29 June 2018 We have arrived!

We arrived at station 1 at approximately 1am Alaskan time. This station is slightly unusual as it is deep and just located off the shelf. The area itself is known as the slime bank. The majority of the other stations are not so deep. By noon we had completed three stations. It is roughly an hour transit between each one.

We have been split into two shifts, one night and one day. We were all present for some of the night shift just to get our bearings and familiarize ourselves with the routine. My role is to help move equipment to and from the deck and to help deploy the plankton nets. Once we have collected the nets, I am helping sort the trawl and find the jellies and other interesting specimens.

Student question from Dhruva Arekar: "What are the labs like onboard and what tests are you planning on running?"

There are wet labs and dry labs onboard which as the name implies are wet or stay dry. We also have a room just off the deck that allows us to keep our equipment that goes overboard close to the winch.

We are conducting four overboard collections. The CTD collects conductivity, temperature and depth measurements at each stop or station. The Arcis is collecting sonar data on what is beneath us. There are a couple of net trawls to collect specimens and the then planktonscope is trawled to collect images. It is a roughly an hour between stations so this gives us time to initially process the data and set up for the next stop. We are working 24 hours to gain maximum data from the time we have on our testing site.

The CTD rosette onboard the Sikuliaq. Launching the Arcis sonar from the back deck.

Crew Profile of the day

Eric Sprecher, Electrician.

Name: Eric Sprecher

Position: Electrician

From: California

How did you end up on the R/V Sikuliaq?: This is his first job after graduation from a 4 year Maritime college with a certification as 3rd engineer. He has been onboard for 2 ½ years.

What are the best and worst parts of your job?: Eric enjoys the fact he has minimal oversight which allows him to create his own schedule from the list of jobs from his supervisor. The downside of the job is that it can take you away from home for long periods of time and you can feel like you are in groundhog day!