0330 Local Time
Hi there!
I’ve spent the last week on board the R/V Neil Armstrong on my first ever ocean-going research vessel. I am starry-eyed over the variety of instrumentation and technology that the ship is kitted out with. It’s so cool! This includes, of course, the 3 separate satellite ship-to-shore connections allowing me to be online and sharing my experiences with you.
The current mission objective is to complete 12 cross-shelf section transects of the Middle Atlantic Bight, which is an area of diverse productivity well known to local fisheries. Our first few days were dominated by heavy seas, which made for some difficult and uncomfortable working conditions for a majority of the science team (ie. wide-scale, debilitating seasickness). I was placed on the 0000 – 1200 hydrology watch with some truly delightful people and am gaining some good insight into field sampling methodologies and the herculean effort required to complete a study of this magnitude. The amount of water we constantly collect and filter through is on a scale I was previously unfamiliar with. It has been a week, and for nutrients alone, I count 400 individual sample vials now frozen and waiting for analysis.
My role as a nutrient sample collector has also given me the time during watch to get familiar with the deployment and recovery procedures for the CTD carousel. For our safety, we communicate with both the bridge and the winch operator during casts. The combined weight of the CTD, Niskin rosette, Video Plankton Recorder (VPR), and the frame is significant and so following safety procedures is paramount!
An added bonus of being on the 0000 – 1200 team is watching the sun rise out at sea, which is always a beautiful and welcomed sight.
When I am not working with the science team or sleeping, I am shadowing the two Shipboard Scientific Services Group (SSSG) technicians – Cris and Joe – to get a foundational understanding of their job duties. So far, I’d say this has been an incredibly eventful week and I have already absorbed so much. I look forward to more and will be back next Sunday with another update.
– Emily