Note: This is a guest post by Dr. Beth Orcutt, Senior Research Scientist at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Maine. Orcutt is a participant in the ECOGIG project and will be blogging here about her experiences on the March 2013 RV Pelican ECOGIG cruise to deploy deep-sea landers in the Gulf of Mexico.
ECOGIG: March '13 cruise Blog Entry #4
Hooray! We have finally made it to the RV Pelican for our cruise! After much delay from weather, the decision was made on Monday morning to try again, based on a decent forecast for the end of the week, putting everyone into cruise prep overdrive. I flew out the next day and met the rest of the team in New Orleans, where we stayed overnight at a rather "charming" motel near the airport (aka I hope I never have to stay there again!). Early to rise, we piled into the cargo van with all of our equipment and headed down to LUMCON in Cocodrie, making the obligatory pit stops along the way at hardware stores and Waffle House. This afternoon has been spent craning equipment onto the ship, connecting new hardware (like a new fiber optic spool!), and preparing our experiments, which consist of endless miles of tubing to collect precious fluid samples. We are scheduled to set sail tonight to be on station tomorrow morning. Keep your fingers crossed that the weather holds!
Until next time,
Beth Orcutt
ECOGIG landers on the RV Pelican for the March 2013 cruise. Photo by Beth Orcutt.