by 
The cruise has been calm for the first 5 days; it’s been smooth sailing without too much rocking. Today was a little different. Right now, we’re heading up the coast of Georgia and are expecting to hit a storm near North Carolina. The wind is picking up, causing rough waves that force us to move cautiously. Working in these new conditions this morning has made the experience more exciting and genuine. The ride isn’t going to be calm seas, sunshine and dolphins for the next day or so. We are now witnessing how unforgiving the ocean can be and how quickly working conditions can change for the captain and his crew. Today we were scheduled to utilize our multi-core instrument. It was a wake-up call to see how challenging it was for the crew to get the machine squared away to descend into the water in these new conditions. Just yesterday, this task would’ve been executed in half the time it took today. Unfortunately, we did not get to witness the full potential of the multi-core due to the weather, but we did manage to at least get it into the water. We are continuing to gather phytoplankton samples, but the sea state is expected to become unworkable as we head towards the storm. I suppose we’ll have to wait and see what Mother Nature has in store for us.
Jonathan M.
