Sailing for Science on the Cramer!

Sharla Friend, C- Watch, University of Missouri, Saint Louis

What a whirlwind these past four days have been! We are in full swing now; Mama Cramer is under sail as we cruise past Eleuthera and into the open ocean. It is wonderful to see everyone becoming more familiar with her, getting the hang of very busy watch schedules and all the various tasks that must be performed to ensure that she is in true working ship shape. I have been thoroughly enjoying my night watches with a sky full of starts and a sea full of bioluminescents, you can bet that I have teared up in awe a few times.

Most excitingly science has taken off with multiple successful deployments with large amounts of processing! Pictured is Rose, Farley, Kerry, and Cecilia processing a neuston tow that has captured a large quantity of Sargassum and some native fauna friends too (trigger fish, crabs, shrimp, copepods, elusive leptocephali oh and lots of plastic). We’ve also successfully sent down our hydrocast to receive water samples from the mesopelagic (aka, ‘twilight zone’), tossed over the phytoplankton net and Gabe has been busy dip netting for Sargassum. All of these deployments require a lot of processing, each in their own unique ways and everyone is doing a fantastic job at rallying together to make sure it gets done. I am super proud to be a part of this crew!

Hey Greg, Jessica, Audrey, Heather, Auna, Mom Brittany and all of my friends & loved ones, I can’t wait to share this adventure with you! <3

- Sharla Friend, C- Watch, University of Missouri, Saint Louis