After 10 days at sea, we have finally settled into a rhythm on the ARSV
L.M. Gould. The rest of our group arrived at Palmer station on the 5th. It
was great to see Oscar (who came to Palmer in the late 80s and early 90s
as an undergrad and then as a grad student), (Mike) Garzio, and Dove. We
also finally met our other team member Megan.The six of us have been
working around the clock with Garzio taking the bulk of late night
responsibility. Our typical day consists of waking up and putting our
bio-optics cage in the water off the stern. Then we put our hyperspectral
radiometer into the water.

deck4

Using the data from these two instruments, we estimate how deep the light
is penetrating into the water and then we tell the ship’s crew from which
depths we would like to collect samples. Once our samples are collected
and brought aboard, we work together to filter 25 to 30 liters of water.
The filters are then stored in either liquid nitrogen or the -80 Celsius
freezer for later analysis of the phytoplankton pigments. We also set
aside water from various depths for measurement of the rate of
photosynthesis. To make these measurements, we have an incubator on the
upper deck of the Gould. The incubator consists of several tubes, each
tube has a light level corresponding to the amount of light at various
depths in the ocean.

02deck

Otherwise, the cruise is moving along pretty quick. The day we left Palmer
Station, the skies were sunny and the ocean flat. Since then the sky has
been gray and the wind/waves have been up. I’ll try to post more often
depending on how our email situation plays out over the remainder of the
cruise.