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

Fuzzy polychaetes
Living in toasty tube homes
Alvinellids rock
-Kate Buckman, Graduate Student from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/MIT

Six strings to pass time
Ships music with friends at night
Need more time to play
(reference to the guitar jam sessions the crew often has in the evenings)
-Bruce Strickrott, Alvin Pilot and Expedition Leader

The flying fish glide
Swiftly they sail over water
Then they vanish fast
-Anonymous

I am so happy
I am diving tomorrow
See me grinning now
-Dr. Cris Little, Scientist from University of Leeds, UK

Setting sun in blue
eyes await an emerald hint
the world is turning
(reference to the “green flash” viewed at sunset)
-Tom Orvosh, Science Support Technician

The mass spec is a beast
So fickle, this shiny thing
The bane of Marv’s trip
(reference to the mass spectrophotomer that Dr. Lilley spent two weeks getting to and did!)
-Jill Grace, Teacher from Palos Verdes Intermediate, CA

Take them off the sub
Bolts are tightened, inside scrubbed
Put them back on deck
(reference to the water sampling bottles that had to be processed each night of the cruise prior to an Alvin dive.)
-Steven Phillips, Graduate Student from University of New Hampshire

The sun rises high
Alvin dives into darkness
Falling like a leaf
-Anonymous

The world turned on me
Turned and brought me closer too
My soul is set free
-Ronnie Whims, Ordinary Seaman

Vanilla ice cream
Delicious you are to me
Morsels on the sea
-Bryan Miller, Third Assistant Engineer

Packing red boxes
No more chemistry to do
Until we get home…
-Valerie Stucker, Student from University of New Hampshire

Battery dying fast
Aw heck, more work to be done
I’ll sleep when I’m dead
(reference to the endless hours of work he had to do repairing Alvin’s batteries)
-Anton Zafereo, Alvin Pilot in Training

The extraction line
Gasses beware of the pumps
Eric will get you
(reference to the gas extraction line used by Eric Olson of the University of Washington)
-Jill Grace, Teacher from Palos Verdes Intermediate, CA

Pouty purple fish
Wriggling in their rocky holes
Where do they swim to?
-Kate Buckman, Scientist from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/MIT

As the ship quickly approaches Manzanillo, Mexico, we see that our journey at sea is nearing an end. This has been such an extraordinary experience, and we hope that you students in the GLOBE and FLEXE community have enjoyed your window into this world. You all deserve huge recognition for your hard work as students and for participating in this program.

On behalf of all of you students, as a teacher I wish to extend my gratitude to several institutions and people for making this educational outreach program possible. The GLOBE program and the National Science Foundation deserve huge recognition for supporting such science education programs - without it, we wouldn’t be able to share this awesome science research with students on such a large platform. All of the fantastic professionals on the R/V Atlantis, both the ship’s crew and the Alvin crew, showed tremendous hospitality, knowledge, and patience, helping the entire science team feel at home and were eager to share their work with you. Finally, the generosity and guidance of our Chief Scientist, Dr. Karen Von Damm provided the opportunity to sail with her science team and was actively involved in making sure you students could learn about their research. Every scientist also had an active role in helping us translate this world of discovery to you. It certainly takes a team to accomplish a goal!

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!