Author Archives: scienceparty

As we steam ahead and power through our stations collecting as many samples as possible, the long days and interrupted sleep start to take a toll. You might find a scientist taking a catnap waiting for the CTD or corer.

Today started early with another exciting CTD cast.  In keeping with our mission to learn about troubleshooting research cruises as chief scientists, we had a few trivial problems with our early cast this morning. Thanks to our supertechs, we were … Continue reading →

We are minutes away from the innermost station on our second transect and are back in sight of the coast. The winds have relaxed and the water has been glassy over the last few days. They tell us the Oregon … Continue reading →

Breaking news: we have lost communication with our CTD.  The CTD is an instrument package that measures Conductivity [similar to salinity], Temperature, and Depth.  It is usually associated with a series of special water sampling bottles that can be triggered … Continue reading →

Sea conditions are ideal today and the work proceeds ahead of schedule. Not bad for first-time chief scientists! Fun are RHIB operations to collect the sea-surface microlayer with glass plates. It takes about 200 dips of the plates per sample. … Continue reading →

Well, it’s 22:30 on Saturday and we are up in the lab! The CTD is in the water and we are recording data and getting ready for a long night of sampling and filtering. The mood is jovial – for … Continue reading →