June 28, 2009

6-28-09

Land ho! St. Paul, Island. We have reached the mid-cruise change over. For me that means one thing. Success! I have made it through half of the cruise without sustaining any injuries or causing any catastrophes. With all this good fortune, and being surrounded by experts, I can ease up on panic mode and start to get into a little bit of a groove. For example, during a recent bongo net tow I reached for the net too early before someone had been able to get a hold of the weight that is used to keep the line to the net taut while it is in the water. The weight bonked me in the head, but it didn’t do any damage because of the hard hat I am required to wear while working on deck. I just chalked it up to experience and have been more mindful since then while working with the nets.

Despite getting my groove back, or finding it to begin with, it is a little sad to see some of the other cruisers leave the ship. Liz Labunski (Bird Expert), John Allison (IT Expert), and Heather Whitney (Grad Student Sediment Expert, who helped me with sediment coring) all packed up their stuff and loaded onto one the small boats on board and headed into port at St. Paul Island. Captain, Kent Sheasley, got into the boat by himself to test out the motor and did a nice loop next the Knorr. You could certainly see his lust for the water as immediately gassed the boat to full speed, or what looked like close to full speed, and jumped of a couple small wakes before turning around and loading up the rest of the people and luggage. Unfortunately, he was too fast for me to get a picture. Chief Scientist, Ray Sambrotto, rode to port as well to pick up some supplies that didn’t quite make it to Dutch Harbor before we set sail.

The previous night, during some down time after dinner, I sat around with several other cruisers and swapped funny stories about various cruises and other non-marine science related experiences. Stories ranged from strange encounters with animals to watching dramatic drunk friends get thrown out of bars. One individual, who would probably prefer to remain anonymous, even showed off the ability to inter-link their toes without using their hands. Truly beautiful, people from all over the country coming together for a common purpose, investigating the Bering Sea. We’re not exactly soldiers at war together, but being in the field with a group of scientists is a distinctive experience. You certainly get something more living and working together in situ, than you would over the same period of time at home in a lab.




As the small boat glided away towards St. Paul I couldn’t help but wonder when, or if, I would ever see my new Bering Sea colleagues again. If not, I’ll always have my memories of this special time at sea. Then again, the knowledge gained from this cruise will further the scientific communities’ understanding of this dynamic ecosystem. In that sense, it is comforting to know that a part of this voyage will live on forever.

-Eli