Alas! This morning we went into the ocean with great anticipation and excitement. We found the wall again, and then somehow lost it, then found it again (which took approximately 3 hours). Then we were finally ready to start collecting. We found a huge bamboo coral, snipped it and started moving it into the bio box. So, the way the ROV is set up, the camera, arm and lights are in the front. Under the camera is a large white box that slides forwards to open. This is where the specimens are stored. We clipped off quite a big piece of coral that was awkward to get in the box. It was precariously balanced on the top. They tried to use the arm to hit it down into the box, but still a large branch was hanging off and threatening to fall. So after struggling for about a half an hour, the ROV driver was able to magically maneuver the thrusters in such a way to dance the coral into the box--we were thrilled! As they began to slide the bio box back into place though, it started to slowly move in the opposite direction--away from the ROV rather than under it. All of the sudden, the bio box was off!! Detached!! Floating in the abyss!! The coral was gone. No one could believe it. What a surreal moment. Thankfully the ROV operators kept their heads and somehow grabbed it with the arm. Then, we spent the next hour in extreme butt clench mode hoping it wouldn't drop while we brought the ROV to the surface.
So, that's it for today. We'll go out again tomorrow to the same spot, but I'm beginning to wonder about it... Hopefully third time is a charm, other wise, maybe this magnificent wall of beauty is cursed. Maybe it is home to Cthulhu who are trying to sabotage us! But the Bahamas might be a little to warm for them...
Monday, March 16, 2009
Awe
Yesterday was pretty incredible. It started the same as Saturday--getting the ROV in the water, searching for the bottom, and a gasp of excitement when we made it. We wandered around the bottom, taking pictures, collecting corals, but the real excitement didn't begin until about hour 6. We came upon a completely vertical wall covered--COVERED--in sponges, galatheid shrimp, corals, anemones, etc. The diversity was mind blowing. It was majestic, going on for hundreds and hundred of meters--up, and up, and up. Unfortunately, the arm of the ROV was acting up and we were unable to collect the samples we wanted. So, today, we are headed back to the same spot! The top of the shear cliff was at about 1700m and was covered in corals.
Let me explain something about the arm. It is excruciating to watch. You find a tree-like structure, a branch of which you want to collect. One person tries to maneuver the ROV into place, while another moves the arm (imagine a claw with only two fat fingers). Everyone is crowded around throwing their opinions out like popcorn. I'm very happy I am not an ROV operator! And we have three chief scientist on board--which causes a few alpha male issues... Anyway, the arm is rocking back and forth in the swell, closing frustratingly slowly, and maybe, just maybe, it gets it! If it does, then begins the long process of trying to bring it to the cold box under the ROV. Twisting the branch into the box, placing it gently down...and letting the grip go... That is where the issue starts--yesterday, 4 times in a row, the branch was balanced precariously on the edge of the box and then, slowly, ever so slightly, it would shift, and drift tauntingly off the edge, into the abyss while every one on the ship let out a defeated sigh.
Hopefully, we will have better luck today. Apparently there was something stuck in the claw which limited the grip capability.
The samples we did get were incredible. One bamboo was almost as thick as my finger! That is very big for a bamboo. We only took a small piece of it. When we were cleaning out the cold box on the deck, I was scraping the bottom with my fingers and managed to stick myself all over with glass sponge spicules. Welcome to the life of a deep sea biologist! It was kind of an indoctrination. Who else would ever come into contact with a species that lives 2000 meters below the surface of the ocean? Then, I looked up and saw the most amazing sight. A beautiful streak of light in the sky, illuminated by the sunset, greens and reds and yellows--it was the space launch!!!! We could see it from the ship!! It was incredible. It was a magical moment. You couldn't help looking at that and feeling alright about the world. I had just had a similar moment about 20 minutes earlier when I was watching the sunset on the bow--the moon was a perfect blood red orb, kissing the horizon. It was just an evening for feeling good about the world...I don't think I can ever be unhappy at sea. (I'm sure Poseidon is gonna test that philosophy)
Ok I need to get back to work. I have been taking lots of photos and plan to post them. We'll see if the internet will cooperate :)
Let me explain something about the arm. It is excruciating to watch. You find a tree-like structure, a branch of which you want to collect. One person tries to maneuver the ROV into place, while another moves the arm (imagine a claw with only two fat fingers). Everyone is crowded around throwing their opinions out like popcorn. I'm very happy I am not an ROV operator! And we have three chief scientist on board--which causes a few alpha male issues... Anyway, the arm is rocking back and forth in the swell, closing frustratingly slowly, and maybe, just maybe, it gets it! If it does, then begins the long process of trying to bring it to the cold box under the ROV. Twisting the branch into the box, placing it gently down...and letting the grip go... That is where the issue starts--yesterday, 4 times in a row, the branch was balanced precariously on the edge of the box and then, slowly, ever so slightly, it would shift, and drift tauntingly off the edge, into the abyss while every one on the ship let out a defeated sigh.
Hopefully, we will have better luck today. Apparently there was something stuck in the claw which limited the grip capability.
The samples we did get were incredible. One bamboo was almost as thick as my finger! That is very big for a bamboo. We only took a small piece of it. When we were cleaning out the cold box on the deck, I was scraping the bottom with my fingers and managed to stick myself all over with glass sponge spicules. Welcome to the life of a deep sea biologist! It was kind of an indoctrination. Who else would ever come into contact with a species that lives 2000 meters below the surface of the ocean? Then, I looked up and saw the most amazing sight. A beautiful streak of light in the sky, illuminated by the sunset, greens and reds and yellows--it was the space launch!!!! We could see it from the ship!! It was incredible. It was a magical moment. You couldn't help looking at that and feeling alright about the world. I had just had a similar moment about 20 minutes earlier when I was watching the sunset on the bow--the moon was a perfect blood red orb, kissing the horizon. It was just an evening for feeling good about the world...I don't think I can ever be unhappy at sea. (I'm sure Poseidon is gonna test that philosophy)
Ok I need to get back to work. I have been taking lots of photos and plan to post them. We'll see if the internet will cooperate :)
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Success!!
We made it to the bottom after about 3 hours and it was a very exciting moment. It felt like landing on the moon. An eerie, barren landscape appeared, seemingly out of nowhere with shear cliffs covered in a strange slimy covering. Glass sponges greeted us around many corners and occasionally we saw eels and rat tail fish. But, the real excitement didn't begin until we found our first coral--yay!! We're a group of coral scientists, so that is the main purpose of this voyage. When we found the coral, we quickly (it's a relative term...) pulled up the specimen and stored it in a box to be taken to the surface at then end of the dive. We found a few other corals and some very exciting crustaceans that we were able to suck up into a vacuum like container. Once the ROV returned to the surface (after 8 hours), we scooped out our samples, got some genetics samples, put them in formalin and stuck them under the microscope. Everyone seemed especially relieved that nothing too terrible had happened (some of the technology was having trouble), we got some samples, and overall it was a successful day. We are now driving our way to the next dive site we will visit tomorrow!
Somehow things seem lonely in the deep sea. Every organism is a precious individual oasis in a landscape of detritus. The first anemone we came upon was a blood red color that struck a stark contrast against the white slimy substrate. Its long tentacles seemed to be reaching forever upwards like a child searching for its mother; somehow made sadder with the undulating current. Since reproduction and sexual selection are my main interest, I can't help but wonder how this lone anemone finds lovers. In reality, this anemone will likely reproduce asexually through budding, but I like the idea of it crawling through the desolate underwater mountains, desperately searching for another anemone to wrap its long arms around and trade gametes . It has the capability to surround itself with genetically identical companions, but it won't, because resources are scare in the deep sea and it is a selfish, lonely existence.
Well, clearly it has been a long day if I am ranting about the romances of a deep sea anemone... Actually, we are discovering that many of these animals have commensal relationships with other species--shrimp that live in sponges, brittle stars that live with one species of coral. That is actually a very interesting story. A certain species of coral will land as a single polyp and immediately afterward, a brittle star will land on it and they will grow up and live together and ultimately die together... There doesn't seem to be any benefit for the coral, nor is it any detriment, yet here it is--an extremely specific relationship between two species that found each other in the deep. Ok, need to go to bed. I'm finishing up work in the wet-lab and will soon be able to go to sleep (if jet lag will finally allow me to).
There are two French people on this cruise and I am learning some French from them--my favorite so far was learning that "snot" in French is "nose poop." I thought it was so adorable. Someone on the cruise said that if I think nose poop is adorable, I'm going to make a good mom. I hope that was a compliment...
More tomorrow!
Somehow things seem lonely in the deep sea. Every organism is a precious individual oasis in a landscape of detritus. The first anemone we came upon was a blood red color that struck a stark contrast against the white slimy substrate. Its long tentacles seemed to be reaching forever upwards like a child searching for its mother; somehow made sadder with the undulating current. Since reproduction and sexual selection are my main interest, I can't help but wonder how this lone anemone finds lovers. In reality, this anemone will likely reproduce asexually through budding, but I like the idea of it crawling through the desolate underwater mountains, desperately searching for another anemone to wrap its long arms around and trade gametes . It has the capability to surround itself with genetically identical companions, but it won't, because resources are scare in the deep sea and it is a selfish, lonely existence.
Well, clearly it has been a long day if I am ranting about the romances of a deep sea anemone... Actually, we are discovering that many of these animals have commensal relationships with other species--shrimp that live in sponges, brittle stars that live with one species of coral. That is actually a very interesting story. A certain species of coral will land as a single polyp and immediately afterward, a brittle star will land on it and they will grow up and live together and ultimately die together... There doesn't seem to be any benefit for the coral, nor is it any detriment, yet here it is--an extremely specific relationship between two species that found each other in the deep. Ok, need to go to bed. I'm finishing up work in the wet-lab and will soon be able to go to sleep (if jet lag will finally allow me to).
There are two French people on this cruise and I am learning some French from them--my favorite so far was learning that "snot" in French is "nose poop." I thought it was so adorable. Someone on the cruise said that if I think nose poop is adorable, I'm going to make a good mom. I hope that was a compliment...
More tomorrow!
Swell
Last night was pretty rough--thankfully, I'm not feeling sick at all, but other people are. This morning we got up, had some breakfast and then found out that the swell was too big to deploy the ROV. It may be that way for a few days, which would mean lots of free time. Thank goodness for the internet! And books--glorious books. I should be studying or writing my dissertation proposal... but---
OK, new development. Swell died down and we have deployed the ROV. It took a long time to get everything together, and about two hours ago, it started on it's journey into the abyss. The excitement on the ship was palpable...but now, after two hours, 2000 meters, and not reaching the bottom yet, it's turned into kind of a nervous energy. I had to get some coffee twice to make sure I didn't fall asleep at the monitor. All the lights are off in here so we can see if there is anything to see...
So far, we have mostly seen marine snow, plankton, a couple of shrimp and some jellyfish in the water column. It was very exciting! But, most of the people on this cruise are looking at benthic organisms (animals that actually live on the bottom substrates). Ooo, we just saw another ctenophore looking thing, but when we put the thrusters on, it disintegrated. Don't tell PETA.
I'm not sure how long this is going to last. Apparently we try to have dives last at least 6 hours, so we have 4 more hours of this--hopefully ending in the bottom :) I'm enjoying it and it seems most of the other science members are as well.
oop, just lost video... ok, back :) interesting--there seem to be a lot of troubleshooting things happening, but I suppose that is par for the first dive.
Well, I am going to get back to work. Being on this ship is wonderful, though. Last night, I stood out on deck and watched the sun set, no land in sight, just blue water and fading sun and me. Today, while watching the ROV get deployed, there were clumps of sargassum floating by, no doubt harboring hundreds of zooea and amphipods and other exciting microfauna. Apparently whales come by here often, so that is another thing to look forward to. Science makes me so happy--we're just a bunch of nerds on a ship excited by invertebrates...
OK, new development. Swell died down and we have deployed the ROV. It took a long time to get everything together, and about two hours ago, it started on it's journey into the abyss. The excitement on the ship was palpable...but now, after two hours, 2000 meters, and not reaching the bottom yet, it's turned into kind of a nervous energy. I had to get some coffee twice to make sure I didn't fall asleep at the monitor. All the lights are off in here so we can see if there is anything to see...
So far, we have mostly seen marine snow, plankton, a couple of shrimp and some jellyfish in the water column. It was very exciting! But, most of the people on this cruise are looking at benthic organisms (animals that actually live on the bottom substrates). Ooo, we just saw another ctenophore looking thing, but when we put the thrusters on, it disintegrated. Don't tell PETA.
I'm not sure how long this is going to last. Apparently we try to have dives last at least 6 hours, so we have 4 more hours of this--hopefully ending in the bottom :) I'm enjoying it and it seems most of the other science members are as well.
oop, just lost video... ok, back :) interesting--there seem to be a lot of troubleshooting things happening, but I suppose that is par for the first dive.
Well, I am going to get back to work. Being on this ship is wonderful, though. Last night, I stood out on deck and watched the sun set, no land in sight, just blue water and fading sun and me. Today, while watching the ROV get deployed, there were clumps of sargassum floating by, no doubt harboring hundreds of zooea and amphipods and other exciting microfauna. Apparently whales come by here often, so that is another thing to look forward to. Science makes me so happy--we're just a bunch of nerds on a ship excited by invertebrates...
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Ship
Today I arrived in Ft. Lauderdale :) The cruise was supposed to begin tomorrow morning, but since it is a Friday the 13th, the crew has decided to leave tonight, fifteen minutes before midnight.
It seems like it is going to be a busy cruise with very little down time. So any of the extra work I thought I might get done is probably not going to happen... But, it will still be fun. Tonight for dinner we had amazing ribs and beans and corn and bread and cake!!! I will eat better on this cruise than I do on land--they are going to have to roll me off the ship.
I'm sharing a little berth with three other girls at the bottom of the ship. One girl is from France, one from Atlanta, and one is a quiet crew member of whom I know very little about. I think we will all be very close at the end of this adventure--you can't spend three weeks in such close quarters without either bonding or fighting...
It sounds like we are going to have internet access throughout the cruise--but it will be slow. Apparently we will be able to receive mail more easily than sending it, so I will still write letters to people.
I'll try to stay updated when I can!
It seems like it is going to be a busy cruise with very little down time. So any of the extra work I thought I might get done is probably not going to happen... But, it will still be fun. Tonight for dinner we had amazing ribs and beans and corn and bread and cake!!! I will eat better on this cruise than I do on land--they are going to have to roll me off the ship.
I'm sharing a little berth with three other girls at the bottom of the ship. One girl is from France, one from Atlanta, and one is a quiet crew member of whom I know very little about. I think we will all be very close at the end of this adventure--you can't spend three weeks in such close quarters without either bonding or fighting...
It sounds like we are going to have internet access throughout the cruise--but it will be slow. Apparently we will be able to receive mail more easily than sending it, so I will still write letters to people.
I'll try to stay updated when I can!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
I know I haven't been writing much recently, but it's been pretty crazy... I go diving again tomorrow, then camping, then off to my three week cruise on Tuesday!! Hopefully I will get everything done. It was kind of a challenging week, in more ways than one... Lot's of...reflection and analysis and pensitivity (:P i know that's not a real word, dad). Les brought up some things about my research that were hard to hear and instead of being able to go off and figure things out, I am going to go spend three weeks on a cruise with him! Yay!
Oh well, no more pity parties--no time for that! Must get packing!!
Oh well, no more pity parties--no time for that! Must get packing!!
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