We arrived in San Diego early Saturday morning, and its been a whirlwind of warm welcomes and poignant goodbyes – after what all of us agree was an experience of a lifetime. Sharing some finalContinue reading
The Bridge
The bridge is an open, well-lit and quiet space with a 360-degree view from on high. It is the command center of the ship, and it is manned 24 hours a day while we areContinue reading
Games at Sea (Part 2): Tape Bucket
Tape Bucket© is a complex and constantly evolving high-intensity sport. On first inspection Tape Bucket© may seem like a simple game developed to fill spare time; however, as you delve deeper the finer details andContinue reading
The Galley
With more than forty people onboard, we take some feeding, especially since many of us have big appetites after a long day’s work. Three meals a day, meat available at all meals, as well asContinue reading
Bonus Science!
We had anticipated that it would take sixty dredges to sample the nine ridge segments within our ~200 mile-long study area – and indeed, that is the exact number of dredges we did! And toContinue reading
Games at Sea (part 1): What Happens during Night Shifts
At sea, we work 24 hours a day. That means we take turns on survey and dredge watches. Part of the science party do 8 hours of work with 16 hours of rest, while theContinue reading
Little Bird and Magnificent Skies
Today we are going to share with you the story of Joe and a small bird (probably a storm petrel) with some selected photos of the numerous clouds and sunsets we have observed so far.Continue reading
Talks at Sea and Around the Clock Learning
Since we set sail, we have had presentations on an almost daily basis. Both the science and the cultural contents have been interesting and diverse. In the beginning, Emily, Debbie and Joe started with subjectsContinue reading
Our Logo!
As Iker was scrolling through NOAA’s Twitter feed, he realized: we have no logo! With his creative energies beginning to flow, he looked at our bathymetric survey grid and realized that the overall shapeContinue reading
The scientific nerve center
At the forward end of the main lab is an intimidating array of seventeen screens with a chair at which the scientist on watch sits – and watches. If all is well, nothing much happens. Continue reading