Day 3

CTD casts on his birthday
    aboard the R/V Falkor

Dr. Wetz and Ming Xue

With clear skies at 4am the day began with a CTD cast at the start of the first transect. Throughout the morning the ship headed landward and at 3 additional sites the CTD was deployed and successfully gathered data to be analyzed in the lab. Lynn also got the opportunity to handle the lines on deck with direction from the crew. By 11:30 over fifteen samples were successfully drawn and the operation completed.

ROV

Shortly after 2pm the team was ready to start the ROV dives. As the crew was ready to send the ROV into the water a rainstorm brought gusty winds and deployment was delayed. After waiting on the rain to cease and some technical difficulties with communication between the ROV and the ship the dive was cancelled. The other option to make the best of the inclement weather was to gather data from our longline surveys. The team was not scared to fish in the storm (no lightning!) and they got on their rain gear, gathered the equipment, and headed to the muster area to begin sampling. Eighteen fish were caught including a very large gray snapper, a gray trigger fish, and several sizes of red snappers. With the exception of two fish that were tagged and released the others will be processed tomorrow morning.

Dr. Michael Wetz

In the evening we began our science at sea talks for crew and scientists. At 7:30pm immediately following dinner we meet in the library for the first talk of the series presented by Megan Robillard, who spoke about many of the other research projects going on in the Fisheries and Ocean Health Lab. The crew however had a surprise in store for one of our scientists and much to his surprise after everyone gathered, the cake was lit in the hallway and brought into the library as the Happy Birthday chorus resonated. This is the first birthday Dr. Wetz has had at sea and as he thanked the crew he noted how this would be a very memorable one for him, so happy birthday Dr. Michael Wetz!