More creatures from the deep

Check out these cool critters we caught in our MOCNESS and Tucker trawls!

Creatures from the deep

Caridean Shrimp, Abraliaopsis, Paralepidid fish

Hatchetfish

Blog from Christine Cass (Daly lab)

In the eastern tropical Pacific, there is a very prominent oxygen minimum zone at intermediate depths of the water column (from about 300-600 m). Oxygen levels in this oxygen minimum zone are extremely low and many organisms cannot survive under such conditions. This leads to a vertically layered water column, where some marine life is confined to the well-oxygenated shallow water, while other organisms seem to tolerate low-oxygen conditions and are found within or near the oxygen minimum layer. It appears that even closely related species can reside in very different oxygen environments.
My work examines aspects of the biochemistry and physiology of copepods which reside in different oxygen environments in the water column. I will compare substrate usage (whether lipids, carbohydrates or proteins are primarily used for energy), body composition and feeding preferences between three closely related species of eucalanoid copepods. Hopefully, these analyses will allow us to better understand adaptations of copepods to low-oxygen conditions in the water column.

Blog from Heidi (Wakeham lab)

So last entry I was a bit brief on what Stuart and I are actually doing. I’ll try and explain in further detail below. But, I am excited to say we have actually collected some good samples and are scheduled to pump again tonight starting at 1AM!

Stuart and I are collecting filters of seawater at various depths in the ocean. The filtering units consist of a steel frame, a battery unit (black cylinder), a vacuum pump, a filter stand (smaller black cylinder), and a flow meter. So the water is slowly sucked through the filter stand, then through the flow meter and then back out to the open ocean. We trap the particles, bacteria, and archaea on our filter. The filter stand has a mesh grill to catch any larger animals or objects that get sucked in, followed by a 53 micrometers filter to catch small animals, and then a 0.7 micrometer glass fiber filter that we collect for our sample. The glass filters have been heated to 450 °C to burn any organic material off them so that they are completely clean when we put them in the filter stand. Therefore we know our results our just from the ocean.

The CTD is a machine lowered on a steel cable that has twenty-four 10 L bottles attached that can collect water at specific depths in the water column. It has sensors attached that can measure the salinity, O2 concentration, and depth. We use the cable for the CTD and it’s depth meter to lower our filtering pumps to the layers of water we want to collect. This is a tricky process. The CTD gets lowered into the water and then we have to coordinate with the crane operator to lower the cable a certain distance and then we lean over the side of the boat (with safety lines tied to our life vests) and attach the 100 lb. filter pump onto the cable. It is a little scary when the weather is bad and the waves are high.

So far, we have collected 9 depths from station 2 and 4 depths from station 1. We are scheduled to pump again the next two days so we should end up with 12 depths from station 1. The filters are stored in the -80 C freezer. We will transport the lipids back to our lab frozen and then extract the filters for bacterial and archaeal lipids.

We are interested in the particles in the ocean because the particles sink to the bottom and form mud, the mud becomes sediment, and the sediment over geologic time becomes sedimentary rock. We study the particles to see what will eventually be compressed into the sedimentary rock. If we can understand this process in the modern times we can get useful information about paleoclimate and paleoecology from the sedimentary rocks of the past.

Long Station - Day 4

The flurry of activity continues here on day 4 at our first long research station. Scientific processes occur 24/7 with one deployment after another made of CTD, MOCNESS, SIPPER, Tucker trawls, Bongo nets, and underwater pump systems. Usually there is also a morning SCUBA dive to collect delicate organisms, however tonight will be the first night dive of the trip! The labs are packed with scientists and are almost never empty even in the early morning hours. Some of the scientists work together on crews for a specific project and take shifts, but there is a lack of sleep felt on everyone. The long stations are busy, without a doubt, but we will soon have a break as we transit to our next short station in the upcoming days. This will provide some necessary rest for all of us.

SIPPER image of the heteropod Carinaria

SIPPER

The Shadowed Image Particle Profiling and Evaluation Recorder (SIPPER) is an in-situ plankton imaging system developed by the University of South Florida College of Marine Science (USF-CMS) and Center for Ocean Technology (USF-COT). The SIPPER operates by imaging plankton and other suspended particles in the water as they pass through a collimated light sheet casting their shadow and outline onto a high speed line scan camera. Ancillary data from other sensors such as CTD, fluorometer, transmissometer, oxygen and sensor diagnostics are embedded in the image data so that every imaged particle has corresponding environmental data associated with it. Plankton image data can then be either manually identified or classified using our Plankton Image Classification and Extraction Software (PICES). During this cruise, the SIPPER will be deployed in a series of vertical profiles on a small towbody on standard 0.322 CTD cable. Andrew Remsen from USF-COT will be the biologist operating the system and Kurt Kramer from the USF College of Engineering will be optimizing the PICES software.

And the research goes on

This morning began with Dr. Seibel and his team of scientific research divers (who are also his graduate students) heading out on the boat’s Zodiak for a morning SCUBA dive. They came back with many delicate gelatinous zooplankton, such as ctenophores and salps, which are best collected by hand. His team continues to deploy tucker trawls and tries to dip net any squid that venture into the well-lit surface waters surrounding the research vessel during any down time during the night. There are many experiments in progress throughout the boat, as water sampling continues and scientists scoop up important organisms from the MOCNESS tows and tucker trawls. Our research vessel, the R/V Seward Johnson provides us with the opportunity to send these nets to incredible depths and catch glimpses of a sometimes bizarre and alien world. In these dark depths of the ocean, gelatinous zooplankton and transparent squid abound. Parasitic amphipods (a type of crustacean), which inspired the movie The Alien (true story!) can be brought up in the tucker trawls and invisible fish larvae and crustaceans are frequently seen in plankton net samples. It’ll be a series of long days and short nights for the scientists here at our first “long” station, but the effort and the research that becomes of it will be all worth it.

Tucker trawl

Deploying the MOCNESS

CTD with Nisken bottle rosette

Station #1

What a day! Here we are at Station #1 located at 13° latitude and 105° longitude, a few hundred miles off the Pacific coast of Mexico. This research vessel has been swirling with activity since we arrived here yesterday afternoon. Immediately, a CTD equipped with a Nisken bottle rosette was deployed to collect water. Soon other sampling equipment went sent overboard. Dr. Stuart Wakeham and Heidi deployed pumps which filter water and their constituents onto a filter at various depths. Dr. Brad Seibel and his team ran a tucker trawl to collect small organisms at varying levels in the water column, including many see-through squid, shrimp, fish and gelatinous zooplankton. Dr. Karen Wishner and her team sent out a MOCNESS to capture zooplankton throughout the water column from depths as deep as 1200 meters (approximately 3600 feet!). The ship's crew and its scientists are definitely keeping busy.

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Science!

At long last, we arrived at our first research station today. We are over approximately 4000 meters of water (that’s more than 12,000 feet!). We successfully deployed a series of CTD casts, involving a rosette of Nisken bottles to collect water at various depths and the CTD instruments which record Conductivity (which is a proxy for salinity), Temperature, and Depth. Everyone on board is busy, but happy, to be doing science again! Also deployed were a series of pumps which will concentrate particles in the water column onto special filters for later chemical analysis. It’s going to be a long night and early morning for many of us here on board, but we are glad to be a part of this exciting research.

Almost there!

Well, we are still on schedule for arriving at our first test (or "short") sampling station tomorrow morning. Everybody is happy that they will be able to begin their research, but since things will get very busy once that happens, most are also enjoying the free time we are afforded en route. A few students continue to fish off the stern, occassionally providing dinner for the scientists and crew. The smaller ones are thrown back but not after we have had a chance to look at these beautiful creatures. A few of us tested our MOCNESS today, which stands for "Multiple Opening and Closing Net Environmental Sampling System" and contains 8 large zooplankton nets which can be opened and closed at varying depths. This instrument will be crucial for our sampling at multiple depths once we reach the stations. Having everything in running order is important for effective sampling and is also a great way to keep us busy during this long transit to our first site.

Flying fish

Curse of the meatloaf

Well, it is finally a beautiful day here at sea. The seas have calmed and there are blue skies all around. We had suspected that our bad luck was caused by the "curse of the meatloaf", which is rumored to have conjured up rough seas the last time it was cooked, too. Turns out, however that tropical storm-turned hurricane Kiko just north of us was the cause for all the foul weather. As we continue steaming to our site, we continue to spot dolphins, manta rays, and billfish, and of course fying fish, which are everywhere here in the ETP. We are practicing deploying our nets and other sampling systems, which will be of the utmost importance once we reach our sampling stations. And we are all hoping this good weather continues...

ETP blog Wakeham group

Today has had calmer weather but we are still behind schedule. We will get to the first station on Wednesday morning. But today we learned how to set the bottles on the CTD, how we are going to do O2 and salt analysis from the CTD, and most importantly how we will get the CTD off the deck and into the water without killing anyone or the CTD. All of my samples are dependent on the CTD casts so I was excited to learn how everything works today. Now we just have to get to the station. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. Currently there is a hurricane over the second stop!

What a night!

Last night, the boat aimed its bright lights down onto the water and we went squid jigging! Jumbo (also known as Humboldt’s) Squid were immediately attracted to the lights and were appearing around the boat. Squid jigs – a type of lure with upturned hooks and glow-in-the-dark light sticks – were dropped into the water and immediately attracted the squid, which took the "bait" and were reeled inside. Dr. Brad Seibel and his team of biologists quickly went to work, taking blood samples from the squid for use in blood oxygen profiles. Smaller squid were also captured with dip nets and used for onboard experiments. However, most of the squid were captured and released, allowing us an excellent opportunity to interact with these beautiful creatures. Also attracted to the lights were flying fish, which surrounded the boat, and flew high above the water as if they were birds in flight. One even landed on deck! It was a beautiful experience here in the eastern tropical Pacific.

Squid Jigging!

Dolphins and tuna

It's day 3 at sea and we are still steaming to our first research station. The seas are still a bit rough and it continues to rain. In spite of the foul weather, many of us have been fortunate to spot yellowfin tuna jumping and dolphins leaping alongside. A couple of manta (devil) rays have also been spotted leaping from the surface. The crew is feeding us well and remind us that it is Saturday with steak night tonight! We are all also excited about plans for squid jigging tonight, which will be used for research projects back in the lab.

ETPblog Wakeham Group

Today we are anxiously awaiting our first station. Our equipment is mostly set up and ready we just need to load batteries into the pumps and prime them. So while we are awaiting our first destination we have been keeping busy by helping other groups setting up and catching up on sleep. The boat has a terrific crew and everything has been going fine except for some rough weather. So it’s been a rough start to my first ever cruise but hopefully the weather will improve before we get to the first station.

Green on a Sea of Blue

Day 2 of our cruise: We are still in rough seas and many of even the most experienced seafaring scientists are turning green. It has been raining all day (and night) which is not unusual since it is the rainy season here in the tropics. While we are in transit to our first station, the scientists continue to prepare for their research. On deck, many of us keep our eyes on the water looking for signs of life. Some have already had their first dolphin encounter of the trip, while others routinely spot seabirds. We are all fed well on the ship and even have access to the ship’s ice cream, which nearly everyone has taken advantage of.

Brown booby

Out to Sea

Today we left port and are at home in the Pacific Ocean. We are currently experiencing 6-8 foot seas after an otherwise calm transit earlier in the day. As we left the coast of Panama, we were immediately treated to a sighting of a mother and calf humpback whale. Soon after, 8 brown boobies took advantage of the ship's draft and flied along with us for hours. We also saw yellowfin tuna jumping and many other sightings are being reported. We are traveling to our first sampling station, where we all hope to meet calmer seas!

The R/V Seward Johnson

We made it! Here we are in beautiful Panama - all of the scientists have boarded the ship and are busy preparing for research at sea. The boat is leaving the dock tomorrow morning and heading into the great Pacific Ocean after having just traveled through the Panama Canal from the Atlantic Ocean. We had a chance to take in the sights of Panama yesterday - the canal, the rainforest, and the old colonial village. A lucky few of us saw crocodile, caimen, iguana, monkeys, and a two-toed sloth on our trek into the rainforest of Gamboa. It will be sad to leave this beautiful land, but we are all eager and excited to begin our research and time at sea. Stay tuned for further updates on the research objectives of the many scientists onboard...

Welcome!

Welcome to "At Sea in the Eastern Tropical Pacific". We're off to sea in a few days, and busy packing all our gear and passports for this exciting research opportunity. We're flying into Panama City to meet our ship - the research vessel ("R/V") Seward Johnson. Follow along with us on this exciting journey...