Manning the Helm

Today we were called to the bow to see a pod of dolphins feeding on a bait ball, which is a large school of fish that have been herded into a ball for the dining ease of predators. When dolphins are feeding, they generally don't come to the surface and you know they are there because you see shadows below highly agitated water. From the bridge this looked like a frothy mess of white caps covering an area the size of a foot ball field. The officer in charge of the bridge at the time, being a good fish loving carnivore, realized immediately that this was a dinner opportunity not to be missed and the ship took a small change of course in the hopes of pulling its fishing lines through the area that would presumably be filled with tasty morsels. However dolphins are not the dullest creatures to swim the sea and they soon realized that we were in the area, closing in on their choice of dinner locations. Another important thing to note is that as the ship is only able to make a maximum of 12 knots, dolphins can swim significantly faster than the good ship Hi'ialakai if they feel like it. Thus a game of keep away ensued and the dolphins rather easily out maneuvered our vessel while continuing to maintain the privacy of their feast. After about 30 minutes of this, the scientists and crew admitted defeat and we turned our hopes of fresh fish to another night. As things were quieting down and we returned to our original heading, I remained on the bridge watching the remnants of the dolphin pod move away. Evidently in need of further entertainment, the officer covering the bridge asked if I wanted to steer the ship. I must say that it has been some time since I answered a question so quickly and I spent the next 20 minutes or so manning the helm. That has been the highlight of my trip thus far and is actually much more difficult to do than I first expected. The ship steers like a car on ice and there is constant correcting to stay on course. But the ship has now been safely returned to the experienced hands of the officers and crew and we are again heading towards Wake Atoll. I will, however, be spending more time up on the bridge - just in case.
I hope you are having a wonderful evening. Good night and keep in touch,
Cristi

Mongolian Barbeque Night

In honor of crossing the 180th meridian, the Chief Steward prepared for us his famous Mongolian BBQ. This consists of a variety of uncooked vegetables and meats that you choose from the buffet line. You can personalize as much as you wish and then take your plate into the Galley. From there the Chief cooks your ingredients on the grill and adds trade-secret seasonings that result in an amazing meal. The most difficult part is not overloading your plate because of course it is very bad form not to finish everything that is on your plate. The Chief takes great pride in his cooking and notice is definitely taken when you don’t finish your meal. I’m hoping that this menu will be repeated on legs 2 or 3, but it is definitely reserved for special occasions and not a night to be missed. Thank goodness for International Date Lines. I hope you are having memorable meals as well.
Take care and good night,
Cristi

Entering the Realm of the Golden Dragon

Know All Ye by These Presents: and to all Pirates of the Yellow Seas and other Derelicts of Far Eastern Seas, Greetings:

Know Ye on the 17th of March 2009, within the boundaries of my Dragonic Realm there appeared the Good Ship Hi’ialakai.
Be It Known: That the said renowned vessel crossed the 180th Meridian in Latitude 21 degrees. And all her Officers and Crew have been duly inspected and found qualified by my Venerable Court. It is therefore, My privilege to proclaim, with all the authority of my sphere of influence, that Cristi Richards has been found worthy to be granted membership in my domain, the Silent Occult Mysteries of the Far East and be it further understood: That the above named is now a member of my August Retinue and is therefore entitled to all the Rights and Privileges accorded such personages.
Disobey this order under penalty of our Royal Displeasure.
His Dragonic Majesty

Introducing the Benthic Team

I thought tonight would be a good time to introduce my fellow benthic team members. As a group, we survey and monitor all aspects of the coral reef that are not fish or chemistry related. So without further ado, we have:

B - Kerri Grimshaw hails from the sunshine state of Florida and is so devoted to Key Limes that she special ordered a tree that is now growing quite well in her living room. Kerri is a coral biologist that Ben and I knew from the Florida Keys.

E - Stephanie Schopmeyer joined CRED last year from Georgia but is a transplanted midwesterner from Ohio. Steph is also a coral biologist and is the person that inspired me to start taking pottery classes from UH.

N - Sun Kim is a biologist joining us on this cruise from the University of Guam. He will be an invertebrate biologist, studying anything that is not a fish, coral or algae. He was the most eager member of our team to be the 'N' and will be my dive partner while we are at Wake.

T - Rodney Withall is a Canadian algal biologist who some how found himself in Texas (not the good part) prior to coming to Hawaii late last year. Rodney has an addiction to chocolate milk and (in his own words) claims to have invented sock-suspenders even though he never wears socks.

H - Russell Reardon also comes from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, is a connaisseur of guitars and key lime pies (of course). He will be filling the role of invertebrate biologist during our dives at Wake.

I - Russell Moffitt is currently an invertebrate biologist for CRED and is a cowboy ninja living in Hawaii with a hippopotamus named Stella (he used to break horses, is a black belt in karate and has a very large gray dog).

C - And if you haven't guessed who the C is you might be reading the wrong blog. But nice to meet you anyway.

So that is our team for this part of the trip. We have a crew change when we arrive in Guam on April 1st and then again in Saipan around the middle of April. But that is all for tonight. I hope you are doing well and that spring weather comes your way soon.

Good night and take care, Cristi

Ship repairs on the open seas

This morning I watched as a rainstorm approached and enjoyed the quiet of the morning pedaling away on the stationary bike on deck. After breakfast, it was the same routine as usual, including computer work and prep for the upcoming dive days, until we were interrupted by what sounded like a metallic bumblebee the size of a Volkswagen just outside of the dry lab. You see the ship's crew is never idle when we are out at sea and when all other work is complete the Chief Boatswain (person in charge of all aspects and running of the decks) sets everyone to work needle-gunning. That is everyone that is part of the ship's crew. I am not sure who originally invented this method of rust removal, but needle-gunning surely was originally a cruel sort of punishment. The crew go out with handheld grinders and power tools that look like basting brushes made of steel fibers to blast away what ever spots of rust have crept up. As the noise was dampened only slightly by earplugs, most of the science party went in search of quiet areas, which can’t actually be found on a 200’ ship. We were also scheduled to complete our neurological exams that serve as a baseline for normal functioning in the case of a dive accident. I'm happy to say that I am cleared to dive although my hearing was not quite up to par (I wonder why). So there is one more step out of the way before we get in the water at Wake and now I am hoping that the crew won't need to be needle-gunning for all of the next five days. But thankfully, even if they do, they keep the ship running and not I.
With that I will say goodnight and best wishes, Cristi

Leaving Honolulu and on to Wake Island

The 2009 Research Season has started and I am currently three days out of Honolulu on the NOAA Ship Hi'ialakai. We are heading towards Wake Island for 5 days of dive ops before continuing on to Guam, Saipan and the Northern Marianas Islands. We started the cruise with 15-25 mph winds out of the north and 12-15 foot waves while we were heading west. I soon found that this translates into a very rolling ride - as in bracing yourself in your bunk so you don’t roll into the wall, standing in the shower holding on with one hand, both feet sliding with the waves and noticing how everything around you is stainless steel and hard, pointy or both. I can only imagine what it’s like for ships that really go out in rough seas. But today brought slightly calmer weather and some sunshine. People are either getting their sea legs or are sufficiently dosed with the proper meds so that the dry lab (where most of the computer work goes on) was slightly more boisterous than it has been. As for me, I am very excited that I made it through the day without having to crawl back in my bunk. I spent a good bit of time catching up on computer work, enjoying the very blustery weather on the bow (I said the weather was better, not great), and my first ever games of ping pong while on a rolling ship. The first Ping Pong tournament started today and Kaylynn (a fish biologist) and I battled it out in the first round. Well, battled is probably too strong a word. We more volleyed the ball a couple of times while trying to keep score, keep our balance and not laugh too much to hit the ball. There were lots of do-overs and without many bystanders to interfere with pesky rules, we had a lot of fun. Kaylynn won and will go on to the next round while I may now be hooked on this game. But for now I will say good night and head off to a few hours dreaming of crazy waves, roller coasters, and what is for breakfast. I hope this finds you well and that you are likewise having either an exciting day or soon to have a wonderful night’s sleep. Take care, Cristi