Cruise Log: August 7, 2008
| Time is running out… and we’re soon going to be parting ways. Two students from China, Shijun Wu and Chunyang Tan, will be headed back home soon too, and here is Shijun’s contribution to our webpage. | |
The most amazing place on the ship is the control van of ROV JASON. It gives everybody the experience of having a close encounter with the spectacular deep-sea world through high definition video cameras and dozens of screens that provide a fantastic visual experience. Even though it's quiet, dark and a little cold in the van it kind of gives us the feeling that you are at the seafloor, not on the ship! Usually there are six people in the van during each dive, including three JASON group members: one pilot, one navigator and one engineer. One scientist takes charge of the dive mission, and two assistants deal with the dive data and DVD recording. This might be the best ROV in deep-sea research. You wouldn't believe how skillfully and exact the pilot drives the ROV and operates the manipulator to take samples, if you never saw it.
One of the most exciting parts of each dive is taking the vent fluid sample and doing the in-situ chemical measurement. Basically, we need to collect and measure the vent fluid with the highest temperature, which means it is closest to the "end member" composition. Well, usually it's not easy to get the highest temperature because of the steep temperature gradient, and sometimes you even can't see the vent orifice! In the TAG hydrothermal vent field we spent 1.5 hours digging out a vent orifice so the sampler could get the highest temperature point and to take good fluid samples.
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There are always many interesting things being at sea. You can't miss the beautiful sunrises, sunsets and colorful rainbows. There is a hammock on the first foredeck. It's a good place to relax after dinner. There is a movie room and gym on board so you won't feel bored during the long cruise. There is a ping-pong table as well. I'm surprised how many people on the ship are good ping-pong players; there is a lot of good competition. Also we have delicious food every day! Our captain loves fishing, so we don't have to worry about not having enough food.
Chunyang Tan and a rainbow
Drew playing Ping-Pong
Captain Dave Murile with one of the fish caught during this cruise |
Beyond our scientific research we also spent time decorating Styrofoam cups. We took the cups – along with a Styrofoam mannequin head that friends and school kids had decorated – and placed them in a bag outside Jason, where the pressure of 2000- 3500 meters of water reduced them to these humorous thimble sizes. We are feeling the anticipation of getting home soon to family and friends. Many of us have dogs that we have missed a lot these past 5 weeks. But very early on in the cruise we all printed out our favorite dog pictures and posted them on the wall. Only 2 of these are of dogs not owned by people aboard the ship. |
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