by 
By Bishesh Shah: Environmental Engineering Undergraduate at Cornell University
Today I woke up and for some reason it felt like I was rocking back and forth. Well, it is because we are finally out at sea! Today was the group’s first full day out at sea and everyone is still getting used to the constant motion. It is a completely different experience being at the dock versus at sea. Now during lunch, we need to hold our trays firmly, so they don’t slide, walk with a lean to counteract the movement of the ship, and pay extra attention to our bodies whenever we meet in the main lab for long periods of time.
As a tech fanatic, I thought today was super informative. Our morning started off with Abrian giving recaps, general information, observations, and advice before jumping into her presentation on maps. We learned about the characteristics of different maps, their various purposes, and the job of cartographers. A fun fact: Ajit, our program/science lead, shared that only 4% of the entire ocean has been mapped/explored. We then learned about various technologies used for ocean floor mapping such as the E/V Nautilus and HROV Nereid Under Ice. Aboard our ship, there is a multi-beam that can be used for ocean floor topography, and we will see it in action in the coming days.
A massive shoutout to all the mentors for noticing our energy levels and giving us breaks to reenergize. All of us are still getting used to life at sea, but some of us are handling seasickness better than others, which is alright. Thankfully, I have been feeling great (knock on wood) and excited for what is to come. Some things that have generally reduced the group’s seasickness have been going out on the deck, feeling the wind, and looking outward toward the horizon.
Therefore, we moved outside onto the deck to recharge and hear Ana talk about the conductivity temperature depth (CTD), which is a multi-functional oceanographic machine. In the photo below you see the roughly half a dozen black cylindrical tubes used for water sampling at various depths. On top of that, there are multiple sensors on the bottom of the CTD with all sorts of different functions as well: dual conductivity sensors, dual oxygen sensors, fluorometer, and many more. These sensors allow CTD to collect all sorts of data from oxygen levels to the amount of chlorophyll within the water. All the data can be collected and sent in real time to the computer lab we have aboard the ship. Using the information collected by the CTD a sound velocity profile is created. This helps the crew understand the conditions of the water before deploying larger vessels into the ocean like Alvin.
Speaking of Alvin, after hearing from Ana, we heard more information about Alvin from Scott, an electrical engineer who primarily works on the maintenance of Alvin. For those who don’t know, Alvin is a deep-sea submarine, and a key tool used for oceanographic research and exploration. The outer shell is made completely out of titanium alloy, which allows it to bear high pressures while being lighter weight compared to steel and keeping its buoyancy. Alvin is deployed from the ship into water to depths up to 6,500 meters with 3 people inside a 6 by 6 ft room (oftentimes 1 driver and 2 scientists). For information to be sent between the submarine and the ship through water, ultra-sound waves are used at 10-12 kilohertz. After all these talks about Alvin, it was fascinating to learn all about the instrument.
After an informative morning, we all gathered for lunch. These times are some of my favorite parts of the day since not only is the food incredible but talking with the crew and my fellow peers is always great (Shoutout Great Grace). Everyone is so interesting and kind, and I love hearing everyone’s story since there are people from a vast array of backgrounds on board.
Once our stomachs were full, we had some down time before hearing from Josh, a communications electronic technician. We went out on the deck and heard about all the ways the ship communicates with different systems using electromagnetic waves. Most notably, we learned about how we get our internet connection and how data is transported throughout the ship and to external sources.
Don’t worry it was all just listening today, we also fished for by-the-wind sailors, which are creatures that resemble jellyfish but are a distinct bright-blue color, oval in size, and “sail” across the ocean. Once we caught a few and brought them inside, everyone took their turn and held these slimy creatures. From there, we continued to be hands-on and made DIY microscopes for our phones. Although my attempt to create one failed, Grace got some incredible shots of a range of different samples: human blood, insert mouth, and even the water we collected when retrieving the by-the-wind sailors.
We ended our day with a lesson on knot making with K-Mart (Kevin M). K-Mart effortlessly demonstrated how to tie some knots, while I would stand there astonished by how he did that. Thankfully, the entire group was super patient with me and by the end of it with tons of help from Ajit and Rip I can confidently say I know how to tie a super 8 knot (one of the simplest knots to tie).
Now that dinner is wrapped up and I am getting ready for bed, I am feeling the waves more and more. Shannon recommended we secure all our stuff down tonight because it is going to get a little rocky for the next 24 hours. Wish us the best of luck and stay posted on our voyage out at sea!
