Journals 2005/2006

Denis Costello
North High School, Torrance, California

"The Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms" R/V Atlantis July 6 - 26

Journal Index: July 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13       14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20       21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27

July 10, 2005
The Survey Continues

Sampling continued at the same frenetic pace as the previous two days. As we worked along the OZ survey line, we had deeper CTD casts which provided more time in between stations to prepare. We are currently surveying the grid to search for areas of Pseudo-nitzschia (PN).

I'm assisting on the recovery of the CTD. This was an hourly ritual for me for the first ten days at sea.

In my spare time, I tried to master the bowline. It's a relatively easy knot that must be learned to work at sea. The bowline is an important if a line is to be secured to an eyebolt on the deck or to a piece of sampling equipment. Being a lefthander, it took me some time to master it.

The day began with a beautiful sunrise and ended in drizzle and strong winds. Our last two CTD casts of the day were the deepest thus far, reaching depths of about 1000 meters. Before the last cast, some of the science crew decided to design Styrofoam cups to send down with the CTD. After the retrieval of the CTD, we were amazed to see how much the cups had compressed. One Styrofoam cup compressed to the size of a shot glass. I plan to use my cups in my class to demonstrate how pressure change may affect organisms. If you plan on heading on out to sea on research cruise, bring plenty of styrofoam cups!

Styrofoam cups before they were sent down with the CTD to 1000 meters.