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Journal Entries
2005-06
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| Jump to a specific journal entry by Marianne Kaput: | ||
| August 2005 | 23 | |
| October 2005 | 31 | |
| December 2005 | 15 29 30 31 | |
| January 2006 | 1 3 4 5 7 9 10-11 12-14 15 16-17 18-19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 | |
| February 2006 | 1 2 5 6-8 10 | |
| Click here to access journal entries by Giancarlo Lopez-Martinez or Luke Sandro. | ||
January 1, 2006 - Straits of Magellan
Happy New Year!
We went to emergency procedure training today. First, we were taught how to properly put on our immersion suits and where to go in case of an emergency. These suits were very tight around the wrist and face openings to keep the water out. We felt and looked pretty silly putting the suits on, but we knew that they would be a lifesaver in an emergency situation.
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We were also shown which lifeboat was ours and how to strap ourselves in. The lifeboats are completely sealed just like a submarine.
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I spent plenty of time out on the bow (front) of the ship. I saw a Magellan penguin, a cormorant, and an hourglass dolphin. It’s really cold out on the deck so we all bundled up and enjoyed the views!
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- Marianne Kaput
January 3, 2006 - Somewhere in the Drake Passage
The mighty Laurence M. Gould is really beginning to rock. It’s funny to watch how many things are affected by this movement. In the TV lounge, the swivel chairs are swaying back and forth, the towels in my cabin are swaying like pendulums, people have to hang onto the hand railings just to walk down the hall — and this is a very mild crossing. Last night, a group of us were in the galley (dining area) after dinner when someone’s water bottle slid all the way down to the end of the table as the boat rocked. With the next rock of the boat, the water bottle slid all the way to the other end. That quickly developed into a water bottle race. One water bottle was full and the other half full — which one do you think went the furthest? You are right if you answered the full one because it has more mass — the greater the mass, the greater the inertia. What do you think they did to make the bottles slide even quicker and further? They poured salt on the table to act like a lubricant. What a fun way to conduct an experiment.
Many people slept in today, including my roommate and I. The rolling of the ship is quite calming,
almost like being in a rocking chair or cradle. It is never gets truly dark at night here. Many times
we lose track of the time and find that it’s midnight. The sun sets about 2 am and rises 2 hours later
so you have no idea when it is night. It is surprising how an extended period of daylight like this disrupts
sleep cycles.
I had the opportunity to collect data for a research project today. Every half hour we launched this
probe off the side of the ship into the ocean water. The probe was connected to the gun that it was shot
from by a small copper wire. Information about the water depth and temperature was recorded directly
into a graph on a computer in a lab. The temperature at the surface level was much warmer than the lower
levels because the surface is heated by the sun. The temperature below the upper layer had some unusual
drops and increases. I was told this is because of the colder currents of the Circumpolar Current and
the warmer temperatures of the northern waters are mixing. Below that warmer/colder convergence the temperature
stays at a predictable colder temperature.
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We also collected some samples of water down in one of the ship’s labs. The water was collected through some intake valves located on the bottom of the ship that emptied into a sink though rubber hoses. These samples will be used to record the water’s salinity level, dissolved O2, and carbon levels.
I spent a great deal of time in the bridge of the ship. The bridge is on the uppermost part of the ship. There are 3 main captains on this ship and they enjoy sharing their experiences. While I was up there I spotted my first whale (other than Shamu at SeaWorld). The captain was able to identify it as a Minke whale because of how fast it was moving. Click here to learn more about Minke whales. It was a big one too — about 15 ft long! I kept trying to get pictures of it but it was too quick, almost as if it was playing hide-and-go-seek.
- Marianne Kaput