September 6, 2024
Today was our last dive with Jason, which means we have officially wrapped up the majority of the cruise and are on our way back home. The last dive was both an exploration dive as well as a sampling dive to collect an IGT sample, which collects the gasses emitted by the vents and keeps them pressurized equally to what pressure they are under continuously. Finding the same vent that Rika sampled was quite a challenge because of how unexplored this area is.
The VISIONS cruise teams have not been to this vent field since 2014, while other sites that we have been to during this dive are monitored yearly. The dive was by far the coolest we have seen. These vents are different than the others we have seen because the vent flow has a lower temperature and higher salinity concentration which may make the biology of this area different than the other vent fields. The bacteria were a vibrant green color, and the rocks were covered in yellow bacteria different from the other vents.
Between the vents we visited and larger things you can see on the surface, I have a very exciting wildlife tally for you. One octopus, one shark, 3 cusk eels, 5 rattails, lots and lots of tube worms and bacteria, 6 squat lobsters, 27, 8 soft corals, 34 sea cucumbers, and way too many sea-spiders. The pinnacle of this wildlife tally though, was the dolphins. They were active and playing in the bow wake, constantly jumping. They put on quite the show.
With the transit time and nobody being on a watch shift, all of the common spaces were a lot busier. I have ended up playing a LOT of cribbage today and I’m not complaining in the slightest. My family plays a lot of card games and I love how they bring everyone together which is even more evident on the ship when your Wi-Fi connection is limited.
The swells picked up this evening, and while I managed to get out to the bow without spilling my coffee it was not without difficulty. I went out on the bow as we began our transit back to the Slope Base site, we were at earlier this cruise. We are going to take one last CTD cast there to ensure the measurements that the Deep profiler there has been taking. I spent a lot of time out on the bow today reading, listening to music, and talking with whoever else was out there. I think the bow is my favorite spot on the whole boat because you can see the ocean all around you, and completely shatters any notion you have about being anywhere else besides the ocean.
September 5, 2024
We had an action-packed day aboard the R/V Atlantis today. We woke up early at 0500 to watch a dive at CASM, which is the ridge right at the northern edge of the caldera. These vents were hard to get to and find because they were right at the edge of, as the name says, a chasm. It was interesting to watch as the pilots communicate and made it through the tight space.
After my shift was over and Jason came back to the surface after the CASM dive, I got a chance to talk with Nathan, the electrical engineer on the RCA deep profiler. I am planning on doing a technical project full of information about the deep profiler instrument and it was so helpful to get an in-depth explanation on the instrument from someone who works closely with it. I was the most interested in how the entire crawling mechanism is run through one motor because the vehicle is at neutral buoyancy.
Our next adventure was a tour of the Atlantis’ engine room. I loved hearing about all of the inter working systems that make the boat operate as smoothly as it does. There were so many things that the engine room takes care of that isn’t super noticeable on a daily basis but is noticeable when it’s not done. I enjoyed asking questions about the thrusters and Dynamic Positioning System (DPS) which keep us in the same spot while Jason is in the water.
After the dive, I spent time reading out on the bow. The sun was out but the wind made it really comfortable. While I was out there, I saw a seabird flying above. I couldn’t ID the type, but it was a cool bird. This brings us to the wildlife tally time; a bird, a squid, a squat lobster, 18 jellyfish, so many tube worms, a pacific flat-nose fish, 37 sea spiders, and lots of copepods.
We had one more dive at 18:00 where we went to a vent system called Dymond. This system had completely different biology than the other vent systems we have seen. I found this vent system the most interesting of the vents we have seen because of how much was unknown about it. I had so many questions but not many of them could be answered which only made me more intrigued. I’m sad our cruise is wrapping up, but I have really enjoyed all of the exploration dives we have gotten to do.
September 4, 2024
September 5, 2024
EARLY this morning we got to go on an exploration dive of a lava channel. I’m not one to be at a loss of words but so many times during this dive I was speechless. Even though I was tired, I stayed up for the whole dive and watched as amazing geological features filled the screen. I continuously wanted the ocean to disappear, which is something I never thought I would never say, but only so that I could walk along the geologic features, through the arches and into the caves. I was most amazing by the clear layers of rock; each one was so clearly defined it looked as if you could peel them apart.
This dive gave us a host of wildlife to add to my tally. At least 7 jelly fish, at least 9 rockfish, at least 17 sea cucumbers, at least 30 tubeworms, at least 20 shrimp, and lots and lots of bacteria.
After the dive tour, the Jason pilots gave a few people a chance to drive the ROV and I was one of the lucky ones! I got to get in the pilot seat and try my hand at piloting. There was so much to pay attention to, so many screens and important things. I handed the controls back quite quickly and decided ROV piloting was too stressful for me.
I was able to get two hours of sleep before my watch shift this morning which I made it through quite sleepily and with lots of coffee, which I still managed not to spill a drop of with the rocking ship. After lunch, I went down to catch up on my long-forgotten sleep and work up right before my night watch. A full night of sleep in the middle of the day.
I’m up again and on my night watch, and I can’t wait to get back on my correct schedule by going to bed right after this.
September 3, 2024
I think today I got caught in a bit of a time vortex. I had been up since 07:00 but unfortunately long days and 03:00 bedtimes are not a stranger to me. I’ve found that getting sleep is quite tricky aboard the R/V Atlantis, not because the arrangements are uncomfortable, but because I often have a hard time falling asleep anyways and that is even more difficult when instead there is always something to do. Yesterday and today, I reached peak sleep avoidance because of the exciting exploratory dives that were going to be conducted. Rika’s second dive for microbes, a tour around Axial caldera’s canyon carved by lava, and a long-lost instrument recovery.
While the tour of the canyon got moved to tonight, Rika’s dive and the instrument recovery still went on. I watched both today though I did end up “resting my eyes” for a portion of Rika’s dive. I did watch quite a bit of Rika’s dive although it was cut short by a ground fault in the sampler. This means that the circuit somewhere was not fully closed and did not run to ground and shorted in the salt water. The good news is that she still was able to obtain one full sample, while unfortunately she wasn’t able to get more, and the canyon tour was delayed.
Most of my day was spent in the Jason control van or main lab watching dives. But I did take a short nap between lunch and our science talk with the assistant lead APL engineer who spoke to us about the Regional Cabled Array structure and his path to where he is now. This talk was super interesting and informative not only to help us understand the structure of what part of this whole cruise is about, but also helped me to understand a more technological path within oceanography. Many people I’ve talked to have been researchers, and this helped me to better understand the job options outside of science.
My wildlife tally is a bit of an approximation today because of my tiredness. So, I saw a few sea pigs, a lot of brittle stars, quite a few jellies, and I for sure saw exactly ONE SHARK!!! I know for sure because I have been waiting with bated breath to see one and it was really the reason I started this segment, just so I could brag when I saw one.
I have two favorite parts of the last day or so. The first came at around 01:00 today, when APL engineers offered to let Will and I go out on deck and help flake one of the recovered cables. It was my first chance at deck work. I got to wear some work gloves, lift a heavy cable to get it wrapped and tied down, and put my knot tying knowledge to good use. While most people wouldn’t call it fun, I really enjoyed every moment of it. My next favorite moment comes this evening at dinner. It was a cookout on deck and watching everyone sit out on the deck, mingle, and just enjoy being exactly where we were even if we were all collectively tired.
September 2, 2024
If I have learned anything about being on a research vessel, it’s that you have to go with the flow. There is an ever-changing schedule, complicated by technology, time sensitive tasks, and group curiosity. Despite all of this, I think after a week into our cruise we have all fallen into a sense of routine. It’s funny to me how we can all adapt to whatever situation we are in. Everyone here has a daily routine on land that differs vastly from what it is out at sea, but everyone makes it work, gets their work done in a very small space, and manages to find time to still laugh and joke with the other people in the same unusual situation. Now that I’ve done my thought-provoking analysis of boat life, on to the details of my daily routine.
My day started with waking up at 07:30 and making my way to the mess. I got my muffins and my cup of coffee filled to the brim. After I ate, I filled another cup of coffee and walked to the Jason control van without spilling a drop of coffee, day 7, going strong. I stood my watch as Jason descended to 1500m, picked up a CTD with communication issues, and ascended back up from the surface, all within our 4-hour shift.
I went to lunch right after my shift, sitting with a mix of my usual people and talking with some new people. After lunch until about 14:00 I have some free time that I always use a bit differently.
Today, I decided to stand out on the starboard deck, talking with some of the Jason pilots, APL engineers and Rika about their experiences at sea. From 14:00 to 15:00 we usually have a student meeting to make sure we are all doing well and give us some direction for the next day.
We ended up deciding to do a group work time on our projects and moved to the bow because it was such a nice day. My next chunk of individual time from 15:00 to 17:00 was spent out on deck again reading my book. It was such a nice day with the sun out and not to rocky that I wanted to soak up every minute in the sun. I usually spend these two hours in the Jason control van watching dives and writing my blog. During this blog-writing time I usually write my wildlife tally, which today adds five sea-pigs, 4 rattail fish, one spider crab, probably 24 shrimps, and lots more tube worms and bacteria.
Dinner is at 17:00, and after dinner I usually make my way to the control van and stay there until the end of the night. I like that there is contently something happening in the van, I can ask questions, work, and laugh all while being around other people which makes my writing easier. Tonight, however, I took a nap before my watch shift at 20:00 because I want to stay up for Rika’s second dive which starts after my shift. I found some time in there to write my blog. I’ve found that while writing is a bit of a struggle for me, I do like the daily consistency of the process, and I love having a time capsule to look back on when I forget what I did just two days ago. Time really does work different out here.
September 1, 2024
I really enjoy having the. 8:00 pm – midnight watch shift. Yesterday, I entered the Jason control van when it was light out, and in some twilight zone fashion, walked out at midnight with the Milky-Way galaxy on full display across the sky. I was the type of kid who was obsessed with both space and the ocean; I think the vastness and unknown of them both had a certain gravity (get it???).
Last night after my eyes adjusted to the dark, seeing the stars above me and the white caps of the waves below was the most grounded and at peace I have been. I can understand why plenty of people are terrified of the ocean, specifically at night, but I was just in awe.
After watching the stars and going to bed, I woke up bright and early for my watch this morning. As I walked into the control room, all the screens had the same image, the CTD that had been brought down with a cap still on one of the water intake ports.
Conversations ranged from “lets pull the CTD back up” to the pilot of Jason saying, “I think I can pull that out”. The whole van went silent, watching with bated breath as the massive ROV manipulators worked to pull out a red cap about as long as a pinky finger, that was only sticking out about half an inch. Corey, the pilot, with one final grab placed the cap between the jaws and pulled out, and finally the cap came right out. In a moment of relief and brevity, the disco lights came on, and the speakers started playing You’re the Best by Joe Esposito. The swings from serious science to challenges and fun have become some of my favorite moments.
During the afternoon, I jumped from side-quest to side-quest. It started when we had a small transit to the next dive site, and we were allowed to go up to the bridge for a tour. The ship felt so small from up there somehow, even though it is a 274-foot-long vessel. After that, I ended up back in the Jason control van to write my blog and watch Rika’s make-up dive begin since she had trouble obtaining her last samples. That didn’t last long, and all I got done on the blog was writing “blog 6” before a member of the science party found me and three other students to help with analyzing the RAS/PPS vent fluids from yesterday. I went down there and was excited to helps, but after the second sample, I remembered why I don’t want to be a chemical oceanographer. I quickly got tired of the precision and sterile lab techniques that were necessary and really wanted to get back out on deck to help with things there. On the bright side, I keep getting confirmation that Ocean Tech is the most interesting field to me.
Today I have a quick Wildlife tally because all the vents have a lot of the same creatures. I’ve added about 100 more jellies, 7 more rattails, 20 shrimp, a few copepods that are big enough to see with the camera, and a bajillion more tube worms (yes that’s the scientific count).
Last, and most importantly, coffee report – day 6: none spilled. Still walking with a full cup and increasing confidence.
August 31, 2024
Day 5 aboard the Atlantis, and finally this blog will be a day from start to finish. First, and most importantly, I have mastered the skill of walking on a swaying boat with a full cup of coffee. I think that honestly, this is the most vital skill I have learned in my time here.
After breakfast and a jaunt across the ship with a full cup of coffee in hand, I had my watch shift in the control van. We were looking for the best site to sample diffuse flow from the seafloor. The RCA uses a RAS/PPS (remote access fluid) instrument to collect the hydrothermal vent fluid and particulate DNA (PPS). Finding a site to put this instrument is difficult because temperature range, location, and volume of flow, are all important to obtain a successful sample.
Halfway through my watch shift Jason started to ascend from the seafloor. During this time, I talked to the Jason pilots and the assistant lead engineer of the Regional Cabled Array (RCA).
I realized the other day that even though this whole trip we have been servicing the RCA, I didn’t really understand how the entire system worked and how it was interconnected. The assistant lead engineer, Kellen, was a great resource for all my questions and helped to make the whole complex system understandable, even if his first answer was “magic” and the second answer was technical.
This Leg of the cruise we have a scientist on board, named Rika, who researches the microbes and viruses that are found within vent fluids. After lunch, I went out to the aft deck to learn about Rika’s Universal Fluid Obtainer (UFO) that gets mounted in front of Jason. This will allow her to sample hydrothermal vent fluid from the active vents. To add to my learning about this technology, I got some hands-on experience with vent fluid samples that have been accumulating for the last year, collected from the RAS/PPS.
In case you were wondering, vent fluids and water from the deep ocean is just as sulfuric (hydrogen sulfide )and salty smelling as you would assume… I don’t know if my sweatshirt will ever stop smelling like the bottom of the ocean. My watch shift tonight is observing Rika’s dive to collect her fluid samples and I am so excited to see the UFO in action.
To all my adoring fans out there, I’ve heard your complaints, and today we are back with the wildlife tally. Yesterday, not much was seen which accounts for the missing wildlife segment, but today we saw our first vent system that has quickly added to my tally.
Without further ado: a massive rattail fish, brittle stars, tubeworms, palm and sulfide worms, limpets, sea cucumbers, a spider crab, purple ciliates and an unquantifiable number of bacteria but, at least two types. We will be back to a regular schedule of wildlife tally tomorrow.
August 30, 2024
My day started out slow, but early because I was up late on watch. Before my shift, we deployed our 2nd CTD Rosette cast. This one went down to ~ 2500 m and we attached the Styrofoam cups that we decorated previously. The shipboard technicians aboard the Atlantis allowed some of the students to help in deploying and retrieving the package. Morrigan and Victoria got to deploy, while Will and I got to retrieve. These hands-on experiences have been highlights of my time out at sea.
After the CTD was sampled, Jason was on a dive to replace a tripod CTD at Axial Base. This CTD, at around 2600 m depth, takes a considerable time to get to. Because of this, our 2000 – 0000 watch shift was spent deploying Jason and watching it descend to the sea floor. While the screens weren’t ever full of ROV action, I had fun none-the-less.
While most people might not assume that four hours of a blue screen showing the water and marine life zooming past as the ROV descends isn’t a recipe for fun, the operators of Jason help make this tedious task a fun time.
The pilot, Chris, played a wonderfully fun playlist complete with Taylor Swift, CharliXCX. Beyonce, Chappell Roan, Olivia Rodrigo, The Pussycat Dolls, and Ariana Grande. While he called it the “teenage pop mix” it was really a mix that everyone in the control van could have a good time singing along to.
My shift finished up around midnight, and I decided to stay up with Will and watch a movie called Time Bandits which brought us to this morning. I really have enjoyed how close me, and my fellow students have become. Though maybe sleep would have been the smarter choice, staying up and talking about our different interests, colleges, and funny stories all while watching a movie just as out of pocket to Monty Python was worth it.
Waking up this morning was a little bit challenging, but my 0800 watch shift was anything but dull. It started out routine but by the time we descended ~ 300 m a cable on a CTD secured to the junction box came undone (rough seas on entry) and got wrapped behind the vehicle. This created a challenge for the rest of the dive, because it was at risk of getting into the thrusters, tied around the vehicle, or any number of other issues. The dive wasn’t called off early because there was an unforeseen swell that we got caught in and recovery would have been a larger challenge.
Jason made it to the seafloor safely, but when we went to unlatch from the package that was being brought down, the ROV team saw that the cable was wrapped around the back of Jason where there are less cameras. It was hard to see the extent of the situation, and after a few attempts to skillfully maneuver away from the cable the pilot called the dive, relatched into the junction box, and started to ascend. In the end, the cable was okay but was hooked in a place that would not have been possible to maneuver out of, and Jason’s aft camera had to be replaced because it was twisted at a weird angle.
At the end of the day, I’m a little bit tired, but I can’t wait to have a watch shift tonight, wake up, and have another full day aboard the R/V Atlantis!
August 29, 2024
This morning I had my first watch in the Jason control van. We are stationed at Axial Base, and the weather has calmed down enough for us to successfully deploy Jason. On the dive this morning, the pilots put out a new deep profiler vehicle onto the cable, did routine cleaning to clear off the biofouling that accumulated over the last year, and recovered the old deep profiler. Most of the dive I was on watch for was ascending and descending the cable, but we did get the chance to see a lot of different marine life.
There wasn’t a lot of action out on the waves, but today’s wildlife tally is anything but boring. I saw Venus fly-trap anemones, starfish, a squid, and, so many jellyfish.
Axial Base is far from the caldera and is much colder. These temperatures do not support as many lifeforms as the warmth of the vent fields, closer to the spreading center, so the species we did see were not very abundant. I am really looking forward to seeing one of the vent systems that the Regional Cabled Array is studying because I want to see how the biological abundance changes with the temperature and food availability.
One of my favorite things about being aboard the R/V Atlantis for VISIONS 24’ has been learning about the instruments. The deep profiler vehicle that was deployed today measures from ~2900 m to ~150 m water depth. It has five instruments that measure water column oxygen, conductivity, temperature, depth, current, chlorophyll and florescence to help scientists have all the necessary data to do a range of research on this area.
The deep profiler is the most interesting piece of equipment to me because of the work that I do at the University of Washington’s ARGO float lab. The buoyancy driven autonomous water profilers that ARGO builds differ from the deep profiler in many ways; The ARGO floats are not connected to anything while deployed, they don’t have routine maintenance, and, they are much smaller, however, these two vehicles both collect similar sample types, both have data that is available to the public, and both profile throughout the water column to see how each parameter changes with depth. The similarities and differences between each of these vehicles suit their individual projects and were built with very different challenges in mind, which is, in my opinion, one of the most captivating parts of ocean technology.
August 28, 2024
Another full day aboard the R/V Atlantis. Today was mainly a transit day to Axial Base, which took the entire day instead of the usual 12 hours, because of the rough seas. Jason finished the dive right before my watch shift yesterday, so instead of watching a dive, I watched the ROV get retrieved and helped with getting the CTD rosette ready for deployment and with taking water samples after it was back on deck.
I spent most of my time today split between the library, playing boardgames with my fellow students, and the Main Lab talking to the APL Engineers about the sensors that are a part of the Regional Cabled Array. It was interesting to learn about all the redundancies they have in place to ensure the instruments remain waterproof.
Many of my oceanography courses at the University of Washington have talked about how hard ocean conditions are for electronics, but to hear first-hand all the precautions that are taken to ensure the success of these instruments for long-term use was a bit mind-blowing.
Adding on to my past wildlife tally of harbor seals, sea lions, pelicans, and whale blows – Today, we saw porpoises off the port side of the vessel! Seeing life in the oceans, both large and small has really helped remind me why what we are doing matters. Its more than just going out on a research vessel for the experience; what we learn via the real-time data that comes from the cabled array can help us to better understand the oceans and what we can do to support the life that is in them.
This evening after dinner, I spent my time decorating some Styrofoam cups to shrink. I can’t wait to see how my cups turn out! After all the arts-and-crafts fun, I helped to section off the coils collected from the Mosquito flow meter into specific lengths until all of the samples were taken and only the freshwater, they primed the tube was left. This process helps to understand saltwater movement within ocean sediment.
I have my first watch shift this evening after we arrive at Axial Base. I am excited to see the beginning of a Jason dive and spend time in the control van learning a lot. After my watch shift, around midnight, I can’t wait to go stargazing and experience a night sky without light pollution.
August 27, 2024
I have officially spent 24 full hours aboard a research vessel! After a day of getting comfortable on the vessel and a night of sleep, I was ready to get underway. We left Newport at 0800 today and are currently in transit to the Oregon Offshore site. I loved going out on deck as we slowly moved further from shore. Watching the land disappear was a memory I will have forever.
After our time on deck, we spent our morning doing safety drills and putting on immersion suits for the first, and hopefully only, time. We also got a tour of the Jason ROV and its control van and learned more about the logging that we as students do while on station.
I have the 0800 – 1200 watch, so my first shift will come this evening. I am excited to see Jason operate and learn more about the Cabled Array, and day-to-day operations with an ROV.
We have seen quite a bit of marine life out today. We saw harbor seals, sea lions at port, pelicans flying over, and even whale blows off in the distance. I heard that the students on the last leg saw some sharks and I am hoping to add those to my wildlife tally soon along with everything that we see at the vent systems.
I have really enjoyed getting to know my fellow students. We all come from ranging areas of study, so learning about others’ background and interests has been a good way to connect with them. We were all brought together by our curiosity and wanting to experience working on a research vessel and that was a good icebreaker to get to know everyone.
I am super excited for the coming weeks, and all of the learning opportunities it will bring!