The Haida Eddy seen as a sea surface height anomaly in this satellite image.
Mark Wells, the Chief Scientist and Bill Caddigan, a teacher from Bethel who is along for some hands on marine science, help repair the CTD. (Photo by Kathy Hardy)
Scientists and crew repair the CTD which had a damaged cable.
Scientists and crew repair the CTD which had a damaged cable. (Photo by Kathy Hardy)
A northern fur seal visited the ship throughout the day. (Photo by Kathy Hardy)
QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS, BC (May 21, 2007): Today we are checking out an eddy. We are about 25 miles off the coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands. The eddy is called a Haida eddy and consists of a counterclockwise spinning column of in shore water that has broken away and is moving out into the open ocean. These eddies may be an important phenomenon in the transport of nutrients and organisms to the open ocean. This eddy also gives us an opportunity to see how the in shore organisms caught up in the eddy respond to the changing nutrient levels as they are carried offshore. The eddy is about 70 miles across and 6000 feet deep. We are taking sea water samples and setting up several incubation experiments in the area. The Haida eddies can exist as distinct entities for months or even years.
I usually take an early morning stroll around the decks; this morning I saw a few petrels, but they zip by so fast I couldn’t tell what kind they were. I noticed a fulmar later in the day. We were visited throughout the day by a northern fur seal, which frolicked in the prop wash and came up to the side of the ship when people were on the rail. By evening, several others had joined in and many of us were lucky enough to watch them rolling and splashing as the pink hues of the setting sun flickered on the waves.
Another day of incubation set up and sampling ended. We have gotten a lot done in the first few days of the cruise. Tonight we start steaming for Ocean Station P (PAPA).
A northern fur seal visited the ship throughout the day. (Photo by Kathy Hardy)QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS, BC (May 21, 2007): Today we are checking out an eddy. We are about 25 miles off the coast of the Queen Charlotte Islands. The eddy is called a Haida eddy and consists of a counterclockwise spinning column of in shore water that has broken away and is moving out into the open ocean. These eddies may be an important phenomenon in the transport of nutrients and organisms to the open ocean. This eddy also gives us an opportunity to see how the in shore organisms caught up in the eddy respond to the changing nutrient levels as they are carried offshore. The eddy is about 70 miles across and 6000 feet deep. We are taking sea water samples and setting up several incubation experiments in the area. The Haida eddies can exist as distinct entities for months or even years.
I usually take an early morning stroll around the decks; this morning I saw a few petrels, but they zip by so fast I couldn’t tell what kind they were. I noticed a fulmar later in the day. We were visited throughout the day by a northern fur seal, which frolicked in the prop wash and came up to the side of the ship when people were on the rail. By evening, several others had joined in and many of us were lucky enough to watch them rolling and splashing as the pink hues of the setting sun flickered on the waves.
Another day of incubation set up and sampling ended. We have gotten a lot done in the first few days of the cruise. Tonight we start steaming for Ocean Station P (PAPA).
The seas have remained amazingly calm. Tonight as I sit in my bunk writing late into the night, the ship is gently swaying back and forth, with a slow easy rhythm. I can hear the music the night crew is playing in the lab one deck below my cabin, only occasionally discernable above the continuos rumble of the ship. There is something peaceful and secure in the fact that on the ship people are up and about in the middle of the night. In the fact that someone is on watch on the bridge plotting a safe course; that someone is down in the engine room making sure all is well. I feel safe and at ease tonight and the motion of the ship is rocking me to sleep.....
