Ocean in a High CO2 World

The scientific conference went amazing, as did the film festival.

Monday, the conference opened, and schedules were determined. This was a very biology-heavy conference, as expected; it is really important to understand how specific organisms will react to Ocean Acidification (OA). However, my research deals in a tangential field (chlorophyll modeling), so I found I was  available during sessions dominated by organism-specific topics or coral calcification.

Opening Ceremonies

Monday, therefore, I was attending some Industry Seminars at the Blue Ocean Film Festival, broken by organisms-specific light/chlorophyll interactions on the science side. The evening was spent watching a cute movie about sea otters, after listening to Jean-Michel Cousteau and Sylvia Earle speak.

Tuesday was mostly science. I learned about specific diatoms, multiple stresses (e.g. CO2 and Temperature), and gave my poster presentation. A lot of people were impressed with the length and breadth of data my lab had collected, and a few suggested some directions to take it.

Wednesday was split between the science and film. The science had a couple of really neat sessions on OA policy, while the festival had some self-help seminars on balancing work/life. A luncheon discussed OA monitoring off of California, and dinner was in the Monterey Bay Aquarium (future post for pics).

Alisha's Mom was in for the Film Festival

Thursday, I drove home to give a talk on Friday at the International Meeting for Students in Physical Oceanography (future post). The RAV4 performed admirably once more.

Fisherman's Wharf

Somethings Interesting:
--Each restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf is approximately the exact same place (moderately priced seafood). They offer free samples of clam chowder, drink deals, and free appetizers to draw in customers; still they're often found empty.

--I made some conference friends; people from other institutions who you create a connection the first day, stand with during coffee breaks, and sit with in sessions. They seemed pretty neat, especially a French Canadian dude named Robin, but I don't remember some of their first or any of their last names.

--This conference had a ticket system for providing beer; AGU and ASLO both just have beer until it runs dry.

I've got a good little car, here at my hotel

Mayor of Carmel, a position formerly held by Clint Eastwood

Jean-Michel Cousteau's sweet tie

Sylvia Earle

Jean-Michel Cousteau

Sylvia Earle

Scripps Folk

Plenary, day 2

Showing off my poster

Google Earth hooked up to five Giant Screens

Farmer's Market Strawberries

As of this posting, I'm hungry

Making slides about science while listening to science

Closing Ceremonies

How To Deploy a Scientific Buoy

Last week was my first cruise with the new lab. As they specialize in moorings (longterm deployments of instruments for scientific use), we put two in the water and got one out.

First, we have to choose a specific spot to drop the anchor, in our case a set of 500 pound railroad wheels on a large metal post. Because of the weight of these objects, they will drop straight downward, pulling anything attached with them. After making a giant 'X' where we measure bottom topography, the spot is chosen by Uwe Send our Principle Investigator and Chief Scientist.

We allow the boat an hour long drift test which will go into calculations for where to start the deployment; we have over 3500 meters of cable, rope, instruments, and chain which we want to be pulled into that special location by the anchor when it drops. During this drift test, the float is being prepared, the instruments are being lined up, and we are all psyching ourselves up for the intense deployment about to take place.

Two Buoys to be Deployed on the New Horizon

The float is the first to go in, with multiple people holding multiple guidelines attached to multiple points on the buoy; while it floats, the buoy still weighs ~4200 pounds and swings where the waves take it if we aren't careful. Once in the water, the float is towed behind us as the boat chugs along at a comfortable 1-1.5 knots in order to avoid tangles. We slowly feed the wire out, placing sensors at preordained locations.

After 1000 meters of cable/rope/chain/instruments (or 4000 with the second buoy), we prepare to release the 5000 pound anchor. Dangerous pitching and rolling ensues, but with enough guidelines, the anchor makes it into the water, pulling the buoy as it falls.

Surveying the Goose-neck Clam Coverage

Somethings Interesting:
-Recovery is not as exciting and a lot smellier; as the instruments near the water are pulled onboard, theyare covered with goose-neck clams, algae, and crabs attempting to defend their home.

-The longest "day" for me this cruise was the recovery and deployment at the second station. Each process takes about 8 hours, plus prep and a few CTD casts were thrown in for good measure; in 39 hours, I managed to escape for 5 hours of sleep.

-Following the cruise, I trained it north to Long Beach for an Irish Catholic Family Reunion (on my mother's side). This was my first age 20+ reunion with this family; a good time was had.