August 15, 2024
Today is our second to last day at sea. I have mixed feelings about our departure. On one hand, I want to extend this trip for at least another week. On the other hand, this experience has allowed me to grow as a scientist and has helped set me up for success in the future, and I can’t wait to get back to shore to be able to apply my newfound knowledge.
We finished one of our last dives around 1:30 pm, and we transited to the Offshore site, so we had free time for the rest of our watch. Luckily, just when the dive ended, there was a merch sale going on in the Main Lab. I ended up getting 5 stickers of the R/V Atlantis to decorate my various water bottles. Every moment from there on just happened to increase in memorability. We headed down to the engine room, where Greg, the chief Engineer went into detail about the technical side of the R/V Atlantis, such as 360° thrusters to keep the ship still during Jason dives. It’s amazing to also dip into the engineering aspect of research cruises.
After the engine room tour, four of us (the students) headed up to the bridge to spot some whales. We ended up getting extremely lucky with what we saw. First, we saw a couple of whale spouts and considered ourselves lucky. After tracking those whale spouts and getting a good view of them through binoculars, they started to breach the ocean. It was a couple of sightings at first, then out of nowhere, we noticed a huge pod of whales that kept breaching the surface. We were able to see multiple whale tails slap the water. We joked that we only had two items to cross off our bucket list of marine life, mola mola and dolphins.
Suddenly, the crew called us to come see the dolphins jumping out of the water. We were able to see two dolphins jumping up and over the water right next to the ship. While we were watching the dolphins, the crew called us to the other side of the bridge to see the mola mola. We all looked at each other with wide eyes and quickly headed over where we saw a large, flat fish swimming next to the ship. Then, a short while after, we saw a second mola mola. We definitely felt powerful in that moment.
We all ended up getting dinner together, which was very wholesome. I have not had the time to sit down with the other students due to our differing schedules, so its bittersweet to start bonding with people at the end of our Leg.
After dinner, Nic and I headed out on the deck to chat. Once on the deck we ended up seeing a crew member playing the ocarina. We sat and watched the sunset with the soothing music in the background. soon, I really felt as if I were in a scene in a movie. Dom and Mike from the Applied Physics Lab joined us soon after, and we had really great conversation while watching and hearing the sea lions sitting on the buoy in the near distance. One of the sea lions slid off the buoy and started jumping over to us in the same way the dolphin moved. From the deck, we were able to see Jason be recovered with an undervator. We have a midnight shift coming up, so I am going to go walk on the treadmill for a while.
August 14, 2024
Today, August 11, is possibly our last dive. Last night, we were in transit, so we did not have watches. It was the first night that all the VISIONS ’24 students were able to bond with each other. I went up to the galley for a snack where I saw Atticus and Finn. We were seated at different tables originally to have some alone time which is difficult to get onboard. For some reason, each student came up one by one. We all ended up congregating at my table until it was only Nikola who was not in the galley. We texted Nikola to come up and join us. Nikola walked in a couple minutes later and we all enjoyed food and conversation together.
After our snack, we headed to the front of the ship. By this time, it was midnight, and we headed out to stargaze. We were able to see a few shooting stars and reminisce about the trip, shocked and feeling bittersweet at how quickly it was coming to a close. We were able to see the Big Dipper against the dark sky. I ended up going to bed relatively early, and I got a full 10 hours of sleep.
Today, I decided to branch out a bit more. I was feeling refreshed, so I was in good spirits for the 12 pm shift. We were even able to see a skate, which I do not believe any other watches have seen. After our shift, Andrew asked if we wanted to help build an osmotic sampler. Of course, a chance to gain more knowledge should never be turned down so we followed Andrew to the lab where we learned how the RCA’s osmotic samplers work and what they are used for. We learned about the yale grip and how to do one. Andrew oversaw us as we attempted it. He even tried on these silly-looking lab googles.
After the osmotic sampler, we went out to the deck to see the HPIES instrument, which resembles an octopus. The engineers told us interesting facts about the HPIES and how it works. My favorite fact about it was that it was made to freefall.
The HPIES instrument measures the horizontal electric field, pressure of the overlaying water that shows depth, and the vertical acoustic travel time from the instrument to the surface. If you’re wondering how they find the HPIES instrument after the freefall (I was wondering this), there is a transponder on the instrument that the transponder on Jason can read.
Since we are waiting to find out if there is a dive later and are unsure whether to sleep, we explored the ship to find the gym and the bridge without help. I was able to see how the gym signups work, and I am thinking of going to workout later. I am interested to see how it feels to be on an elliptical on a rocking ship. Probably not great, but I am yearning to run or walk more than a mile. We took an impromptu trip up to the bridge where we saw whales spouting but after a few spouts, there were no more. I finished the day with a beautiful sunset.
August 13, 2024
Each day that passes, the excitement increases as new knowledge is gained and new sights encountered. I will forever remember today as the most memorable day of my life. This VISIONS’24 cruise is already unforgettable, but it gets even better.
During my 12 am to 4 am shift, there was a problem with the latches on ROV Jason and the dive had to stop before it even started. With this lull, APL engineer Trina, in the hot seat,reminded us that there was a meteor shower going on. With those words, our eyes widened, and she led us out to the ship’s deck where we were greeted by an innumerable number of stars. We moved further to the ship’s bow, the darkest part of the ship, and the sensation was difficult to describe. People ask why I choose to do a major in the Earth sciences umbrella, and it is always difficult to put into words the love and admiration I hold for our planet (and space).
If I could let people view through my eyes what we saw that night, it would not be a question why I love this planet and the mystery of space so much. The sky was lit up by bright, white stars. Flashes of white and even green streaks flashed across the horizon. We counted seven white streaks shooting across the sky before they became too numerous to count. It is difficult to put in words the experience in a way that encompasses the true emotion that was felt.
The issue with the ROV was resolved, and the dive continued. Once we reached our destination at International District Hydrothermal Field, we saw an octopus with a reddish tint. Its tentacles were gorgeous and swirling, forming almost a star pattern. It was my first time seeing this octopus and how it moved, and it was mesmerizing.
This afternoon on my 12 pm to 4 pm shift, we were able to see two unique features. This was Dive 1616, at the Central Caldera site, and the first organism we saw was a large spider crab hanging out at the site of the FETCH deployment . It even climbed onto the porch of Jason. After the platform holding the FETCH instrument was placed, it climbed up onto it and waved its legs at Jason to back off.
Later, during the same dive, a 4k survey was being taken of the site at Central Caldera to document the position of FETCH to the junction box. During the survey, a lava whirl came into view. I have never heard of one before this cruise, so being able to see something you just learned about right in front of your eyes is a surreal experience. Today was definitely the best day of the cruise. I will remember this day forever.
August 12, 2024
Today, we have three days remaining until the ~23 hour transit back to Newport, Oregon. We are arriving back at Newport on Friday, August 16th.
The past day has been a very interesting one. I headed up to the Jason control van for my midnight shift. An interesting surprise greeted me. When I opened the door to the van, all the students were present, even the Chief Scientist, Deb Kelley! I was surprised since there is usually no one watching during the midnight shift. Once I looked at the screens, I understood why so many people were present. Dive J2-1613 was taking place. This dive took place at Axial Caldera-ASHES hydrothermal field, and on the screens, I could see the actively venting chimney Mushroom.
It was so exhilarating to see my research right in front of me. The CAMHDA301-2023, was trained on Mushroom Vent, and I could see the many scale worms that I have spent hours tediously annotating. We all took a group picture before the shift change. After the shift change, the activity died down and everyone went to bed besides Erik and I who were on watch. This dive was very tedious since it was a lot of unplugging, plugging in, moving and placing cables carefully to ensure they did not get burned, and the turning of the osmotic fluid sampler (OSMOIA301-2024). In addition to the above, Jason used the temperature probe to check for a new proper location that the 3D thermistor array could be moved to. It was very mentally stimulating. After that shift, Eric and I headed to the galley where we warmed up (the Jason control van is very chilly) with a snack of hot chocolate and cup noodles paired with banana bread. I think the late-night (technically early-morning) snack times are one of the highlights of the trip; everything is funny past midnight.
I sat in the back of the control van during Dive J2-1614 in which the goal was to recover FETCH301-2023 at Central Caldera. The van was very cold, so I was only able to sit in for a few minutes. While I was sitting in there, I was able to view about 10 brittle stars in one shot. One of the brittle stars was swimming/crawling away.
After I left the van, I noticed the gray sky while I felt a light drizzle. It’s hard to believe that the trip is almost over. I will miss the feeling of constant wind, water wherever you look, and friendly greetings every corner turned.
August 11, 2024
Each shift I have, I feel more in control and knowledgeable about what the students are doing to help accomplish scientific goals. Last night for my 12 am to 4 am shift, we got lucky. Since the boat was in transit to Axial Base and we wouldn’t arrive there until 9:30 am, the 12-4 am shift and the 4-8 am shift were able to sleep overnight. When in transit, Jason dives nor CTD casts can be completed. For that reason, I woke up extremely refreshed and ready to give my shift my all. I went to have a quick breakfast, then I headed to the Jason van.
I have been working the cameras the last couple of days and while that was very fun and relatively easy, Erik worked the cameras today while I did Sealogging. I believe this is now my fifth shift, and the dive plan along with the knowledge obtained by sitting in the Jason van even when it’s not my shift, my logging skills have improved. I know what the instruments are called whether it’s an SPA, PIA, shallow profiler mooring, Niskin bottles, or even what the cables are for. Having a dive plan to follow along has been extremely useful. The best part is, we even saw two sharks today. I wasn’t able to capture a photo since I was busy logging them and they disappeared off the screen quickly.
I just ate lunch/dinner (stuffed pasta shells and tofu parm) and I headed down to the Main Lab to write my blog. I know there is a CTD cast going to occur, so I hope to still be awake for that. The dives are going much smoother and faster than imagined, so I believe I may be able to be around when the CTD comes to surface.
I’m making a bracelet in the meantime, as I was thoroughly impressed by the one I made for myself yesterday.
I also did not mention a new place the students were able to visit. Yesterday, a tour of the bridge was offered and we said no the first time because we were caught up in our bracelet making. The second time asked was after my 4 pm shift and the students said yes. We all headed up to the bridge where knowledge about sailors was imparted on us. I was not aware that sailors live on a boat 6 months out of the year (it can be consecutive or broken up how they want). It put their reality into perspective to me. The sailor talking to us in the bridge said it can be lonely at times since you’re so far away from family, friends, and you do not have weekends off. When asked why not give it up, he answered he loves it due to the freedom. I truly enjoyed his perspective. He did not sugarcoat anything and I am glad to have heard wonderful stories from him.
The bridge has the prettiest view I’ve seen on the ship so far. Nikola even captured a rainbow on their phone. I’m excited for my 12-4 am shift although I’m not sure if anything will be happening then. I will update tomorrow! Quick update: I just checked the Main Lab monitor and it appears Jason is close to the surface. I’m going to go watch from the deck above!
August 10, 2024
It is currently 1:16 am and it is now technically the third day. I am writing this during my shift after we deployed a full-depth CTD cast. Erik and I helped Julie set up the Niskin bottles which made me feel like an actual scientist. Due to this being a full-depth CTD cast, we have some time to work before the firing of the Niskins begins. Up to a certain depth, the winch goes at 30 meters per minute, then after that depth, it can speed up to 60 meters a minute. This is why it will take about two hours to reach the ocean floor.
On this CTD, we were able to throw in a fun activity. Atticus (a student ambassador) handed us styrofoam cups to decorate. These cups were sent down with the CTD, then we will be able to see how much the cups shrank with the pressure of around 3000 meters depth. I drew a squid on mine since we saw three squid during my shift in the Jason van.
This cruise just keeps getting more and more intellectually stimulating. There are people out there who thrive with continued knowledge, and I so happen to be one of them. VISIONS ‘24 has been like chicken soup for my soul (well, maybe not chicken soup since I am vegetarian but the same principle applies). We are getting the opportunity to be surrounded by renowned scientists, incredibly intelligent engineers, quick-thinking technicians, and of course, the Jason team. Katie, Andrew, and Alex have all been so helpful during our shifts as well, and I find it hard to believe I am in such a lucky position.
As the days go on, I am becoming more accustomed to my schedule, and I enjoy sleeping in 4 hour increments. I wake up feeling refreshed and ready for my shift. I wrote myself an itinerary to follow. After my noon to 4 pm shift, if Jason is in the water, I watch for about an hour and a half, grab some food, then head to the Main Lab to write my blog. Around 7:30 pm, I head down to my room and sleep until 11:30 pm then get ready for my shift. It’s about the same schedule for my day shifts as well.
During the day shift, there was a Jason dive. I was on cameras today and we even spotted a fish that kept following Jason (figure 2). I believe it was a rattail fish. We also spotted a couple of sea spiders. We even saw the rattail fish eat a smaller one. It was the coolest moment I have witnessed in the Jason van thus far. Halfway through our shift, we were called down for a science meeting which was for Nic’s research. We were able to make bracelets and help each other learn how to do so (figure 3). We are in transit again since the dive went well. I am starting to feel a bit uncomfortable similar to how I felt when we first were in transit. I’m still excited for my shift, though. I will update again tomorrow.
August 9, 2024:
I had some adjusting to do this morning since my sleep schedule has not fully aligned with my shifts yet. I woke up at 9:50 am after sleeping at 5:00 am. Honestly, I felt very refreshed with only 4 hours. My morning was only made better when I came up to the Main Lab and found that there was another CTD going on! Best part is, it was just getting set up so I was able to watch the whole thing through from deployment to recovery. I helped Julie set up the Niskins for firing. After that, we headed into the Computer Lab to fire the Niskins from the screen. We did a CTD starting at a depth of 220 meters up to 10 meters. We fired two Niskins at every 20 meter increment as well. To ensure quality, the first sample was collected two minutes after reaching target depth, then a second sample collected 30 seconds after the two minutes were up. The actual depth was recorded as well. Mariela even let me fire the rest of the Niskin bottles from 100 meters upwards.
After learning about CTD and water sampling in my urban coastal management class, I was extremely excited to have a hands-on approach to learning. I was also more excited to find out that the samples collected from the Niskins were for the purposes of quality control. The samples collected will be used to calibrate the Shallow Profiler Mooring data.
Jason was in the water a lot today, so with an hour left in my watch shift, we were called up to the ROV van. Today, I learned how to work the cameras while Erik took over the logging aspect of the dive. I originally was not the most confident in controlling the cameras, but with Erik and Katie’s help, I quickly got the hang of it. I think I may even enjoy the cameras more then the Sealogging.
After our shift was over, we handed our spots over to Makayla and Nikola. I grabbed an ice cream bar from the galley, finished it, then immediately headed back up to the van. This was going to be the deepest dive yet, reaching a depth of around 2900 meters. I patiently watched as the ocean floor came into view and the cool critters started to show. We got to see a sea cucumber in action and the best part of it all, we saw three squids. That’s not where the fun ends. The vehicle Jason actually bumped a squid and it inked! It is currently 7:22 pm, so I have to sleep to be up for my 12 am shift. I will update most likely tomorrow. Day 2 was a huge success.
August 8, 2024: Day 1
Today the ship departed at about 9:30 am. Speaking of time, one of the hardest adjustments to make has been switching to military time. The jet lag has all but worn off while I’m writing this. Funnily enough, it is 3:03 am currently, which we will get into later. So, allow me to give a rundown of my day.
I woke up around 7:30 am and made my way up to the galley to retrieve my breakfast. I had jasmine rice with chickpeas and mushrooms…and hot sauce. Shortly thereafter, a safety meeting was held in the Main Lab. At the safety meeting, we were trained to don our oxygen masks in case of fire. We practiced what to say and where to meet in case of a fire, and we also tried on our gumby suits, which will keep us alive for days by retaining our body heat. While we were in the safety meeting, I started to feel very queasy. I had taken my non-drowsy sea sickness medication, but even then, I knew what was coming next. Before I could excuse myself, I briskly walked out of the Main Lab. PSA, do not have hot sauce for breakfast as the first meal of the day when you have never sailed before. I laid down for a bit while my fellow students offered me pieces of advice ranging from fresh air, staring out at the horizon, and drinking water with saltine crackers. I took every piece of advice and slapped on a sea sickness medication patch behind my ear for good measure.
After an hour, I felt close to normal. After lunch came the most nerve-racking part of the day, my first shift. While on watch, we received a call in the Main Lab about whale sightings. The students who hadn’t been affected by sea sickness headed outside to watch the spouts from the whales. It took place from 12 pm to 4 pm, and that is how the rest of our shifts will work. We will work 4 hours on, have 8 hours off, then will continue back to the 4 hour shifts. I am writing this on my midnight to 4 am shift since we have just finished doing CTD sampling.
Well, I headed up to my noon to 4 pm shift which took place in the Jason van. Walking inside the van, I was immediately intimidated by the darkness in the room, contrasted by the colorful and bright screens. It looked like a scene straight out of an action movie. I will not lie, the first shift was very tough. We had looked at videos before, but that did not compare to the fast-paced environment that being in the Jason van provided. I learned a lot very quickly, and I am excited for my next shift during a Jason dive. After the shift, I then tried to sleep before my midnight shift. I woke up at 11:30 pm, quickly got ready, then headed up to the Main Lab. I saw they were deploying the CTD instruments and we quickly jumped in. During deployment, Joe handed the camera to me and I was tasked with taking pictures of the CTD deployment and recovery.
While the CTD was in the water, we were even able to see a small shark swim along the edge of the ship. Eric (my watch partner) and I were able to learn how to collect samples of nutrients, chlorophyll, and salinity while watching Alex and Joe collect the oxygen and DIC samples. My favorite part of the trip has been observing the CTD launch and recovery, as well as helping out in the Wet Lab where the samples are taken. I will write more tomorrow since I have to wake up on time. So far, the first day was very hectic but it turns out, I actually somewhat enjoy working under pressure. Check back in tomorrow for an undate!