So the last cruise didn’t go so well. Once again there was a lot of time spent just waiting around for science to need me. And the chief scientist on this particular cruise was like that one customer that no matter what you do, they are never happy. I guess that is part of the learning experience, though.
The last cruise consisted of more CTD casts and the over the side deployment of the science teams FIRe. The FIRe is an instrument that determines the health of an organism (phytoplankton) by measuring it’s fluoresence. We spent most of our time anchored just south of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It was monotonous and boring but at the same time, I am now an expert at doing CTD casts!
The last few days were spent about 137 miles offshore just past the continental shelf in over 2500 meters of water. There we tried to do several casts at varying depths. First at 50 meters, then down to 750, then 2500. During the 750, the termination failed at about 500 meters. We brought it up and reterminated. The next cast was a success. Unfortunately, the 2500 meter attempt ended in failure as well. This time though, it wasn’t the termination. It stopped reading at a certain depth but then continued as we brought it up. We are pretty sure it has something to do with a faulty cable and extreme pressure. They will have to do further investigation to figure this one out.
Back at the dock in Lewes, DE. We spent the day getting the ship ready for the next cruise and I helped Ted reinstall the ship’s ADCP after two weeks of being out of service. I have only slept about 6 hours or so in the last three days so this blog will have to remain short once again. I’ve learned a lot over the last few weeks and will be walking away from this experience confident that I can do this job. This time tomorrow I will be sitting in my new house finally able to get some much needed rest.
Signing off…