Adventures on the Low Seas

Hello. My name is Joe. And I get seasick. Like, Eilat.

It's true!

During my time in graduate school at UC Santa Cruz, I have gone on a number of scientific expeditions out on the open seas, and my experience has ranged from "solid - would go again," to "completely useless - why did I do this to myself!?!" Of course, that was in California, where the waves look something like...

Ok, maybe not quite that bad, but still, Monterey Bay seems to kick the crap out of me. Thankfully, here in the Gulf of Eilat, the conditions are supposed to be much more calm. Something more like...

Ahh, much better! However, given that in about one week I would be heading out into the gulf to collect seawater samples for my summer project, I figured I better give it a try first. Thankfully, on Sunday we had just that opportunity. Dr. Adi Torfstein, who is collaborating with both Chia-Te and Kyle on their IRES projects, was leading a short day cruise on the IUI vessel Sam Rothberg RV in order to collect and redeploy his moored sediment traps, and this was a perfect opportunity not only for us to see how this field sampling is done, but also for me to test out my Gulf of Eilat sea-legs. 

Marine sediment traps are essentially stationary open containers that oceanographers place into the ocean in order to collect particles that are sinking down towards the sea floor. These particles can be composed of material such as organic matter and fecal pellets, shells of dead marine organisms, mineral dust, and more. Collecting and analyzing this material allows scientists to better understand the processes that move matter and energy from the surface ocean down to the sea floor. This information is crucial for helping scientists study a variety of important subjects, including deep sea biology, ocean biogeochemistry, ocean circulation, paleoceanography and climate change.

On this short cruise, we left the dock at 8:30 am and headed out to a location near the edge of Israel's territorial waters, no more than about 2-3 km offshore of the lab. The shelf of the gulf is so steep that even at this short distance off shore the water depth was already over 700 m. Once we arrived near the station, the crew used an acoustic pinging device to send a signal to the underwater traps, telling them to release from the bottom and float up towards the surface. Once we spotted the yellow floats that brought the lines to the surface, the ship's crew carefully retrieved the traps one by one in order to bring the precious samples of sinking particles back to the lab. 

Crew of the Sam Rotherberg RV recovering the yellow floats that sit at the top of the sediment trap line. 

Dr. Torfstein helping to recover the first of several sediment trap pairs. This trap sits at the shallowest water depth, collecting material that has been sinking for only a short period of time. 

Sediment traps safely on board the RV. Notice the fluffy brown material above the black rubber base - this is the sample we want.

The traps were deployed along a vertical line at a number of different water depths in order to study how these processes change with depth in the ocean. In addition, a larger trap called a McLane sediment trap, consisting of a big funnel and a rotating carousel of sample bottles, allowed for time series sampling, where each sample corresponds to a shorter period of time (usually 1-2 days). This way, scientists can study how the flux of material downward changes with time as well as with depth.

McLane trap being recovered for sample retrieval. 

Chia-Te and Adina helping to remove the time-series samples from the McLane trap.

Look, I'm helping too! (By staying out of the way!)

The samples were brought back to the lab and stored in a refrigerator over night. This allows any remaining sediment to settle to the bottom, and the cold helps to minimize any bacterial activity that might alter the chemical signature of the sediment samples. 

After all of the traps had been recovered, the ship headed back to shore in order to prepare the traps for redeployment. Kyle and Chia-Te headed back out to help with this process, but for me, this was the end of my little seasickness experiment. The verdict?

I like Eilat a lot more!

I didn't get sick! Conditions were not as calm and beautiful as they can be, as the ship's crew said that it was as choppy and rough as it ever gets here. But, if this was as bad as it ever gets...

View of the IUI lab and the local Marine Discovery Center from the deck of the RV. Even on a windy day, the sea is fairly calm. Nice, huh?

...then I think that is a good sign for my health and happiness come cruise time next week. Cruises in Eilat should be a cake walk compared to Monterey Bay.