The Passage
This blog post title reflects both our actual trip through Drake Passage and how we pass the time during the transit. First, though, I’d like to introduce the people in our group. In the picture below, from left to right, are Jean-David Grattepanche (Temple), Wade Jeffrey (University of West Florida), me (Rebecca Gast, WHOI) and Ari Simmering (University of West Florida). We are honoring the movie “Life Aquatic”, and while we are not wearing our big boots, we ARE wearing the t-shirts that Wade designed for our group. Oceanographers love, absolutely love, to use acronyms (until you get a cease and desist letter for copyright infringement for using a known brand name) – so we came up with one for our project. It’s REMIXED, and stands for Research Examining MIXotrophic Ecology and Diversity. As in manga and graphic novels, we are referencing previous cruises that we’ve done with Wade (MIXURS and RE-MIXURS). And honestly, we rarely remember what the acronym actually stands for, but it’s fun making them up.
On to the Drake Passage. It’s a relatively small patch of ocean, but one that’s notoriously stormy. As I mentioned in my first post, we prepared for the worst. After we rounded Cape Horn on Monday night, we did one last check to make sure the lab was secure, took our sea sickness medications and went to bed. I woke up at 3:30 in the morning because of the change in ship motion, not only a change in the direction of the roll, but an increase in its strength. The best place to be in rough weather is usually your bunk, so I went back to sleep. At 7 am the ride hadn’t gotten much worse, so I went to breakfast and took a look outside. We were being treated to a glorious, sunny day – and while there were certainly large swells, the ship motion wasn’t bad. Although the sun went away on Wednesday, and we encountered rain/snow squalls, we got through the Passage with minimal distress (and I haven’t missed a meal yet). I don’t know if it was rubbing the toe of the statue in the park near our hotel or the chips that we threw into the sea as an offering to Neptune (oceanographers are also apparently superstitious), but we had a remarkably easy southern crossing.
Normally I’m seasick for the first few days when I’m on the ship. I end up either in my bunk or in the lounge watching movies. It’s difficult to concentrate or work until your body acclimates to the motion – especially for those of us who aren’t at sea regularly. The combination of reasonable weather and anti-nausea medicine made it possible to actually get some work done. Of course, we also had ship orientation meetings, lab safety training, and an abandon ship drill. No, we don’t launch the lifeboats, but we do get into them – they are not pleasant (infact, they are a bit scary), which is why they are only used in an emergency. Folks have also figured out the movie situation in the lounge, and we have been watching an odd selection. It’s not exciting, but after the stress of travel and a hectic port call, the rest has been welcome for everyone.
Tomorrow we will have reached Cape Shirreff on Livingston Island, where we will leave the 5 people doing seal research for the next month. In addition, we will be moving all of their supplies from the boat to the island using zodiacs. Doing this will require the help of many volunteers to pack the supplies into large canvas slings that the crane will load into the zodiac, and a chain of people on the shore to transfer the supplies from the zodiac to above the high tide line at the beach. Hopefully I’ll have some pictures to show you tomorrow. I’ve volunteered to be one of the folks who helps out on the beach…it will be a good way to pass the time.