Down to the wire…

We have approximately 17 hours left before we must leave our study area and start heading south for Wellington (~24 hours of steaming). The science crew has been working feverishly to collect all the samples we outline every day. We have occupied more than 65 stations (the approximate number at the end of my watch a couple hours ago). Our volunteers from New Zealand have been an incredible resource…we could never have completed all of this research without their hard work and dedication to the science…we really appreciate their efforts!

We have continued to collect CTD data, water column samples, and cores from the sea bottom. JP, Alan, and the day shift also collected some seismic data in Poverty Canyon the night before last. Julia and Joey have been working non-stop on the erodibility measurements from cores collected from a variety of sites across the shelf and slope…this will provide a unique dataset on the spatial variability of this important process (erosion/resuspension).

With all the work that is getting done, it is hard to believe we have still found time to enjoy some free time as well. We have started a make shift ping pong tournament (JP is pretty much ruling…you know that is driving me crazy), a few people jumped in the hot tub, and others have found an interest in the mini-series "Weeds" (the ship has a huge library of DVDs). So everyone finds their own way to wind down after their 12 hour shift…

The weather has really cleared up over the last few days. The sunrises have been spectacular…really make you appreciate being at sea. The seas laid down and we even put the rescue boat in the water yesterday to grab some photos o