OH MAN, I haven’t posted for over 2 weeks, this is embarrassing. My online presence during the first two weeks of school was close to nil, as my friends on the mainland could verify. I was so focused on figuring out my classes and getting organized I really wasn’t thinking about this blog at all. I was trying to get this semester started off right and I think I have. One of the things you need to learn to do in college (or anywhere) is how to set yourself up for success and I want to make sure that was done. Now that I have the grove and swing of things down I think I can spread my attention out to things I enjoy. But first an overview of my classes.
This semester I am taking the following classes: General Oceanography 2, Intro to Communication, General Biology Lab 2, General Oceanography Lab 2, Cross Cultural Psychology, and Biological Oceanography. Lets take a look at some of these classes. General Oceanography is a continuation of the General Oceanography class I took last semester with an emphasis on physical oceanography and biological oceanography. It is taught by two professors who will each teach the section they are most strong in (i.e the physical oceanographer will teach the physical oceanography section and the biological oceanographer will teach the biological oceanography section). Intro to Communication is a “freshman” level class but you will learn that it doesn’t matter when you take the general education classes as long as you take them (except if they are requisites for later classes then you want to take them as soon as possible). General Biology Lab 2 is a class I withdrew from 2 semesters ago, though a rather unfortunate series of events I felt I was unable to complete the class and decided it best to withdraw. This sometimes happens while in college and it is OK. Biological oceanography is an almost graduate level class that focuses on the distribution of life in the ocean and what drives that distribution. Should be a very interesting semester.
I recently went hiking out to the Makapu’u light house with my res hall. We were treated to a special display by a juvenile humpback whale.
I have been recruited to take photos for Da Freakshow so I need to get back into the picture taking mode, as such I will be carrying around my camera on campus and taking photos hopefully of people…
-Andrew
I’m at the premier of the final season of LOST in Waikiki. We get to see it before the rest of the world. I won’t say anything reguarding content, so don’t bother asking.
Large waves and strong winds pummle the southern California coastline, shot from near IGPP
What was that “secret project” that I referred to in my last post? Well it turns out I was invited on a 3 day oceanographic cruise aboard the Scripps research vessel Robert Gordon Sproul. Our mission was the deployment of CCE2 (labeled CO2) a buoy with a number of scientific instrumentation. Get ready for a super photographic super post!
The activities started on Thursday for a Friday departure with loading. All of which took place at the Nimitz Marine Facility in Point Loma (known as MARFAC), San Diego, CA. Loading took most of the day.
The ship, one of the smallest in the Scripps fleet, was the R/V Robert Gordon Sproul, I would not leave the confines of the ship for the next 4 days as I spent the night on board while in port.
Some of the more interesting items loaded were the extra weight for the anchor. It was still being decided exactly how much the anchor should weigh so a variety of weight was loaded.
A nice part of the ships in the UNOLS fleet is the standardized deck of the ship which have many threaded holes for securing things. This allows for large pieces of heavy equipment to be moved from ship to ship.
With such a large piece of equipment, the capacity of the shipboard crane was exceeded. A dock crane was used, however this created a challenge due to the dynamic nature of a ship in water vs the stationary nature of crane.
With the ship fully loaded, the focus turned to securing items for travel.
The bottom of the buoy had a counterweight to ensure it remained upright even in some of the most adverse conditions.
I spent the night onboard the ship die to early departure of 0600. This departure meant that all hand were on board 0500 which meant I needed to wake up at 0430 to get to the ship on time. Sleeping on board eliminated all these issues.
There was plenty of Navy activity going on just offshore. The early morning light made for some very picturesque scenery.
This was a view of San Diego I had never seen before, and would be the last until I returned.
Much to our surprise a submarine was on its way into the harbor. One of the members of the science party identified this as a Los Angeles class submarine. Having no knowledge of the various types of submarines, I will defer to their judgement.
Also, to our delight, a pod of dolphins decided to ride the bow wave. They unfortunately didn’t stick around for very long.
On getting to deep enough water, a calibration cast was performed and samples were taking using a rosette. This is where everything is controlled (except the winch).
With the calibration cast complete and the samples taken, we steam to the deployment site of the buoy. We wouldn’t arrive until the next morning.
The next morning everyone was busy doing final systems checks and making sure everything is as it should be.
Scientists checking systems aboard the buoy.
A nice view of the ship steaming to the deployment site.
Nearing complete of checking buoy systems.
Small fish were discovered on the fantail of the ship, it was hypothesized that they somehow made it up there during the middle of the night. Lucky we had a ship load of scientists, the fish was identified (though I forgot what) and some posed photos were taken.
Not only were instruments placed on the buoy but several instrument packages were placed inline of the anchor line to take measurements at specific depths. This is one of the instrument cages.
A lot happened between the last photo and this one. The buoy was deployed and all the instrument packages were attached. I was very busy during this time and didn’t have an opportunity to photograph what was going on. In this photo the ResTech was manning the winch for the deployment of the anchor.
The anchor itself consisted of stacked railcar wheels. I don’t remember its final mass but over 1000kg for sure.
The release of the anchor was arguably the most dangerous procedure we did. When the anchor was released all the built up tension in the line and a-frame was released violently.
With all the equipment in the water we went back to the buoy to see how it was doing. Sight was lost right as the anchor deployed indicating that the buoy may have been dragged underwater as the anchor was traveling to the bottom.
A closer look revealed the shutter for the radiometer opened on schedule, at least one of the systems was working properly. After another calibration CTD cast we made our way home, a 26 hour journey.
The next morning we were passing Santa Catalina island, I took the opportunity to photograph some points of personal interest. This photo shows the Boy Scout camp Emerald Bay where I once spent a week.
This location is a place we canoed to from Emerald Bay, perhaps 8km from Emerald Bay. The rock is one that I just didn’t have enough courage to jump off of.
This is a view of the town of Avalon. This is also the first time I’ve seen it despite having been to Catalna before.
The ship was close enough to shore to get broadcast television. Numerous football games were played that Sunday, including the San Diego Chargers. Given the moral of some of the crew members after the game, it was obvious that the Chargers didn’t win.
Finally a view way off the coast of La Jolla, my home town. I can almost see my house from here!
We got into port about 3 hours later. My time aboard was just awesome and I hope that this is just the first of many oceanographic cruises.
I return to Oahu in just under 6 days time. Much packing is needing to be done, I will put it off until later.
-Andrew
A nice day
Seems I forgot to blog last week, oops… well here is what I was up to last week …
Last summer (if you read the archives of have been following you may know), I worked as a research assistant for James Swift at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (not an intern!). While there I edited a large amount of video recorded during one of the CLIVAR cruises to the southern ocean. To provide some context to this collection of video clips an entire website was produced. This website is an outreach page for the US Repeat Hydrography Program (USHYDRO) and thus far seems to be well liked by those who see it. To get feedback from the larger scientific community, I submitted an abstract to the American Geophysical Union’s Ocean Sciences Meeting that will occur in late February of 2010 in Portland, OR. That abstract was accepted and I spent the last week working on the poster for that submission. I will be attending the meeting in Portland, OR to show my work to the (global) ocean scientific community. HPU’s name will be on the poster btw. I have also been working on another project that I will keep secret until after I’m done with it.
Seems my “break” has been quite busy. Only 2 weeks until the next semester starts!
-Andrew
The bacon adventures contine!
Yum!
The semester started like any other so far, apprehension with excitement about the new courses I was taking. Lucky for me I was able to relax by catching a few waves.
Of course the water wasn’t the only place for weekend adventures. I also made it to the top of Olomana, a mountain not to far from the Windward campus and a prominent feature of the windward side of Oahu
As for academics I don’t actually have much to “show” for it in the way of photos. The most exciting class was General Oceanography 1. The lab for this class frequently involved going offshore aboard R/V Kaholo to obtain water or sediment samples (among other things). I have been informed that all the labs in this class will be offshore next semester. As such, I received a set of foul weather gear for Christmas. Although I can’t talk about the specifics of the lab due to an NDA signed by me. I can say that learned a lot about the subjects of bathymetry, sediments, and hydrography. I’m looking forward to next semesters labs.
The last week before finals saw the arrival of waves on the north shore of Oahu the likes of which had not been seen for 5 years. This caused a good deal of absences from class. Instead of missing class I chose to venture to see the waves on a day when I did not have class.
It might be hard to tell but the streak on the wave is someone surfing it. The day after this photo was taken The Eddie was held at Waimea Bay. Though I did not get the chance to actually watch the competition by being there, it was conveniently streamed live on the internet. Waves, sadly, were not the discussion in the oceanography class, though they will be next semester (or so I’m told).
Looking forward to next semester I have a full load including: General Oceanography 2, General Oceanography 2 Lab, Communication, Biological Oceanography, and Cross Cultural Psychology. I will have classes at almost all the main campuses of HPU including: Hawaii Loa (Windward), Downtown, Oceanic Institute (Mokapu’u Point), and aboard R/V Kaholo. I it will be a busy semester that is for sure.
I have a meeting with some people at SIO regarding the AGU Ocean Sciences meeting in Portland Oregon in 2010. Hopefully I’ll have some (very good) news regarding it.
-Andrew
It is finals week here at HPU. This is where the past semester usually cumulates into an intense session of recall and quick thinking. As has become tradition before finals, the Sunday before finals is reserved for some outdoor activity. Last semester we climbed Konahuanui an intense 8 hour ordeal that was well rewarded when the summit was reached. This semester we decided to swim out to what we call flat island (Popoi’a Island) just off shore of Kailua beach. The island itself is a bird sanctuary, though one can walk around the edge of the island.
In other news, some of the largest waves to hit the north shore in the past 5 or so years rolled in last week. This allowed to the Eddie Aikau surf contest. Many people were absent from class last week due to the events going on at the north shore. I, not having class on monday, took a trip to Waimea bay where the waves were up to 10 meters high. It was an awesome sight.
2 finals down, 2 to go!
-Andrew
