by 
Wednesday, 5/1
It is day 3 out of Woods Hole. The sky is clear and blue, the wind is blowing, and the sea is getting rougher. We had a couple of luckily calm and steady days to get adjusted to being on the R/V Neil Armstrong, but today the ship started rolling in the taller swells.
Captain Derek warned us that the weather will be getting bad over the next couple of days, and the weather deck has been secured due to our rocking. We’re already further south than was originally planned because of ice from the icebergs calving in Baffin Bay and drifting south through the Labrador Sea and into the North Atlantic.
The ice means we can’t go around the low-pressure system causing the rough weather, so we have to go through it instead. After breakfast, our instructor Leslie “Doc” Sautter gave us a timely crash course in the wind-driven ocean currents that make up the North Atlantic gyre, which has sparked me to want to learn about how weather systems form. I really appreciate Doc’s approach to teaching us; she walks us through the evidence and ideas that led to the current scientific theories which we use to explain these phenomena, so we can see the thought processes of the scientists who helped develop them.
We also got an explanation of the ship’s sonar systems by the Armstrong’s marine tech, Amy. She also showed us data collected earlier in the transit, and student instructor Trey Gillespie (who specializes in processing sonar data with a powerful software called Qimera) demonstrated how to view it as 3-D maps and cross-sections of the topography of the sea floor.
After a delicious and filling lunch, we returned to the lab to wash sediment samples which were brought by Doc and instructor Dr. Laurel Childress. The samples are going to dry overnight, and we will examine them tomorrow to hopefully find foraminifera fossils! As a neat side project, we also made Foldscopes (microscopes made of a lens and paper that you fold yourself).
We returned to the lab yet again after dinner for a talk with acoustical engineer Tim Gates about how he finds, analyzes, and corrects acoustical problems on ships. He and his colleague Tom are on the transit to analyze how the noises of the Armstrong affect its sonar systems, and they’ve coordinated with STEMSEAS program director Sharon Cooper to let us observe their testing and teach us about what they do. I’m grateful to be learning some basic physics concepts from them and from other students.
The food is superb, and I haven’t had a meal yet that didn’t impress me more than the last. From home fries with scallions, to curried lentils and lamb pie, to crab cakes and seafood bouillabaisse, I will surely be spoiled by the time I get home. The Armstrong is a comfortable place, with a crew who loves and takes pride in their ship. It really shows in every detail.
All in all, today has been long and satisfying. I have learned so much already- from our instructors, from the ship’s crew, and from fellow STEMSEAS students. I never thought I would be here, and I can’t wait for tomorrow. This experience is unfolding even better than it could have in my wildest dreams.
-Coralee Hall, Georgia State University’s Perimeter College
