolated position just for that
and how streamlined it makes the whole thing. It’s pretty nice and
definitely more to come about that.
         Already I have been out on a very short cruise to put some incubating
chambers into the water (they will stay out about month so we haven’t
recovered them yet) and done some CTD casts. This was basically a one
day cruise so we didn’t divide up the schedule into strict shifts like
we normally would have. Eventually most of us ended up being awake
all night doing CTD’s and wow was it intense. We were right on the
edge of a tropical storm and the waves were rocking. Also…another
minor difference that apparently has a big impact between ships is the
distance from the deck to the surface of the water. I would say the
KM had maybe 10-12 feet (ish) and the AE has maybe 2. The back deck
is considered a “wet deck” and boy was it ever. Waves came over the
side like crazy. One almost knocked me down and another one managed
to knock down another tech. The water just kept coming! It was hard
to deploy and recover the CTD because the waves were pretty large and
led to a ton of motion from the ship. Crazy adventure but I was
soaking wet by the end of it. Glad it was a short one?
      I will surely describe more differences and adventures as I go but I
will digress from that a little bit now. I want to show a little
appreciation to the people I have been so fortunate to meet so far.
The crew and scientists aboard the R/V Kilo Moana were SO good to me
for the whole time I was there. I was a little nervous to go into
this unknown world of marine technician-ing with no specific
background in it and very little direct experience and everyone
treated me so kindly and with ample amounts of patience. I learned
new things every day from the techs that were training me but also
from the AB’s that worked on the deck, the engineers that kept
everything running, the officers that ran the ship, and even the
scientists that were gathering samples. Amazing and wonderful people.
I have no doubt that I will get the same here in Bermuda. Already I
feel like a member of the team here and have been so welcomed! I
manage to feel a little bit more lucky every day.

Well I am currently on a cruise now and will fill you in more about it next week but for now that is all the time I have. More to come later!

Elizabeth

Pre-Internship – Post 1

By Kyle Yusen

On June 13, 2016

In MATE Blog Archive, US Coast Guard, USCGC Healy

I’m about a week away from flying out to Honolulu, Hawaii to board the USCG Healy. My trek will take me from Hawaii to Seward, Alaska and will last about ten days. Although this voyage is seemingly shorter than your typical internship, I look forward to learning and experiencing everything this opportunity has to offer. My internship is set to begin on June 20th and last until June 29th (give or take a day or two).

My case is no exception to the apparent norm for the first pre-internship blog post; as I too have been scrambling to make sure all the neccessary paperwork and forms are completed in a timely fashion. With that said, I finally feel like I have all my “ducks in a row” and can truly begin to gear myself for this fantastic opportunity.

In my next post I intend on hitting the nitty-gritty parts of my specific voyage and plan on getting more in-depth with my specific duties and experiences aboard the Healy. I must take a second to thank everyone who has helped me along the way and provided me support and guidance to make this dream of an opportunity come true.

I look forward to keeping everyone updated on my quest,

Kyle Yusen

Week 3 Aboard the R/V Sharp

By Chris Petroff

On June 9, 2016

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

This has been a very busy week aboard the R/V Sharp. The first couple of days on the 2nd leg of the cruise was spent running HAB CAM operations. I have been going over the ship’s weather system, winch system, VIDDS system, and Flow Through system with KG. My job has been to create schematics of each system in power point to update the ships manual. Also, every day I record the data from the underway system, and use a sling psychrometer to get a relative humidity reading. I have to change the filter on the flow through system, and give it a fresh water flush about every other day.

After the first couple of days on the cruise, the HAB CAM was recovered, and we jumped right into dredging. We have been working a busy schedule, averaging in the neighborhood, of one dredge every hour. The science team has set up dredge stations in protected areas, that are closed to fishing, as well as areas that are open to harvesting scallops. The science team records the scallop catches, as well as any predators that feed on scallops, such as sea stars and crabs.

I have enjoyed working on deck assisting in deploying and recovering the dredge, and after the dredge hits the deck, we help the science team sort through the catch. We have also performed CTD cast at some of the stations, and KG has allowed me to prep the CTD to enter the water, as well as work on the computer end of things in the tech lab.

Yesterday, I got the chance to assist with performing a termination to the EM cable that goes to the CTD. On the last cast attempt we made, the EM cable jumped the sheave, and damaged the cable, so we had to repair it.

We are currently in port at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and the next group from the science team are coming aboard. The weather offshore may keep us at the dock an extra day. If it does, we may get to tour the new research vessel the Neil Armstrong, which would be pretty cool.

Till next time,

Chris Petroff

Hydrostation Time!

By Mason Schettig

On June 9, 2016

In Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences & Arizona State University, MATE Blog Archive, R/V Atlantic Explorer

So this past week has been filled with lots of fine tuning to get everything ready for our trip to Hydrostation S which is part of BATS (Bermuda Atlantic Time Series). BATS is the longest oceanographic research time series in the world which is an awesome event to be a part of. Another MATE intern (Elizabeth) has hopped onboard so we have been running heavy with MT’s the past few days.

This past Tuesday we took off and made our way to the Hydrostation with the seas being a little rougher than normal. First deployment was a custom made incubator ran by a scientist from Old Dominion University. This device had many serenges that would draw water in with each on having different agents in them to give specific details of the water. It had a long line with a weight pulling the device down and an acoustic release for when they are ready to recover the device which will be June 30th. After making sure the device was on the bottom (talking to it through a transducer) we made a CTD cast to the bottom collecting water samples in our Niskin Bottles on the way up.

After the bottom cast we made a 3 hour transit to the hydrostation were we would spend most of our time. The longer the trip lasted, the worse the weather and sea conditions got. We made a hand full of CTD casts throughout the day getting plenty of water samples for the BIOS science team. Once we started working into the night it started getting really rough and wet on the deck. It was the first time I had seen our crew use three tag lines just for a CTD cast and it was completely necessary. When coming back to dock we had to make a special trip around the island and spend a day in St. George because it was to windy to come in through our normal channel. All in all it was a great experience working in those conditions, makes one really appreciate calm days.

Now we are getting ready for a 7 day cruise with the BATS team from BIOS and we will be taking off June 12th (Sunday). We have only minor preparations to touch on tomorrow and then we will be ready to rock in roll. After this I will only have one more blog but I love the crew here and am so happy I was given this opportunity to work with BIOS.

All the best,

Mason Schettig

The End or the Beginning?

By Hannah Klooster

On June 9, 2016

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

This is the last week of my internship experience aboard the R/V Sikuliaq. In fact, today we have left the Jason ROV’s worksites area and have now begun the last leg of our journey that started in San Diego and went up the west coast to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

There have been seven Jason dives on this trip. Due to the transformer breaking and also due to weather issues, the Jason group was not able to dive as many times as they wanted to. However, we were able to get other data, such as multiple CTD’s, Multibeam surveys, and underway data.

I have been assisting with the CTD deployments, XBT’s deployments, and an extra assistant for the Jason deployments. I have also learned how to monitor the data received from the sensors, sonars, and other instruments and how to tell bad/abnormal data from good/normal data. I have learned many other things as well, such as; basic maritime knots, how to create a water-tight cable splice, and how to manage and save data. I was even able to fly the Jason around for a little while (picture attached below).

This experience has taught me more than just technical skills. It has taught me about living life on the water and the pros and cons of it. It has also taught me how to live and work well with many other people all stuck together in one 216 foot long space. It has been a great learning experience that I couldn’t have gained in many other places.

I am quite saddened to be going home and having to end this awesome experience. Despite the issues with the Jason ROV, this cruise went very well. No one was injured, there were no major issues on board, and everyone seemed to have a great time.

Despite the fact that I will be boarding a plane and going home in two days’ time, I know that this is an experience that I will carry with me and that will influence my life for many years to come. It is the end of this cruise and of this internship, but it is only the beginning of my career on the water. I am truly honored to have been given this wonderful opportunity to be a part of this R/V Sikuliaq cruise. It has been quite the adventure!

-Hannah Klooster

A Quick Update

By Hannah Klooster

On June 4, 2016

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

The Jason ROV is all fixed and ready to go! We left Newport, Oregon, yesterday morning at 11:00 am and reached station for the Jason ROV’s worksite 01 around 4:30 pm yesterday afternoon. The Jason’s first dive took place at 4:00 am this morning. Before it was deployed, the Jason group had to calibrate the USBL on the centerboard deployed underneath the ship using triangulation.

The Jason ROV is bigger than any ROV I have personally worked with before, so it was quite exciting to be a part of. The live feed of the Jason’s cameras are broadcasted on multiple different televisions throughout the ship, so everyone can watch what’s happening. It is all quite incredible to finally see everything working.

– Hannah Klooster