August 25th, 2024
Day 8 of leg 2 completed our time at sea. As always, the food was very good with fresh fruit and pancakes being a fun combination for breakfast.
The final dive, J2-1643, concluded the time of logging for Leg 2 of Visions 2024. I was in the room when it finished, and it was a heartfelt experience knowing that our time at sea would be coming to an end. Jason was collecting the profiler from a mooring to be replaced and was able to be completed an hour ahead of schedule. We spent some time organizing the space we had, collecting all our previous dive plans, and ensuring the space is ready for leg 3 students.
After the dive ended, some of us went out to see some shooting stars along with the gorgeous night sky at sea for one final time on our trip. We stayed out stargazing far passed the night and continued after sunrise started. There were many whales and dolphins seen as we got closer to shore, marking the end of our time at sea.
After taking a group photo and getting instruments ready to leave the ship, we got together to present project ideas. We started an hour early as everything we could do was set to go and it went well. We all presented our project ideas, and I presented the research I’ve been doing with OOI and how I plan to further expand the ways that information can be shared with the public much more easily and accessibly. After all presenters finished, Chief Scientist Mike Vardaro gave his thanks and emphasized how great it was to be “Bringing science into focus” through our projects. We were thanked by many of the science personnel that worked with us throughout the expedition and completed our final science task of Visions 2024. After this, I began to catch up on sleep along with preparing to leave the following day.
The Visions students ended up having one final movie night where we watched Mama Mia and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. It was a fun way to end our time with Visions and I am sad to go but also excited to utilize all I’ve learned here in throughout my future endeavors.
August 24th, 2024
Day 7 was an interesting day. The food was once again amazing with incredibly yummy tasting coconut taters as an option. Additionally, the fruit once again did not fail to disappoint and brought another great morning breakfast. Having fresh fruit readily available is incredible as is.
After breakfast, the merchandise store opened for students and crew alike to buy shirts, sweaters, hats, socks, and more. These had a variety of cool designs and I ended up buying a shirt, hoodie, and socks to commemorate my time spent on the Atlantis for the Visions 2024 expedition.
At 2:00 pm, Visions students had the opportunity to visit the Bridge on the ship and talk to the chief mate about the operations of maneuvering a ship. We spent nearly 2 hours learning about different buttons and levers along with improvements made throughout various generations of boats. The conversation also included how stars this night would look incredible and that we should see for ourselves if possible. After the visit to the bridge, I would go to my 4pm shift to log the dive.
Dive J2-1642 went differently than expected. When I joined in, they were in search for a deep-sea snail bed and were on their way to its location. There was an issue where no one could see the snail bed even at the location that they were indicated to be at. After exploring more and rechecking the coordinates and locations, they were still nowhere to be found. It turns out that Jason passed the snail beds multiple time, but they weren’t what was expected. Rather than the thriving snail bed they say last time, this one only had remnants of the previous bed. There were snail shells, and their previous homes left abandoned without a snail in sight.
Regardless, there was still an abundance of interesting biology within the surrounding areas and on the way to the snail bed. We saw a vast number of Skates and their eggs along with various assortments of crabs while on the search for snails.
We went to watch the sunset for the last time at sea as docking at shore ensues the following morning. It was another gorgeous sunset with clear views of the ocean around us. We also went stargazing later that night and had few clouds to block the view of the stars above. It’s an amazing opportunity as unless you’re at an international dark sky location, it’s difficult to see the sky and stars so clearly.
August 23rd, 2024
Day 6 of Leg 2 brought me the biggest joy. As always, the food was amazing with the incredibly tasty fruit making the world shine. They’re always available during mealtimes and making sure I get some is a must.
Today I got to watch CTD-005 be launched at the slope base deep profiler station. This felt so surreal as the CTD data was one of my main points of study this past summer and watching it launch was a full circle moment. After their launch, we stayed in the computer lab to monitor the niskins going down to 2900 meters. Attached to them was our Styrofoam art which would be compressed into fun designs under the intense pressure felt so far down. After watching many of the niskins be fired, we were given the opportunity to fire some of the samples ourselves along with the procedures for how to ensure the data can best represent the depth it is at. After all the niskins were fired at their respective depths, we went outside to watch the CTDs be pulled back onto the boat where we also grabbed the bags of Styrofoam art. I was so enthralled knowing that what I was holding has been down 2900 meters in the ocean.
After setting the art to dry, I went back to the wet lab where lab technicians and scientists were preparing to collect the water samples from the CTDs. I had done test runs and training roughly a month prior for how to take both Oxygen and Salinity samples and was so excited when they let me know I could help take samples! I went out to do one as I was reminded once more of the steps and took multiple oxygen, salinity, and chlorophyll samples throughout the morning. After all the samples were taken and accounted for, we stored them in their place and securing all bottles to be analyzed later.
We had finished a dive between the 4pm to 8pm shift early with no next dive happening for a few hours. Our shift ended up helping launch an XBT and spent our time within the computer lab to see the readings from it.
I spent time after my 4pm to 8pm shift helping Julie Nelson complete the oxygen readings from the CTD samples. Each of the Visions students took their chance to complete one of the oxygen readings available. We prepped the bottle, took off excess water, added different chemicals agents that react with oxygen, and recorded our findings.
After completing my time here, I went into PI Laura’s lab to help them complete more of their mud samples. Another student and I got into a very consistent melody with the samples completing with only 2 push cores being left by the time we left the lab to conclude the day.
August 22nd, 2024
Day 5 of Leg 2 was another exciting day. The food can never be seen as a downside here with fresh fruit and delicious takeaways provided on a regular basis on top of having a leftovers fridge whenever you’re looking for a little more during non-mealtime hours.
Dives went well today with Dive J2-1638 being my favorite. It was another dive to help PI Laura collect samples within microbial mats for their lab’s use. These samples were collected in locations near the previous Osmo locations taken out in dive J2-1634 alongside a reference sample further from the Osmo locations. Most of the samples came back in working condition to be processed at a later point.
We got to tour the engine room as well with the first engineer explaining to us the various components found within the powerhouse of an engine room. With instruments such as the reverse osmosis pumps to make fresh water to the giant circuit panels that power the boats components, there’s a wide variety of instruments that keep Atlantis going. Being able to see the engine room while in action let us see the control panels in action along with all the parts in their typical use. We could see and hear everything around us spinning and turning while generating or allocating power with the reverse osmosis pump in action right. Next to it all.
I spent time with PI Laura and Anna whenever I wasn’t logging or out on the ship. There were many mud samples they needed to have completed and gave us the opportunity to help them collect each individual sample found within the pump cores. They’re very delicate in how they need to be handled with no excess movement being allowed for the cores. Each sample was collected at every 3 cm available within the pump core, typically giving 3-5 samples to be collected per core. I continued helping with part of the processing of the cores up until the start of my 4pm shift.
The sunset this day was one of the best I’ve seen any other day, the way everything glowed and shimmered after was incredible to see. Sunset at open sea after the end of your shift is such a calming transition into whatever you’re going to do next. These days have been flying by with how jam packed they’ve been. There’s always something to do with an opportunity to help!
August 21st, 2024
Day 4 of Leg 2 was stunning! As always, the food was amazing. Today felt very American with dinner including fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. It was a nice meal before heading back to the dive room for more logging. I spent more time today within the ROV Van than anywhere else on the ship.
I spent 2AM to 9AM inside the ship to ensure I don’t miss the opportunity of watching the MOSQUITO get engaged. It was certainly worth watching especially after being excited about it for over 2 months by this point. The new deployment of the uncabled instruments were replacements to the previously deployed Osmo, CAT, and MOSQUITO. These previous instruments were brought back from the deployment and the Visions students had the opportunity to help taking samples from each of the instruments. I spent some time before my 4pm shift working with Andrew and Alex to help tear down the instruments for sampling to be done later. Being able to work on these instruments throughout my time at sea is such an incredible experience.
I went onto my 4pm shift afterwards where I got to log for dive J2-1634. This was the first dive for PI Laura where they were firing niskins and collecting push core samples from certain parts of the sea floor. These samples will be recording a variety of measurements with a priority for PI Laura being the methane contents of the samples.
After such an intriguing shift of watching the samples be collected, I went off to do some laundry after having a good portion of my outerwear get very dirty from all the tasks going on throughout the expedition. After completing my laundry, I caught PI Laura and Anna who let me know there was some work I could help with, and after watching that dive, I was very excited to help! This mostly consisted of carrying out the cores and Osmo crates collected by Jason into the wet lab or cold storage. It’s always so surreal touching things that have been hundreds of meters deep into the ocean and knowing how much time and effort it took to collect the samples makes it somewhat honorable knowing I got the opportunity to work here! The days truly fly by and there’s always such incredible work to be done around the boat.
Overall, today was such a fun day and I’m so excited to keep on going throughout the expedition even with days ending far too quickly. I am excited to see how the final days turn out and fully plan to make the most of the days to come, especially with all the yummy food available and exciting tasks to complete!
August 20th, 2024
Day 3 of Leg two was a fun one. My daily schedule is changing constantly due to the excitement of everything going on. Once again, the food was very good with them serving cupcakes for Sawyer’s birthday! They were so soft and fluffy with the frosting not being too sweet; I will certainly be thinking of the yummy cupcakes for a while. The energy that is increased from such tasty food is very helpful in keeping up with everything being done.
The dives were interesting with dive J2-1631 consisting of a plethora of unplugging cables from one junction box to prepare to be connected to its replacement. This was the dive that had me even more excited to be a logger. I improved greatly at understanding how to best express what Jason is doing from this dive due to repeatedly describing the same task within similar time frames. I continued to stay as the logger and have been more prone to taking the position since this dive. I’ve done a lot of work as a secretary, and tasks like this continue to show how recording information from meetings are typically a strong suit of mine. I lean into these roles more and enjoy being able to have something for my hands to do throughout the sessions; hence why logging has been very fun!
At 2pm we had the opportunity to meet with PI Laura and Anna to learn about their research and what they’re up to with Jason dives. They explained about their collection of mud and water samples from the dives and how we can have the opportunity to help them throughout the cruise!
After our 8pm shift, the Visions students decided to watch a movie in the lounge. There’s a great tv with a wide array of movie selection readily available while we’re out at sea. We decided to watch the Pirates of the Caribbean, which only felt appropriate while at sea. It was a lot of fun with many of the students popping in and out throughout.
This day was also when my cravings for avocados began. Being from California, I fit the stereotype of loving avocados far too much. They are a must in almost every meal and simply add so much greatness. Luckily, many of the meals here have included avocados in some way with there being a point where a container of avocados was out for anyone to add to their dish. It’s certainly a great feeling to have a craving met so quickly especially being so far from mainland; I just love having such incredible food readily available.
August 19th, 2024
Day 2 of Leg 2 was one for the memories. Once again, the food was very good with my favorite of the day being from breakfast with eggs and avocados. There were some very cool events that happened this day with the first including some whale watching while we were on our way! They stayed hidden, but you could see bursts of water shoot our around us. In addition to this, there was also a super blue moon out! Light pollution still affected the view slightly, but being in open waters watching the moon made it such an incredible sight.
Dives went well with our shift getting a much better hang of logging and documenting. There is such an abundance of sea life seen throughout the dives which is wildly intriguing to all who are watching. You can see the engineers zooming into various critters when Jason is travelling about or sitting somewhere. As a shift, we still are getting the hang of the sleeping aspect here as time feels vastly different. We do all agree that the time spent with Jason flies by where we look at the time and it’s somehow the end of our shift. We saw the deployment of the new MJ01C node during dive J2-1625 alongside a 4k photo survey of the site. This was the first time I saw the photo surveying in action and having access to such high-quality footage easily is wonderful for keeping accurate instrument information available along with allowing for improvements in the Site Summary through having updated material.
In addition to the dives, I was helping with the setup of the MOSQUITO. I did a run through of its setup a few weeks prior on shore but doing it on a moving boat increased the difficulty by a nice sum. I helped with portions of it both before and after my 4pm shift which had many different components due to its stage of completion. The beginning was fairly the same with setting up 4 of the tubes before needing to go to my shift, with the post shift session consisting of holding up parts and being a 3rd set of hands to finish off the building of the MOSQUITO.
I ended up eating some pancakes after finishing up my day as a little sweet treat for myself. They were within the fridge of leftovers that is such a great thing to have for anytime I sleep through lunch or want something during non-meal hours. They tasted amazing with some honey on top and was a fun way to end the day. After this, I went to sleep to prepare for my following 4 am shift.
August 18th, 2024
The first day of Leg 2 has gone very well. The food was very good, and all the visions students had an ice cream night to prepare for the adventure ahead. From here I went to get settled in my room with 2 bunkmates, I got the top bunk. Exploring the ship further with some vision’s students led us to the library where we found a vast array of board games to play with us settling on some card games for the day. From here we settled off to bed to prepare for the next day.
We toured the Atlantis while being trained on emergency protocol and briefed on the tasks with Jason. It was around 2pm when everything was settled, and I had my first shift from 4pm-8pm with Catherine and Zariel. The 3 off us stuck together exploring the now moving vessel and playing some more card games until the beginning of our shift. Once our shift started, we all got briefed about what was going on and replacing the vision students before us to take over the logging and documenting process for Jason.
Our first shift had a plethora of learning experiences, from working on how to write everything, to making sure you’re taking an adequate number of pictures. We took a while to learn, but we were getting the hang of it by the end. There were so many monitors all watching various parts of Jason that the engineers were looking through for very precise movements being made. We were right behind with a set of 3 monitors for logging, watching a video feed, and capturing 4k images and videos. With this setup, there were typically 2 of us on the computers with one person behind waiting to swap out whenever ready.
Dive J2-1622 was the first one we looked at after being transitioned in where we focused more of the end of the dive and recovery process. The next dive occurred right after, Dive J2-1623. This dive is where we got more experience with the ascent of Jason and learning how to log and record from there. Deployed with Jason was the new MJ01C junction box to replace the one lifted off in the previous dive. We spent the shift logging and documenting more of Jason before finishing our shift and transitioning it to the next.
After completing our shift, we decided to go clean of Anemones from the Old MJ01C, which left our clothes in a very different condition from how we started the day with them. It took roughly an hour to get most of the Anemones off the old MJ01C, but it was a lot of fun to do and an experience I don’t think I would get anywhere else. After that concluded, I started the process of connecting my laptop to the internet before exploring some more until I went to sleep to prepare for my 4am-8am shift. And that was the end of my very exciting day 1! I’m excited to see how the rest of leg 2 goes.