On the evening of April 14th, we sailed out of Boothbay Harbor, Maine onboard the research vessel Cape Hatteras (Duke/University of North Carolina). We spent that afternoon loading and setting up equipment. We tied down anything that might go "flying" during high seas... very worthwhile because our first night aboard was quite bumpy.
We soon realized that the 10 members of
the science team would be working together closely... figuratively and literally!
Two members of our close-knit crew: Ed (<<<) and Mark (from Univ.
of Rhode Island, >>>).
We enjoyed pleasant weather our first day after a fitful night's sleep. Sue (also from Univ. of Rhode Island) -- together with Tim (R/V Hatteras) -- launch the plankton net at Station 1 (>>>). We were excited to see finback whales at this relatively shallow area near Cape Cod.
An instrument that is commonly used to record
hydrographic ("water" + "write") conditions is the "CTD":
an acronym for "Conductivity / Temperature / Depth." Together these
measurements give depth-profiles of ocean temperature
and salinity. The long, gray bottles collect seawater
at different depths; Chris and Ed (<<<) are taking samples for their
phytoplankton studies.
The color of ocean water depends on the
amount and types of phytoplankton within in. Collin (<<<) is readying
her "optics" instrument which measures ocean color very accurately.
Jennifer (>>>) is helping to coil the instruments' electrical cables.
Heidi (<<<) is filtering the seawater
collected by the CTD. This is part of the research effort to understand how
different sized cells contribute to ocean productivity. Terry, Annette and
Chief Scientist Mike (>>>) look at phytoplankton using the on-board
microscope.
