Howdy all,

The fifth and final week of the MATE internship was another opportunity to work at sea on HOT 346. This cruise repeated the same operations performed during week one of the internship.

Once again after loading for the cruise on Friday and setting sail Saturday morning we were on our way to Station Kahe to perform our weight test cast, hyperpro casts, and trace metal cast. After these successful operations we were on our way to Station Aloha to start our main sampling operations. After having worked on one HOT cruise already I was much more confident performing deck operations, using radios to communicate, and getting more involved with whatever task was at hand. This included launching and recovering the rosette/CTD system, prepping for trace metal casts, performing hyperpro casts, assisting with net tows, launching/recovering arrays, launching/recovering the VPR system, and firing niskin bottles in the CTD lab. 

The cruise was going smoothly until a weather hold had to be issued because sea conditions were too rough to risk deck operations. For approximately 9 hours, all sampling and equipment deployments had to be halted for the safety of the HOT team, crew, and equipment. This delay forced the sampling schedule to be reworked to maximize the remaining ship time. Again, this was another opportunity to learn about the challenges of working at sea. Conditions such as this are not abnormal when working during the winter months around Hawaii and have to be accounted for. 

After the weather hold was lifted operations continued like normal and we were able to finish our sampling at Sttaion Aloha, the WHOTS mooring, and Station Kaena.  Upon returning to the marine center and unloading the equipment that was the end of the internship. HOT 346 was a great opportunity to actually practice some of the skills I had developed over the last cruise and over the weeks on land. Overall, the MATE internship was a positive experience that gave me valuable skills and insight I will need to work as a marine technician. 

Best,

Hunter