Friday, October 12
Tonight we boarded a boat at a dock in Freeport, Texas. We are going to get the once in a lifetime opportunity to visit, and stay over, in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico. Since the Sanctuary is so far into the Gulf of Mexico, we will have to live on a boat in order to view the Flower Garden Banks. I was nervous about living on the Spree, the name of our boat, for three days, but also very excited to be going on this great adventure. Everyone who is on the boat is really nice, which is good because we're going to be stuck together for a while. Also, we all have to sleep on bunks in the same area separated only by curtains. When we first got on the boat we had to go through all of the safety and rules, including "potty training" and carrying your handy barf bag at all times.
It's an eight hour ride out to the Sanctuary, so we will arrive in the morning.
Saturday, October 13
The first thing we did this morning was to visit an oil platform: High Island 389. The CEO and COO came over from the platform and onto our boat. However, they arrived in style. They were first flown onto the large oil platform by helicopter. Then the two of them stood on a "basket" and were brought onto the boat with a giant crane. This was one of the craziest transportation things I had ever seen.
Today was also our first day of filming on the boat, or as we Argos call it "Da Boat." Filming is a lot of fun, even though we often end up having to repeat everything that we say several times. However, all of the Argos are still friends with the video production crew, who do a lot of the behind the scenes work.
This morning, we Argos got our first chance to get into our awesome wetsuits and hop on into the water. We got to snorkel in the West Flower Gardens. To be honest I was pretty nerve-wracked about snorkeling because this was my first time in open salt water and I had no idea what to expect. That, and the fact that I could not see land in any direction I looked, began to give me some last second doubts. However, the next thing I knew I had jumped into the water. Obviously everything worked out all right and I didn't get eaten by any of the barracudas, which were swimming right underneath us! It was an awesome and eye-opening experience to be able to snorkel in the crystal-clear water filled with interesting fish and coral.
After our first snorkel, we were briefed on the kinds of fish that live in the sanctuary, and went out again to do a simple count of the kinds of fish and how many there were. It was hard and sometimes confusing to make sure that you did not count the same fish twice. There were also divers from our boat underneath us, taking video and recovering data collecting tools from the reef.
The third cool thing that we were able to do on the boat was use the ROV, or Remotely Operated Vehicle. We were able to lower the small, sturdy, orange ROV into the water over the side and then control it with a joystick and controller, kind of like a video game. Operating the ROV was a lot harder than I had expected, but it was neat to see everything deep underneath the water from an up-close view.
Another great thing about going on this expedition is that our lead researcher is Dr. Bob Ballard. I have always been amazed with all of Dr. Ballard's work and have also looked up to his perseverance and dedication to following his goals. It is awesome to actually work with him. This afternoon he gave us a short presentation on how he got to where he is today and what his future goals and ambitions are. He is an excellent presenter and told us that we should follow our hearts to reach our goals but also enjoy the journey. He quoted Joseph Campbell in telling us that, "Life is the act of becoming."
All of us were free in the evening, so Dr. Ballard and the Argos all decided to play a game of cards (hearts). It didn't turn out to be much of a game when Dr. Ballard was completely destroying the rest of us. Until, that is, he had to leave to go and listen to the Red Sox on the radio.
At night I was planning on sleeping outside on the upper deck along with the other Argos. It was a beautiful, warm, night and I could see almost all of the bright stars up in the night sky. The view was absolutely breathtaking. However, after about an hour of trying to sleep up on top while the boat kept moving, we finally came down to sleep in our bunks.
Sunday, October 14
I woke up this morning when a crew-member called my name and I opened my eyes to find her taking a video of me while waking up. Now that is how we start our great mornings here on the boat. This morning the water was really rough, we had 3 to 5 foot waves and it was decided that the Argos wouldn't be able to get in the water themselves. However, we were still able to use the ROV and have the boat's divers go down.
After our briefing for the goals of the ROV, we actually had to deploy it. The rough waves and strong current made it hard to maneuver the robot. Although we thought that everything was running smoothly, we soon realized that the ROV's cables had become tangled on the moor line and bottom of the boat. This could have posed a very serious problem and the captain soon had everyone working on trying to get the ROV out before it got something caught. After a few tense minutes the ROV was successfully recovered from the water and we moved on to our next stop in the Flower Gardens, Stetson Bank.
Only today did I learn that the Flower Gardens is actually three separate banks: West Flower Garden Bank, East Flower Garden Bank, and Stetson Bank. We were able to learn a lot about the Flower Gardens during our 3-hour trip to Stetson Bank, which was closer to shore than the other two banks. At this third stop we used the ROV once again, this time a little more successfully. However, when we had to deploy and recover the ROV, I had to go down to the dive platform to drop off and pick up the ROV. The waves were pretty big and I was a little afraid of being swept off the back by a wave coming up and throwing me off balance. Despite my fears I was able to safely retrieve the ROV, although my pants did get soaked.
My trip to the Flower Gardens Sanctuary gave me an entirely new perspective on science and what it means to be a scientist or researcher. The expedition seemed almost like a vacation. I was able to travel somewhere that I will never forget and learned a lot not only about the coral ecosystem, but also about working with world famous researchers in a hands-on setting. I am so glad I got to be a part of this special mission.