by 
Dearest Reader, I’m usually a fan of roller coasters–your hair getting swept across your face, the inevitable adrenaline rush when you see the first big drop–but I was certainly not on the morning of July 31st, 2024. I wasn’t actually on a roller coaster, rather, I was lying in my stateroom (boat talk for bedroom), feeling our ship (the Sikuliaq) roll with every fresh set of waves. Day two was immensely better than day one, but my nausea still lingered while I found my sea legs.
Breakfast was promptly served at 0700, but I groaned and covered my head with the loaned sheets as my alarm went off (I am not a morning person, can’t you tell?). After another hour or so of dosing, I slid out of bed towards the cacophony of sounds worming their way through my door. One thing I’ve very quickly learned on this expedition is that ships are rarely quiet, and if they are, that is more worrisome than comforting. Exiting my room, I efficiently scavenged my morning meal: an apple, a hashbrown, and chai tea. I vaulted myself down the stairs (we will say for this blog, purposefully, and not due to the variability in the ground’s relative location to my feet) to attend the first morning meeting.
In the main lab, surrounded by monitors displaying live data from the ship, microscopes, and hard hats, I met up with the rest of my STEMSEAS cohort. We listened to Dr. Joe Montoya lecture on the Coriolis effect, ocean upwelling, and plankton. This is his area of expertise. My lamentation on missing some of the action yesterday due to seasickness was cut short when I learned we would be conducting a plankton net tow later in the night. The goal of the tow was to collect some Copepods: a type of zooplankton. Copepods migrate daily on a similar scale to that of the wildabeest’s great migration. Due to their distinctive darker coloring, during the day Copepods become easy targets for predators, so they only come to the surface to feed during the night, and return to the depths of the water columns when their hunger is satisfied/light begins to show. Copepods feed on phytoplankton, which have the ability to make their own “food” using the sunlight, a skill both my parents and I wish I possessed as I have a habit of ravaging the pantry back home.
After our morning lecture, my roommate Bex and I went to the 02 (pronounced “O-two”) deck to soak in the ambiance. The ambiance consisted of deep indigo waters, frothy waves, and the occasional shower of sea spray as the Sikuliaq bumped through the water. We laughed and enjoyed the rare sunshine. I’ve been told Alaskan summers can be rather dark and gloomy. Slightly damp, but mood otherwise high, we returned to our stateroom and dried off, preparing for lunch. The initial notion I had that the food on the Sikuliaq would be sub-par (I think just being aware of our lack of access to a Costco, my favorite place to grocery shop, made me preemptively fear for the worst) was dramatically disproved the first meal I had. So far, we’ve had fajitas, salmon, beef stroganoff, and a seafood boil. We are eating like queens! I think the white chocolate scones have been my favorite discovery thus far. I had two (don’t tell the captain) while finishing my Stephen King novel during a break today. I don’t know if a better heaven exists than a sweet treat and a good book.
After lunch in the mess (no, not my room during finals season, rather the name of the dining area on the ship), I took a little nap and met with the STEMSEAS group again at hour 1400. We had a lecture from Dr. Callan Bentley, a structural geologist. We discussed plate boundaries, the difference between oceanic and continental plates, and how Alaska is situated geologically. Dinner followed shortly after, and we gathered in the main lab once more to work on blog posts and projects. Later this evening, we will reconvene for the net tow, but for now, it’s time for a much-needed nap!
All my love,
Malva Wieck
