Life on the high seas – Equatorial Pacific
I imagine most people would say if they had the chance to work at sea on a state-of-the-art research ships that it was a great opportunity… to miss the Great British winter! Clear blue skies and temperatures never below 27°C in January, it was bliss. We sailed from Balboa adjacent to Panama City on 28th December southwest into the Pacific and then headed north for the seas off Guatemala. Just getting onto the ship was an eventful nighttime drive around Panama, all of us oblivious to what was going on. Whilst in the minibus it was discovered email, internet and telephone use may not exist for some/all of the cruise due to being in the wrong area for the satellite we were currently connected to. Whilst some saw the potential benefit of this, 7 weeks at sea with no contact from home was not a great prospect. Thankfully after much hard work by our IT technician and a lot of running from the bottom to the top of the ship, connection with the outside world was restored.
Research ships are nothing like cruise liners or what you might imagine, there are no climbing walls or ice-skating rinks, however they are often a lot of fun along with a lot of hard work. Most of the British research ships have single cabins, with a large single bed, sofa, maybe sink and if you are really lucky your own en suite. Meal times are strict and somewhat early, 730 breakfast, 1200 lunch and then 1730 for dinner. The staff in the galley (kitchen) cook wonderful food so there is a buffed with a huge selection for dinner, often resulting in a 3-4 course dinner. Thankfully there is a small gym on board to work off all the food!
Scientists onboard research ships are often taking samples for completely different experiments or measurements to each other but all with the same end goal of how to understand a certain system better. A typical day for me usually starts on deck at 6 am ready to deploy my first ‘marine snow catcher’ of the day. This is basically a glorified 350 L water bottle used to collecting sinking organic particles from the upper to mid ocean. After deploying 2 snow catchers I go straight to the lab with lots of bottles of water and start filtering. I deploy maximum of 4 in 24 hours, as it’s a long process to filter and then identify all of the particles. If I’m lucky I can finish before dinner but often I may have to do an hour or two after. Once finished for the day our options are either to go to the bar (where alcohol units are strictly limited to 2 units a day for women and 3 for men) or dvd room where there are a few hundred dvds to choose from. Evenings can sometimes get repetitive so we have to keep ourselves entertained with different card games or darts e.t.c. The brand new ship even has televisions in most of the cabins!
On this particular cruise New Year’s Eve was only a few days after sailing and a great way to hasten bonding between the crew and scientists. The day was as normal but for the evening the galley staff went all out. The mess (dining room) was converted into a restaurant with fairy lights, the tables set and even bottles of wine for laid out for us (thankfully unit allowance was ignored). Once we had finished our set menu, canapés and champagne were served in the bar where most people stayed for the evening. At midnight we gathered around the newly polished bell and the eldest onboard rang out the old year and the youngest rang in the New Year, shortly followed by the traditional singing of Auld Lang Syne. Most then went to bed as science started the next day, an unfortunate coincidence for some!
A few days after leaving land Mike and Manuela discovered the laser in their flow cytometer was not working. This was a massive blow to all the scientists on board as this piece of equipment was going to be used to intelligently sample the water at high resolution where bacteria numbers peaked. Due to our close proximity to land, Mike was able to order a replacement from Southampton to be delivered to Guatemala. Unfortunately it did mean almost two-thirds of the cruise went by without use of this piece of equipment.
The day before we headed into port in Guatemala, a long line from a small fishing vessel got caught around the bow of the ship. The fishermen were able to cut their end free and sail off, after offering us a tuna or two of course. Mark (chief scientist) and the crew previously experienced 10 days adrift in this area during ‘Part 1’ of the project after a long line was caught around the propeller. So it was definitely a concern to all. As we were due in port the next day it was arranged that divers would come and remove the line from the ship. Mark also had to prepare a presentation explaining the science on board for officers from the Guatemalan Navy. A few came on board for an hour or so and left, leaving one of their lieutenants with us, Paco, for two weeks. With a degree in hydrography he knew a thing or two about the ocean and was very interested in all we were doing on board. However even he was complaining about the heat and he was a local!
We also had two medical evacuations within a few days of each other, the third engineer and the head chef. Due to this on a quiet morning I offered my services to the galley and was in charge of chopping and grating for salads. At 5 weeks in fresh vegetables were dwindling and the creativity levels had to be increased. Working in the galley for only a short amount of time certainly makes you appreciate your meals more.
When not deploying, filtering, spiking, killing, photographing or analyzing a favourite past time some of us was to frequent the local pool/jacuzzi/fountain. The engineers fashioned a pool, equipped with pipes for air bubbles around the perimeter and a fountain feature. Not forgetting of course the obligatory giant blow-up Nemo that resides in it. The pool was filled using the underway supply of seawater and hence phytoplankton detrital aggregates built up over a few days if it was not regularly flushed through. Science is never far away!
Overall the work was a success, certainly I got all I came for and more. Leaping rays, thresher sharks, dolphins and abundant turtles certainly make life at sea all the more wonderful. I look forward to my next venture out into the blue.