Elena Calderon Blog Leg 2

August 25th, 2024

Pilots being dropped off at the Atlantis to enter Newport. Credit: E. Calderon, Whitworth University; V24.

As we were approaching Newport, the small pilot boat came to drop off pilots. Watching the pilots come on board to navigate the Atlantis into harbor reminded me of the beginning of the trip when they were picked up from the Atlantis after we had left harbor. This was a good bookend for the trip.

Sunset at Nye beach, Newport. Credit: E. Calderon, Whitworth University; V24.

With signal, I was able to have a video call with my family and show them where I had been for the last week. They were excited to learn, and I was excited to show them what I had been up to. I was, of course, able to communicate with them slightly during the cruise. However, with a longer and faster connection, I was able to talk with them for longer and see their faces while doing so. It felt good to reconnect with the outside world in this way.

For dinner, some interns and I went out to eat sushi. It was decently good sushi and good company, so overall a great experience. I was able to try some new rolls I hadn’t had before, which I enjoyed.

Successfully getting to and sitting on a rock. Credit: E. Calderon, Whitworth University; V24.

After dinner, we decided to walk to the beach. The sun was setting, creating a beautiful view. One student, Catherine, and I went down to the water (which was an adventure in itself) and started exploring. We found several washed-up jelly fish and intricate rock formations. We successfully climbed one small rock and Catherine climbed another. However, climbing the third proved to be more difficult. All the formations had a deep pool of water directly around them and this pool was larger around the third rock. Because of this, we decided to drag some logs from further inland on the beach to the rock and create a sort of bridge. Unfortunately, the bridge did not work very well and we ended up getting pretty soaked on our lower bodies. It was dark by the time we started heading back up to the others, which made the adventure of climbing up a wall of vegetation all the more fun.

August 24th, 2024

During our first shift of the day, we monitored J2-1641 which was a survey dive. There were many starfish and octopi. There was also a Coca-Cola can and an old CTD. A star character was a small crab that had very large manipulators who we called “Rex-T” – the opposite of a T-Rex. During this dive, each member of my shift got to pilot Jason! It was an unexpected and really exciting experience. The pilot, Tito Collasius, went over the basic movements of Jason, up/down, left/right, spin, and let us maneuver along the path of the survey. It was much harder to drive than it looks – I suppose the pilot’s just make it look easier than it is. It was also a bit scary to drive because I was mindful of how large and expensive of a machine Jason is. Getting to pilot Jason was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and is a definite highlight of the cruise.

We also got a tour of the bridge today. The bridge is where all navigation (including the mitigation of energy) is done. We learned many facts during the tour, including the following. Jason draws 400amps of power which is about eight times as much as a house can use in a day. The Atlantis is much better at maneuvering than speed. The first electronic bridge, including machines, was introduced in the 1960s. KAQP is the Atlantis’ unique call sign, inherited from the first Atlantis. At the end of the tour, I even got to sit in the captain’s seat and look out over the horizon from that vantage point which I thought was pretty cool. I actually saw a boat straight ahead in the horizon that we ended up radioing to warn them that they were entering a research area. We did not collide with the boat, and I think I absolutely was an integral part of that – not sure what they would have done without me in the captain’s chair.

In the later hours of the day, we worked on de- and re-labeling sample bottles for samples from the Mosquito. We prepared five-hundred sample bottles relatively quickly as a group. Though the work could have been tedious, it was actually enjoyable. The environment was made comfortable with the people, music, and repetitiveness of the task. It was a good task to end on on the last full day out at sea.

To take advantage of the clear night sky out at sea, we went stargazing. There were some meteors that added to the experience. The stars were incredibly visible, even faint gas clouds could be seen. We ended up going out again, early in the morning of the 25th and staying out until the sunrise finished. During the sunrise, my conversation with fellow students became more sentimental and we took a few moments to appreciate our learning over the summer and our week on Leg 2 of VISIONS’24.

August 23rd, 2024

This morning, we deployed a CTD at Slope Base. We sent some Styrofoam art down with the CTD to get it compressed by the pressure. While the CTD was in the water, we sat in the computer lab watching the data come in. I learned about pycnoclines, which are the density equivalent of thermoclines. Pycnoclines are areas where different density water areas meet/interact. We also talked about chemosynthesis and how it effects oxygen levels at varying depths in the ocean. When the CTD surfaced, I was able to help bringing it back to deck which was really exciting.

In the afternoon, on dive J2-1640, we were back at Hydrate Ridge doing a photo mosaic survey. Mosaic surveys are made by covering a given area and taking pictures at regular intervals then later piecing those images together to form a map of the area. During the survey we saw many cool rock formations, bacterial mats, and ocean life including a dinner plate jellyfish and an octopus squid  

August 22nd, 2024

I noticed a ring of 6 black spheres near the latching area of Jason since the first dive and asked about it during our first shift today. I learned that the ring is bolts for a mounting plate for the belly winch. Jason’s belly winch is hydraulically powered and can be used to suck items up to Jason when its main latching system is not functioning. I also learned that Jason typically moves about 20-30 meters per minute when traveling to and from the seafloor.

I was able to work on prepping and cleaning some push cores with Dr. Lapham and Anna Hildebrand while they were sectioning off samples from a previous dive. While in the wet lab, there were two really interesting cores. One of them had an orange microbial mat at the top of the sample. Another had a section of void gas between two sections of sediment which looked like the sediment was floating in midair.

After prepping the push cores, I got to watch the dive where the samples were taken (J2-1638). On this dive, a fish got caught in one of the crates holding the cores. Jason’s pilot attempted to grab the fish out of the crate. Unfortunately, the fish was very stuck, and the attempt only resulted in pieces of the fish breaking loose. After reaching the seafloor, it only took a few minutes for a hag fish to come swarming for a delicious piece of fish. Soon two more hag fish also came. The gruesome scene of three hag fish tearing into the bigger fish lasted a few seconds. The had fish quickly broke the fish out of the crate. A couple seconds after that, a huge crab entered the scene – just too late to join in for the snack. As we were leaving the area, we saw a large group of hag fish still working on the fish. It was a very cinematic event to witness.

It was a busy day and there were a lot of exciting things I wanted to be a part of. Because of that, I stayed up and was able to catch the sunset. It was a beautiful way to take a break and end the day.

August 21st, 2024

Soft coral near the cable. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI, J2-1628; V24.

 

The first shift of the day was very exciting. We were on dive J2-1632 at Hydrate Ridge and saw a lot of life. There were many very small fish towards the beginning of the dive. As we went further down, we began to see many orange rock fish. There were also many crabs, hag fish, and few star fish. We also saw a small shark! A memorable moment was a soft coral being called “Live COVID”, due to how similar it looks to the COVID-19 virus. Overall, the dive was exciting to be a part of. There was a lot more visible life at Hydrate than the shallower coastal locations. The location of J2-1632 in particular was special because we were replacing an instrument whose data one of my shift-mates had worked with over the summer. His excitement about seeing the instrument was fun to witness and take part in.

On J2-1633, I saw a bacterial mat for the first time – at least after knowing what it was. I was excited to spot it after having learned about them from Dr. Lapham and Anna Hildebrand. The mats signify locations where methane oxidization is occurring. It was great to have this perspective and understand what was occurring in the sediment as we were scanning the seafloor.   

Disassembling an OSMOI. Credit: J. Almokharrak, University of Washington; V24.

Between shifts, the students were given an introduction to OSMOI, Cat, and Mosquito instruments. I was able to understand just bits and pieces and got a firmer grasp on the function of the OSMOI. The OSMOI has three main coils. One which transports acid, another that transports samples, and a bonus coil which also transports samples. The acid and sample coil create a y-formation, where the acid mixes with the sample. The bonus coil stretches vertically, separate from the others and serves to gather unchanged samples.

After we got a quick run down on the function of the OSMOI, Cat, and Mosquito, we disassembled them. This process had parts that students were able to take part in. There was the actual disassembly of the instruments, the washing of pieces, wrapping and putting pieces away, and logging. When disassembling the OSMOI, we were able to see the acid, sample, and bonus coils and identify which was based on their formation (y-shape and separate vertical).

August 20th, 2024

A corroding connector. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI and E. Calderon, Whitworth University; J2-1628; V24.

On the first shift of the day, I got to learn about tying equipment down onto an elevator/cage with Alex Rose. We were working with a triangle-shaped base and trying different methods of tying it down. In general, a bungee cord (which has the structure of a thick and long rubber band) is looped through the holes of the base of the cage and over a section of the triangle. A sort of knot is made and held in place with a metal stick. The stick has a large, orange loop that Jason can grab and pull to release the knot when under water. We didn’t tie anything down to the cage, but it was cool to learn about this section of preparation for a dive.

Also on the first shift, when working with LV01C, there was an issue with one of the connectors. Two of the prongs in the connector were slightly corroded. The interesting piece, however, was that one of the prongs was actively corroding (we think from a current leak). Initially, we saw a white fluff on the prong that looked like plant life. However, after taking a closer look, the white fluff seemed to be growing. Because of this, power was cut to that connector and the Jason had to come up to grab a permanent plug for it. Our shift unfortunately ended before Jason surfaced so I didn’t see how the mission ended.

Sonar data collection. Credit: L. Couchon, University of Washington; V24

In between shifts, some fellow students and I were able to learn about sonar data collection which is used in mapping the seafloor and detecting elements of the water column. To gather samples, the Atlantis aims to move at 4.75 knots over a given area. The sonar can be used to detect sediment coming up from the seafloor (plumes). We also got to learn a little about how the data is processed and can be used. Ella Cedarholm showed us a picture of some data processing she had done in the past with sonar data which essentially consisted of cleaning outliers out of a 3-D model of the seafloor’s structure.

Figure 4. Diagram of Dr. Lapham and graduate student Anna Hildebrand’s research. Credit: E. Calderon, Whitworth University; V24

During our second shift of the day, Dr. Laura Lapham and her grad student Anna Hildebrand gave the VISIONS students an overview of their research and the work they are doing on the Atlantis. They are sampling seafloor sediment from areas with bacterial mats. There are several properties of the sediment they are analyzing. One system of interest is that of Dissolved Organic Carbon, which is produced from methane through a process called Anerobic Methane Oxidation. This transformation is made possible with the help of Sulfide Reducing Bacteria. This process is currently theoretical and being tested by Anna. So far, her results have proved the process to be accurate. A happy diagram of the system was drawn for the student.

August 19th, 2024

My team spent its second shift in the Jason van, where we worked on J2-1624 and the beginning of J2-1625 (on Oregon Shelf). On J2-1624, we spent about 1.5 hours attempting to get the cable from under a log. After numerous attempts of different approaches, a flossing maneuver was given a try. This flossing consisted of grabbing each end of the cable where it came out from under the log and pulling at each end intermittently. The cable began to move more easily as the flossing continued. The space between the two areas where the cable came up out of the seafloor from under the log became smaller and smaller. Eventually, the cable popped out – no log in sight. This was interesting because, near where the cable was trapped, there was a relatively large piece of wood.

Also on J2-1624, near the end of the trip, an instrument that Jason had grabbed (starboard) was dropped and fell on a crab. The crab looked, rightfully, annoyed. It pinched at the instrument and scurried away. All the while it kept pinching at the water. This event stuck with my team. Because of it, we have chosen the team name “crab.”

Sea life near an existing LV01C. Credit: E. Calderon; J2-1626; V24.

There were octopi sightings on J2-1626. This mission was working on installing a new LV01C. There were two octopi hanging out on the existing LV01C and another close by. Pretty soon, there was also one on the new LV01C. They were decently big and it was really cool to see them breathing. They tended to sit with their tentacles bunched up and didn’t move much. There were also many, many fish.

I took a nap after my second shift of the day, intending to wake up for dinner, but I slept through it. When I woke up for my next shift, I learned that dinner had been a really good tenderloin. I’m pretty disappointed that that’s the dinner I decided to sleep through (honestly any dinner would have been bad to sleep through). And, by the time I got to them, the leftovers were all gone too. It’s reasons like these that make it hard to go to bed. Unfortunately, sleep is necessary. Actually, like most other things on the Atlantis, sleeping is also quite an enjoyable activity. There are many cool activities going on on the Atlantis all the time, including sleep, it’s impossible to take advantage of them all.

Pilots leaving the Atlantis to head back to Newport. Credit: M. Elend, University of Washington; V24.

August 18th, 2024

In the first shift of the trip, we calibrated an OPTA on a BEP. OPTA measures the quantity of material in water by shooting a laser through water that is pumped into the instrument. We pumped water through to ensure no air bubbles were caught and measured the water’s temperature in order to ensure an accurate calibration.

Once out of the harbor, we were able to watch the pilots get picked up off the Atlantis. There was a small boat that came alongside the Atlantis that the pilots stepped onto and returned to Newport. Pilots are personnel that are specifically trained to navigate boats out of harbors. They become necessary in hard-to-navigate harbors, like that of Newport.

My team was also able to work on the first deployment of Jason. I was tired, so I didn’t catch everything. Despite that, it was very exciting. I sat in the back seat for the trip, so I was able to watch both of my teammates work and get a better gauge of our job in the van.

Sleep and meal scheduling was interesting to plan out. I still have not fully developed a schedule for myself. After my first shift, I ate dinner and went to bed around 6 p.m.  For the hours between then and getting ready for my next shift, I slept a couple hours and lay in bed for the rest. I count that as my “nighttime” sleep. When I got up, I was very well rested and was able to enjoy my shift much better than my first. If possible, my plan is to stay awake until breakfast and then have my “naptime” sleep until my third shift. Like the board of lies, my schedule may completely change. There is no time and no certainty of plans at sea