Weird Science

Drifter retrieval can be difficult at times. Finding the small buoys in  a large area, such as Prince William Sound, is challenging. And sometimes, when we DO find the drifters, getting them out of a tight spot is even tougher! Jim Pettigrew, from UC Santa Barbara, has to get creative in this video...

The Auklet is Right on Track, Back on Transect

Yesterday we got back to work after a restful break in Valdez. The weather was still a little stormy but we were ready for it.

Today has been relatively balmy, not much wind or rain. We even saw some orcas on our transect! Doing biological sampling in this calmer sea was quick and rather enjoyable, no falling or spilling sample bottles or bouncing lead weights.

We also did our last plankton net, bringing up, among other cool critters, a beautiful comb jelly.

Currently we are waiting as a giant cruise ship crosses our transect. We will continue along the EW line for the rest of today.

Kerstin

PORPOISES!

Monday brought some friends to the Vixen! Here, two Dall's Porpoise came to say hello and surf the bow wake of the boat. Dall's Porpoises are in the Porpoise family. Porpoises, unlike Delphinidae (or dolphins), have spade shaped
teeth,  blunt rostrums (snouts), and are generally smaller than dolphins. Captain Dave said that if were to be reincarnated as an animal, that would be the one-- then he could eat fish all day and swim fast.

Hometown Girl Makes Good!

Kerstin Cullen, our youngest crew member, hails from Valdez. As the biological technician onboard the Auklet, Kerstin takes CTD casts as well as performing biological sampling with plankton nets and Nansen bottles (water samplers designed to fill a a prescribed depth).

Kerstin is the ship's "Morale Officer", keeping our spirits up and laughing through the roughest of weather. We appreciate her local knowledge and are excited to visit Valdez on Tuesday for the public demonstration of the Field Experiment. In this podcast, Kerstin tells us how she found her passion for the ocean and discusses her studies in college and their applicability to our project.

Update from the Vixen

Today was another long day chasing drifters on the Vixen. Captain Dave drove us over 100 nautical miles! This was the calmest day of the Experiment so far, and we were happy to explore the southern part of the Sound. Dave showed us a beautiful "hidey-hole" on Disc Island. Knight Island was another favorite of the day.

We picked up the 40 meter drifters, as well as two 10 meter drifters. Unfortunately, we couldn't find one of the 10 meter drifters. After a 2 hour search, we decided to move on, frustrated. A lunch of nice, hot soup warmed us up again and it was out into the central Sound to deploy another bunch of drifters.

All in all, a successful day- and a night in Valdez to refuel and restock!

Glider Success!

The glider is finally in the middle of the sound. We started the day with the launch of the REMUS glider for another pass up the channel to Cordova. After another flawless launch we went to pick the glider up because it was too light and could not dive below the thermocline (depth where water temperature changes dramatically). We added some weight and steamed out to the deployment site since the ocean was actually relatively calm. We dumped the glider in and it swam away, happy to be in the middle of the sound where it was supposed to be. Glider positions and plots can be found at http://marine.rutgers.edu/cool/auvs/?page=deployments under RU21. 

Ian

Thanks USCG!!

Steve and Hank, from UAF, made it out to both HF Radar sites yesterday afternoon thanks to the USCG who flew them out in one of their SAR Jayhawk Helicopters. (Although they probably would have enjoyed being lowered to the HF sites by cable, like in this photo-- they had to actually land the helicopter before they could unload!). It got your attention though, didn't it?

They were able to reset, refuel and reboot both of the sites and get data delivery back online. They sent kudos to all in the Sound for all their hard work in such gnarly weather conditions. Keep your fingers crossed for a weaker storm cycle this weekend.