Hi everyone!
This past week has been great! Picking up where I left off- on Sunday (4/3) we returned to port. The science party departed and by Monday all of their gear was offloaded from the ship. Sunday evening, I hung out and relaxed with my mentors and the crew, as we were all tired from the rough cruise we had just completed. Due to the poor conditions, the chief scientist decided to end the cruise early, so getting back to port on Sunday was two days earlier than the schedule. On Monday, I got some extra rest and did a couple small projects. In the morning, I installed and wired a small video camera in the main lab to help the SSSGs relay information to the scientists on the cruise website. In the afternoon, I cleaned the pCO2 filter and replaced bottles on the CTD rosette. Six of the 24 Niskin bottles had been temporary removed for the previous cruise so that ADCP instruments a scientist personally brought on board could be accommodated inside the CTD frame. Once those extra instruments we removed, there was room to replace the Niskin bottles. It was beautiful weather on Monday, so I took full advantage. Once everyone was done working for the day, I went out for a walk around Woods Hole. It was amazing to finally get the lay of the land that I had heard so much about. I first set out to a nearby beach. On my way I saw other scientific buildings including the NOAA Fisheries building and the Marine Biological Lab that is affiliated with the University of Chicago. Then I made a big loop through the neighborhood and came out on the other side where people first arrive at the waterfront. I saw more WHOI buildings and activity as I returned to the ship. It felt wonderful to get fresh air and some steps in. It was also awesome to finally spend time in town since we went out to sea for the first cruise quickly after my arrival in Woods Hole. The town of Woods Hole is incredibly charming, and I feel very lucky to be participating on cruises that start and finish at the WHOI dock. I am also very glad to have experienced the area in such nice weather- I hope to come back and visit with my family someday soon!
Walking around Woods Hole on a beautiful day
On Tuesday, Croy got me started on a project related to the day before. Now that the CTD was full of bottles, I was to replace the pieces of the fishing wire lanyards that help hold the bottles open before they are triggered to close. Although I had made new long pieces during the previous cruise, the top and bottom caps have separate lanyard pieces that required four crimps. Although the project was straightforward and enjoyable, it was time-consuming. I made sure each piece was the correct length so that the bottles have the right tension when cocked open. I worked throughout the day on this project and then enjoyed having dinner with Emily, Croy, and several members of the crew. It has been a lot of fun getting to know members of the crew and talking to them about their at-sea experiences and travel.
Measuring, cutting, and crimping fishing line to create the new CTD lanyards
On Wednesday, I worked in the CTD hanger again, finishing the installation of the lanyards on the CTD. This allowed me to view the preparations for the upcoming cruise. Large OOI buoys and gliders started being loaded on to the Armstrong. I had seen lots of pictures of the OOI buoys before, so it was a neat experience to see them get loaded on to the back deck of the ship. They are huge in person and have a variety of atmospheric and surface ocean instruments as well as solar panels to provide energy throughout the mooring they are attached to. In the afternoon one of the science party members, Dave, helped me cock all the bottles and adjust them to an optimum tension when they are open. Dave has years of experience working with CTDs so it was great to learn the best way to properly work with the bottles (it’s very important to make sure the caps are never slammed closed while the bottles are empty because it can crack them) and organize them on the rosette so that they are spaced efficiently. As work started slowing down in the late afternoon, I met up with a family friend, Pat, that lives near Woods Hole. It was wonderful to meet her and learn more about the area from a local’s perspective. She has known my mom and grandma for over 50 years, so I appreciated connecting with someone with close ties to my family. My mentors encouraged me to give a ship tour, so with the captain’s approval, I gave Pat a tour and it was a lot of fun. It was a perfect way to relax and reset before the upcoming cruise.
First time fully cocking the entire rosette of Niskin bottles after attaching new lanyards
On Thursday, I worked on another computer project. Once again, I reconfigured an old computer that wasn’t being used. I changed the computer from running Windows to Linux. Then, I added a program called OpenCPN. This open-source program is a mapping/charting program that can be used to track the ship and draw in waypoints on a map view. The computer is now hooked up to the network so Emily and Croy can view it from their computers in the tech shop. They had access to the program before, but it was not very efficient, so now it will run more smoothly. I rested up the rest of the evening and got prepared for an early departure time the next morning.
On Friday (4/8) at 9:00 AM, we got underway. There was thick fog as we pulled out of Woods Hole. But once we passed Martha’s Vineyard, it burned off. Passing Martha’s Vineyard also meant that the waves were inevitably larger. It was still a bumpy ride as the ship went back and forth and side-to-side a good bit. But, thankfully, it was a lot less choppy than last cruise. The sunny weather conditions made it pleasant to get fresh air out on the decks. Lots of fresh air and the timely administering of sea sickness meds (based on what I learned last trip) helped me make it through the entire day without any severe seasickness symptoms. The schedule also played to my advantage. During the day we transited to our first station which will be our farthest station from shore. During the transit, I was able to rest, get acclimated, and regain my sea legs before starting work. Once we reached the station at about 8:00 PM, operations began. First, I watched gliders deployments over the side by the OOI team. After 3 gliders we deployed, I helped Croy with a CTD cast. It was my first official non-troubleshooting CTD cast. The CTD worked properly and I learned the protocols for each CTD cast. After the CTD cast pwas complete, I filled up five 5-gallon plastic carboys with seawater from the underway system in the ship’s main lab. The task was assigned to me because the scientist from MIT in need of the samples was not onboard for this cruise. It was a cool experience to directly help a scientist obtain research samples.
Late night CTD cast on Friday
Early Saturday morning, deck operations continued. I helped Emily prepare USBL tracking beacons. The beacons will be used on Tuesday when the Seaeye ROV Falcon will be operated. We made sure the beacons were fully charged and noted their identifying number so we will know which one is which when they are used with the ROV. The science party deployed one of the large OOI buoys along with attached line and a package of instruments used as an anchor to create a mooring in conjunction with the floating buoy at the surface. After that, I helped Emily upload the feed from the camera I installed last Monday onto the website so science party members can access the information anytime during the cruise. In the evening, another glider was deployed followed by a CTD cast at 6:00PM. After three CTD casts, I have started to internalize the process. In the coming days, I will have the opportunity to lead the CTD deployments which I am excited (and a bit nervous) about. Science operations resumed early yesterday morning as one more of the remaining buoys/moorings were deployed as well as two gliders. We have one more buoy to deploy before others are recovered. The amount of equipment being deployed and recovered on this cruise exceeds the amount of space the ship offers so the cruise will be broken into two legs with a day in port in between. I am looking forward to the rest of this first leg and I am excited to keep learning and sharing more of my experiences in the days to come.
Until then!
Thanks for reading,
Tyler
Helping Dave (WHOI) cock the tops and bottoms of the Niskin bottles for the proceeding CTD cast (photo credit Croy)