Log Post: Art Asks Questions, Science Seeks Answers

Science and art are deeply related. Both involve looking hard at what is around us: taking time to observe and collect information to filter through brains. Art asks questions, science seeks answers. I have been drawing and painting since I was a child. I studied art in college and took it with me everywhere afterward. … Continued

Log Post: A Birthday Gift: Pop-Up Satellite Tagged White Sharks

I have been dreaming about this day for a long time. I arrived at the White Shark Café region – about halfway between Hawaii and California (see figure below). I have been, with my lab team and collaborators, planning this expedition for three years, and have had many a sleepless night. Taking a ship as … Continued

Log Post: Behind the MicrobeEddyBots

The ocean is full of relatively small events that happen over a short period of time. To help scientists maintain a more persistent observing presence in the ocean, we use robots called Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) to move around the ocean in three dimensions and collect data. On this research cruise we are using 3 … Continued

Cruise: Voyage to the White Shark Café

The Mariana region is home to the Mariana subduction system. This November, scientists shed light on the Mariana back-arc spreading center looking for new sites of hydrothermal activity.

Log Post: Where there is smoke…

As the old saying goes, “Where there is smoke, there is fire.” This is the approach researchers on R/V Falkor are using: searching for particles and chemical signals as tracers of plumes. The chemistry of seawater around volcanoes is different from that of the rest of the ocean. When the team runs into these differences over … Continued

Log Post: Blurred Lines and Shear Brilliance

Dr. Kelvin Richards, the Principal Investigator on the Mixing Up The Tropical Pacific Cruise beams with excitement at the prospect of collecting new data. For him, this cruise is a significant step forward, or east, to obtain long awaited information. After working in the western equatorial Pacific for many years, Dr. Richards is curious to see … Continued

Log Post: Student Opportunities: Becoming a Marine Technician

I have been onboard R/V Falkor for a week now, and have had the opportunity to intermingle with each of the departments, learning every possible aspect of the ship.Falkor’s crew is divided into four major departments: deck, engineering, interior, and science. Each group plays a very important role in the daily life of a research vessel. However, … Continued

Log Post: Sea Shanties and Ship Operations

Today was very eventful with continued DIDSON operations, small boat operations, acoustic sampling of additional areas for pilot whale echolocation activity (a.k.a. ‘clicking’), and more photo identification of short-finned pilot whales.

Log Post: Student Opportunity: The Calm Before the Storm

Julianna and I have been sailing on Falkor for a few days now. The science team is all settled in as we make our way towards the first sampling location. The transit from Majuro will be approximately three days. As the scientist’s calibrate their instruments and prepare for arrival, the ship’s crew is all action … Continued

Log Post: Phytoplankton Sampling Strategies

Plankton comes from the greek word planktos, meaning wanderer. It does not define a specific organism, but rather a specific life style. Plankton consist of all organisms dispersed in water that are passively driven by water currents or are subject to passive sinking process. Some of those organisms have an ability to produce oxygen and sugars … Continued