FeMO4 Dive Cruise 2009
Report Day 03 -- Friday 03 October 2009 -- The Weather Won’t Cooperate
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FeMO4 Dive Cruise 2009 |
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Saturday is spent returning to the Lo’ihi Seamount. The waves are still rolling and the weather is still blustery. Everyone on board is feeling a bit queasy and grumpy due to the rolling waves and the inability to collect samples. The Kilo Moana costs $60,000 per day to run an oceanographic expedition. A lost day due to poor weather is more than a simple frustration. But as the day passed and night fell, the situation would only worsen.
We arrive at Lo’ihi around 11:00 pm and again launch the CTD. The scientists in charge of the CTD are busy all night monitoring the CTD, closing the bottle lids at just the right time and place, and preparing to process water samples. When the CTD returns to the surface something doesn’t seem right – the lids to the bottles are open! Twenty-two of the twenty-four Niskin bottle lids did not close when the scientists directed them to do so. Water samples are contaminated and the night’s work is wasted. It’s time for breakfast and the start of a brand new day!
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