by Saturday, October 6th, 2018
Day 5 at Sea
Demi Carballosa. Miami, Florida.
Awakened by the hidden cool breeze of my porthole; my fifth day at sea begins. Much like every morning at sea, my alarm is the subtle aroma of freshly cooked breakfast seeping from the kitchen of the galley. In combination with the boats rocking motion, I decided to quickly leap off of my top bunk and, to my surprise, I landed safely. In my rush to beat the impending end of the breakfast hour, I accidentally forgot to take my anti-nausea pills but thankfully, after almost a week at sea, my body has become well adjusted to the vessels constant motion and instability. In my very tardy arrival to breakfast, I still managed to grab a hot and very flavorful plate of food. I comfortably enjoyed this meal while sitting underneath a very dark porthole, since the sun still had not risen, alongside some of my newfound friends. Right after breakfast finished, the first lesson of the day had begun and today it was Geology. Our very own Chief Scientist Dan, who is a Geology professor at the University of Houston, led this lesson. We discussed the topic of Geology through microscopic examination of sediments that were collected at different stations along our vessels journey by means of a Sediment Grab. For the first time since on boarding, all science personnel were present. As the sun started to shine beyond the clouds in the afternoon, we were pleased to receive a phone call from the bridge; whales were spotted portside of the vessel! In an excited rush, all the people inside of the science lab scurried up four flights of stairs to get to the bridge for the best view of the whales. Unfortunately, all that was seen of the whales was a few small spouts from a distance. After spending some more leisure time up at the bridge with the crew, we were then escorted downstairs to resume the rest of our Geology lesson. Just as things began to get more exciting in our findings, the lunch hour came. After lunch, most if not all of the science crew found themselves venturing over to the ice-cream freezer for a quick midday treat. After a fun lunch, every member of the group was given the opportunity to then select a group project to work in, the options were: Biology, Oceanography, Geology, or STEM Communications. I chose to work in the Oceanography group because I felt that it would be most beneficial to my academic interests. We are currently discussing our project that entails some data analysis and research with the CTD Sample information that we have collected from the several station stops we have made during the length of our research cruise. Later today we have some very interesting events of wildlife watching and stargazing, weather permitting, to look forward to. Days like today on the vessel truly shine a light on what research at sea can truly be like. I am excited to continue working, socializing, and discovering how best to work and live in such an environment. It really is a pleasure to work with such great and inspired minds in an opportunity that will most likely affect my future academic endeavors.
