FeMO4 Dive Cruise 2009
Report Day 09 -- Friday 09 October 2009 -- The Boys and Their Toys
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FeMO4 Dive Cruise 2009 |
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What better time to start today’s daily report than at 12:01 Friday morning? I am working in the monitor room and Jason is back on the crater. He is taking temperature readings in the hydrothermal vents and collecting scoop and slurp samples. He is also collecting and distributing bacterial traps, shrimp traps, and slide traps. The traps are unique, diverse, and look hand-made. I begin to wonder where the traps come from. So the next time I’m down in the labs I investigate. I am amazed to discover that all of the traps, scoops, and slurps are designed and hand made by the scientists! The creativity of the scientists and their ability to design and build traps, scoops, and suction devices that not only collect bacterial samples, but do so thousands of feet under the ocean surface AND are able to be manipulated by the remotely controlled arms of a ROV, is remarkable. I decide to interview each of the scientists and find out how they make these devices.
First, I interview Rick about his scoops and his shrimp traps. He tells me that the body of the scoops is made out of 3 inch PVC pipe. He fills the scoop up with sterilized water then puts the valve cap on and closes the valve with the handle. Filling the scoop with water prevents it from imploding while it is descending to the bottom of the ocean. When Jason is ready to scoop something up, he opens the valve to release the fresh water, scoops up the mat and rocks, and then closes the valve. The mat, rocks, and deep water are safe inside the scoop.
The shrimp traps are made in a similar manner, except instead of a valve being connected to the top, there is a funnel. The shrimp swim in through the funnel to eat the food inside the tube and they can’t find their way out.
Next, I talk to Sean about the bacterial traps. Sean makes the traps from three small pieces of clear 3” acrylic pipe, plastic mesh, glass wool, and a weight. He cuts an acrylic pipe into three pieces and hot glues them together into the shape of a triangle with the weight in the middle. Next he puts glass wool inside each pipe piece, and covers both ends with mesh. The mesh allows the bacteria to enter the tubes, but the particulate matter stays out. Jason lays the Bac Traps on and near the hydrothermal vents. Bacteria grow on or colonize the glass wool. The Bac traps are collected at intervals of time such as one week, one year, and three years to determine which bacteria will colonize first and how long it will take for them to grow.
Sean also makes suction devices to suck bacteria and mat matter out of the vents. They are affectionately called Baby Sucks because they are small - unlike the large suction devices attached to Jason. The baby sucks are made out of a 100 ml syringe, plastic tube, and a plunger. The weights prevent it from floating away as Jason attempts to manipulate the device under water. It’s held together with a zip tie.
Another interesting aspect of all of these handmade devices is that they have an elastic rope attached to them and a marshmallow looking float hooked onto the end of the rope. Another example of ingenuity and creativity, this float is actually made from a slab of syntactic foam – cut into circular chunks. It feels like Styrofoam that has been crushed until it’s a solid ball. The beauty of this design is that while the device sinks, the bobber floats. It enables Jason to grab on to the device with ease. Jason carries the sucks and traps around by the elastic cord and it doesn’t slip out of his fingers because the float is in the way.
Finally, I talk to Dave about his slide traps. Slide traps (like bac traps) are used to colonize bacteria to determine what type and how quickly the bacteria grow. Jason sets the slide traps down near hydrothermal vents. The boat and Jason return to collect the traps after intervals of time such as 1, 5, 9, and 13 days. The slides are examined under a microscope to observe the amount and type of bacterial growth.
The outside of a slide trap is made of a PVC down spout. Six conical plastic tubes are strapped to the inside of the PVC with zip ties. Each tube contains a glass slide. Bolts are strapped to the outside of the PVC to weight down the trap and colored duct tape is used to identify the order in which the traps will be collected. Sometimes an additional PVC pipe is strapped to the outside of the trap to collect more bacteria in the mesh, similar to the bac traps.
Well, that’s more than enough information for one day’s work. More to come on scientific lab tools tomorrow.
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