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My name is Sienna Blanckensee, and I am currently an undergraduate student at the University of Queensland, studying for a Bachelor of Advanced Science. Through this degree, I have found an interest in oceanography. So, when my supervisor, Dr Helen Bostock, presented me with the chance to gain experience at sea for a month, I … Continued

For most people, 2020 will forever be known as the year of cancelled plans. For a small group of students, the last months of 2020 brought an opportunity that none of us could have planned: the opportunity to go on the R/V Falkor to get hands-on experience in marine geoscience, thanks to the Schmidt Ocean … Continued

Today was a taxing day.  Late on Wednesday it became apparent that our test of the winch that we use to lower the depressor vehicle (the one that acts to protect Nereus’ single optical-fiber tether from the waves and energy in the upper ocean) had not gone well. After 2 hours in the water and … Continued

When I was growing up, my older brother Tim used to enjoy explaining how any adverse conditions that you lived through could be ascribed to being character building.  I therefore present to you the team aboard RVFalkor: with our characters further developed. The day started very well – into the dry lab at 05h30 to … Continued

Science seriously progressed today. It didn’t come easy but maybe that just makes it all the sweeter. Our launch was text-book just after 4am and separation went well at 5:30am with only a few moments of tension as we passed through 2000m.  Then, right on schedule, at 7:30am we made “landfall” at just less than … Continued

One of my NSF program managers sent me a message today saying that our live broadcasts could do with better music. Unfortunately, Jeremy (ETO and Higher Life Form) found out the hard way earlier in the cruise, when testing out the system, that we cannot lay music over the web-cast on YouTube due to Piracy … Continued

Saturday June 29th was an epic day.  Also among the 4 top traumatic experiences I have ever had at sea with a robot.  (All of which have come in the past 8 years!) Our dive started beautifully as we landed near the Hot Chimlets vents and set to work collecting microbes attached to a rock … Continued

We’re all done.  Nereus has been safely recovered in board from the last dive, the last CTD is complete and the cable greased.  We’re now headed to Jamaica collecting swath bathymetry along the way until we leave Cayman Islands waters around 8pm Sunday.  As Vinnie Jones says at the end of “Lock Stock & 2 … Continued

The first, essential, feature of this cruise is coral. We start with research scientist Taylor holding a bundle of Desmophyllum. These precious coral samples record the environmental conditions of the ocean at the time their skeletons formed. As we do not (currently) have access to a time machine on R/V Falkor, we rely on using … Continued

Trying to understand a constantly moving ocean system is a huge challenge. Accurately measuring the chemistry of the ocean is important for understanding many processes, including nutrient and carbon cycling; ocean circulation and movement of water masses; as well as ocean acidification and climate change. On this expedition, the water chemistry team has the important … Continued