Our second post today comes from Mario Aguilera, who works in the Scripps Communications office. Mario is helping with outreach and communications for the SEAPLEX cruise.
Mario writes:
After three days at sea, life aboard the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego research vessel New Horizon has molded into shape. The day and night shifts have settled into a smooth work flow. Even for me, a novice seafarer, the time is over for bumping into walls and forgetting exactly how I get from my cabin to the galley for chow time. My highly dreaded seasickness never materialized (thank you Dramamine!). We are now in full SEAPLEX mode, well onto an expedition groove.
I’m Mario Aguilera, the Scripps Communications rep on board tasked with documenting our adventure at sea and helping communicate our experiences and lending a hand with equipment deployments when needed.
Leaving my wife, two daughters and dog behind for three weeks is less than pleasant, but duty calls. SEAPLEX is a unique opportunity to show the world the kind of leading scientific and academic opportunities that are possible at Scripps and through its fleet of research vessels.
Outside we’ve seen (and heard) dolphins, a mola–or ocean sunfish–and a gigantic deceased squid that had everyone on board scrambling for their cameras. We sent pictures of the massive beast back to Scripps, but no picture can adequately convey the rotten smell that permeated along with it (no calamari for me ever again!).
We are still far away from reaching our critical destination area, but the measurements we are taking now will form a baseline for comparison upon reaching the North Pacific Ocean Gyre. It’s mind-boggling for me to see the fine detail that goes into scientific sampling and measurements. In an upcoming blog you’ll hear more about how such measurements are made. Onward to the Garbage Patch.
Chelsea Rochman (left) and Josh Jones retrieve a 300-meter towed acoustic array to the research vessel New Horizon. Jones, a member of the Scripps Whale Acoustics Laboratory, is using the instrument to listen to dolphin and other marine mammal sounds during the SEAPLEX voyage.
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The blog is fantastic. I have my whole office following the New Horizon. The information on research and the pictures are great. Thank you for letting us be part of this. Someone in the office asked what are they doing with the waste from the ship.
By: Irene on August 5, 2009
at 1:58 pm
While at sea, biodegradable waste is thrown overboard. All trash is stored below deck until the ship returns to port.
By: Alison Cawood on August 5, 2009
at 3:56 pm
This blog is great ! I am going to share it with my grandkids and everyone else I know. Your live information will be so interesting and enlighting.
Thank you
By: Rieka Klein on August 5, 2009
at 7:32 pm
That’s one very long array. What material is it filled with and are you currently towing it so you can compare the marine mammal abundance of the open ocean to the abundance in the area of the gyre? Thanks.
By: Rob Clemente on August 5, 2009
at 8:42 pm
Mario hope things are going well and your not seasick!
Joe
By: Joe Aguilera on August 5, 2009
at 8:46 pm
The array is composed of hydrophones attached to a line. The gyre and the open ocean refer to roughly the same area. There are not too many cruises that go this far into the gyre. So the whale acoustics lab is using the cruise to record marine mammal sounds and sightings to try to get recordings and sitings of animals they might not see or hear otherwise.
By: Alison Cawood on August 5, 2009
at 9:03 pm
Mario’s crew back on shore in the Scripps Communications Office is following every move of the SEAPLEX cruise. This Scripps Oceanography research expedition is making major news around the globe. Full steam ahead!
By: Cindy Clark on August 6, 2009
at 10:54 am
We miss you back on dry land, but what an amazing opportunity to be among the world’s greatest oceans and earth scientists — as they work! Go Scripps!
By: Jessica on August 6, 2009
at 1:19 pm
Thanks Alison, Guess I didn’t ask my question in quite the right way…I realize that the gyre is in the “open ocean”. But I might assume that the abundance of marine mammals might be greater in the non-gyre area of the ocean (ie, on your way there) than in the area that is supposed to be full of plastic. Are you currently towing the array so you can compare the marine mammal abundance on your way to the gyre vs. when you arrive? Hope that is more understandable. Thanks, Rob
By: Rob Clemente on August 6, 2009
at 7:03 pm
This cruise is not looking at marine mammal abundances, merely the presence or absence of marine mammals. The sample abundance in a quantitative way, there are established protocols, which didn’t really fit with the rest of the SEAPLEX sampling plan. However, there are very few cruises that go into the gyre, so there are not many opportunities to find out what kinds of marine mammals are present that far from shore. The hydrophone array and the marine mammal visual observations are taking place whenever the ship is underway so that they can gather as much information as possible. Also, Josh’s lab is trying to associate different whales with their various sounds, and the more data they have, the better they will be able to do that. Does that answer your question?
By: Alison Cawood on August 7, 2009
at 11:02 am
Yes thanks. Will you also be looking at the presence or absence in the Gyre of prey species of marine mammals? What do you expect that the impact of the currents in the Gyre would have on prey species? Would they, like trash, normally be expected to be pulled into this area in large concentrations? I guess this may be a question for J Jones, I don’t know. Thanks again, RC.
By: Rob Clemente on August 7, 2009
at 2:20 pm
They are doing zooplankton tows, so they will have samples of the prey of the baleen whales. They aren’t doing surface tows for fish, so the will miss those. There are more zooplankton in the convergence zone because they get aggregated through the same mechanisms that concentrate the plastics. However, the overall abundance of zooplankton in the gyre is pretty low. There isn’t any large input of nutrients into the open ocean, so there isn’t enough nitrogen to support very much phytoplankton growth. Since there isn’t anything for the zooplankton to feed on, their concentrations are kept low too. So, the zooplankton abundance should be higher in the convergence zone (where there will likely be higher concentration of plastic particles), it is still a very low concentration compared to the amount of zooplankton that would be found in higher nutrient areas.
By: Alison Cawood on August 7, 2009
at 2:51 pm
Mario, I think is just great what all of you are doing. And thanks for sharing it. It is a wonderful experience to read and see through pictures your experience.
Go Dramamine!
Cecilia
By: Cecilia Valdes on August 7, 2009
at 6:53 am
This blog is great ! I am going to share it with my class and everyone else I know. Your live information will be so interesting and enlighting.
Thank you
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at 5:15 pm
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at 7:28 am