August 12,2024
The passage of time on a ship is mind-boggling. One minute you’re counting the seconds until your next shift, then you blink and it’s already bleeding into the next day. Jason had a problem that caused all dives to stop until later in the night, so with all shifts postponed most of us either caught up on sleep or worked on lanyard bracelets in the main lab.
I had the opportunity to help Julie collect test tubes for the DIC seawater. We filled the graduated cylinders with 500 mL, then fed them into a funnel with a filter and vacuum to pass through any debris. The cylinders were rinsed with chlorophyll and poured into the funnel (Today I learned that when using chlorophyll, the room should be kept dark to prevent photosynthesizing). Afterwards we put the filters in the test tubes and filled them with 10 mL of acetone, to which they were brought to the analytical lab to be freeze. My favorite part about this activity was the hands-on aspect and delivering them to the lab like a real scientist!
My work for the day wasn’t over, however, as I ended up helping Alex with three of the salinity bottles being tested . It was finicky getting the syringes into the holes, and even harder pushing the air bubbles out, but rewarding in the end when I completed them all.
Apparently pickling salt is used for saline because it’s deionized (Side note: I didn’t even know pickling salt was a thing!). Towards the end of the day Jason was ready to go again, and shifts resumed. Sometimes the slow days are when you learn the most!
August 11, 2024
Have you ever seen a huge school of fish congregate before your eyes? Today I have! During our usual uneventful 4-8 a.m. shift, me and Nikola were suddenly greeted by the flashing iridescent colors of many fish following Jason to the bottom for the dive. It almost resembled glittering strings of confetti amidst the calm sea. We switched spots during this shift to get accustomed to our opposing roles, and I very much enjoyed working the camera though it was a bit of a learning curve.
Afterwards we joined everyone in the Main Lab where Nichole explained her project regarding mental health on a large scale, and gave us some tools to actively participate in her research.
I worked on the Styrofoam mannequin head and drew some of the symbols that remind me of thriving; nature, flowers, and my mom. Along the way we all shared some facts and I learned a lot from my fellow students. Finnegan shared that whales evolved from land to sea creatures!
Julie showed us how to do CTD water sampling out of the Niskin’s, and it was really fun to collect the bottles and do something more hands-on. While we were in the Main Lab we were invited to tour the bridge and the view is fantastic! You witness a lot with how high up it is, and when you look below, the seafoam glistens under the weight of the sun. Being Captain seems stressful, but he mentioned that he only has to work half of the year and the rest he can spend vacationing! Who knows, maybe I’ll be captain of a ship someday.
August 9, 2024
I’ve somewhat overcome the urge to throw up today! Today was much easier than the last, with me getting started on my shifts with Jason. The Jason team was very welcoming and open to helping me out on my first shift as a logger. I enjoy the note-taking aspects and it keeps me occupied on the live footage.
Speaking of footage, I witnessed some cool occurrences last night during my shift, and learned of some new species as well. We saw a few sharks, they were pretty big in size and so cute! A noodle-looking creature with short legs and a long sparkly tail kept floating into frame, to which Nickola quelled my curiosity by identifying it as a Siphonophore. I also learned the difference between a regular Jellyfish and a Ctenophore (Jellyfish have rounder bodies and tentacles, Ctenophore’s don’t!). On top of that, some crabs were having a party on the main float (I was not invited).
There were some high stakes events taking place during one of the more crucial tasks, but everyone was super supportive and they eventually pulled through. At the end of our shift, we got to see Jason being pulled out of the water by the team. Every day is better than the last, and I’m excited for the next operation we’ll be participating in. 
August 8, 2024
The first day primarily focused on getting us prepared for sea life, introducing us to many important parts and facilities of the ship. During the tour, we had the opportunity to look at special areas on the ship with our own eyes such as the bridge, where we saw much of the control center for operation. Additionally, we got a look at the Jason control van, which was very interesting to see the mechanics behind Jason’s movement at the bottom of the sea. Katie got us settled in and we took some time to help with tying boxes down before departure. While we waited, we were allowed to enjoy the scenery outside and saw a herd of seals congregating across the water and a sea otter weaving through the coastal rocks.
The departure was somewhat hectic, but manageable. The rockiness of the ship was unexpected! Though I’ve boarded a cruise ship before and felt no adverse effects, this was an entirely new feeling. I’m still working on getting my sea legs, but overall, the support from the rest of the team and my enjoyment so far has been fantastic!
