After coming up with that blog title I realized it could be interpreted as unhappiness on my part but that is not the case at all. It is referring to the amazing and brilliant shades of blue that I see all around me. The ship’s hull is blue, the ocean is a gorgeous sapphire blue, and yesterday, the sky was blue. Blue as far as the eye can see. I try to spend at least 30 minutes outside after lunch, before I go to bed, enjoying these wonderful colors. Tomorrow we will make 1 week of sampling, covering 20 stations so far. We are currently at 17S; 95E, slowly making our way up to the equator. We are definitely in the tropics- relative humidity, even at 4am, is above 80%. We had some stormy weather with strong winds (20-25 knots) and moderate waves earlier this week, limiting our ability to get a good night sleep, so we are enjoying some calmer seas and blue skies. With the stormy days came some animal sacrifices on the deck of the boat. One morning I went exploring and found 4 flying fish and 1 squid washed up on the deck! |
Easter onboard came and went without too much notice. A ham was cooked for dinner on Saturday night (Sundays are grill nights) and some Easter candy made the rounds (thank you Matt!). As week one comes to a close, and we all get around to doing our first loads of laundry onboard, the scientists have gotten into a rhythm. Odd numbered stations mean a quick sampling session; most variables only sample every other depth. Even numbered stations involve a longer sampling session with all variables sampling the full 36-bottle depth profile, as well as (dissolved organic carbon) DOC filtering samples above 500m. All the sampling groups are having good luck with their instruments so far- fingers crossed- this continues. We have had some trouble with the oxygen sensor on the rosette, but luckily have been able to swap out sensors during transit time and haven’t had to take significant delays to deal with these. So far so good! | My finger muscles are getting stronger as the days pass, exercised by the repetitive opening and closing of the Niskin bottles (damn that number 15! It’s the worst!). The Jambox and David’s great playlists keep our spirits up during sampling sessions. |
Net, my fellow CTD-watchstander is originally from Thailand so he has begun teaching us some thai words to prepare us for our time in Thailand at the end of the cruise. We learn the numbers as we go around the rosette during sampling sessions. So far I have learned 1-5. The cooks are keeping us well fed, however dinners must be especially delicious these past couple days because there aren’t any leftovers in the fridge by the time I get downstairs at 11pm.
We are reaching the deepest ocean depths we will encounter on this cruise. Currently, we are floating over 6085m of water- that’s about 4 miles of ocean underneath us! From here, depths will get shallower as we move north, shoaling to just over 2000 meters by the end of our cruise as we transit into the Bay of Bengal.
We are reaching the deepest ocean depths we will encounter on this cruise. Currently, we are floating over 6085m of water- that’s about 4 miles of ocean underneath us! From here, depths will get shallower as we move north, shoaling to just over 2000 meters by the end of our cruise as we transit into the Bay of Bengal.