Category: R/V Atlantis Page 5 of 10

The first of Sentry’s dives was one of two “engineering dives” meant to ensure that all of our instruments were behaving as expected before any scientific data was collected. Before this first dive, I put the remaining skins on the vehicle and dummy cables on its chargers before I watched as the team took it out of its cradle and a crane lowered it into the water. I really hoped to see a whale on this trip and actually got to see one right before this first dive, setting a good precedent for our operations. I reassembled the cradle as Sentry descended and then took my first shift on watch. We have to take note of things like the vehicle’s position, velocity, heading, and battery percentage every fifteen minutes, as well as the time of any abnormal behavior or commands we send to it to be referred to when looking back at the data. When I was relieved from watch, I got to take my first break until Sentry began its ascent. One of the members of the crew was responsible for connecting the forward tagline as the crane pulled the vehicle up from the surface and I got to be involved in the recovery by grabbing the pole from them once this line was secure. During the post-dive maintenance, I comped and bled the servos, junction boxes, and thrusters and replaced one of the burn wires, which are a last-resort method of dropping Sentry’s weights to bring it back up to the surface.  

I helped conduct each element of the deck test before the second engineering dive, which is a test of Sentry’s various components before its mission. I had taken part in this in the previous dive but felt like I was finally able to get a good understanding of everything that was going on. We transmit a specific frequency to each of the two acoustic releases and listen for a chime to indicate that it was received. The drop motors must be visually inspected to ensure that they are free from any wires so that weights can be released without obstruction, and must hold in place when commanded to do so. The servos in the wings can be controlled either by a remote control called a “joybox” or by commands from inside. The joybox is used to back the vehicle up to the side of the boat as it is being recovered so that it can be secured by the taglines and crane. Using each method of control, we command the wings to assume various positions and watch to make sure that they respond to this sequence without exceeding each orientation and that the propellers are spinning in the correct directions. Lastly, we measure the voltage on the burn wires and load the weights. I get so excited when I see marine life and we saw a sunfish while we were conducting these tests! Before each dive, we also go through a pre-dive routine, which involves enabling the iridiums and strobes, unplugging the charging cables, connecting the hoses for the cooling system, putting the vehicle’s skins on, and removing the straps that secure it to its cradle. After we launched, I had my first solo watch shift. Upon recovery, when the vehicle was secured in its cradle, we carried out the post-dive tasks. We return it to shore power, switch it over to ethernet, reconnect the cooling lines to the hoses on the ship, and power off the strobes.

On the day of the first science dive, I got to sleep in for the first time and it felt so nice to be well-rested. I felt like I had begun to fall into a routine with the pre and post-dive so I could be more helpful and perform tasks without instruction. We added a few extra sensors for the scientists and compensated for this change in weight before performing the deck test. Usually, Sentry is used for seafloor mapping, but on this trip, we are collecting various data over hydrothermal vents. It is designed to stay a certain altitude above the seafloor, but for this objective, we wanted to command it to hold a certain depth below the surface instead. Because of this, there were many points where Sentry’s acoustics could not reach the seafloor, and we lost what they call “bottom lock”. The software in the vehicle would then lose its trackline and begin to ascend, so the person on watch had to send a series of commands from the surface to combat this.

The science dives are 24 hours long, so every day we will alternate between having missions from noon to noon and from midnight to midnight. When we launch at noon, my watch shift is from 8am to noon, and when we launch at midnight, my shift will be from 8pm to midnight, so I am always working during Sentry’s ascent. My first watch shift was much more involved than is typical, as was expected due to the constant loss of bottom lock. The team had come up with a solution where we could push the vehicle back towards its trackline with a series of shift commands to keep it inside an envelope of altitude and depth. I lost bottom lock a few times on my shift, but was able to follow this sequence and keep everything under control. At the very end of my watch, the commands to keep depth stopped working, so I was instructed to abort the mission early and went outside to help with recovery. When the vehicle was secure, I came back inside and asked the software engineer if I could watch his post-dive tasks such as securing power and communications and recovering all of the collected data. I was really interested in these “inside operations” and asked to continue to shadow him when I was not needed outside. Once all of the data was downloading, he told me it would be a bit of a long wait, so I went down to the gym for the first time. It was really nice to relieve some stress but, while it does add an element of fun, running on a treadmill while the boat is rolling was very disorienting. I did some yoga as well, but keeping my balance was even harder. When I returned, I helped test a pump for a methane sensor that a scientist wanted to add to the vehicle for the following dive. It wasn’t working on our vehicle power, but she was able to connect it to another one of their instruments and get enough power that way and we deployed again at midnight.  

When the vehicle is in the water, the days are more relaxed. I had been given a project that would allow us to better predict when the weather would be too severe to launch by monitoring the disparities between different forecasts and the actual conditions, so I began to think about how I wanted to execute that. This became more intriguing as we awaited an approaching storm. While I was working, I got a message that someone had seen dolphins outside and ran out in the rain to watch them. There were about seven of them playing right up next to the boat and it was a kind I had never seen before. They were so tiny and cute. I came down to the lab for my 8pm watch shift, but things were really hectic as Sentry was failing to follow its desired path. I watched for a while as this was troubleshot, but they were not confident that their commands were successful, so they aborted early and I eventually took over to monitor the ascent. The weather had started to worsen and the science team still needed to launch a CTD, so this ended up being a good decision all around. Because I was already on watch, I got to carry out the inside operations for recovery and really enjoyed being more involved in the software side of things again. This time, I stuck around as the data came in and it was actually really cool because I got to briefly see each Matlab plot pop up before the successive one did, giving me a much better idea of what the science party is using Sentry to measure.

The next morning, we cleaned up the deck in anticipation of the incoming storm. I decided to do my calculations of the offset between weather reports on Matlab and began to input my data and write that script until the waves began to increase in height and I started to feel seasick. I got off my computer and joined the people working outside, who were preparing for the installation of a water sampler called SUPR. We began some tests, but there appeared to be a ground issue so the scientists took SUPR back inside and we started to set up its tubing. Being outside was not helping much, so I went down to take a nap and woke up feeling a lot better. Because the weather didn’t allow us to launch that day, a few people gathered in the lounge for a movie night.

The wind is continuing to pick up, so we refrained from launching once again today. I started my day by inputting some new data into my weather script and then did my laundry. I returned to the lab to see if I could help anyone, but because SUPR was still being fixed and the weather was so poor, there was no work to be done. I went down to the gym and rejoined everyone for dinner. Tomorrow will most likely be a lot like today, but we hope to launch again when the weather subsides on Sunday.

I made it! After a few delays from the hurricane in California, I flew into Portland and stayed in an airport hotel for the night. The next morning, I met up with the Sentry Team in the lobby to drive down to Astoria together. We stayed one more night in a hotel there before boarding the Atlantis.

The crane we were meant to use broke down, so we had a bit of delay getting our equipment on the boat. I got to watch the team’s software engineer update Alvin’s GUI while we waited, which was really interesting to me because it closely aligned with the work I’d been doing back home. I also unpacked my room and got a tour of the boat. Seeing how big it is really calmed my nerves and I got even more excited for the weeks ahead. To make better use of our time, we ended up carrying a lot of our things onto the ship, but eventually Sentry and the vans made it on with a new crane.

Once we had everything we needed, we unpacked our lab and set up the equipment. My first mechanical task was to connect and test the hoses for Sentry’s cooling system. I also put batteries into the beacons and strobes and cleaned their o-rings. We ended the day with dinner on shore and a quick stop at a department store before returning to the boat for our first night sleeping on board.

The next morning, I wiped our drives and assembled Sentry’s recovery poles. The stores came in, so we formed an assembly line to get the food from the freight elevator to the fridge/freezer/pantry. Everyone on board has some really cool stories from other research cruises and I had a great time chatting with them and getting to know everyone between loads.

When that was finished up, I comped and bled Sentry’s servos, junction boxes, and thrusters. Bleeding for air is necessary because any air in the lines would compress upon descent, potentially allowing seawater into the system. I also installed the wings as well as the beacons and strobes I had assembled the previous day. We took a break from working on the vehicle for an orientation meeting to discuss life on the boat and to meet all of the scientists. Afterwards, my roommate and I secured the van for sea. This turned out to be very hard work with so many heavy boxes, but by the end, I felt like I had finally familiarized myself with the layout of the boat.

We set sail around 10:00 this morning. I was really worried about getting sea sick, but (knock on wood) the water has been relatively calm. My chief complaint is that I wore one of those behind-the-ear patches and must have accidentally touched it and then touched my eyes in my sleep last night because I’ve barely been able to see all day. My pupils are enormous. While I was fine helping with mechanical things, I couldn’t read anything for the life of me and it was very unsettling. 

The electrical engineer on the team taught me how he pots cables and I ballasted Sentry with lead weights. We also participated in a safety orientation and drill for emergency ship abort procedures. I was shown the emergency exit closest to my room, which happens to be through the engine room, so I got to briefly see that. I also installed Sentry’s propellers and learned how to tie up taglines. 

We did a deck test that involved turning the beacons on and off, using a controller to test the propellers/wings, and checking the drop weight triggers. The day culminated in a meeting where the scientists shared their goals for the trip and I have a much better understanding of our mission now. Yesterday was a very long day so we’re turning in early tonight, but we’ll be up bright and early for Sentry’s first dive tomorrow!

Hi! My name is Haley and I’m going to be graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara in June. I am studying mechanical engineering and am interested in developing underwater vehicles and oceanographic instruments. 

I am flying into Oregon on Monday to meet up with WHOI’s Sentry Team and board the R/V Atlantis. We will be at sea from Wednesday the 23rd until September 17th supporting research on the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents. We will first collect CTD profiles directly over the two sites to calculate the heat output at each vent and to collect plume samples. Once that data has been recorded, we will deploy AUV Sentry to survey the area around the sites. 

I have gained some experience with this equipment working with the Coastal Oceanography and Autonomous Systems Lab at my school. Our most recent project culminated in a trip to Maryland to conduct field work with our AUV on the Chesapeake Bay. This was my first experience working on a research vessel and I loved every minute of it, but we were only at sea during the day so my trip with the Sentry Team will be my first time living aboard one. I’ll attach some pictures from that trip!

Hey all, this is Mija Wheeler from the RV Atlantis with the Alvin Crew. Since my last post, the R/V Atlantis had the opportunity to host distinguished visitors from ONR, NavSea, the National Science Foundation, and WHOI. During this time, the Alvin Ops team was doing two “bounce” dives daily for a total of three days. This means that once the sub is in the water, there was usually about 30-45 minutes before the A-Frame (or the device that is used to hoist the sub off deck and into the water) had to start its warmups again. I’ve included a picture of the A-frame in action.

It’s safe to say that as tiring as the bounce dives were, the robust efficiency of the Alvin Ops team and the Atlantis crew were on point during this trip. I think one of the highlights of talking to the distinguished visitors was learning about all the opportunities that WHOI and the various government departments have for interested students. Another fun highlight is that during the required safety briefing with all the new people on the ship, I was pulled up as the practice dummy for putting on the emergency evacuation suit! So, I have included some silly photos of me being strapped into what I’ve been told is called the Gumby suit and attempting to do a shaka!!

Once we dropped the distinguished visitors off in San Diego, we left port the next morning on a transit cruise to Astoria, Oregon. At the time of writing this, we have been in transit for approximately 3 days and have experienced a couple of days of mildly rough weather to the point where we had to officially “secure for sea”.

Shortly after leaving San Diego, before leaving California waters, we made a quick stop to recover an errant elevator that was unable to be recovered from a science cruise on another ship a couple of years ago. Outside of that, transit hasn’t been busy, so I spent some time talking to the data people to learn more about how operational data from Alvin is processed and plotted for human use. I think I might even get to learn a bit of Linux so I can attempt to make my own so I’m very excited for the coming weeks.

Till then, aloha!! 

Hey all, this is Mija Wheeler aboard the R/V Atlantis from the Alvin Submersible Operations Crew. There was no post last week because the flu went around the ship which inevitably resulted in several members of the Alvin Ops Crew (including myself) being out of commission for about half the week. Thankfully, no one tested positive for Covid so for all things considered, I’m still in good spirits.

Since my last post, we have officially completed my first science research expedition and demobilized in San Diego.  During this cruise, I was charged with the setup and operation of two deep water underwater cameras called MISO cameras, which are effectively Go-Pros and an external battery inside a water-proof stainless steel casing. During this trip, I used these cameras to capture video footage of all the dives from the perspective of the right manipulator arm and take images from the brow of the sub every 5 seconds. The scientists used all the pictures to create a Timelapse of the dive, so that at the end of every dive they could have a 2-minute video to show all the surface members what happened over the course of the 5-hour dive.

Currently, I don’t have any of the MISO camera photos saved to my hard drive, but I did get some pictures of the animals and bacteria that were pulled up from the bottom of the ocean. I have included my favorite below.

With nearly half of my internship complete, I can confidently say I’ve had the time of my life and have learned so much. I’m excited to see what new things I learn or see next week, till then ALOHA!

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Hey all this is Mija Wheeler, I’m the MATE Intern aboard the R/V Atlantis working under the Alvin Submersiable Operations Team. At the time of writing this, we have been at sea for going on the 3rd day coming out of port from San Diego, California with a science party from CalTech and the University of Santa Barbra. 

What I’ve gathered from the scientists so far is that the goal of the expedition is to study invertebrates, bacteria, viruses, substrate, and the general composition of the water column near Methane seeps located approximately 1000 meters down. Using the Alvin Submersible, alongside the accompanying elevator, scientists have so far uncovered several rocks, sediment samples, and some bacteria; they’ve also found some neat crabs, sea worms, and sea spiders that were found at these dive locations. 

As an intern with Alvin, the last couple days has been a whirl wind of learning and experiencing new things. Outside of learning the launch and recovery process of the submarine, I’ve been having a blast talking to the scientist in my free time to see first hand what was being pulled up. I could go on and on but my break is about to end and I have to get ready to go help with the recovery of the sub.

Aloha all!

My name is Mija Wheeler. I’m starting my third year as a Computer Engineering major attending the University of Hawai’i at Manoa in my hometown of Honolulu, Hawai’i. 

I initially learned programming from my experience in high school robotics. Having grown up going to the beach and hiking,  I wanted to learn more about the application of technology in terms of environmental research when I graduated high school. 

So in my first semester of college, I landed an internship at a local marine conservation non-profit called Malama Maunalua. During my year with them, I got the wonderful opportunity to build and program low-cost marine habit cameras which have since been used to study coral nursery beds, invasive algae, and sea urchins.

I’m excited about the chance to work as a short-term intern with the Alvin Team aboard the R/V Atlantis this coming July to learn more about the technology used in environmental research.

Our last full day offshore was on August 10th. I shadowed Corey, an Oiler, on his morning rounds and got to see the engine room. The interns and I spent time cleaning things up and getting ready for land the next day. It was easy to tell that everyone was getting excited to be back on land. The next day I saw the first sight of land, Nomans land, around breakfast. The fog was heavy coming into Woods Hole, so heavy that I couldn’t see boats approaching and passing us until they were 30 feet away. We arrived at the pier around 1330, where a large crowd gathered to greet Atlantis back home. I recognized some of the people on the pier as those who had traveled with us from Anacortes to San Francisco. One of them was the lead scientist who had worked on the EK80 and multibeam, Jennifer. She showed us around the town of Woods Hole, it was very small but had history. Everyone on the ship ended the work day early and we all spent the evening enjoying the solid ground again. 

The rest of the week we did more cleaning, moving totes, helping people move things in and out of the office, and we got a tour of the Alvin on Friday! The Alvin is bigger than I imagined. It was really cool to see her deconstructed with all the electrical panels and wires out. The pilot who showed us around said that the Alvin should be done within a week and then it’ll be brought back on board the Atlantis. 

Bella, a fellow intern, and I took Saturday and Sunday off so we could see more of the town and visit Martha’s Vineyard. We took the ferry Saturday and spent most of the day on the MV Island. We saw the cookie cutter houses, the flying horses carousel, and more “The Black Dog ” shops than I have ever seen in one day. The weather was great and admittedly it was nice to have a day off after working for 33 days straight. On Sunday we visited The Kobb, a local lookout over Buzzards Bay and Quissett Harbor. We went swimming and ate lunch in Woods Hole, then I spent the rest of my day relaxing and finalizing all my traveling plans. 

It was back to work on Monday, unloading a container ship and moving around more furniture and securing 2 more Lista cabinets. That evening I went for a walk to Nobska beach and the lighthouse which had a beautiful view. Tuesday was my last day of work, and that morning Bella, Catie, and I mounted a hive, put on harnesses and climbed to the very top of the ship to look at the satellite on the mast. We could see all of Woods Hole from up there and it was an incredible view. After lunch David gave Bella and I a tour of WHOI. We started at the Alvin, then saw the scuba center, then the metal and welding workshop, a gift shop and visitors center, the compression chambers, and then we walked through the AUV Lab. It was great to see more of WHOI and learn more of its history. After the tour I spent the rest of my day packing and cleaning my room. 

On day 37 I ate breakfast with the crew, said my goodbyes and took the bus to Boston at 0800. Although I am excited to get back home and see my loved ones and sleep in my own bed, I am also low spirited to be leaving such a great group and great ship. Knowing there is a chance I might not work on that ship again, or with that crew is a sad thought to me, but I am also keeping in mind that there is still always a chance that I will. I reached Boston around 10, I dropped off my bags at my hotel and I went into the city. I visited museums and the aquarium, and I determined that Boston is way too big of a city for me. 

This morning I flew back home to North Carolina. Today is officially my last day of the internship and I have come home with no regrets. I feel that I took advantage of every opportunity and put my best foot forward in all situations. I am proud of the work I accomplished, what I learned during my time on the ship and I am so thankful for everyone who contributed to that. I am walking away with more seamanship experience, knowledge of research vessels, and a more thorough appreciation of all the work that has to be put into one. This was a valuable, rewarding and worthwhile experience that I will remember for a long time and carry forward with me. 

It’s been a pleasure-

Grace M. Fulton

Heavy fog entering Woods Hole

The HOV Alvin

The R/V Atlantis from the ferry to Marthas Vineyard

View from the Knob

The Lighthouse at Nobska Beach

Climbing to the top of the mast, standing right under the satellite located inside the big while sphere. 

The morning of my departure.

It has been absolutely busy, but hearing that land was near gave us something to work harder for!

Since our internship is coming to a close with Woods Hole drawing near, we have upped our work to double time! Trying to get s much stuff done and scrambling to find anything we can perfect before our arrival for all those folks waiting to see the R/V Atlantis since it has been dry docked for the better part of a year and retrofitted with brand new equipment. Working with SSSG (both Allison and Chris) has given me such confidence with working with so many different tools, I feel like I can take this knowledge and apply it to things in my future. One thing is particular I am excited to try applying what I picked up and learned from the internship is creating my very own live-in van and customize it myself for all my traveling needs.

I am sad to be leaving everyone and the boat, a place I dedicated a month and a week, but happy for the opportunity to work alongside some very dedicated and hard working people, seeing all the sights that I would have never had the opportunity to do otherwise, and making long lasting connections. I hope that in the near future I would have the opportunity to do another internship to be able to work on more research vessels, or better yet see if any employment opportunities come up that fulfill everything I wish to dedicate myself to the scientific community.

A safety test conducted at sea before our arrival, all with expired safety equipment. Never fired off a flare, was pretty exciting!

Came by some drifting hardware that attracted an ecosystem of fish, including these mahi-mahi! They’re such beautiful fish, just amazing. Truth be told, I did feel a bit sad but at the same time the cook on board utilized both the whole fishes. Fillets taken, roe collected, and bones acquired for a great stock.

Obligatory fish photo, the bull was me sized!

One of the last sunsets I was able to enjoy before woods hole

The welcome we got when we arrived! Not pictured was the fanfare of boat horns also welcoming us  in.

It is day 28 on the Atlantis. We have spent the past 5 days going through the Caribbean Sea into Florida. 3 days ago we passed Cuba and we were close enough to see it in the distance. The water is a beautiful deep blue and the air is hot and humid. Since we entered the Bermuda triangle I swear the stars are shining a little brighter than normal. Most of my jobs this week were setting up benches, securing drawers, installing floating cabinets and moving around other various furniture. The lab spaces are starting to actually come together, and once we finish with the furniture we can actually unpack totes and put things away. However there is still a lot that needs to get done before we can do that. We also had a safety meeting a few days ago where we were allowed to shoot off expired flares and smoke signals off the stern. I haven’t had hands-on experience with any flares prior so it was beneficial to see them in action and learn how to set one off in case of emergency. 

Earlier today we reached a buoy off the coast of NC which marked a good fishing spot, so we stopped and cast a line or two. It didn’t take long for 2 Mahi to get hooked on the lines at the same time. They pulled them in, gutted them and gave them to the cook. We will likely have mahi for dinner tomorrow. 

We are supposed to reach Woods Hole on the 11th, that’s 2 days away! I am excited to get back on land and see the area. I am also looking forward to finally seeing the Alvin!  

Until next time-