Preparing to Head to Sea!

After lots of excitement, Emma, Hilary and I have finally arrived in Reykjavik, Iceland! We arrived Friday morning, and spent the day resting and getting our bearings. One of the first things that Emma and I set out to do was visit the Neil Armstrong, our home for the next 3 weeks. Seeing it in Iceland is very exciting because the last time I saw it was back in Woods Hole in January, when I was only dreaming about this research cruise. Now it is here!

Emma and I in front of the R/V Neil Armstrong in Reykjavik's port. The top photo shows us near the middle of the ship's starboard side with the WHOI logo clearly visible, and the bottom photo shows us near the prow near the name "Neil Armstrong". Photos by Hilary Palevsky.

There are many things that our team prepared before heading out to sea. Hilary previously shipped 12 boxes to Reykjavik that contained all our scientific equipment. Today was spent unpacking the boxes, organizing our materials, and setting up our various scientific equipment. Our three main scientific stations were set up today: the Winkler Oxygen Titration station, the underway flow-through system, and the filtering system. The Winkler Titration system is used to measure dissolved oxygen on samples of seawater, which we will eventually use to help calibrate OOI data. The boat continuously pumps surface sea water onboard, and we are adding sensors to the ones already installed on the ship to measure nitrate and dissolved oxygen. Nitrate is a key nutrient that plankton need to grow, so knowing how much nitrate is present will help us to understand the biology of the region. To calibrate the underway sensors, we will also collect discrete seawater samples every six hours. Finally, we also set up a filtering system to measure chlorophyll and particulate organic carbon. This system works by pumping seawater through a filter attached to a flask. The filter is put on the top of the flask and then a pump that pulls air out of the flask is also attached. Manually, we will pour seawater into the filter and once finished, fold up the filter paper, and store for later measurement.  

Five of the boxes that Hilary shipped to Iceland in advance of our cruise. 

A very important task before heading off to sea is making sure that all equipment is secured in place before heading out. Using rope, zip ties, and wall hooks, we secured all our equipment in place so that it does not move around when we’re at sea. Space on the boat is in high demand, so we were assigned our own area for science, and set up all of our equipment in our little corner of the vessel. We will be sharing the rest of the lab with other science folks and I’m eager to learn about the other research that will be conducting aboard the Armstrong.

Tomorrow, we move into the boat, and on Tuesday we will depart for the Irminger Sea! We first will head to the OOI Array site to deploy gliders, see if we can recover a lost mooring from last year, and to deploy new moorings and recover old moorings. Moorings are important oceanographic instruments because it allows scientists to obtain continuous data about everything from salinity, to dissolved oxygen to air-sea gas exchange. Moorings have a cable with an anchor at one end and a float at the surface. Instruments are often placed along the cable, so that scientists can obtain a better understanding of the entire water column, rather than just the surface ocean. The moorings that we will deploy are 3 km long! I can’t wait to see how they are deployed.

An OOI mooring being held just above the water, as people on deck hold red lines connected to it, during a past deployment cruise. The buoy is being held tilted to the side and just above the water, so that the instrument frame is visible below the blue and yellow foam that keeps it afloat. Photo © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. 

Until next time… Lucy