[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”6″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_imagebrowser” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” ajax_pagination=”0″ maximum_entity_count=”500″] For the next few days, R/V Sally Ride will be doing science operations as part of a verification cruise in La Jolla Canyon. Just outside of the marine protected area, the ship will be recovering moorings for the lab groups of Dr. Ana Sirovic and Dr. Matthew Alford. Deployed from R/V … Read More
Unmanned and Autonomous
Dr. Sophia Merrifield is Chief Scientist aboard R/V Sally Ride this week. A postdoc in Dr. Eric Terrill’s lab at Scripps, she organizes and watches over every deployment and recovery. Other members of the lab are out here on a science verification cruise, to make sure the ship is ready and able to deploy their unmanned autonomous vehicles. Designed, built, … Read More
Loading ROV Jason
The CalCOFI cruise ended on a Tuesday, after successful completion of all 75 science stations. We arrived back at the dock before 9am that morning, and the scientists worked to offload their gear right away – everything was back at the labs in La Jolla by lunch time. Beginning the very next morning at 7am, a new group of scientists … Read More
Cheers to our Volunteers!
Bringing volunteers on a CalCOFI cruise is generally a win-win for everyone. For the scientists, having help deploying and recovering gear, sampling the CTD, and filtering water is key. For the volunteers, it’s a great way to gain experience working in the field. The usual applicants have finished their undergraduate degree in a science field and are sorting out what comes next – career, … Read More
Project of Opportunity: Quantifying Carbon Export
Since the CalCOFI program is well-known and proceeds on a predictable schedule (once per season), there are often scientists who ask for bunk space to come along – but they often have to settle for water samples to be collected on their behalf. R/V Sally Ride, however, has a higher number of science berths than many similarly-sized research vessels so the usual CalCOFI science party had … Read More
Science Focus: Long Term Ecological Research
The Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network is a collection of 26 sites throughout the United States and its territories, plus Antarctica and Tahiti. Studies spanning decades provide insight into environmental changes over seasons and years across a variety of habitats. In 2004, the California Current Ecosystem (CCE) site was added to the network, with scientists collecting seawater samples on CalCOFI … Read More
Science Focus: Plankton sensor
R/V Sally Ride has 25 bunks for scientists. The ships that CalCOFI usually sails on have less, only 18 on the retired SIO vessel New Horizon and 15 on NOAA ships Lasker and Shimada. Those extra bunks mean that some side projects can be accommodated. Here on the inaugural CalCOFI on Sally Ride, Dr. Dave Checkley, a professor emeritus and director … Read More
Science Focus: Marine Mammal Observations
What a difference a day makes. The morning after having to move operations inside due to weather, the marine mammal observers aboard R/V Sally Ride were out enjoying the sunshine while 3,000 long-beaked common dolphins surrounded the ship, spread out from horizon to horizon. The chief scientist and ship’s captain had worked together to change the order of stations so that we moved … Read More
Weather
Whatever I was planning to do and write about today (plankton) got superseded by the weather that found us. About 200 miles west of LA, 30+ knot winds kicked waves up to 20 feet. R/V Sally Ride‘s dynamic positioning system got to show off, keeping us to within a few meters of the same spot for about an hour while the … Read More
Sunsets
You may think that as oceanographers and mariners, the scientists and crew members aboard R/V Sally Ride might be immune to the beauty of the natural wonders around us. But we’re not, even after many years and many miles – and I think that’s exactly why we’re in this line of work. We don’t get tired of seeing gorgeous sunsets, leaping … Read More