12/6/07

52deg 31’ S, 68deg 28’ W

Temp. 11.5deg C / Windchill 2.0 C

Our view as we crossed into the Strait of Magellan

I write this final entry from sea as we are on our final leg of the cruise; we’re out of the Drake Passage, steaming through the Strait of Magellan towards Punta Arenas. We will arrive at Punta Arenas sometime tomorrow (Friday) morning. I leave Saturday to begin the long flight back to Boston.

My final evening at sea on board the Nathaniel B. Palmer with a glorious sunset, and a double rainbow!

Tonight was beautiful, with a glorious sunset and much warmer weather than we’ve experienced all month. The steam up from the Drake was very smooth. Today was spent mostly cleaning out and packing up.

One of the many oil rigs we passed as we entered the Strait of Magellan.

I have been gone from home for just over a month; it feels like a year. Much of that feeling comes from being so far away and from being immersed in something so different from anything I’ve experienced before. Some of that feeling also comes from being in a place where the pace is much slower and repetitive than I’m used to. In addition, we all see the same faces and the same scenery; and there’s only so many places to go on the ship for a change of pace.

Don’t misunderstand me – the experience has been fascinating and worthwhile. I’ve learned a great deal from this experience. I have a very good idea of how physical oceanographers go about their business. I’ve learned a bit about ocean currents and what drives large masses of water in the ocean. I’ve learned a lot about the variety of instruments used to study the movement of ocean water and the physical characteristics of ocean water. It’s amazing (and, a bit eerie!) that we’ve left an array of 38 instruments many thousands of feet below the surface of the ocean that sit quietly collecting data – well, not so quietly, as every few minutes each one sends a pinging sound up to the surface of the ocean and “listen” for it’s reflected echo. For 5 years these devices will do their thing, collecting data about the ocean water.

As an observer, it’s been amazing for me to watch the way the team goes about their tasks with incredible thoughtfulness about their work and for each other. As I have written a few times, the professionalism and cooperation of this group of scientists are quite admirable.

I’ve learned about a world I never much thought about before, the world of people who devote their lives to being at sea and understanding how the ocean works. I’m constantly impressed by the array of skills that the technical support crew brings with them: from boating skills - an encyclopedic knowledge of knot-tying skills and using a winch or crane - to science skills – such as understanding the science behind CTD tests and other water-testing equipment and methods. The technology behind the science on a ship like this is sort of dizzying for a newcomer like myself. Someone needs to keep the gravity meter working, the CTD-computer interface up and running, the “autosal salinometer” in working order, not to mention the computer servers maintained. At the same time, the ship-board ADCP (acoustic Doppler current profiler) and sonar multi-beam mapping system need to be running smoothly. And we have become dependent upon a reliable email and phone system! Of course I haven’t really touched upon the array of navigational tools and instruments that the ship’s crew rely on to keep the boat moving in the right direction in heavy seas and rough weather, or keep the boat stationary while experiments are being conducted (while the sea conspires to toss the boat away from the desired location).

Gerry Chaplain, URI Engineer, looking out over the Strait of Magellan on our final evening on the Palmer

The highlight of the trip was certainly seeing the continent of Antarctica. I wish we could have spent more time there, but it was worthwhile to even catch a glimpse of that most spectacular and foreboding continent.

There are things I had hoped to do that I wasn’t able to accomplish. Although I did what I could to help out with the science team, I often felt like I wasn’t able to contribute as much as I wanted to. I often felt like there was not enough for me to do, so I had some days where I was literally searching for tasks to do. Part of that is the nature of being on a long cruise like this, but much was the result of there being just too many qualified people on board. I had ideas of creating a video of the ship’s crew, but I found that people were generally either too reluctant or too busy to want to be interviewed by me.

It’s strange to realize that I’ve spent a very intense month with the same people, who I’ve gotten to know quite well. In all likelihood, I will not see most of them ever again. A strange thought. I do hope to follow the progress of this long experiment and be able to share what they learn with my students in the future.

Ariel Troisi and Randy Watts looking over the charts in the bridge as we cross into Chilean waters.

Although I have enjoyed this experience, I think I’ve discovered that a life at sea is not for me. In addition to the long separation from those I love, being confined to a single vessel would take me a lot more getting used to. Perhaps if I had entered this world 15 years ago - young, single and without a family - I might have felt differently.

The hardest thing for me, clearly, was being away from my family. I have missed my family terribly, and most of all I am eager to see them and be with them again. We are a family unaccustomed to being apart from one another, and I have found that part of the experience to be much more difficult than I thought.

I have been warned that coming home after a long time at sea can sometimes be more difficult than you expect. I wonder what things will pop up that will be difficult to re-adjust to. I wonder if I have become more used to life on a moving ship than I realize. What will my first steps back on land feel like?

I wish to thank publicly the people who made this experience possible for me. First, I want to thank Kathy Donohue, Randy Watts and Teri Chereskin for allowing me to participate in their research and for taking good care of me through the entire process. I also want to thank the ship’s crew, whose capable hands delivered us safely through the cruise, and who have beared with me as I asked an endless series of questions (the kind that only a landlubber would ask!). A big thank you to Gail Scowcroft and Andrea Kecskes from the ARMADA project, who made this happen for me (and for all the other ARMADA teachers!); and, of course the National Science Foundation for supporting these experiences.

I wish to thank several people at the Heath School: Principal Milly Katzman, who has enthusiastically supported my leaving the school for 5 weeks to participate in this experience; you understood right away the value that this experience would have for the students; My intern Heidi O’Donnell, who has taken on much more than would be expected of a student teacher by completely taking over my responsibilities; she has done an outstanding job; Technology teacher Matt Durant for faithfully maintaining this blog so you all could share in my experiences.

Finally, I owe the biggest thanks to my family for bearing with my long absence and my anxiety before I left. I know it has not been easy for me to be gone!

Looking over the water, standing on the bow of the Palmer

I may add a few words to this blog when I get back home, but this will be my last report from sea. I intended this blog mostly for my 7^th and 8^th grade students, but I understand that a much larger audience is reading this blog. Apparently the readers not only include my students, my family and my friends, but many others connected to those on the ship. I do hope you have enjoyed reading about my experiences, and I’m glad I was able to help give you a small taste of what life on research vessel is like.

When I return home this weekend I’ll open the blog up to comments and questions from readers; feel free to post questions or comments when I get that set up.

I couldn’t resist one final bird picture, this one of a Cape Petrel

12/5/07

Today was the last “science day”. We’ve just completed the last CTD cast, and now we take the 28-hour or so steam back to
Punta Arenas. The weather today has been glorious; a nice day to spend out on deck. For those who might be following the course of the boat carefully, we’ll retrace our steps back through the Strait of la Mer and then North to the Magellan Strait. We’ll probably get the East end of the Magellan Strait sometime very late Thursday night or Friday morning. At some point we pick up the “pilot” for the last several hours of the trip. The pilot is someone employed by the government of the port city where you are coming or going from, someone who knows the waters around the port well, and can help be a navigator for the ship’s captain.

On our tour through the engine room. Note that we are wearing ear protection, for the noise level there is incredibly loud.

Today the guys in the engine room gave us a tour of the engine room, showing us the inner workings of engines, generators, water systems and control room. Richard Johnson led us on a tour of that part of the ship. Richard has 30 years experience working on various ships! Jerry Lakarnafeaux and David Monroe (the chief engine operator) were also on hand to answer many of our questions. It was really quite impressive to see the four giant diesel engines (total of 12,700 HP!), and the 4 giant generators. The four engines are used to drive two large “screws”. These are enormous shafts that in turn are used to move 13-foot blades. The type of system on this ship keeps the shafts rotating at a constant rotation rate of 900 RPM. To adjust the thrust power, the angle of the blades is adjusted.

Richard Johnson in the engine control room.

Jerry Lakarnafeaux in the engine control room.

We also got to see the enormous generators that supply power to the ship. In addition, we saw the water purification system and wastewater treatment system. This ship produces about 3000 gallons of water a day, by evaporating saltwater to remove the salt. We learned that the wastewater is simply treated by an electrochemical process and then dumped into the sea.

David Monroe, the chief engine operator, answers questions while chief scientist Terri Chereskin listens.

One of the mammoth engines used to power everything on the ship.

Some of the enormous generators used to supply electric power to the ship.

12/4/07

55deg 5’ S,  64deg 32’ W
Temp 4degC / Windchill -12deg C
Wind at 30 knots, gusting to 40 / Seas at 12-15 feet

We have one more day of science to go, and another day reserved to
make sure we get back to Punta Arenas by Friday morning. We’re very
close to the end, and at this point it’s clear that I’m suffering
from “Channel Fever.” This is the term that seagoing folk use to
describe the intense restlessness you feel when you’re close to the
end of an ocean voyage. It’s exacerbated by the fact that there’s
very little for me to do. All the CPIES have been deployed, and even
as we continue to take CTD casts in the Northern Drake, we’re not
collecting that many actual water samples for me to test.
Occasionally there’s a “packing up” job for me to help out with, but
mostly I find myself waiting, talking, reading, napping. It’s a bit
of an anticlimactic way to end this trip, but so it goes.

“This picture shows a pose I’ve
become a bit too accustomed to; a late afternoon nap!”

“One of the many diversions to get
us through the slow times. Rachel and Kathleen with the bubble maker.”

For the past several days, it also has felt a bit like the movie
“Groundhog Day.” Every morning we wake up to the same routine. The
only difference seems to be the date on the calendar. Days here run
together. The same work gets done, and the same routine is followed.
And, as there is less and less to do, restlessness has taken over
many of us. After a few weeks of the same routine, I am definitely
looking forward to getting back into the rhythm of the workweek when
I get home.

“Some of the large waves from today’s
unexpectedly rough seas. The rough weather delayed some of the CTD
casts this evening.”

“Chief Scientist Terri Chereskin,
the proud owner of CPIES #119, just before its deployment.”

So, not much new to report here on the Drake. Tomorrow or Thursday
I’ll post my final entry on this blog, and then I head back up to
Boston to return to my normal life!

To complete the “Forrest Gump”
quality of this blog, here’s me driving the boat.”

“It feels necessary to need to
add at least one more bird picture.”

12/2/07

55deg 20’ S 64deg 29’ W
7.5 deg C / 3.0 deg C

Things are beginning to wind down for the science team here on the
Palmer. The experience has been wonderful, and the scientists are
pleased with the progress we’ve made, but I think most of us are
feeling a bit antsy; ready to get off the ship. We’ve been on board
for 19 days, and the ship is feeling very small. Imagine being stuck
in a building (probably about the size of the Heath School) for 3
weeks, except that this is a moving, rolling building. Eventually you
crave a change of scenery, a change of setting, anything to make the
routine change. And, as I’ve written before, time moves very slowly
on board, especially when the routine hasn’t changed much in days.

“Sitting on bow anchor, enjoying the
lovely spring weather.”

As for the science, we are almost done with the CTD casts, and as you
may have noticed from our location, we’re almost back to our most
northerly location. We’re about 3 days ahead of schedule (thanks to
excellent weather we’ve enjoyed for most of the cruise). But, as it’s
not easy to schedule a cruise like this, the scientists have decided
to use the extra time to do some additional tests. We will doing two
additional unplanned CPIES deployments. In addition, we’ll be doing
another series of CTD’s along our most Northerly track in order to
increase the resolution of the oceanographic data. During down time,
we continue to pack things up, getting ready for our arrival at port.
(Sooner or later I will begin to untie all my well-tied knots.)

“The CPIES “A” Team reunites for
another deployment.”

In the meantime the weather continues to be excellent. Today was so
warm that I was able to spend time on deck, quite comfortably without
a jacket. This afternoon and evening we were able to make out the
edge of land at the southern tip of Terra del Fuego, which makes me
realize how close we are to the end of our trip. We had another
beautiful sunset (alas, no green flash).

“This evening’s rainbow off the
islands of Tiera del Fuego”

We also had a nice break in the routine. Today was Greg Watson’s
birthday, and in his honor Lindsey “cruise director” Loughry planned
a party at lunch, complete with balloons and invitations. As is
customary on people’s birthdays, the galley staff made a nice
birthday cake for Greg. Lindsey found a stash of liquid nitrogen, so
she and I made ice cream. Of course using liquid nitrogen is always a
good time; we also enjoyed trying to shatter frozen balloons, etc.

“Scene from Greg’s birthday party
in the mess hall.”

“Making ice
cream using liquid nitrogen.”

“Greg enjoys his ice cream”
One of the lasting impressions for me is the impressive degree of
cooperation that exists on this ship. Everyone on this ship seems to
work very well together. Given how much time we’ve all spent with
each other and the number of complex tasks that need to be
accomplished, I have observed a remarkable lack of conflict. It’s an
incredible lesson in cooperation and group problem-solving. Ideas are
listened to an challenged constructively. People’s voices are heard
and respected. And communication is really open and clear.

11/29/07

56deg 27’ S, 61deg 17’ W
Temp 5.8deg C / Windchill -7.0 C

Another beautiful Spring day in the Drake! This morning I was
awakened by a hurried scampering outside my cabin door; upon hearing
someone say “whales,” I bolted out of bed and rushed up to the
bridge. I got up there just in time to see several whales spouting
off the stern (Fin Whales most likely, according to Brandon, the
First Mate). Once again, they were too far off to get photographs. I
did get some more pictures of birds, though!

“Another group of the ever-present Cape Petrels.”

This morning it was warm, sunny and with very little wind. It was
wonderful to spend the first couple hours of my day standing out on
the catwalk outside the bridge watching the water and birds, soaking
up the spring sunshine.

“Ariel Troisi and I enjoy the beautiful morning on the catwalk outside the
bridge. Note the ultra-cool shades.”

This evening the good weather seems to have finally gone away. It
suddenly clouded up, and we are in a thick “pea soup” fog. The
forecast is for rainier and windier weather for the next few days.

We are slowly progressing through the CPIES sites doing CTD casts.
It’s a very slow process. Meanwhile the science team is involved
with monitoring all the CTD casts and communicating with the CPIES to
make sure they are collecting data properly.

“The URI science team studying the data coming back from a CPIES and confers about how to proceed.”

I’ve been doing another important measurement, which makes me feel
useful. (My 8th grade students should be interested in this, given
the experiments you began before I left.) During the CTD cast, a
measurement of salinity and temperature is taken at 6 different
depths, between the surface and the sea floor. The measurement of
salinity is critical and the oceanographers need to know this value
precisely. So in addition to a direct measurement on the CTD package,
actual water samples are collected at each depth so the salinity can
be measured again back on board the ship - to check the accuracy of
the CTD instrument. The way the samples are collected is pretty cool.
Large bottles, called Niskin bottles are attached to the CTD – they
have an open stopper on each end so water can flow through them. When
the CTD package reaches the desired depth, a signal is sent along a
cable for one of the bottles to close, collecting a bottle-sized
sample of the water at that depth.

So I’ve been involved in measuring the salinity of the water samples
using an instrument called a “salinometer”. The idea behind the
device is pretty simple; the amount of conductivity (how well the
water conducts electricity) in the water is measured using electrodes
(I think it’s applying a voltage and measuring the associated
current, but I haven’t yet found anyone who knows for sure, and the
user’s manual seems to be missing). It turns out that the amount of
salt in the water is directly proportional to the conductivity. The
measurement itself isn’t terribly difficult or exciting, but it’s
nice to feel that I’m contributing some small amount of data to the
overall effort. Five years or so when the final results of this study
are published, I’ll know that I had a tiny but perhaps important
role to play.

“Mark using the Autosal” salinometer to measure the salinity of collected water samples.” 
I’ve been discovering how many interesting things this ship can do
and measure. As I mentioned in earlier posts, I’ve been involve in
a “Sonar Multi-beam” mapping project that is always ongoing on
this ship. The ship is equipped with a “multi-beam” device that
sends out sound (sonar) signals that bounce off the sea floor. The
return signals are used to create very accurate maps of the sea
floor. I’ve been involved in looking over the data to weed out data
that might be bad. Again, it’s nice to know that I’ve contributed
in some small way to the mapping of the sea floor; in some areas to
sections that have never been mapped before!

“Yvonne Firing working on
“pingediting,” the process by which we edit out bad data to create
maps of the sea floor.” 

I also discovered tonight that this ship is equipped with a very
sensitive gravity meter. Again, as the ship chugs along, it is
constantly monitoring subtle changes in the amount of gravity due to
changes in the Earth’s structure on and deep below the sea floor.
What we learn about the Earth’s “acceleration due to gravity”, or
“g” being 9.8 m/s/s, is really an average value – if you go to a
tall mountain, you might find that the gravity is a little larger
because of the extra mass below you. And, above a deep undersea
trench, you might find that gravity is lower. In fact it turns out
that there are very large measurable changes in the sea surface level
all over the ocean as a result of these changes in gravity. The
amount of gravity also changes depending on your latitude. Turns out
that there is less gravity on the equator than at the poles, due to
the spinning “centrifugal force” being greater at the equator. (I
guess I weigh a little more here at 56 degrees latitude than I would
back home at 42 degrees latitude!)

So measuring the specific amount of gravity is really important for
all sorts of projects, and the ship just records the data as it goes
along. The way the instrument works is again based on a simple
principle – a beam resting on a spring. As the amount of gravity
increases, the spring gets compressed. The challenge, of course, is
how to keep such a device level as the ship moves all over the place.
So the instrument rests on a set of sensitive shock absorbers and its
position is kept level using devices called “fiber optic
gyroscopes”. Pretty darn cool, I’d say; to be able to keep a
constant and extremely accurate record of the exact amount of gravity
on a moving ship!

“The gravity meter on board the Nathaniel B. Palmer, which I think is an incredibly cool
instrument! For scale, the whole instrument is about 2 foot on a side
and about 3 feet tall.”

“Sheldon Blackman and Randy
Watts explaining the process by which the gravity meter works.”

11/28/07

56deg 42’ S, 63deg 3’ W
Temp. 8.0degC / Windchill 1.0degC

I started this post earlier this afternoon, writing “yesterday
evening was the most beautiful evening we’ve had so far…”. But I just
came back from standing on the bow of the ship (that’s the very
front, for you land-lubbers), watching what was perhaps the most
spectacular sunset I’ve ever seen.

“A view of today’s unbelievable
sunset. The picture, of course, doesn’t do justice to the beauty I
witnessed.”

Yesterday, the waves were quite large – we probably were seeing
swells of close to 20 feet at times. But the sun was shining
brightly, providing brilliant lighting to the ever-changing
topography of the water. As the wind was blowing strongly, the tops
of the waves were often blowing off, creating a display of whitecaps
along with the blue hues of the waves themselves. Of course there was
the ever-present assembly of birds following us.

“Picture from yesterday’s sea.
Notice how wild and blue the sea looks. In the picture are several
albatrosses.”

At one point a beautiful rainbow appeared.  As there was not much
work to do (CTD casts had been suspended because of the rough seas),
we ran out to photograph the rainbow and to try to capture the beauty
of the water on camera. It’s impossible to realize the scale of the
swells from a photograph. It is truly spectacular to witness the
power and beauty of the ocean from the middle of it.

“The beautiful rainbow we saw
yesterday. An albatross or petrel can be seen at the base of the
rainbow.”

Last night and tonight we witnessed beautiful sunsets. As it was
mostly clear both evenings, we were hoping for a glimpse of the
famous “green flash.” I was hoping to see, for the first time, an
optical phenomenon few get to see unless you see a clear sunset at
sea. Due to the way different colors of light pass through the
Earth’s atmosphere, just as the sun dips below the horizon it is
possible to see a flash of green. Alas, we did not see the hoped-for
green either night. It was just too cloudy, but the consolation was
two unbelievable sunsets in a row. What struck me most was the
variety of colors in the many cloud formations. At one point I even

“Another view of tonight’s
dramatic sky; If you look very closely you can see the rainbow’s ends
very faintly under the clouds.”

With fair weather and some unusually clear weather, I’ll be on the
lookout for more opportunities to see the elusive green flash in
coming days.

I’m also hoping for a clear night so I can do some Southern
Hemisphere stargazing. (I did see the Southern Cross once in Punta
Arenas, but I’d love to get a chance to study the southern
constellations.)

“Standing out on deck soaking in the
beautiful weather and spectacular views. You can see the boom holding
the CTD cast behind me.”

One of the very cool things about watching a sunset from such a high
latitude, at this time of year, is that the angle the sun makes with
respect to the horizon is so shallow that the sunset lasts for a
really long time. I think tonight’s sunset lasted a good half hour,
with the sun finally popping below the horizon at around 9:45 p.m.

“Erran Souza enjoying a warm evening
on the top deck, taking in the beauty of the sea.”

There was a marked contrast in the sea-state between yesterday and
today. Yesterday’s 15-20 foot swells and 30-40 knot winds have given
way to a sea so placid that some call it the “Drake Lake”. Today I
was working in just a t-shirt; When I went outside to take pictures
of the sunset I had on my fleece and a hat; no parka! With the bright
sunshine yesterday and today, it feels like Spring. (Just in time for
me to go home to winter next week!)

“Today’s sea state and colors are
quite different from yesterday. Gone are the wild waves, and the deep
blues and whites along with them.”

I found the difference in colors to be quite striking. Yesterday’s
water seemed a much brighter shade of blue, mixed with whites and
turquoise; today was a darker blue, mixed with blacks and greys. I
imagine the sea has been “tamed” (only temporarily, of course!) and
in its tame state its colors dull… as it’s energy and anger build,
the colors build with it. (OK, I’m not a poet, but thanks for
indulging me for a brief moment.)

I relished the chance to be outside on deck for several hours in the
past couple of days. One of my goals has been to get some decent
photographs of the many the birds that are continuously surrounding
the boat.

“I finally  managed some close up pictures of some of the many albatrosses we see
on our cruise.”

With a little over a week to go, we are beginning the packing-up
process. It’ll be another enormous logistical process to pack up and
ship all the equipment back. Of course there’ll be 36 or so fewer
CPIES along with all the current mooring paraphernalia that won’t
have to be shipped back.

In the meantime with so many CTD casts to do we are all entertaining
ourselves during the downtime decorating more Styrofoam cups.
Apparently they make great Christmas presents; could be used as tree
ornaments, for example. I am working on a Styrofoam cup Menorah which
we can use on the last few nights of Hannukah when I return.

“Anther view of tonight’s beautiful  sky.”

11/27/07

56deg 54’ S, 64deg 27’ W
Temp. 6deg C /. Wind chill -10deg C
Winds at ~40 knots / seas at around 15-20 feet

Today was a fun day for me – I got to call and talk with each of my four 7th and 8th grade classes. That was a treat, and I hope my students enjoyed it as much as I did. I enjoyed getting all the questions from you and hearing your voices. Your questions were very thoughtful.

“Me talking on the phone to one of my classes about my experiences. Note the sign on the wall that identifies the phone as the “Morale phone!”

It again makes me realize how time moves differently on the ship; I’ve been aboard for two weeks now, but it feels like we’ve been here for months. In these two weeks, I have gotten to know many of the others on the ship much better than I would at home in this time – I guess that’s to be expected when you spend such concentrated time together.

Today we had a lot of sun, which was a nice change from the cloudy weather we’ve had almost the entire trip. At the same time, the seas are pretty rough. There’s a stiff wind, and the swells are large and choppy. Some of the swells have to be at least 20 feet high! I found a spot towards the back where it was sheltered from the wind. It felt really nice to spend 30 minutes or so just looking at the waves and the birds.

“The incredible waves we saw this evening. The picture doesn’t really capture their size or beauty.”

“One of the many many Cape Petrels we see following the ship.”

Because the seas are so rough, we couldn’t do any CTD casts this afternoon. So it’s another day of waiting; the boat is in what’s called a “weather pattern,” where we stay close to the spot where we need to be for the next CTD cast, but the boat is maneuvered so it bears the brunt of the waves as easily as possible. When the work stops like this I think everyone gets a little stir crazy. We’ve been on the ship for 2 weeks now, and the end seems to be in sight. However, there’s still a lot of work to do, but we have to wait until the seas improve to do it!

11/25/07

58deg 30’ S 62deg 45’ W
Temp. 2.0deg C / Windchill -11.0deg C

We are very slowly making our way back North. After modifying the
“CTD cast” so it was not as risky to send it down with large
swells, the oceanographers went back into action yesterday. The way
back will be much slower than the way down, as we need to stop at
every CPIES site to (a) communicate with the CPIES device and (b) do
a CTD cast as a way to calibrate the CPIES instrument.

“Randy Watts and Erran Sousa
using computers and an acoustic transmitter to communicate with the
CPIES devices we deployed several days ago.”

“Teri Chereskin, Sheldon
Blackman and Yvonne Firing monitor the progress of a CTD as it
descends far below the ship.”

Doing so many CTD casts presents a fun opportunity for me to test out
some of the ideas from my 7th graders. They were interested in seeing
what happens to Styrofoam cups and ping-pong balls when subjected to
the enormous pressures of 4,000 meters (over 12,000 feet, or about
2.5 miles down!). And, my daughter Leah and her friend Peyton sent a
Barbie doll with me to see what would happen to poor Barbie at that
depth. We attached a mesh bag to the CTD apparatus to hold the
objects we were testing.

The results are in, and, well…

“As you can see, the Styrofoam
cups shrank to less than  their original size! In fact, the entire
crew on this ship has gotten into the act of decorating cups for
holiday decorations and other mementos of the cruise. I am working on
a shrunken-cup Menorah for use on Hannukah!”

“The Ping-pong balls
shattered under the immense pressure. You can actually see a small
section of each ball that has been pressed inward, evidence of it
being squished before it shattered.”

“Barbie survived the ordeal
unscathed! The only visible change I could see in her is that her
hair seems less frizzy than it did before the dive. I think a letter
to Mattel is in order! Jenny White and Erran Sousa pose with the
super-strength doll”)
——–

More great questions from the 7th grade! Keep ‘em coming!

Kaitlyn: What was it like to throw the instruments overboard?
Exciting? What are the instruments like?

Most of what I’ve been involved in is deploying the CPIES
instruments. As you can see from the picture, they are a strange
shape. Actually, the white plastic is just a cover for a glass sphere
that houses some electronics (and batteries) that drive a sound
making device called a transducer. If you look at the blog post from
Nov. 19, I go into more detail about the purpose of the CPIES and how
they work.

Kaitlyn: What is the best and most fun thing you have done on the ship?

I would have to say standing out on the top deck looking over
Antarctica was both beautiful and thrilling. Beautiful because we got
to see icebergs and glacier-covered mountains, which I’ve never
really seen before. The colors and shapes were breathtaking. It was
also thrilling to see them from the top of a ship that was moving
through ice-cold water with the wind blowing.

Jack: Is it very cold down there?

It’s pretty cold down here. The temperature is usually a few degrees
below 0 degrees C (probably mid-20’s to low 30’s Farenheit). But
the wind is usually very strong, so the wind chill factor makes it
feel much much colder.

Jack: Is the water on the ship from the ocean? Do you ever get wet?
How big are the waves? Do the water or waves affect your work?

This ship is designed to ride very low in the water – that’s part
of what makes it stable. Unfortunately it means that when we’re
working off the back deck, we often take on water, even in relatively
calm seas. Sometimes we get some larger waves that crash over the
side of the ship. Then we get wet! If it’s too rough, then we
can’t do what we need to do. For example, we’ve had some very
rough seas for the past few days. In fact, we had swells probably
over 18 feet yesterday! At this point in the cruise, the
oceanographers are sending down something called a “CTD cast”,
which is a package of equipment that help test the water at different
depths. If the seas are too rough, doing a CTD cast can risk damaging
the equipment. At first, the scientists decided to wait until the
seas calmed down to begin those measurements. Since the seas weren’t
calming down, they decided had to modify the equipment so it was
safer to do.

Jack: Does the boat rock back and forth?

You bet! Last night I was awakened several times as I got banged
against the wall. It’s also a challenge to work, eat, take a shower,
etc. when the boat is rocking so much.

Claire B., Eli, Karny, Jake and Jack: What animals are out there? Do
you ever come close to these animals?

We see a trail of birds constantly following us. Mostly we sea a type
of bird called “Cape Petrels” and a variety of other species of
Petrels and Albatrosses. It’s amazing to see so many birds following
us so far from land. We’ve also seen a few whales spouting and
breaching off to the distance. Yesterday we had a call from the
captain that he had seen some penguins swimming. By the time I got up
to the bridge to look, they were gone.

Phoebe and Uma: How long is the ship? How long do you work? Do you
have to get up really early to work?

The ship is about 300 feet long. That may seem long, but once you’ve
spent time confined to a boat for over two weeks, it begins to feel
small! We work in 12-hour shifts, but there’s a lot of down time. I
have time to eat meals, talk to people, even play games at times.
Since my shift is noon to midnight, I often go to bed after 1 am and
sleep until 9 or so. That’s quite a change for someone who is used
to getting up at 5!

Claire B. and Karny: Why are you wearing a huge suit?  What does it do?

I assume you’re asking about the “gumby suit”, which is a
floatation suit that we are issued in case of an emergency. That suit
would keep us warm and floating in case the ship needed to be evacuated.

Claire and Uma: Why were you wearing those huge red whale/
firefighter suits?

The “firefighter” suits are actually “float coats” which we
are required to wear when we are working outside. If we were to go
overboard, they would keep us floating.

Uma: Where do you put the ship when you go off?

Well… we haven’t gotten off the ship since November 13! Since that
day, everything you read from me is from on board the ship. We return
to Chile on December 7, where we’ll be tied up to a dock.

Josh: Why are the penguins in Chile? Is this the penguin’s natural
habitat?

I’m not an expert on penguins, but what I understand is that
penguins evolved from birds that were isolated on Antarctica when the
continent of Antarctica broke away from South America many millions
of years ago. What we know as Antarctica used to be connected to
South America and Africa, and was much warmer then. As the continent
got colder, the birds adapted to life in such a harsh location.

Questions about the statue and me kissing the toe, from Marisa, Roy,
Jake, Jhoan, ! Here’s the gist of the story:

The first part of our cruise took us up the Strait of Magellan. This
is the waterway that passes between mainland South America and a
large island known as Tiera del Fuego. The Strait, was named after
the Portuguese explorer Hernando de Magellan, who discovered this
waterway. (He then went on to be the first European to discover the
Pacific Ocean.) In the center of Punta Arenas is a statue of this
famous explorer. Tradition holds that travelers who sail across the
Drake Passage should kiss the big toe of one of the statues on the
monument as good luck. Safe return to Punta Arenas is then assured.
Well, I stood in for the science team and did my good luck duty.

Jhoan, Bianna and Jake: Did you guys throw all the instruments? How
much information have you collected?

We’ve kept several instruments on board in case we find that some of
the CPIES instruments are malfunctioning. The oceanographers are not
eager to take the extras back to Rhode Island, so if we get to the
end of the cruise and there are still CPIES left on board (and there
is time), we may deploy some extras. It’s too early to tell very
much from the CPIES right now (they’ll be collecting data for 5
years!), but we are getting interesting data from two other sources:

1.      As we move along, we are constantly mapping the sea floor
using a process called “multi-beam sonar”. I’ve actually been
helping to do some of the work on that. Everywhere we go, we are
getting accurate data about the depth of the sea floor. This is used
to create a little map of the sea floor directly underneath us.

2.     We are also collecting data on the ocean currents using a
device called an ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler). This
device measures the direction and speed of the ocean current directly
beneath the boat. It uses sound waves, and the Doppler effect as the
sound waves bounce off tiny objects in the ocean (like plankton,
fish, etc.), to measure the speed and direction of the ocean
current.This information is useful for the oceanographers as they map
what is happening to the ocean currents over time. If you go to this
website (http://currents.soest.hawaii.edu/uhdas_fromships/nbpalmer/
figs/) you can link to some of the data we are collecting from the
ADCP. On the website you will see “vector plots” and “contour
plots”. Vector plots show the speed and direction of the ocean
current as the Palmer moves along – by tracing a path through the
arrows, you are tracing the path we move through (you’ll see
latitude and longitude grid lines there). Contour plots show the
strength and direction of the current as it changes over time and as
we change our position.

Metin, Jake: How cold is it in Antarctica? Is it very snowy and does
it blizzard?

It can be extremely cold in Antarctica; the average temperature is
well below 0 degrees. Since we’re just North of Antarctica, it
hasn’t been too bad. Mostly it’s been in the 20’s and 30’s. We
had one day where it was really snowing hard for a few hours. Not
like a blizzard, but steady snowfall.

Claire B.: Is the boat comfortable?

It’s comfortable enough, but I suppose comfortable is a relative
term! Some people absolutely love it on board the ship, and in fact
many of the people on this ship spend many months a year at sea. As
ships go, this is probably one of the more comfortable ones. I think
for me personally it would take a lot for me to get used to being on
a ship 24/7. I’m getting better used to the constant back-and-forth
and side-to-side motion, but I will enjoy being back on solid land!

Claire B.: What do you eat?

The food is quite good on board (despite our joking about the
Thanksgiving soup in a previous post!). For breakfast there is
usually eggs, bacon, sometimes French toast or pancakes. For lunch
and dinner there is always a hot meat or chicken dish (usually more
than one), several vegetable options and rice and beans. There’s
always a small salad bar as well. There are also desserts – cakes,
cookies, etc. If it’s someone’s birthday then the cooks make a
birthday cake. There is also a 4th meal served around midnight at
which they serve both some breakfast options as well as some dinner
options. (This is important since some people on the midnight-to-noon
shift are just waking up.) Tonight we had chicken parmesan or roast
beef, mashed potatoes, cooked corn, cooked carrots and veggies, rice
and beans.

Claire B.: What science are you an expert in?

Well, here on the ship I’m really more of a learner than an expert!
But I was chosen for this particular trip because I have studied
physics and engineering in college. Although these scientists are
oceanographers, they are interested in what we call the “physics”
of the ocean. In particular, they are studying how the ocean moves
and how energy is passed around from the wind to the water and
between different bodies of water. Although I haven’t studied much
oceanography, I have enough background in physics to understand what
they are doing.

Jordan: Are you homesick?

No, but I am realizing that it’s not easy to be away from your
family for such a long time, especially when I can’t communicate
with them every day. I have a new respect for those who choose to
spend their lives on board ships away from their families. I’m not
sure I would be able to do this again for a long time!

“Me, standing on the top deck
overlooking a couple of icebergs. I didn’t last very long out there
without my jacket!”

11/24/07

60deg 32’ S 61deg 24’ W
Temp 2.2degC / Windchill -14.0degC

First of all, to put everyone’s mind at ease, we did not witness the
ship accident you may have heard about on Thursday. Apparently a
small cruise ship (the Explorer) hit some ice and took on water.
Thanks to ships nearby, all the passengers were taken off safely and
no one was hurt. We had been very close to that area just a few hours
prior to the accident. The ship’s crew heard the distress call, but
we were pretty far away by then, and other ships were in the area.

We’ve been heading North since Thursday at a much slower pace than
the scientists would like, due to very heavy seas. The plan is to
visit each site where a CPIES has been deployed, to communicate with
the CPIES to make sure it’s functioning properly, and then to send
down a “CTD cast” at that site to help calibrate the data from the
CPIES. Unfortunately, if the seas are too rough, there’s a serious
risk of damaging the CTD equipment. So we’ve done a lot of waiting
in the area until the seas get calmer. Last night we probably were
experiencing 15-20 foot seas; today the seas are a bit calmer but not
by much.

“A view from the porthole in
the lab of the rough seas this evening”

This afternoon the scientists finally decided to modify the CTD
apparatus so they could send down a more limited package in order to
proceed. At some point they’ll be worried about running out of time.
We need to get back to Punta Arenas by December 7, and each CTD cast
takes several hours to run.

“Greg, Jenny, Hannah, Randy and
Terri, working on taking the “ADCP” (Acoustic Doppler Current
Profiler) off the CTD so they can run the CTD in rough seas.

“Watching the CTD apparatus descend into the
water next to the ship.”

The rough seas have not been that easy on me. I’ve been feeling some
low-level seasickness at times, which I’ve been able to keep at bay
with a steady trickle of Dramamine.

The pace of activity has definitely slowed down on board the ship.
The CTD cast itself takes fewer people to run, and since we’ve been
waiting around between CTD’s to see if the seas calm down, there’s
just a whole lot more down time. In addition to getting to know
people on the ship, I’ve had time for a few games of scrabble, chess
and cribbage. We’ve also been plugging our way through the NY Times
crossword puzzle; we get a limited version of the NY Times every day
with selected stories and, of course, the puzzle.

“Lindsey, Erran, Terri, Randy and
Ariel at dinner in the mess hall.”

Life gets interesting (and we all get punchy) when you spend so much
time on board a ship with the same people day in and day out. For
example, at mealtimes this week we’ve been studying the “cooking
cycle” on our ship.

On Thanksgiving, for dinner, the cooks prepared an excellent meal,
complete with Turkey, stuffing, barbecued chicken, etc. We also,
however, encountered a “soup” that was unlike anything I’ve ever
tasted. “Bad” is not quite the word to describe it. It has taken a
group of brilliant scientists to figure out the true nature of the soup.

At dinner, the world-renowned oceanographer, Dr. Randy Watts, began
the discussion by encouraging us to use our powers of observation.
“Taste it,” he enthusiastically encouraged us, “I can’t figure
it out. It tastes like pumpkin, or carrots… or Drambuie.” With
that, each of us reluctantly agreed to participate in this scientific
endeavor. My own hypothesis holds that there is a sort of “cycle”
with some foods in the kitchen, and that this particular soup was
part of a sort of leftovers- soup cycle. Here’s the evidence to
support my hypothesis: For three nights in a row prior to
Thanksgiving, we were served a dish of cooked carrots and peas. By
the night before Thanksgiving, the peas and carrots were getting
pretty soft; I detected a strong hint of carrot in the soup. In fact,
the soup was a sort of cross between an overly sweet pumpkin pie mix,
pureed peas, and candied yams, all complete with a strange alcohol
after taste. Clearly a lot of pureed leftovers could be hidden in
such a concoction. Erran Sousa, one of the URI engineers, has his own
corollary to this idea – perhaps leftover soup sometimes ends up in
the cake? More tests remain to be done. Another exciting development
in the “cooking cycle” is the strange aftertaste in the butter
cookies.

“Dr. Randy Watts investigating
the chemistry of a cookie.”

(I should be careful – the food on the ship remains excellent! I am
truly grateful for the tremendous effort and skill of the cooks on
board.)

Another fun experiment for today was seeing how far over I’d have to
lean when the ship took a really bad roll. The picture doesn’t
really do justice to the phenomenon, but realize that I was actually
standing up straight (the camera was moving with the ship).

“I’m standing up straight as
the ship goes through a big roll of about 15 degrees.”

“View from the top deck. Note
that the camera is level with the ship – the horizon is tilted!”

Finally, tonight we begin our high pressure experiments. My 7th grade
classes decorated some Styrofoam cups and some ping-pong balls. We
have attached a mesh bag with some of those items to the next CTD
cast, which will be testing water down to around 4,000 meter of depth
(over 12,000 feet!). We are all eagerly awaiting what will happen to
those objects when subjected to that kind of pressure.

Also, my daughter Leah and her friend Peyton were interested in
knowing what would happen to a Barbie doll at the bottom of the
ocean. So, tonight, around 10 pm local time, Barbie will be making
her first trip to the bottom of the ocean…!

“Sheldon Blackman
holding up Leah’s Barbie, who will be perhaps the first Barbie in
the world to dive to over 12,000 feet!”

“Kathy Blackman next to the
CTD apparatus. Note the white mesh bag, containing Barbie, and some
Styrofoam cups and ping-pong balls decorated by my 7th grade
students.”

11/22/07

Thanksgiving in Antarctica!

62deg 18.00’ S, 60deg 16.37’ W
Temp. -1.0C / Wind chill -20.0C

Well, almost. Today, we reached our southernmost point in the cruise,
and we turned around to begin our trip back up North and another set
of ocean-water testing. Before we turned around, however, we were
treated to a several hours long sail along some of the Shetland
Islands at the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. What a breathtaking
sight! For hours, many of us stayed up on the bridge watching the
spectacular icebergs and mountains of the islands as we cruised by.

“

Many of us gather on the bridge to
watch the magnificent scenery of Northern Antarctica”

“Hannah stays warm on the bridge
while Karen freezes her tail off on the catwalk”

The landscape of those islands is quite beautiful but also very
imposing. The icebergs are much larger than I imagined – probably at
least 100-200 feet high, and then at least 1000 feet across. Most of
the ones we saw were probably locked to the sea floor; the ocean is
quite shallow there and given how much ice is under the water, it
makes sense. They didn’t seem to be floating, at any rate.

“Some of
the many beautiful icebergs we saw on Thansgiving. Pictures don’t
adequately capture the fine details of shadow and texture.”

“The stunning beauty
of Livingston Island, part of the South Shetland Islands chain.”)

There were also many smaller pieces of floating sea ice. I learned
that the tiniest bits are called “growlers” and the larger ones “berg
bites”.

“Me, standing on the catwalk
outside the bridge looking at Antarctica.

“View straight down from the catwalk!”
After out little sightseeing tour, we headed back up North. The wind
has picked up considerably – right now the winds are 30 knots and we
are rolling with some 15-18 foot waves. On one of the many computer
screens in the lab, you can check the amount the ship is rolling
(side-to-side) or pitching (front-to-back). On one large swell an
hour ago, the boat was rolling at 13 degrees, and pitching at 7
degrees. That’s enough to make it quite difficult to do much.

As we head back North, we’ll be checking on each CPIES to make sure
it is collecting and transmitting data properly. We’ll also be doing
a “CTD cast” at every CPIES site. The CTD (conductivity /
temperature / depth) is a process of collecting information about
those three variables at different depths. It involves a package of
large bottles that are sent down open, and closed at certain depths.
That way water samples from different depths are collected and can be
tested.

Unfortunately, the seas are too rough for us to do the CTD casts. The
way this ship is designed, when the CTD package is sent down, there’s
a risk of the package smashing into the ship, damaging the
instruments. This risk increases dramatically if the seas get too
rough. So right now we’re just waiting in the southern Drake Passage
until the seas calm down.

“The CTD package being lowered into
the southern Drake Passage”
For Thanksgiving today, the cooks made us a nice Turkey-day meal.
Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, collard greens, cranberry sauce,
and of course pies and cakes! It was nice to have a little taste of
the holiday, even out here in the Drake Passage!

“The map screen that is used to
help navigate the boat. You can see the South Shetland Islands in
brown. The dark line traces the path the boat is taking.”