It’s been quite a journey here on the R/V Atlantis! Journeys often inspire whimsical creativity, so I asked the crew and scientists to volunteer Haiku’s detailing their journey these past couple weeks…

Overwhelming sun
A revitalizing breeze
Day then night. Clockwork.
-Alex Buchanan, Able-Bodied Seaman

Although this cruise is nearly over, the FLEXE team invites you students to continue your journey of exploration and to submit (as a comment to this post) your own haiku of what you have learned while visiting our website. (Remember that haiku’s must have three lines, the first line having 5 syllables, the second line having seven syllables, and the last line having five syllables.)

At the end of January 2008, we will choose a winning haiku and send you a little prize from the deep sea! (Read more…)

The minute I stepped back on deck, everyone asked me, “So, how was it?”I have found answering this question to be a bit challenging as I am still somewhat overwhelmed by the adventure that began when I boarded Alvin. How does one describe something so beautiful? How can I possibly articulate what a mind-blowing experience it was? Perhaps the biggest impressions I am left with are the beauty of the environment and the joy of working with wonderful people. (Read more…)

Although I am now a science teacher, I did have an opportunity to be exposed to science research while getting my marine biology degree, and while working as a biologist. The one thing I appreciate the most about being involved in scientific research is how inter-connected everything is. For example, Biologist Kate Buckman’s work on Tevnia tubesorms that attach themselves to the cracks of a piece of basalt rock (shown in image to left) can cross over into the work of a scientist Read more…

19Dec2007

It’s a surreal experience being on a ship in the open ocean. On the surface, it seems almost lifeless. Every once in a while, however, we are pleasantly surprised. Yesterday, I stepped out on the deck for some air when Charlie Smith, the ship’s Oiler, informed me that there were pilot whales of the starboard side of the ship.

Sure enough, I looked out and saw several small whales off in the distance. They were swimming near the surface, coming up for the occasional breath. In a matter of a few moments, they approached the ship and I was able to get a great view. At first it seemed like there were only about four or five whales, but I gradually began to realize that there were around 20-30 whales!

They stayed with the ship for a couple hours, and we all enjoyed watching them for a while before realizing that we had better get back to work.

So I leave you today with a question - when have you been surprised by animals in your environment?

There’s more than one way to do science!

A loud horn sounds and breaks the melodic murmur of the ship’s engines. There’s a special buzz on the ship and everyone is now distracted from their current task. Wayne, the ship’s Boson, signals the crane operator to lower the avon into the water. Carrying the two swimmers, Jerry Graham, one of the ship’s Able-Bodied Seamen, steers the Avon toward Alvin, which has surfaced from the depths of the ocean. The process of bringing Alvin back on deck will take around 30-45 minutes. All the while, the scientists linger in anticipation of the day’s Read more…

Today I had the opportunity to visit the crew that was working on the bridge of the ship. I ran into Jim McGill, the ship’s Able-Bodied Seaman (in the picture to the right), who was on duty at the time. We noticed, off in the distance, a dark sky. The clouds ahead of us were the darkest I had seen in my short time on the ship. “A squall is headed this way”, said Jim, “it’ll be here in 10 minutes”. It was amazing to see the sky continue to darken, and to actually watch the storm system approach the ship. Within a couple of minutes, the ship was surrounded by clouds (there was almost no visibility), rain was pouring down, and the wind-speed went from a breezy 10 to a strong 34 knots.

All of this peaked my curiosity and I began to ask Jim more questions about weather. Apparently, 9ºN (our study site on this research cruise) is in the middle of an oceanic phenomenon known as the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, an area where cool northern currents collide with warmer southern currents. The result is rather “swelly” water and the occasional storm system.

To help keep track of any potentially alarming weather, the ship receives internet and/or internet weather updates from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the United States Navy every 6 hours. In addition, any weather warnings that are announced go directly to the bridge via the NAVTEX receiver, which will print out a report.

I was also curious about the implications of weather on the ship while sailing at sea and on the Alvin submersible. In general, the R/V Atlantis handles weather conditions quite well. It’s a strong vessel and quite stable on the water. Jim indicated to me that the crew appreciates the occasional rainfall because it helps to clean and cool the ship. Jim did mention, however, that when conditions are severe, there is concern for the safety of the ship and crew. The effect of weather on Alvin is a completely different story. The ship can’t launch Alvin in winds over 30 knots. Likewise, if Alvin submerges in strong weather conditions, it would be too dangerous to retrieve. Having a good idea about weather conditions makes sure that everyone is safe, including the ship and Alvin.

It is amazing how complex weather can be. The Captain and crew carefully analyze all of the main elements of weather monitoring: wind direction, wind force, swell direction, air temperature, water temperature, general weather conditions (such as visibility, rain, etc.), and sea state (using the Beaufort scale: observations of the appearance of the water, mostly focusing on “white caps”).

So my question to you is the following: which piece of weather information do you think is the most important while at sea, and why?

December 11, 2007

Right now we are on open ocean. There is no land to be seen, and virtually no surface animals either. There is the occasional bird, and we have been fortunate to spot a few flying fish, dolphins, and a couple of sea turtles. Nevertheless, the area is quite remote. It certainly is beautiful, but a bit disorienting. It’s strange not to see land. Despite my uncertainty, the ship knows exactly where we are.

What is unusual for those that have never been at sea is understanding our location. I found it challenging to tell people where I was going before embarking on this trip. People are often used to giving directions based on visual cues (for example, “its across the street from the grocery store”, or “turn left at the snow board shop”). But at sea, there just aren’t those types of cues. The best I can do is tell you that we are over the East Pacific Rise (a geologic feature on the ocean floor) and our coordinates are 9º50′ North, 104º West.

When the Chief Scientist planned this research expedition, she gave the Captain of the Ship the coordinates for the location she wanted to go. So in my head popped a big question: how does the ship find the location? I had a chance today to speak with PJ Leonard, the Ship’s Chief Mate (in the picture on the right) who was kind enough to show me one of the most interesting parts of the ship, the Bridge. It really is the nerve center of the ship as this is where they control the ship. Located on the Bridge is the ships elegant system of navigation through the use of GPS (Global Positioning System). But this isn’t quite the same as your automobile’s GPS - its more complex.

Like the system you might use at home, the ship’s system relies on 3 of the 24 satellites orbiting the Earth to get a signal. Through triangulation, a location is determined. The ship, however, doesn’t just use a single GPS, it has a dynamic positioning system that uses three GPS units (each of which uses 3 satellites), then calculates the average of the three to get a better fix on location. (Ah… nothing like repeating trials to increase confidence in the results!) The dynamic positioning system is so sophisticated that it virtually runs itself and even has a 14-hour battery back-up in case the ship looses power. The ship is able to attain somewhat better accuracy than a GPS you might purchase however, because integrated into this system is a differential GPS called CNAV that corrects the inherent errors in GPS improving accuracy to within 1-3 meters!

To assist the GPS, the ship has three gyros that are like fancy compasses (see image on the left). Two of these gyros measure the Earth’s rotation, and one acts as an accelerometer to provide information on altitude and motion on an axis. The ship also uses radar technology to determine its distance from other objects (right now, the only other objects showing up on radar are clouds!) Finally, there is one other piece of sophisticated technology that the bridge uses. It’s so important that PJ wanted to make sure I told you about it. It’s satellite radio, so the bridge can have music accompany them during their shifts. Sadly though, we are now too far south to pick up on the signal. Perhaps I’ll loan him my iPod for a while!

After getting acquainted with the instruments on the bridge, I am left wondering how all of this navigation was done before we had GPS, dynamic positioning systems, radar, and satellite radio. Likewise, if these electronic systems fail (which PJ guaranteed to me that they wouldn’t… should I believe him?) how will the ship navigate? I know that in many cultures, traditional navigators could reach far destinations with amazing accuracy without the use of even a compass. How did they do it?

So my question to all of you out there is the following: assuming we didn’t have such advanced technology, how would one navigate a ship?

Yesterday we arrived! I took my first steps on board the R/V Atlantis. That’s a view of its stern to the right. It’s quite an awesome ship for a research vessel. The first thing that struck me when I stepped on board (besides the fact that I had packed too much in my duffel bag) was all the smiling faces of the crew members. I was excited to see the cabin I would call home for the next two weeks. It’s quite nice for a ship cabin with a comfy chair, lockers, shelves, even our own personal sink. I share my cabin with a graduate student, also named Jill, and I feel lucky that I got the top bunk! I admit that I got lost a couple times at first trying to find my cabin, but I think I’ve got it down now.

All of the scientists are busy setting up their lab spaces, from scratch! It’s such a big job. There are two different chemistry labs here, one for fluid chemistry and one for dissolved gasses. There’s also a lab set up for the microbiologist, and one for our paleontologist will share their space. Even the FLEXE education team, which I am part of, set up a workspace too.

Perhaps the best thing about yesterday, however, was meeting my hero for the first time. From the time I was an undergraduate marine biology student I had heard of him. He has been all around the world, has worked with some of the world’s best scientists, and was there when some of the greatest deep-sea discoveries were made. In fact, he helped to collect the temperature data sets that you FLEXE students have been studying. He’s been around for quite a while now and has undergone a few “face lifts” so he is performing better than ever. I do appreciate his age, however, because I think “salty old dogs” make the best sailing companions. I stepped through one of the ships water-tight doors and there he was. Alvin is awesome– perhaps a bit smaller than I expected (you know, because I had such a big image of him in my head), but very regal and proud looking. I reached out my hand and touched him with my finger and chills ran down my spine. He is magnificent…

We set sail today at 1100 hours. Most people on the Atlantis are veterans of sailing on this ship, but for me, and a few other scientists, it’s all brand new. The picture to the left shows the Alvin Pilot, Sean Kelley and University of Washington oceanographer, Dr. Marv Lilley, working on the mass spectrophotometer.

There are so many new names to learn, rules to learn, and even information about the subject of the scientific research to learn. It seems a lot like the first day of school to me, only this time I’m the student, not the teacher.

There was a sense of urgency today, or perhaps it was necessity, to make sure everyone knew what to do in order to be safe on the ship. We had several meetings that started right away in the morning focusing on safety. We learned about our requirements to wear proper shoes (even though it’s hot out, no flip flops allowed!), rope hazards, fire safety, and of course what to do in the event we need to abandon ship. Everyone had to wear their very trendy orange life vests and find their assigned emergency raft. I have to say, we all behaved much better than most students do through fire drills at school! It’s all very serious, but we also tell little jokes along the way. I learned from University of Leeds paleontologist, Dr. Cris Little (on the right at the safety drill in his life preserver) that enjoying a piece of ginger candy can be useful for potential sea sickness. Über cool hat!

We even had some Alvin (submersible) training today, where much of the focus was also safety. It was fascinating to learn about all that goes into simply maintaining the “air” inside the submersible. Perhaps I will share more on that later.

It is quite an experience living on a ship and I am finding it quite enjoyable. The people come from all walks of life from all around the world. It can be a very hazardous environment, and yet I have never felt safer. Tonight as I write this I have the pleasure of sitting on the deck, under the stars, next to some wonderful people I have met including Ronnie Whims, a member of the crew who is also quite an accomplished guitar player. His music helps me remember these past two days. I know that this cruise will be quite an experience.

So I will leave you all this evening with a question for you to ponder and perhaps respond to… How do you think you might feel getting acquainted to a new school or to new experiences like going on a scientific research expedition?

FLEXE Teacher-At-Sea Jill Grace

Read the blog entries from Teacher-At-Sea Jill Grace about life (and research!) at sea. The cruise sails 8 - 23 December 2007. Please check back then to read and respond to her blog.

Ms. Grace teaches 7th grade science in Palos Verdes, CA. Read more…