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Today started off with the ship breaking away from the dock and sailing gracefully through Kapalama Basin to start our journey to the open ocean. Drills were done with the crew to ensure everyone knew their job position on the vessel in case of an emergency. During this emergency drill, Oscar the dummy suffered smoke inhalation and had to be carried from the O3 deck to the main level where the hospital was located, while there he received 5-star medical care. After the drills were over most of the STEMSEAS students (myself included) enjoyed the mild 75 degree, sunny weather out on the bow of the ship. This proved to be the best spot to look out for some marine life which included some playful bottlenose dolphins and a mysterious whale species that would only show its dorsal fin and spray from the blow hole. For some students it was the first time they had ever seen either of these marine animals in the wild.
After lunch we arrived at our first destination point in the middle of Penguin bank to the southwest of Moloka’i where we began the task of calibrating the CTD unit. CTD stands for conductivity, temperature and depth; this unit measures how temperature and conductivity (which is related to the salinity) changes as the depth through the water column changes. There are 24 Niskin bottles that can hold approximately 12 Liters of water in a circular pattern attached to a metal frame. These bottles are open before they enter the water and as they come up through the water column, they close one at a time with collected water. This data can be used to understand why there is biology at some depths of the ocean and why biology is not present at other depths as well as how the chemical makeup of the water changes with depth (this can include salinity content)!
Today was definitely filled with a lot of fun as well as a sense of scientific accomplishment as we calibrated various instruments today. Who knows what adventures await us tomorrow???
