Woke up to an exciting rosette deployment. After more than two days of delays due to strong winds (40 knots) and large waves (15-20 ft) conditions were barely good for a deployment. The waves are still high, which could damage the rosette as it is deployed.
Expectation reigned around the Baltic room, from where the rosette is deployed. We even had an external spectator; a seal was watching us play with the rosette. The dangerous part is in the transition between air and water. A big wave can knock the rosette into the ship, or the wave can momentarily push up the rosette just enough to produce slack on the cable, and then let it fall down fast as the wave moves away. The cable can break in one of this slack-tension moments, and goodbye rosette.
A couple of waves brushed the bottom of the rosette in some tense moments, but it finally made it into the water. It will come back in about three hours. Hopefully we will have smaller waves by then.
Let me tell you now what happens during a deployment. Before we deploy the rosette, we nee to cock all the bottles by opening them and hooking up the fishing line to the carousel, close the spigot and the valves, remove the power cable from the ADCP, and remove the CTD syringes. It is now ready to go!
Brett and Sam are preparing the rosette
We lower the rosette with a powerful winch that has a strong 8 km long cable (that is right, 8 km, more than 5 miles). It is a special cable that carries an electrical signal to the carousel so the bottles can be triggered. A large heavy door communicates the Baltic room to the exterior. Here the door is being opened.
The huge heavy door of the Baltic room as it opens
People in the room need to wear steel toe boots, a Mustang suit, which is a floating jumpsuit, and a hard hat. They also need to tie themselves to the boat by means of a rope that hooks to their backs.
Mike all dressed up for Baltic Room operations
Typically three people are allowed in the Baltic room during deployment: the winch operator, one person form the boat, Barry or Mike, and one from the scientific team, Robert or Brett, since it is a very dangerous place. Jim talks about a time on the Palmer in which the cable snapped and one end went flying very close to him with a strong whiplash. The cable is under so much tension that it becomes a deadly weapon when it snaps. We had both Brett and Robert on this deployment because it was the first deployment and they wanted to know how the Palmer handles the rosettes.
Robert and Barry as the rosette is being deployed
The smaller trace metal rosette is launched from another location. There is a smaller winch on deck that is used for launching it.
Barry and Bill with the trace metals rosette
The trace metal rosette goes for a dive before the larger one. These pictures were taken before a launch on a snowy day. As mentioned before, we had to cover the bottle with plastic to prevent snow from getting in. We removed the plastics just before the launch.
Bill removing the plastic covers from the trace metals rosette
And here a couple of pictures as the rosette is being launched:
Trace metal rosette as it is launched
Trace metal rosette is over board
The rosette at the surface of the water with some of the snow floating around,
The rosette at the surface of the water with some of the snow floating around.
We keep the rosette a few minutes at 10 m to get the sensors of the CTD going. We then raise it to the surface to start collecting CTD data from there and being its descent to the dark depths.
Back in the lab, someone is watching the cast. In this case we find Jessie and Stuart at the controls. Their job is to communicate with the person at the winch, and to trigger the bottles at the right depth.
Jesse communicating with the winch operator
The bottles are closed on their way up from the bottom. The rosette is stopped at the desired depth for at least 30 seconds to make sure they have only water from that depth. Here is Stuart triggering a bottle.
Stuart triggering a deep water bottle
This is the screen that he is watching. It has a plot of the variables measured by the CTD and information form the winch.
The screen monitored by Stuart and Jesse in this cast
Records are kept showing at what depth was each bottle triggered, the water temperature, and the salinity. It might seem redundant, but it has been through painful experiences that people that do this have found that there is no redundancy when it comes to keeping records.
Stuart keeping the records of the cast
Today's first cast lasted 2:49 hours and went to a depth of 2825 m. Water came washing into the Baltic room more than once, as the waves found their way in. Nothing really dangerous, though. Here are a couple of pictures taken from the bridge showing the rosette coming out of the water.
Rosette as it is about to emerge from the water
Rosette as it breaks the surface
The boom is moving the rosette back into the boat
Here are some views from the Baltic room as Brett and Mike work on recovering the rosette. You can see how the rosette swings from side to side loaded with water. You do not want to find your hand between the door frame and the rosette as it enters the room. And check the wave that decided to jump in for a visit!
The rosette swinging as it surfaces
The rosette as seen from the Baltic room
And the rosette is in with a splash
Sampling begins!