Student's Report:
Hello again from Andy and Vince.

Seas are calm once again although the bridge reports a possible low pressure system from the west could disrupt our Pacific day. Today is the last day that we have been working with Dr. Baker and his scientists. There are times when the science crew does not need us so we also help out in the galley.

Being on a NOAA oceanographic research vessel we have discovered that many people all work together to actually do one thing and that is to explore the ocean and discover new things. Even though sometimes we are not with the scientists themselves, we are still helping them by doing things that they can't do while they are collecting data. First we want to tell you what we know about casting and towing a Sea Bird CTD and then we would like to talk about life in the galley.

In our first student log entry, we wrote about what a CTD does so we'll try not to repeat things. We did not tell you though that besides having a CTD transmissometer, the rosette also has a nephelometer (tells you about abnormal particle scattering), altimeter, pinger and 21 Niskin sampling bottles. A casting is where the CTD is dropped straight down into the water from the deck. It weighs about 1100 lbs. So it is lowered down by galvanized steel cable from a crane. The crane operator is always one of the many NOAA crewmembers of the mighty Ronald Brown. They stay in communication with Dr. Baker or Sharon Walker (PMEL oceanographic scientist) in the science lab while they are lowering it or bringing it back up to the surface.

At first they lower it slowly at about 30 m/min. After it goes down about 200 m, they really let it go at about 60 m/min. Even though it's going down pretty fast, it still takes a while to go all the way to 1500 m. All of the time that a casting is being made, the ship is being held in position dynamically by the officers and two of our able bodied students at sea, Jason Chockley and Erik Davis.

A tow is a little different. Instead of letting the CTD straight down and kept in the same horizontal position, the ship moves at about 1 knot and it is pulled up and down into and out of the plume sort of like a yo-yo. Dr. Baker perfected this technique of sampling so he calls it a tow-yo. Well, what ever is going on (either a casting or a tow-yo), the data is coming through to the scientists in the lab through the ship's Scientific Computer System (SCS). The SCS display in the electronics lab gives them time, GPS position, water depth, how much wire is out, true wind speed, direction, and barometric pressure. The CTD sends up information about pressure, temperature, conductivity and other information from the nephelometer and altimeter. Sharon Walker faithfully watches the SCS at night and Dr. Baker oversees the entire operation all of the time.

There are also two teachers in the lab helping to collect data. They are Carol McDowell from Jamestown High School in Virginia and Mary Beth Sands from Franklin High School in Livonia, MI. Like us, they are Teachers at Sea and they share these experiences with other students at their home. They have been an incredible help to the operation because the whole process goes on for 24 hours a day. Without them, the job would be much harder. Also assisting Dr. Baker are two college seniors who are studying oceanography. They are Kate Grof-Tisza from the Naval Academy in Annapolis and Peter McAuliffe from Carlton College in Minnesota.

Well as we were saying, we also work in the galley when we're not working with the scientists. The Chief Steward is a really great guy named Lito Santos. He always has a great menu scheduled each day and the food is really great. He always tries to brighten up everyone's day by being really friendly and is always trying out something new. Second Cook Jim Scott is always joking around with us and he really makes hard work fun. Dr. R.P. Dexter is an ordinary seaman that has been temporarily assigned to work in the galley on this cruise. He has been a really great help to us and has inspired us with his many tales of the sea and life itself. That's all for now.

Tomorrow we'll feature two students who have been up on the bridge all this time. They can tell you about some of the strange things they see up there from the depths at night and about some of the hazards that are faced by the "Students at Sea".