Another Day Sailing West

This morning I was sitting in my bunk shortly before breakfast. Yes, it is a very small and confined space. I was thinking about all of the work that we had to get done today.

While in transit to our dive spot at 9 degrees North, you have already seen all of the things that are going on in the science rooms of R/V Atlantis. We attend discussions from the main scientists on board, listen to ALVIN briefings by the ship crew, and work in our laboratory rooms.

This is a great photo of a UD student (Ricky Rosas) and I taken while working on the major samplers. Didn't plan it this way, but what a cool picture showing the connections between Cape Henlopen High School and UD!

We need to get all of the work done by Friday evening before the first dive. It is intense, but exciting. Showing my "Capeproud" shirt. Pretty neat that a high school teacher is out to sea.

After lunch, we normally have our meetings. Here is one of the scientists discussing electrochemistry and how to read the instruments that his company manufactures.

During the afternoon, we had an opportunity to work in the ALVIN.

Its a tight squeeze getting into "the ball" as the ALVIN people call it. The sub is designed to hold 3 people in a pretty small area.

As you can see, there are all kinds of electronics. It is sort of like a spacecraft, designed for deep ocean instead of deep space.

I am sure that some of you are asking "what happens if you have to go to the bathroom?" Well, here you go. The female attachment is in blue on the left.

It attaches to the red bottle. It is an 8 hour trip without pit stops!

After dinner, we listened to another lecture by the manganese scientists and the work that they would be performing. Oxidation-reduction reactions? Manganese 2+ becoming Mn4+? Wow! I felt like I was in college chemistry again.

There is so much cutting-edge science research happening on this expedition. We even have a free-lance photographer from National Geographic!

Fe and Mg in seawater are in direct competition with each other. The manganese researchers are most interested in Manganese (III).

After this my head was spinning. So much going on in many different chemistry and biological areas. Did you know that the giant tubeworms have the same pH blood that we do? That they and other animals use chemosynthetic bacteria that reduce or oxide manganese and iron from the water to help them produce food? It is truly amazing the world that we are going to be studying.

The ALVIN pilots grabbed me in the research lab and asked if I wanted to "play" with the robotic arm on the ALVIN. They knew that I teach robotics and I have been talking to them about our competitions and other course stuff since I got on the Atlantis. We had a little arm manipulator fun I had to share with you.

The Schilling Titan arm costs close to $400,000. It is capable of taking my glasses off my face and setting them neatly down on the table. It has that kind of dexterity. Of course, it is also capable of breaking every bone in my hand during this handshake - it also has that kind of strength!

It has been a long but exciting science-filled day. See you tomorrow!