by The day began with rough seas. Large swells rocked the boat and the deck was secured so we were unable to go outside. Yet there was no lack of things to do! After an early breakfast we gathered in the main lab for a knot tying class from one of the SSSG’s, Ella. SSSG stands for Shipboard Scientific Services Group – a position that bridges the communication between the science party (us!) and the rest of the crew. (K)not only were these knots fun to learn, we will also be applying them when we deploy the Conductivity Temperature and Depth sensor.
Later in the day we also had the opportunity to go down to where the bow thruster sits. We learned about the seawater intake which allows the science party to access surface seawater directly in the lab! We switched from using a centrifugal pump to a diaphragm intake. The centrifugal intake has a propeller that chops up any zooplankton that might be in the water. By using the diaphragm pump we keep those samples whole and can look at them under the microscope.
In the afternoon we had an ecology lecture from one of our amazing faculty mentors, Becky. My favorite part was learning about the tubeworms that live on the seafloor at active hydrothermal vents! They are incredible creatures that can survive extreme pressure and temperatures. However, what I find most interesting is their ability to do chemosynthesis via symbiotic bacteria. This means that they can get their energy from the chemicals and minerals that are released from hydrothermal vents. And if that weren’t cool enough, the Alvin submersible that lives on R/V Atlantis was the one that discovered them!
