Florida State University : Research in Review

Day 11 - Tuesday, 09/23/08

Position: N36 47.721 W123 41.543

Half of our time aboard the Point Sur is now over. The days and nights have flown by—as I predicted they would. If for some reason we had to head for the hill tomorrow, by any measure we could call our mission a success. We have dozens of excellent samples of deep Pacific sediment that few, if any, oceanographers have ever tried to collect, chief scientist Thistle assures us. It’s no joke at all that in this sense, we’ve been working in uncharted waters, as far as benthic science goes. We’re bona fide pioneers!

At Station 5 today, in roughly 2,700 meters, our first cast came at around 10 a.m. after Allison and Sam retrieved a full CTD from the heaving water beneath us. In the parlance of sailors, today’s Pacific was “sloppy.” The steady, northerly winds we’ve been under for about 30 or so hours now have finally pushed up a worthy sea. Since daybreak, an endless roller-coaster of surly, 6- to 10-foot waves have washed past our gunnels. Early this morning, Capt. Jeff advised the team leaders that the Sur’s crew would take over the deployments and retrievals of the multi-corer. He was worried that some of us inexperienced types might get banged up. He got no protests.

With the boat’s crew doing the heavy lifting, the science team’s task was considerably lighter today. We handled the unbolting of cores—I saw only a single misfire come back today—and their immediate cleaning, re-bolting and re-cocking. And, of course, the solid hour or more of lab work following each retrieval—measuring, straining, labeling and storing the samples—was ours alone. In the few days they’ve been doing this, Thistle’s team has turned into a well-oiled multi-coring machine all its own, and it’s been fun and interesting to watch. There’s been not a hint of squabbling, not a cross word heard, not a serious complaint about anything, and easily when there could be—this operation involves long hours at non-trivial physical labor, concentration, and for some, a constant battle against nausea and interrupted sleep. These young people are scientists’ dreams.

Another starry night, with Cassiopeia—identified by sharp-eyed Sam—hanging what seems only a few miles directly above our mast. Plan calls for us to finish one more coring operation tonight before moving on to Station 6, which the captain says will put us as close as 50 miles from shore. After that, only two more stations to go, and we’re done. All are happy to hear the forecast calls for better seas tomorrow and Wednesday. We’re tired of walking 20 feet to gain 10!

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