Big Eyes, Fishing Lines and Delicious Meals, Oh My!
People often ask us if we see lots of animals at sea. The answer is usually “no”. We are busy deploying and recovering moorings, so we don’t often have the time to look for fish and marine mammals. A number of birds visit us at sea – including some that should be on land. A few members of the crew occasionally catch some fish, which the cooks will prepare for us. And sometimes we have had schools of dolphins interrupt our ability to communicate with our acoustic releases – apparently, they “speak” at a similar frequency.
But on Leg 2, we have two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) marine mammal experts (Peter Duley and Chris Tremblay) who are spending their time out here looking and listening for whales and other marine mammals. While we were transiting to the Array and conducting CTD casts, they were able to observe whales, dolphins, and other animals. They have a pair of giant binoculars (called “Big Eyes”) mounted on one of the forward upper decks of the ship. They use those to see animals quite far away.
Yesterday we planned to deploy two Profiler Moorings and conduct some CTD casts. However, the shore-side team informed us that the Offshore Surface Mooring that we deployed on Leg 1 had stopped generating power. Since we were at the Offshore site for our first deployment, we drove by the buoy to see what the problem was. It turns out that someone had tried to fish near the buoy and had gotten their fishing line snagged on our buoy and around the wind turbines. We were able to clearly see the thin fishing line by using the “Big Eyes” on the bow – turns out it is useful for more than marine mammal watching!
Credit: Peter Duley, NOAA
After our first Profiler Mooring deployment, we sent out two of our team members in a small boat with the 3rd Mate, Mariah Kopec-Belliveau. John Lund and Chris Basque were able to climb aboard the buoy and remove all of the fishing line. As they got back in the small boat and returned to the ship, we could see the wind turbines start to spin and send power again. That will allow the buoy to generate the power it needs to operate and collect data over the next six months. An unplanned activity… but a great success!!!
Dr. Sheri N. White and Irene Duran
Other Shipboard Observations from Irene Duran
Credit: Irene Duran©WHOI
What I was most curious about before coming on my first cruise back in April of this year was the food. It’s my favorite thing about living at sea, hands down. Harry Burnett, the steward, and Brian Keenan, the cook, are phenomenal. We are served three solid meals and a “cheese-thirty” at 2:30 pm every single day. They have made food that I haven’t had in years. I even tried duck for the first time on the ship! “Cheese-thirty” is a great break in the day when the crew serves a smorgasbord of cheeses, meats, crackers, and fresh bread.
Credit: Irene Duran©WHOI
There is a tight schedule for meals: breakfast is at 7:15 am, lunch at 11:15 am and dinner at 5:15 pm. I’m not a breakfast person, but I can’t help but come in and try whatever they’ve cooked up. I’m already excited for tomorrow morning’s breakfast…cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting! And when I’m feeling peckish, there is always a layout of fruits, chips, cookies and other snacks out at all times. At night, the cooks leave out candy, it’s great but dangerous! I can’t help but have something most nights, if not every night, of the cruise.