Programs Blog

Date: April 21, 2025

Time: 1337

Location: Southern South Pacific Gyre (39˚ 58’ S x 149˚ 21’ W)

Weather: Warm(er) and cloudy with a light breeze

Hello SEA blog readers! My name is Kayla Gardner, and I am a Postdoctoral scholar at SEA currently acting as the Myctophid (super cool glowing deep-sea fish) ID expert aboard the Robert C. Seamans. I recently defended my PhD (successfully!) in Biological Oceanography at Woods Hole Oceanographic and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. My dissertation focused on using a specialized chemistry technique that uses the ratio of carbon isotopes in muscle tissues to study deep-sea fish and zooplankton food webs. Through this work I was lucky enough to partake in seven research cruises including two aboard the Seamans’ sister ship, the Corwith Cramer.

My favorite part of field work is pulling up a net and seeing what is inside for the first time. Every trip leaves me with a renewed sense of wonder, and I always pull up something I have never seen before. This trip has been no exception! As a deep-sea ecologist, one of my favorite parts of the trip has been seeing what we pull up in our neuston net from the layer of the ocean at the air-sea interface. While my deep-sea nets are filled with black, clear, and bright red organisms (since red light disappears in the surface red organisms are basically invisible at depth so they can hide more easily from predators), the surface nets have been teeming with bright blue copepods, salps, and Man-O-War.

Another aspect of my job onboard has been leading our collection of Man-O-War, genus Physalia, samples to share with collaborators at Yale. The scientific community recently discovered that there are several species of Man-O-War though we have very limited samples of the more oceanic species. Our efforts will help to fill in these gaps. Any Physalia we collect are bio-volumed by Satya before being passed to me for photographs, length measurements, and tentacle assessment.

This week we have begun the shadowing phase of our time at sea when we start handing off more responsibilities to the students. Consequently, I have taken a back seat while talking them through the process. Typically, we catch 5-7 Physalia per tow; however, we recently had a tow with 27! That brings our current total up to 76 across two weeks.

Speaking of fun numbers….. here are some interesting totals for the past two (and a bit) weeks

• 76 Man-O-War collected
• 43 Myctophids collected
• 50 DNA extractions
• ~7000 meters (22965 ft) of wire out for deployments
• ~1000 gallons of diesel used
• ~7,600 gallons of water used
• 534 boat checks completed
• 2293 nautical miles (2639 statute miles) traveled
• Highest barometric pressure 1034.7, lowest, 994.2
• 850 eggs consumed/broken/or dyed for Easter
• 3 colors of Gatorade powder consumed
• 1 swim in 5407 meters (17,740 ft) meters of water
• 2 April 14ths

Shoutouts:

I have been lucky enough to be with all the students since they arrived on campus back in February, and it has been such a joy getting to know each and every one of them. A special shoutout to the friends and family of our students who have done such a phenomenal job shaping and supporting our top-notch crew throughout their lives!

To my family, I miss you all dearly and can’t wait to see you all soon. As sailors I know you wish you could be here, but I can’t wait to tell you all the fun sea stories.

Specifically, to my sister Amelia, I am so so proud of you and know you are going to crush running your fashion show. Happy (slightly early) birthday, I am so so sorry I am not there to celebrate, but know I am thinking of you. Oh AND happy early graduation. Can’t wait to celebrate you when I get back.

To my partner, Kat, I miss you and little Hoagie man very much. Happy belated birthday!! I hope you enjoy my preplanned goodie deliveries 🙂 Give Hoagie some extra pets from me and be sure to drink some juice in my honor.

Finally, and obviously most importantly, to my dog/son Remi, I miss your snuggles and unending goofiness. I can’t wait to get back to our regularly scheduled walks.

To all my human friends, dog friends, and family- I love you all!