My first week aboard Healy has come and gone, and a lot has happened. Our departure from Dutch Harbor was delayed by a day due to bad weather, but it soon passed and we could leave port. The STARC technicians showed me around Healy, and after a few days I could confidently navigate around the ship. After leaving port, Healy headed north towards the operations area, where we would be recovering submerged moorings and performing surveys. There was plenty to do in the days leading up to our arrival in the operations area. I spent the time reading up on the ship’s installed equipment, continuing the Niskin bottle lanyard project started by the previous interns, and taking pictures outside the ship. I even snapped a photo of Big Diomede, a Russian island, in the distance as we transited through the Bering Strait. Considering the time of year, the weather has not been too bad. However, it has been very cold since we left Dutch Harbor, and at several points there was snow collecting on the deck. Interestingly, the ship’s time was shifted back by two hours to better align normal working hours with the limited daylight. I’m not going to complain, since this effectively gave me two extra hours of sleep.
Early this morning, we reached our operating area for this cruise, and the scientists could begin their operations. They started the day by triangulating the location of some of their moorings. The scientists needed to take multiple range measurements at several points around each mooring, and I was given the opportunity to help. I operated the deck box used to interrogate the moorings’ acoustic releases. We used the box to send acoustic signals through one of the Healy’s transducers, and the mooring would respond with its own signal. The box would measure the time between these signals and use the known speed of sound through the water to calculate a range to the mooring. Although the deck box amplified the response signals, it wasn’t necessary for us to be able to hear them. The box’s transmissions and the moorings’ responses came clearly through the hull. It was very strange to hear what sounded like a giant telephone being dialed somewhere in the ocean. Although this system worked very well for multiple moorings, one of them gave us trouble. Unlike the others, this mooring would not send the correct response when interrogated, so the deck box could not provide a range value. However, we found that we began to receive return pings from “something” near that mooring’s expected location when we tried again from farther away. There may be hope for this mooring yet.
My first week as an intern has been very enjoyable. I am fascinated by what I have seen so far on this cruise, and I’m looking forward to the next week aboard Healy.
Photo credit: Kristin Beem