Today we will cross the equator! Things have been smooth sailing (weather-wise) and we are definitely in the doldrums. At 3:30am it is 85 degrees, down to 73% humidity, and winds at a depressing 2.6kts (~3 miles per hour). The official name is for this region is the InterTropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)- a belt around the equatorial region of the globe where trade winds converge, causing rising air and regions of low pressure. Warm temperatures and this uplift also tends to produce thunderstorms, which we have been experiencing for the last couple days. I’ve enjoyed watching many lighting shows off on the horizon the past couple mornings. The term “doldrums” comes from old maritime usage when sailors would get stuck in the calm winds and drift for days or even weeks. The ITCZ in the Indian ocean, unlike in other oceans, can migrate up to 1000km or 10 degrees of latitude which is quite impressive. Its location affects the timing and severity of the monsoons so it is tracked and studied closely by scientists in India specifically. |
It’s been a weekend of milestones for sure- we crossed the equator, reached and surpassed our halfway point on the cruise, and are now transiting to shallower and shallower waters as we move into the Bay of Bengal region. Our cup cast also occurred this weekend. As usual, the creativity and artistic talent aboard this ship blow me away, both from the crew and science party. Everyone had a great time decorating their cups and sending them off to the abyss. We had such a variety of Styrofoam cups on board and were intrigued by the shrinking capacities of some of them: Australian Styrofoam cups get quite small while the ones brought from the US don’t seem to shrink as much. Sounds like there’s a science experiment there somewhere… |
Lastly, thanks to the wonderful work of some fellow scientists onboard, we got an afternoon “pool party” this weekend. One of the tubs that a group is using for phytoplankton incubation experiments was cleaned out and filled with water (31deg C saltwater to be exact) for us to enjoy. Luckily, we had some forethought and froze a couple 5-gallon buckets of water (many thanks to the kitchen crew for allowing that!) and enjoyed a cool-ish tub of water for the afternoon. The blocks of ice only took about 15 minutes to melt, but it still felt fantastic! The crew brought out a corn hole set and we had a grand 'ole time. You could almost pretend that you were just hanging out at the beach and not crossing the equator in the middle of the Indian Ocean.