Greetings from night crew’s second night of science on the R/V Endeavor!
I am Rachel Eckley, a current MS student at Nova Southeastern University, and I am assisting with fish identification on this ADEON cruise. This cruise marks my first time out at sea, and I am happy to report that I have not yet had to battle any seasickness *hears the faint sound of Bri Cahill knocking on wood in the distance.*
Night crew had a busy shift tonight, something we were all appreciative of being as it was only the second night of science for us. We were able to do a full Fine-Scale Acoustic Survey (FSAS) that lasted about 7 hours, a bongo net deployment, and an Isaacs-Kidd Midwater Trawl (IKMT). The bongo net travels straight down to 100 m and back up but unfortunately didn’t yield too many critters; however, the IKMT brought up some interesting organisms from around 400 meters depth including a gonostomatid, myctophidae, and leptocephali (Figures 1, 2, and 3).
As Julia Notar briefly mentioned in the blog yesterday, once we’ve brought in the critters from the tow, we get a total biovolume, sort out the target species, take photographs for measurements, then jar the samples. We take turns doing the various jobs from helping hook the net to the ship’s A-frame, guiding it into the water, logging the latitude and longitude of each step, and sorting the organisms. I’m really thankful for how hands on we’re able to be and how much experience we’re gaining from the different jobs. Our work requires a lot of concentration and organization, but we love it! Once our work is done, we listen to Dr. Joe Warren’s (Chief Scientist) diverse music collection, greet the morning crew as they emerge from their staterooms, and anticipate a long-awaited breakfast at 7:30 am. J
