Journals 2006/2007

Gioya DeSouza-Fennelly
IS 143-Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School, NY, New York

"Conducting an East-West Atlantic transect to investigate the coupling between atmospheric and oceanic organic pollutants" R/V Endeavor June 20 - July 9, 2006

Journal Index: June 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26         27 - 28 - 29 - 30 July 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 Additional Resources

June 21, 2006
What is seasickness?

I awoke to a very rough sea. The ship was pitching terribly. The first thing I noticed was Joe (second mate/medical officer) was wearing a patch behind his ear. He told me he gets seasick and wears this patch the entire trip. He stressed that getting seasick was not a weakness and had different triggers. It was the pitching that made him seasick. There was no sign of Eric. I asked Joe to check on him. It turns out Eric is very seasick and unable to get out of bed. We gave him some Dramamine. That knocked him out.

Since we had not done any data collection I had to improvise. David helped me change the GF/F and the puffs on the Hi Vol even though the winds were very strong. I was surprised to see how brown the filters were, considering there did not appear to be any dust on the ship. David, the ultimate problem solver, set up a sheltered area on the fly bridge, where we could change the filters. It made the filter changing much easier.

The wet lab equipment is finally running smoothly. We changed the filter and recorded the flow rate.

Changing the GF/F on the High Vol set up on the fly bridge, 30feet above the bow. Wind speed was 28 knots.

At 10:20 am there was a safety drill for everyone on board. Later the crew did a fire drill. I watched and was very impressed at all the safety precautions that were being taken.

No one seems to be around during the day. Since the crew is short staffed every crewmember is pulling 12-hour day. They try and get as much sleep as possible in-between their watches.

Joe helped me do the evening filter changes. I checked on Eric. He was very sick. He seemed too weak to get out of bed. He has not eaten since last night. The crew told me seasickness passes in a couple of days. Lets hope it works for Eric.

David took science related photos to e-mail back to the ARMADA Project in Rhode Island. Even though we do not have any designated watch assignments, we have to periodically check on the flow rates and the data displayed on the monitors in the main lab. Before turning in for the night, I checked the wet lab equipment. I hope Eric feels better tomorrow.