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JULY
7 - 8:
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The JSL submersible, transferred to Woods Hole on the R/V SEA DIVER, awaits transfer to the deck of the much larger R/V EDWIN LINK.
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The JSL is hooked up for lifting off the SEA DIVER. The science team watches from the bridge of the EDWIN LINK.
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Safe and sound! The JSL sits in its cradle aboard the RVEL.
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Click below to learn a bit more about this advanced and versatile deep-sea research tool...
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Tammy Frank leads an expedition that will explore a wide range of interesting marine science questions. Click below to read what it took for Dr. Frank to become a successful marine scientist...
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Accomplished videographer Brian Cousin is doing double duty on the Gulf of Maine cruise. He's gathering footage for a video about bioluminescence, and he's bringing the Gulf of Maine to your desktop as our @Sea correspondent. Click below to learn more about Brian...
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DISPATCH 1: Arrival at Woods Hole
@Sea correspondent/photographer, Brian Cousin
Woods Hole is a picturesque village. This view is from the R/V EDWIN LINK's slip
July 07, 7:05 PM, Woods Hole, Massachusetts-- Greetings from the Research Vessel EDWIN LINK (RVEL), my home for the next sixteen days. I arrived with a small contingent of fellow Floridians about ninety minutes ago. Our Wednesday started early with a long drive from Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (HBOI) to the airport, and continued with a knees-under-chin flight to Boston and a two-and-a-half hour bus ride to Woods Hole, Massachusetts. After all of that travel, seeing not just one, but TWO HBOI ships(the R/V EDWIN LINK and the R/V SEA DIVER) in port at Woods Hole Oceanographic was a welcome touch of home. Chief Scientist Dr. Tamara Frank, graduate student Trevor Myslinski, Dr. Edith Widder and I said our hellos to the crew of the RVEL, we made some preliminary arrangements for the mission, and then we headed for the barbeque grill on the main deck armed with our favorite grilling items from the galley. It was definitely a spirit lifting welcome!
The RVEL arrived from Booth Bay, Maine this morning, and the crew is calmly mobilizing for our July 10th departure into the Gulf of Maine. Recent sea conditions in the area have been pretty good. I hope the conditions will hold, but I'm taking stock of the onboard supply of seasickness medications. We'll be working Oceanographer Canyon south of Georges Bank and possibly heading further north to the Wilkinson Basin, off Massachusetts Bay. These seas regularly churn with big swells.
The R/V SEA DIVER steamed north from HBOI a few days ago to deliver a payload of equipment for our cruise--enough sampling and data-aquisition hardware and camera gear to completely fill a lab and a couple of crew cabins, floor-to-ceiling. The most important item it carried was the JOHNSON-SEA-LINK (JSL) manned submersible. The sub crew will be arriving from Florida shortly to supervise the transfer of the JSL from ship to ship. The sub needs to be taken off the SEA DIVER with a crane, lowered into the water and then picked up by the EDWIN LINK's A-frame submersible handling system.
After moving the sub, final prepartions will be made to conduct science in the mid-water region of the ocean, to depths of 3,000 feet.
July 08, 9:00 AM-- I went out walking around the quaint little village of Woods Hole, located in the town of Falmouth on the southwestern corner of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Despite its small size, there are two large private laboratories here (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Marine Biological Laboratory) and two federal government facilities (the Northeast Fisheries Science Center of the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Geological Survey's Marine and Coastal Geology Program). These larger institutions employ over 1,300 people. Today, though, there seem to be more tourists than scientists around, riding bikes through the main streets, lining up for the ferry to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, or perusing menus in the towns many restaurants.
11:30 AM-- Slack tide. The JSL can be moved from the R/V SEA DIVER to the EDWIN LINK without fear of it drifting away or being pushed into the seawall.
A mobile crane with outriggers is planted on the dock as close as it can get to the sub. The science team is watching from the bridge of the RVEL, holding their collective breath. There has been a question about the crane's capacity to reach over the seawall and pluck 28,000 pounds of submersible off the deck of the SEA DIVER. Directed by Harbor Branch's Chief Sub Pilot, Don Liberatore, the crane operator gently lifts the submersible, inches at first, so it clears its cradle. Everything's good. Gently, a few more inches.
Now the sub is dangling a few feet above the stern of the SEA DIVER. On cue, RVSD captain Ralph Van Hoeck throws his ship into forward gear and the proverbial floor slips out from under the sub. The JOHNSON-SEA-LINK is lowered into the water and slowly motors its way toward its new mother ship. In minutes, the RVEL's complex submersible handling system has the JSL hoisted out of the water, into its cradle, and fastened down tight.
To a casual observer, the whole operation probably looked easy, but when you see this happening up close and get a sense for what's riding on it, you can't help but feel a little awestruck. The JSL is an irreplaceable, multi-million dollar machine with nearly 30 years of ground-breaking history behind it. Some of the people running the transfer operation have been around for a lot of that time, maintaining the sub and improving it. After many years of service, the JSL remains a state-of-the-art research tool.
Woods Hole, looking north from the Steamship Authority.
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