These last six days I
have been on an oceanographic cruise all around the Bermuda triangle. These
cruises are mainly used by people working on a program called BATS (Bermuda
Atlantic Time Series), which monitors temperature, salinity, chlorophyll
content, nutrient levels, eddy patterns, etc. at different locations in the
deep ocean around Bermuda. I actually took a class at UC Santa Barbara learning
about BATS. My professor showed a ton of pictures of the research vessel,
called the Atlantic Explorer, that we used, and I learned all about their
research methods. It was great to meet the people that I’d heard so much about
and get firsthand view of an oceanographers lifestyle.
Other labs at BIOS and across the US have access to the
Atlantic Explorer, which is how I was able to get on board. Before getting on,
I knew another REU (Esra) and my roommate James, who is a math major from
Cambridge modeling ocean currents with BATS. Side note about James- we got him to read the sorting hat song from Harry Potter with his lovely British accent in exchange for laundry quarters. I have it on tape.
For my project I needed to collect very
clean seawater as a control for my project. I also helped collect dirt from the
bottom of the ocean (5000 meters deep) for another project that my PI (primary
investigator, aka the head honcho) is working on.
We got my clean water samples fairly easily, but the device we
used to collect the soil takes four hours to get to the bottom of the ocean and
back. This device is designed for use in water about 50 meters deep, and is
essentially just a spring trap that is supposed to slam shut when it hits dirt.
Unfortunately, because of the incredibly high pressure of the deep ocean, the
first two times we sent it out, the device probably wasn’t moving with enough force
to trigger the spring. On our third attempt, we strapped on about 300 lbs of
extra lead weights to the sides of the scoop. To everyone’s surprise, the
device was triggered and we managed to pull about 1 gram of dirt up from the
bottom. Fortunately, that is all we need in order to run the trace metal tests
that my PI needs to perform. It really felt like a miracle!
One thing I was really surprised about was the quality of
the food. I don’t think I have ever eaten as well as I did on that ship. The
all-Filipino crew had tons of exotic sauces and spices and the best ingredients
you can keep on a ship. We had fresh guacamole, all-you-can-eat sushi,
lionfish, hand-made croissants, and much more. At sea your life pretty much revolves around weather and food, so I guess its a necessary perk if you want to keep good staff around.
Overall this was a great experience, but I’m very glad to be
back on land. While there was a lot of down time, a busy ship like this has casts
going out 24 hours a day. That means having at least one 3am cast is pretty
much expected for everyone. On average it took about three long naps for me to get all of my
sleep in! I can’t wait to spend tonight on my non-swaying bed and to stay there
for eight hours.
 |
| My first glimpse of the Atlantic Explorer |
 |
| 5:45 AM departure |
 |
| My roommate James |
 |
| Safety Drill with the other REU, Esra |
 |
| 3 am water samples |
 |
| The first unsuccessful grab. |
 |
| No dirt for the second time either :( |
 |
| Mexican Wednesday! My first taste of avocado since the US. |
 |
| Collecting my clean water samples |
 |
| Most gorgeous sunset I have ever seen |
 |
| Finally, we got some clay bottom of the ocean! This is probably the most expensive dirt I will ever see. |
 |
| The deck gets pretty wet. |
 |
| The BATS crew processing water samples |
