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I think I was the first to get hit with sea sickness. Right after I left my room to get breakfast I headed straight back and stayed there for about an hour. Something about breakfast just brought it out. But a few hours napping in the sun fixed it quickly.
Otherwise, everything is going great. I’m meeting new people and swapping stories from across coasts. One of the best parts about this cruise is that I got the chance to connect with people who have the same mindset as me. They too want to spend as much time as possible around the ocean and assured me that I was only a little crazy for wanting to spend time on a boat. The crew are also some of the most interesting people I’ve ever encountered. They answer all our questions about the ship and their jobs and even gift us with their stories. I kind of feel like a kid who keeps bugging their parents with seemingly boring questions, but the crew are always happy to help.
Last night we attempted to do our first coring; but, mother nature had other plans for us. After the first coring came back unsuccessful, we tried to increase the velocity on the way down; however, on the way up, we discovered that about half the core remained lost in abyss. Even though the coring “failed”, I was still exited. This is field work. It might never work how you expect it to so you just do what you can. We ended up using a mechanism that simply grabbed mud from the bottom and brought it back for us to sift through which was so much fun because we got to get a little muddy and see different organisms.
I’m not sure yet if I would spend a long stretch of time doing research on a boat, but I am sure that this is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and that I will continue to participate in the ocean in way or another. ~Moriah Byrd
