Eye on Irene: Watch Out for the First Atlantic Hurricane This Season

Although Hurricane Irene doesn't have an impressive structure (e.g., an eye) at the moment, this sizable storm is forecast to stregthen to a Category 3 storm in a few days.  Models of this system (as shown above) disagree on the landfalling future of this system, but the coast of North Carolina will certainly experience effects and could be where Irene comes ashore.  Residents need to get prepared for potentially a Major (Cat 3+) hurricane.

A Successful Cruise: Thanks to the Captain and Crew

Dale, the Captain, at work.  He and the Chief Mate, Bobby, and the Second Mate, Larry, helped us get where we needed to go and sample the seabed.

Tina (left, Marine Tech), Mark (center, Chief Enginner), and Robert (right, Asst. Engineer) stand ready to help with docking...and are glad to get rid of us!  The were all always will to help answer questions or fix equipment.

Bob, the Steward, serves up a meal of yummy smoked ham for dinner.

Stephen, an Able Seaman, along with the other deck crew, John (theBosun) and Mark (a fill-in Able Seaman), kept a careful watch on the deck operations...and also helped with keep everything clean with the hose! 

8 August

It was a pleasure to return to the Gulf of Mexico and specifically to work aboard the R/V Cape Hatteras.  The weather cooperated, making the seabed sampling easy, and the Captain and crew helped us collect all the samples we could in the short time we were allocated.  The students worked tremendously hard, and Bob, the Steward, kept us well fed and hydrated.  It was a very successful trip, and we now have an impressive number of samples to investigate the record of the Mississippi River flood and other events (e.g., Hurricane Katrina) that have impacted the Gulf system.

Once we hit the dock our stuff was packed and ready for unloading.  What took us days to set up and collect, was packed into our vehicles within a couple hours.  We have a long drive back, but we're glad were returning with a large load of samples!

I'll wrap up the blogging for this cruise by saying a huge thanks to Dale (the Captain who oversaw the mud mayhem and effortlessly guided us to many sites including those in some tough locations), Bobby and Larry (the Mates who navigated us to countless core locations and helped us sample the many sites), Mark and Robert (the Engineers who kept the ship running smoothly and the A/C pumping!...both are critical in the Gulf!), Bob (the Steward who filled our bellies with many meals), Tina (the Marine Tech who ressurected the CTD and assisted with our many needs), and of course, John, Steve and Mark (who worked with closely on deck, watching for our safety and tolerating our muddy mess, and all the while did this with smiles and a sense of humor).  The Cape Hatteras is a special ship, which can really do it all, from coring sites where a person can stand (almost) to sampling the water and seabed at great depths.  One of the reason the ship is so capable is the experienced, hard-working and amiable crew.  I also need to thank the fabulous group of students who worked long hours on this cruise and made the trip extra enjoyable.  Additionally, my co-investigators were a pleasure to go to sea with, and I hope we can find future opportunities to work together.  THANKS! J.P. 

In the name of science...

If you look close, you'll notice that the daywalkers are working together with the mud-sucking Vampire Shift. That's right, it's one big scientific family as we work to meet our final goal of stations before we have to start steaming to port (Gulfport). It has been a quick cruise, but everyone (scientist an crew alike) has worked hard to get the job done.

We will collect our last core in about an hour…that will make 68 cores! Thanks to everyone for a job well done. Now it's time for the real work…to the lab!

The Sunshine Shift Shines

The Sunshine Shift (Kevin, Devon, Jessica, David, Alisha, Reide)

Having a little fun during a very long day.

7 August

While the day watch (Noon-Midnight) has had the luxury of working during relatively normal hours of the day.  I must admit they have worked extremely hard and have had fun doing it.  They have collected and processed a ton of cores, and they have worked in intense heat, sweating like dogs and covered in mud.  They mean business, but make the work fun by talking, singing, and occasionally, dancing.   They have had some very tough days, and we have to thank them for a lot of our progress.

Nice job.

Many Jobs on Watch

Devon cleans off an x-ray tray.

Reide, Jessica and David cut yet another core.

J.P. prepares a multicore tube.

Devon (right) and David (left) clean off a sediment tray before x-raying.

7 August

During a watch there are a variety of jobs that need to be done, including sample recording, coring/ctd operations, cleaning, sieving, filtering, erosion chamber monitoring and interaction with the Captain and mates.   Some example photos are above.

Vampires Hunt for Ocean Mud

A moonlight night on the Gulf of Mexico...

A mud vampire soaks up the moonlight.

The vampire team scavenges for ocean sediments on the Mississippi River delta.

They race aboard the R/V Cape Hatteras to find more magical mud.

The vampire team collects critical samples to learn more.

Vampire making sophisticated mud measurements to better understand the sedimentary system.

Slow core collection leads to an unfortunate vampire victim (Co-Chief Scientist Dr. Reide Corbett).

6 August

A strange group of students and faculty aboard the R/V Cape Hatteras are thirsty for sampling the seabed at night.  They roam the ocean with the aid of an amiable and talented Captain and crew who assist this odd coven of mud hungry monsters in finding marine sediments.  In the Gulf of Mexico, they have found their nirvana, where massive floods supply millions of more metric tons annually.  Over the past few days they have used a multicore to collect copious quantities of the gold for ghouls.  This black oozing matter is a mysterious mixture of aluminosilicate minerals, quartz sand and organic materials (both microscopic and macroscopic).  Humans have altered the amount of material washing into our coastal oceans through damming (which reduces the sediment discharged) and land–use changes (which generally increases material fluxes).  Naturally, the vampires are curious to find out more about how and why.  But before they can understand the Earth system and human influences, they must obtain key samples to quantify sedimentation rates and compositional details.  Quenching their thirst for knowledge will enable them to provide valuable insights which can inform managers and ultimately help their vampire brethren and the related mud-sucking marine macrofauna.  Unfortunately, sometimes there are victims if mud sampling is slowed.

Thanks to Alisha Ellis for the spooktacular photos.

Freaks come out at night...

The Vampire shift starts at midnight…core thirsty scientist ready to take on the elements to gather mud from the seafloor. Dr. JP Walsh (Chief Scientist), together with Dr. Sid Mitra, lead this band of night walkers. I will be the first to admit that the night shift is tough to adjust to…it's hard to be excited about starting your "day" at midnight. But that hasn't slowed this coven of mud suckers.

The night and early morning hours does provide some different sites to see. I have heard tales of tuna, water spouts, famous drill rigs…impressive indeed! It is interesting to see this crew in the morning…the vampires seem to turn into zombies throughout their 12 hour shift. That said, many still pitch in to help during the shift change. It is always great to see so many people working together for a single goal…the science!

The lead scientists (Walsh, Corbett, Mitra, Xu) often get together between shifts to make sure everyone is up to date on the accomplishments of the previous 12 hours and we all agree on the approach for the next 12 hours. We sometimes make slight modifications to our plan as samples are collected and new information on the sea floor deposits are gathered. Today we are steaming toward the Atchafalaya River delta. Planning on several shore perpendicular transects to the west of the delta.

The fun and excitement continues…