Back on the water

Anthias' at Howland Island

We are back on the water after a brief and hectic stay in Pago Pago, American Samoa. It is good to be diving again and I've taken on a new role as a 'working' diver. For this portion of the cruise I will be filling in as a diver to install various instruments and structures, which requires hammering stainless steel pins into the substrate. This is a very different role than just recording what you see along a measuring line and so far I've come up from each dive having seen nothing more than the instrument I've been installing. It's been a bit odd - it seems that if a school of Orcas passed next to me, I probably wouldn't notice. I keep track of my buddies by noticing who is working across the instrument from me (I mostly only see their hands) and how many different directions I'm getting kicked from! There are four of us that work in close proximity and as long as the kicks are from different directions, I know they're still there. But not to worry, the water slows the force of a fin kick and it doesn't hurt. It also makes hammering pins a little interesting. You have the force of the water to push against and things seem to be in slow motion. There are two main type of structures we're installing and they will be recovered in two years. One set is the ARMS, autonomous reef monitoring structures, and the other are the CAUs, calcification acidification units. The ARMS allow cryptic critters to settle on the structure and be identified once the unit is recovered. We've been finding all sorts of small creatures that we haven't seen before. The CAUs are to monitor the effects of ocean acidification and how it is affecting calcifying organisms. The CAUs are the project that I've been organizing for the past few months.

That's about all for now. Once Ben returns to Hawaii, I'll be taking over his role as the Official Blog's organizer, so be sure to follow it for more of my posts. I hope you are well and not too snowed in.

Take care and good night,

Cristi

Run away! Run away! Well, only slightly...

Sea Urchin Hanging Out Underneath a Table Coral at Johnston Atoll

We have just come out of a satellite shadow where we didn't have internet for a few days and are now steaming circles around Samoa. In case the weather stations have been showing Pacific storm activity, I wanted to let you know that we are all safe, healthy and only being sloshed slightly. We are currently crossing paths with a minor storm and although we were supposed to arrive in Samoa this morning, we are now turning around to hide in the western lee of the island chain. The current forecast is that we will be able come in to port on Sunday morning. Things out here really aren't that bad and we are all busily working on the cruise report (so it can't be that sloshy). The main reason that we aren't going in to port is that the Captain doesn't want to be tied up in Samoa during the storm and have the ship bouncing against a solid pier or other boats. The way the storm is travelling, it looks like wind and waves will be funneling directly into the port where we are supposed to be so the ship could take more damage tied up then out in the open water. Other than that, I don't have much to report. I'll write more about Howland and Baker after the cruise report is finished. Until then, I hope you are all well and not snowed in.
Take care,
Cristi

Squalls and other such fun

Can you see the ship? Neither can I. It's big and white and less than a mile away. This was during one of yesterday's squalls.

The weather decided to give us a turn yesterday and we spent most of our above water time bouncing around in a little orange boat. It seemed a reminder that it can't be all fun and games. But once getting in the water, it wasn't too bad. By the afternoon we had found a lee and although everything around us was still foreboding, we didn't quite feel like Tiggers. Squalls continued and at one point I heard the ship come over the radio and mention that we were about to get hit by one. I didn't think much about this until looking left and seeing a wall of rain approaching across the water. One other small boats tried to outrun it unsuccessfully but we had divers in the water and had no choice but to wait for a good rinse down. It was quite impressive to watch its' approach. Today the winds have died down again and hopefully it won't be quite as bumpy.

I hope things are quite as cold and snowy for you as what I've been hearing about.

Take care and keep warm,

Cristi

We found Clownfish!

They weren't exactly Nemo, but they were awesome! We dropped in to our 3rd dive of the day and it looked like huge clumps of blue cotton candy had fallen on the reef. This was our first sighting of anemones for this cruise and we were duly impressed. These anemones are usually brown but are being affected by the same warm water bleaching that has affected so much of the coral. As anemones are related to corals they usually have algae living within them to photosynthesize and create their color. However anemones are also able to capture food by paralyzing small fish with their stinging tentacles and then moving it to their mouth at the base of all of the tentacles. Only clownfish and a few species of damselfish are immune to the stinging toxins. So being able to capture food will hopefully allow these anemones to survive this period of bleaching.

As we don't get to see these very often, the clownfish darting in and out of the tentacles definitely kept me amused while I was waiting on my dive buddies! And as a picture says a thousand words, a movie must say even more.

Enjoy and sleep well!

~ Cristi

Howland Island

One of the healthier reefs at Howland...

We have been transiting south from Johnston Atoll for the last four days and it is abundantly apparent the minute you step out on deck. The days have been getting longer and even the mornings before daybreak are hot and muggy now. We are currently only 15-20 miles north of the equator which has meant a refreshing change in water temperatures. The dives at Johnston, although quite beautiful, were getting colder as the days went by. Our first dive today felt like bath water. It was wonderful. The underwater portion of Howland is amazing! Most of our sites are on a steep wall that drops into blue water within 300 feet of the beach. We stay at 40-50 feet and even with 100+ feet of visibility, we couldn’t see the bottom. There was an incredible diversity of both fish and coral, however a large portion of the coral has been bleached. This happens when various stressors, normally high water temperatures, cause the algae that live within the coral and create the color, to either die or leave the coral tissue. This leaves the coral completely white and it may or may not survive the episode. According to our Oceanography team, water temperatures are about 5 degrees higher here than normal which is more than corals can normally withstand. Hopefully these will survive otherwise there will up to 80% mortality along the entire east side of the island. Although our team hasn't made it to the east side yet (currents would have been too strong for our surveys) we've been told by the tow team that it looked like a pine forest after a snow. Although our dives were wonderful now that I’ve shed my Baby Seal suit (5mm wetsuit plus vest), I would rather be a bit chilly and have the dive look a little less like a winter wonderland. It will be interesting to see what this area looks like when we come back in two years.

So now it's time for breakfast, safety meeting and then boat launches.

Take care, CR

We're Luuunching in the Rain

Outdoor Dining at Agrihan

We haven't seen the sun in five days but at least it has stopped raining.  Yesterday the downpours were hard enough that we would have had a ball of mushy bread and lunch meat if we had tried to have lunch in the small boat.  Jason, our coxswain, pulled out the sea anchor which is a large parachute, to use as a tarp.  We strung it from the roof of the boat to the stern and created our own lunch fort.  We must have looked like a boat of derelicts but we were warm and dry.  Most days we get lunchmeat, tuna salad or egg salad and bread, which can get a bit dull.  We spice things up by adding string cheese or chips to the sandwich.  I've seen carrots added but there is no need to go overboard.  My favorite is Pringles for some extra texture.  But on days where it is just as wet topside as in the water, it is hard to warm up between dives.  To keep us from turning blue the Chief Steward has been sending us out with thermos' of soup.  Today it was Cream of Broccoli - my favorite so far.  I've got some extra saved in the fridge for tomorrow's dinner.

Jason still remembers how to build a fort.

Soup Kitchen is open.

Not what Jacques Cousteau would have had, but still good.

I hope you are having a wonderful night and staying dry.
Take care,
Cristi

Octopus

We rarely get a chance to see an octopus on our dives and I've never seen one out of its hole, but on our last day at Saipan, we were able to watch one come out of its hole and swim across the reef.  Most octopuses have no internal or external skeleton, allowing them to squeeze into small holes for protection.  Unlike squid, that have a vestige of an internal shell and tentacles, the arms of an octopus have suction cups on them and can be used as muscular appendages.  For defense against moray eels and other predatory fish, they will typically hide, use color-changing camouflage, flee quickly, or expel ink like a smoke screen.  They have a hard beak, with the mouth at the center point of the arms, and all octopuses are venomous.  However, only the Blue-Ringed Octopus is deadly to humans and you would have to try hard to get an octopus to bite you.  They are also highly intelligent and are considered the most intelligent invertebrate, with evidence of both short and long-term memory.  An octopus' life span is relatively short with some smaller species living only 6 months and some of the larger ones living up to 5 years.  Both the male and female octopus will die shortly after mating.  Another unusual aspect to octopuses is that they have three hearts.  Two hearts pump blood through each of the two gills and the third pumps blood through the body.

The octopus that we saw started in its hole, then gradually emerged and swam across the reef alighting on a few coral heads on the way.  It went up the reef slope and then evidently encountered another octopus because we saw some sort of commotion with a lot of arms.  Then another smaller octopus returned to a hole close to where we were.  It was a very impressive show.

What you will normally see of an octopus if you are lucky.  They blend in very well to the surrounding reef.

This one is deciding to leave its hole.

Almost vacated...

And he's off.

He landed on this coral head before taking off again across the reef.

I hope you're having a wonderful day.  I am off to our morning dive briefing and then small boat launching.

Take care,

Cristi