I actually woke up this morning well-rested and refreshed, which means I am probably adjusting to being on a ship much better than the first couple of days. It turns out that was a very good thing, because my shift started just in time for another CTD collection. In fact, we had five of these during my 12 hours, which is pretty insane! After a 30 min collection period, it was about one and a half hours between stations- giving me just enough time to run my samples through the filtration system! Then, considering each collection included three 10-liter bottles, so that was about 60 pounds of water per collection, meaning.... I hauled about three times my weight in water today!
And I was worried that I wouldn't get exercise on the ship....
Besides the busyness, the weather and ocean were absolutely gorgeous today! It was probably about 60 degrees out, with no wind, and the ocean was especially calm. In fact, I hardly felt the ship rocking.
Even more exciting than the excellent weather, I was lucky enough to spot a small group of whales this evening around 7pm! They were too far away to tell what they were, but we were able to see their dorsal fins and backs as they swam through, and I also saw them spout. Now I can finally say that I saw some marine mammals! Yvan (my boss) says that we will likely see many more as we head south...I'm sure I'll post about it if we do!
Another neat thing I was able to witness was the deployment of our small boat (the Zodiac) as they chased down one of NOAA's unmanned underwater gliders. They were able to find it, and then calibrate it to make sure that it is taking the correct measurements on its rounds. NOAA's gliders are small submarine-like collection devices programmed to cross large tracts of ocean and report data back via satellite. Unlike manned research vessels which require man hours, or oceanographic bouys that can only sample one location, gliders have the ability to sample multiple locations in real time. Here is a good website explaining them: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20091207_glider.html
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| Crew on their way to rendezvous with the glider |
This evening, I was able to experience the lovely weather again when I helped with net tows. We caught a lots of euphasids today, along with a few salps. I got to look at the krill under the dissecting scope as well! I could really get used to helping with net tows on these warm, calm evenings.
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| Beautiful Night |
Food was excellent again today...I have been missing breakfast since my shift is noon to midnight, but it looks like they had crepes. Lunch was a croissant sandwich, and dinner included a mix of comfort foods, including hot wings, cornbread, blackened halibut, and corn on the cob. I was even tempted into having a slice of apple pie for dessert. It's a good thing I am burning so many calories throughout the day, or I'd be liable to gain a lot of weight.
Alright, I think that is about all for now! I actually fell asleep uploading pictures onto my post last night, so I should do that now before history repeats itself.
Ciao,
Shea
PS: Wondering where I am?
Visit: http://webcam.oregonstate.edu/wecoma/
This shows where we are, and also has a live webcam feed (which isn't very exciting in my view- just a bunch of water!)
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