August 11th, 2026
Today is an exciting day, where we are encountering our deepest site along the Regional Cabled Array, Slope Base. It’s currently 0820 and we are actively transiting to the site. Last night we had our dive at the Southern Hydrate Ridge Site, where I was on duty for a majority of Jason’s descent. We saw a plethora of unique marine organisms such as a blue shark, rockfish, and a bunch of small fish. I always wonder what goes through the creature’s minds as a massive ROV approaches their home.
We began our deepest dive ~ 0900, where it took us about two hours to lauch Jason off of the deck, and down to the research site. During the very long descent, all students in the control van got the opportunity to operate the arms of Jason, and learn more about the roles of the pilot in the control van, which was so cool!
Around two, we had planned a lesson on how to use a sextant, which is a navigational device where when you record the angle between a celestial object and the horizon, you can calculate your exact position. Unfortunately it’s been cloudy most of the day, so our lesson had to be postponed. Luckily for us though, we got to start scraping off all the barnacles from the retrieved BEP and instruments! It was extremely satisfying for all involved.
This evening, we conducted two CTD casts, one to a shallower depth (~280 meters) and the other to near the bottom of the water column (~2900 meters). After the CTD cast, I came into my shift early to help collect water samples, where we gathered salinity, chlorophyll, DIC, nutrients and DO samples from many of the Niskin bottles. It’s a very interesting and hands on process, involving rinsing out each of the bottles where we collect the water multiple times, then gathering up a specific amount of water that will be analyzed in the lab later.
We sent down our styrofoam creations on the deep CTD to 2900 m, tonight we will get them back and be able to see them in their miniature form! Today was an interesting day, I love getting to work in the lab and experience everything out on deck!
August 10th, 2026
Last night, I had my first official watch of the cruise, where we had our third and final dive at the Oregon Shelf site. Unfortunately, we were battling some navigational issues for a portion of the mission, but that didn’t stop us from having a great dive. Our dive plan was to replace the Bio-Acoustic Sonar instrument platform installed in 2025 that allows for analysis of Zooplankton populations. Around 2230 the dive was completed. Promptly after, we began transiting to the Oregon Offshore site. During the transit, every wave crashing into the boat could be felt, and making large banging noises in the lab, creating a slightly eerie atmosphere.
This morning I got up and promptly got ready for my watch at 0800. Two CTD casts had already been completed at ~0300 and ~0600, and our first dive (J2-1778) began at ~0700, where me and my watch-mates took over for the current dive. This dive plan was to bring down a 2026 refurbished BEP and hydrophone to replace the one currently on the seafloor, as well as take a niskin sample where the new BEP was deployed at ~580 meters water depth.
In the control room, we get to take on roles of being either the logger, and noting down everything that happens during the dive, or the camera controller, and take snapshots throughout the dive/control the broadcast. I think my favorite part so far is being able to log everything Jason does, but even just sitting in the control room is interesting in itself!
After the dive, I was able to help an oceanographer onboard, Mariela, with collecting some water samples. We used the water collected from the Niskin bottle during dive J2-1778, and gathered up water samples to check dissolved oxygen concentrations, salinity, and chlorophyll levels in ocean water at the new BEP site.
Another activity we were able to do was draw on styrofoam cups, which will be sent down in one of the CTD deployments tomorrow. Our next stop is the Slope Base, which has a depth of ~2900 meters. With great depth, comes great pressure, and our once regular sized styrofoam cups will compress and become miniature versions of themselves.
While waiting to start my evening shift, I got to help out Joe, another oceanographer onboard, collecting chlorophyll data from the Niskin samples. We ran the water samples through a large filtration system, and the filter would collect anything in the sample for them to analyze later. Today was very eventful, but I’m very excited for our future stops where we hopefully get to see methane seeps and exposed hydrate at the Southern Hydrate Ridge site this evening and tomorrow morning!
August 9, 2026
Yesterday we all gathered at the UW at 0700 to start making our way down to Newport, OR. Despite my immense sleepiness, the trip went surprisingly smooth, and we made it into port before 1300. Experiencing the ship was super exciting for the first time, but it seriously is a maze in here. Myself and some other students made our way around the ship to get more acquainted, and we found some of the cooler rooms all around the boat. Can you believe a ship has a miniature gym? I ended the night getting to hang out on the bow of the ship with some of my fellow VISIONS‘26 colleagues, before calling it an early night, and heading to sleep.
Today, I woke up around breakfast time, feeling recharged and ready for the day! The ship is still very confusing to navigate, and I nearly got lost on my way to the galley for breakfast, but I eventually made it and got to enjoy breakfast with some other students. This morning is our last few hours in the port before we head out to sea, so I’m soaking up seeing land as much as possible, but I’m excited to get out there and see nothing but the open ocean.
We got to first take a tour of the Jason control van, and it looks how I imagine a mission control center looks! Our first dive is set to begin at around 1100 at the Oregon Shelf site, where I will have my first shift of the cruise later in the evening.
One of the things I was most excited to see was the CTD onboard. All of the scientists onboard are super kind, and willing to share a bunch of knowledge with you. This CTD was the largest I’ve encountered so far, and I was shocked at all of the technology it had loaded up on it. There were 24 different niskin bottles, which are trap water samples by snapping shut end caps on the bottles underwater, the unique thing about all of the bottles is that they are all programmed to shut independently of one another, and you can get up to 24 different samples throughout the entire water column.
Once we arrived at the Oregon Shelf, the sea was very much wavey, and me and my fellow students stumbled around the boat attempting to gain our sea legs, but seeing through the eyes of Jason for the first time made all of my worries go away. I’m excited for my shift that will happen during the night and will update about it tomorrow.
After our first dive, Jason brought back up a Benthic Experimental Package (BEP). The difference between the BEP that has been on the seafloor for a few years to now is very stark.
A unique tip I learned from one of the APL staff, Jenna, is that applying diaper cream (or any form of zinc oxide) prevents organisms from attempting to colonize a certain material. Jenna was applying the diaper cream to one of the ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) instruments that we will be deploying down to the seafloor in a few days.