by Greetings from the Pacific Ocean! Day 1 has been an exciting start to our 12 days aboard the R/V Roger Revelle. We boarded at 7:00am and were shortly underway from the port in San Diego, California. None of the 9 students have ever been on board a ship like this. Some have experience on smaller boats or life on the coast, but this truly is a unique experience.
This trip is particularly unique in that we get to be completely immersed with the equipment and data as we assist our two co-chief scientists with their PhD projects. We were briefed before the trip and it’s so exciting to get to be the ‘hands on deck’ and gain lab/field experience. We have 2.5 days of sailing to get to the first location. In the meantime, we’re attempting to get our sea legs and enjoying the sights. Being a fair distance off the coast, we’ve gotten acquainted with some marine wildlife up close. Beginning with flying fish, we also encountered a huge pair of pelicans, the first I’ve ever seen. We saw a trio of dolphins early on, followed by a pod of dolphins later in the day. Then a huge whale off in the distance, jumping over the waves and some sleek black dorsal fins that we’re pretty sure are orcas, but couldn’t confirm as they wouldn’t come up to say hello.
The STEMSEAS crew is having a lot of fun getting to know the science team we’re working with as well as many members of the crew. Ray, the Chief Engineer, comes from a tenured background on board ships predominantly in the oil and gas industry. This is his first trip with Scripps as well but has a wealth of knowledge about life at sea, all over the world. Captain Dave spent some time with us on deck and then joined the whole group for our evening meeting. He has been with Scripps for 35 years. While he graduated as a marine officer, he decided to start as a seaman, so he couldbuild a career at Scripps. The cuisine onboard the Revelleis 5 star! The chef is a lovely man from Yorkshire in North England who whips up the most delicious meals and treats at the snap of his fingers and will tell you tales of his travels when he has some downtime in his busy days.
Life onboard the R/V Roger Revelle is a learning curve in so many ways.Some of us bunked in the forward cabins has discovered the constant chirp of the SONAR that is all but impossible to drown out. Walking down the hallways and stairs as we sail into rougher waters is becoming increasingly surprising. Sometimes my heart is dropping into my stomach, other times I’m lifted off my feet and can’t feel the floor as the ship maneuvers the troughs and peaks of the waves. I’ve also never been more conscious of closing doors behind me.
I’m abundantly grateful to be on this ship and a part of the STEMSEAS trip. Day 1 has been fantastic and I’m so excited to see what day 2 has to offer.
-Victoria
