We departed from San Juan, Puerto Rico on Saturday for the 5 day return to Bermuda. This cruise is much more mellow compared to the cruise down, because we have fewer stations to sample, and the CTD does not need to go to the bottom every time.
Once we returned to port, we began preparing for the Wilhelm cruise, which is a new group of scientists. This involved taking all the BATS equipment out of the labs and helping to get the new scientists set up. Their research plan is to deploy a drifter at the BATS station and follow it, taking CTD casts and samples every 4 hours. The drifter utilizes a high-flyer buoy, a sea anchor and trailing buoys. It is equipped with a flashing beacon with a radio signal (RDF), an AIS transponder, and an ARGOS transponder. On the mobilization day, I helped turn on and set up the equipment for deployment and secured some items on the CTD (See picture!)
Until next time!
