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Today, the STEMSEAS 2025 Marine Tech Expedition commenced as we boarded R/V Sikuliaq at the University of Hawai’i Marine Center in Honolulu ahead of the February 3 departure from port. Immediately upon our arrival we were greeted by the ship’s crew and shown our staterooms. While we settled into our home for the next few days, the crew gave us a safety briefing explaining some of the shipboard safety protocols and procedures.
Our first activity as shipmates was going through safety drills to ensure the science party knew what to do during an emergency while underway. Our reward for a successful drill was an amazing lunch in the mess hall where we ate burgers prepared by the amazing steward department.
Perhaps the coolest activity of the day was a comprehensive ship tour given by Chief Mate, Arty and 3rd Mate, Liam. We got to learn about what makes this a Polar-Class 5 vessel and learn about the “Baltic Room,” an indoor housing for the shipboard Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD) rosette! We also got a tour of the areas run by the engine department that keep the ship running smoothly from the 3rd Assistant Engineer!
After the tour, we had a meeting with Chief Scientist Ethan Roth and the rest of the science party where we clarified objectives for the short expedition! On this cruise, STEMSEAS will be alongside the UNOLS Multibeam Advisory Committee (MAC), the University of Hawai’i Data Acquisition System (UHDAS), and a group from the University of Miami working on some of the shipboard radar systems used for measuring surface currents and making real time maps of sea ice! The variety of objectives for this cruise will give us exposure to various unique subfields of marine technology!
To wrap up the day we enjoyed an excellent chicken dinner in the mess hall and each of us shared a mini gift with the group that represented some aspect of ourselves. These gifts ranged from unique stickers to homemade crafts to matchbox cars! Our final activity of the day was to decorate styrofoam cups which we will submerge in the ocean when we deploy the CTD to see how the styrofoam responds to increased pressure with depth. As we look forward to the Sikuliaq lifting her mooring lines and heading out to sea, we wonder what is in store for this once in a lifetime experience!
