Spring@Sea 2018
The Adventure Begins March 25!
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Early on the morning of March 25th, scientists and students participating in the first leg of our cruise will catch their flights to San Diego, CA to begin this incredible oceanographic adventure. Although to many this may seem like the start of our voyage, there has been extensive planning and packing going on behind the scenes to get us ready and prepared for life and science at sea!
One of the most unique aspects of working at sea is that everything we need for the cruise must travel with us onboard. There are no quick trips to the hardware store in the ocean! This means that we have made countless inventory lists, had extensive meetings, and sifted through every box and crate from past cruises that we could find, to make sure that everyone in the science party has all of the gear necessary to collect meaningful data that can be safely transported home. By the end of all of this planning and packing we ended up with a 20ft container weighing nearly 10 tonnes! That’s a lot of gear. This container is holding everything from sediment traps and McLane pumps, to sextants and ukuleles! We like to have a little fun mixed in with all of our hard work. Or is it the other way around?
All of these supplies have been wedged, strapped and tied down as tightly as possible. We even built a wall of plywood to keep our gear from shifting during transport! We do not want to take any chances with this precious cargo. After the container was all packed and ready to go, it was picked up by an incredibly nice driver in an eighteen wheeler who drove it down to Portland, OR to be loaded onto the R/V Roger Revelle, which was conveniently stationed there for a few more days. After getting to Portland and sitting overnight in a snowstorm, our container was lifted onto the R/V Roger Revelle and was transported with the ship to San Diego where it awaits our arrival onboard!
Stay up to date with our blog to hear about (and see awesome photos of!) all of the exciting things we get up to at sea. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we could not be more excited to get underway!
-Jamee, Research Scientist
Follow the blog posts here: springatsea2018.wordpress.com
