Programs Blog
Sunny with fantastic clouds and good vibes!
October 27, 2023
Beautiful and yummy wahoo, sorry if blood is gross to anyone…
Author: Soleil Michaud, University of San Diego
Ship’s Log
October 27, 2023
Time: 17:11
Location: ugh… the sea 24° 19.194 ‘S 175° 29.013 ‘E Weather: sunny with fantastic clouds and good vibesWhat a beautiful day out here on the Bobby C. I am sitting on the starboard
side looking at all the amazing clouds that have been forming and changing all day long- the hard effort of the wind and evaporation prepping the daily show called sunset. Yesterday was the first day in about what felt like a week, but was probably a few days, that the sun came out in its full glory once again. It is so nice to feel the warmth of sun on my skin again, especially since I was pulling out all my layers despite it being 20° (however the internal tropical in me also knows it’s cause we crossed the tropic of Capricorn and I’m not built for that). These last few days have been sporty and quite fun, but I am so glad its calmed down. It probably won’t last long since our friendly former hurricane Lola is intended to make an appearance this weekend and give us some sweet little showers. Lots of adventures out here and so many cool sights!I feel so blessed for all the things I have gotten to see while on this trip. When we were in Tuvalu, I was sitting on the beach watching the sunset when suddenly, I saw a fin. A tribe of three eagle rays swam right up to where Satya and I were sitting, going about their business of catching some dinner. Anyone who knows me, knows I hold a very special place in my heart for rays of all kinds. It was one of the most magical experiences I have had. With the pink and orange hues in the background and the calmness of the sea it made the eagle rays almost glow against the darkening sea. As we sat in awe, children from all around appeared and joined us.
That isn’t the only large animal we have seen. The other night we were on night watch and had to redo a carousel deployment due to equipment malfunction; at the time it was a bit of a bummer because it meant we wouldn’t be able to do our Neuston tow. However, as soon as we heaved to, a singular dolphin (I think it was a bottleneck dolphin) decided to hang out around the bow. It would disappear into the dark night and then its shadow would appear again slowly until it jumped back up to say hi. The sight of a single dolphin in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. What a sight.
We have also seen many fish big and small. On one of our dawn watches, a little flyfish jumped onboard, and while it didn’t survive… the next day we used it as bait to catch a wahoo! All I can say was it was a delicious dinner, and I am so thankful to the ocean to providing us our meal. In terms of small fish, the other day while in lab, we were doing our 100 count and came across a hairy egg. I have no words to describe that exactly this egg looked like that, so I will be attaching an image.
We have also gotten to see so many cool critters too! To name a few: Crab zoea and megalopae, copepods of all sizes and shapes, chaetognaths, baby octopi, viper fish, and heteropods (which are very rare catch. Some of our other creatures had a longer life (mainly fishies) and lived in our aquarium. We got a paper nautilus named Cap, which is even more uncommon than heteropods. He was released when he started getting stressed as well as Petunia our octopus. Our first aquarium fish Eddie Squalls was released into an eddie yesterday. Squid the cuddle fish is missing in action so it is assumed she returned to the sea. However not all of our pets survived, in a sad but growing graveyard, Skinny Ethan, Weird Al, Willy Squalls, and Felipe the Flyfish did not survive the dropping ocean temperatures of our voyage and passed.
There is so many other little creatures I didn’t mention but this is at least a great gloss over what we have seen! Shoutouts: Nana and papa: Hi I miss our phone calls! I can’t wait to hear your voices again. Our captain reminds me of you grandpa, and every time we talk, it feels like I am getting to hang out with you. I hope you and nana are both doing well.
Olivia: Hope school is treating you well, I miss you and can’t wait to hear all about your first quarter eeeee!!! Give ben and the fam a smooch.
Raya: Hola ma, soñe contigo anoche, era una pura rise entre nosotras. I can’t wait for more. Podrías mandarle la foto del huevo a searcy sin contexto jeje. Le podrias decir a Joah y Ty que soñe con ellos y que los extraño montones. Gracias ma
Dad: Hi! Hope your doing great!! I miss you very much and love you! I can’t wait to share all my adventures with you!
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