Back to routine

Well ..... the cruise is done and it's back to regular routine. Having withdrawal already.  We arrived back at the dock in Patricia Bay Sunday morning after another gorgeous day (Saturday) and very calm trip around the south end of Vancouver Island. Saturday we were in the Broken Island Group - got to put on an immersion suit and jump off the boat (fantastic), and our Chief Scientist took us for a shore excursion to Dicebox island. Audrey has been working with a number of anthropologists and First Nations elders using many of the techniques she uses aboard ship for her own research to discover the past. On Dicebox island they have found numerous house sites, defence sites, and lookout sites. There is a canoe run on the west side of the island and I can't imagine the hours of work it took to remove the rocks/boulders by hand to create it. We had a picnic lunch, a chance to swim, and then it was back to the Vector.

The trip was amazing and I wish I could convey how privileged I feel for having had the opportunity to particiapte. I can't thank Audrey and the rest of the team enough for making me feel so welcome, and a part of it. I am very very interested in what they find now with the cores as they get into the detailed analysis - as they analyze weather patterns over the past years, and correlate them with the info from the sediment cores what does it tell us? What impact did the Japan earthquake and tusnami have on our coast? What are they discovering about the past to help plan the future?

Sunrise, Freeze Cores, and New Data

Woke up to an incredible sunrise this morning. We are back in the broken group - anchored just out of effingham island. For the last two days we've been taking faking freeze cores from both Effingham Inlet and Pipestem Inlet - both gorgeous places. A humpback whale was feeding last night, seals were playing in the water, and the water temperature in Pipestem was 19 degrees !!! A couple of the cores that were taken have the scientists very excited -- past cores have not included more recent 'mud/sediment', however it appears that at least a couple this time captured recent years -- they will now start analyzing based on weather, current, etc., data for the past number of years and see what they discover. There was also one core where a first look indicated potential impacts on the sediment from the March tsunami and earthquake from Japan, but again they will start analyzing. We've been doing (well, the scientists have been doing, but it's the royal we) CTD samples, measuring conductivity, temperature and depth of the water and analyzing salinity, and we've (the royal we again) been doing plankton tows where a small mesh net hangs in the water gathering dinoflagellates ..... so fascinating!!!! Weather is still gorgeous and we're hoping for a shore trip to Dicebox island today. Connectivity is still intermittent so I'll sign off for now.

Cores, CTDs, Net Tows, Sunsets, Whales

WOW!!! That pretty much sums it up. We've been out of contact for the last couple of days - in "Porto Albernus - on an island in the Pacific" today for a crew change. Will miss our crew as they have been amazing - engaged, interested, and so wonderful to work with! For those of you interested in seeing where we've been/are - go to MarineTraffic.com and then search for the CGGS Vector!!

We've been focused on Tofino Inlet the last couple of days - both Tranquil Inlet and Deer Bay (at the head of the inlet) and I've got to say that this is probably the most interesting 'stuff' I've ever seen. We've been taking "freeze cores" - in essence we have two long rectangular 'tubes' - they are filled with a mixture of crushed dry ice and ethanol (and lead weights), then lowered into the ocean and sunk into the sediments. After 1/2 an hour they are brought back aboard with frozen sediment - thus the name "freeze cores". By analyzing the sediments, the scientists are able to 'see' past events - tsunamis, earthquakes, landslides, etc. They are also doing "CTD"s - conductivity, temperature, depth tests - which measure the salinity of the water at various levels. We've done 'surface grabs' where a machine takes a bit of surface sediment to analyze, and net tows - where a net is deployed to gather plankton, etc. In addition, multi beaming continues to happen to 'map the ocean floor' and sub bottom profiling. And all data gets logged and backed up of course. Lat night was an amazing sunset as we headed southwest past Chesterman and Long Beach. Whales were spouting in the distance .... Weather continues to be fantastic with full sunshine, calm seas and no rain. Although we did have some waves come over the rail of the ship last night watching the sunset. Everyone seems to have their sea legs however.  Tonight we head towards Effingham Inlet where we will spend the next couple of days.

Pachena Bay; Folger; Broken Group

Full day out at sea and am having a ball!!!! We left the docks at 9:00 pm  Saturday night, heading out around the south end of Vancouver Island. Weather was good. Woke up about 2:00 am to a very very rolling sea – not huge – about 3 foot waves and no chop – really no worse than Dan and I have had crossing the Strait of Georgia in our sailboat. So far (touch wood) I have not provided any ‘chum’ to the fish (in boat speak, that means I have not yet been seasick). At 5:45 this morning the fog horn was sounding (and yes, because we were in fog) which was a great alarm clock as breakfast is from 0600-0700.

I am understanding much more after today what the 3.5 KHZ is and does ..... I focused today on Sub Bottom Profiling. Essentially a sound wave (ping) is sent from the ship to the ocean floor and measures 8 mtres (approximately) below the surface. I have to log day, time, latitude , longitude, course heading, speed over ground, comments, file name, etc. each time we start and stop a line, every 30 minutes while we are measuring, and if there are major changes or turns during the scan. I have 3 computers that I work on  - one that is telling me navigation; one that is logging the ‘soundings’ and one that I then enter all the log information into. And when I look up, i have the best view out the lab door of the ocean and islands - best 'office' view EVER! The computer sort of graphs the data – similar to what you see on the machines that are measuring earthquakes. What you can see in places though also are areas where beneath the surface there is rock, or sediment – and we are looking for sediment! Very very interesting. At the same time, Brent is operating the ‘multi beam’ equipment and is mapping the ocean floor – laying it out from the bottom up, while the Sub Bottom profiling is measuring from the bottom down. Not sure that makes sense to all of you but it does to me after today!!  We (and by we I mean the real scientists, not me) brought up two ‘cores’ today – a tube goes down into the mud/sediment, then gets pulled back up. It is allowed to harden/drain a bit, then is cut and analyzed with our new MSCL (this is the main piece of equipment that was purchased through the CFI grant and it’s pretty amazing). The one core that Randy was showing me today had a very clear ‘split’ part way through in its color – above the line very dark; below the line a much lighter color and there was a shell embedded in the sediment. No idea yet if that means a landslide at some point or what, but that is something now that they will figure out!

We spent time today in Pachena Bay, then around the Folger node, and then most of the rest of the day in the Broken Group around Dicebox Island, Gilbert Island, and Effingham Island. It is absolutely gorgeous - stunning beyond belief and I understand why there are so many kayakers in amongst the area. Only saw about a half dozen boats, and noted a couple of anchorages that I would like to come back to!

This evening we are underway again, heading to Clayoquot Sound and will be in  Tofino Inlet and Tranquil Inlet for morning. Tomorrow, along with sub bottom proliing and multi beaming, we will be freezer coring, doing water property tests, net tows, and I'm not sure what else!!

I will try and figure out how to post some pictures as well. The Science Team member are an amazing group of people - brilliant!!! And the Coast Guard crew are wonderful.

And we're off!!!

It's 2120 and we are off ... after a day of loading equipment and supplies, then setting up computers, multi tracks, multi beam 'stuff', etc., etc., and then opening up the ship for students to do a tour, we are off. We are headed for Pachina Bay - off the west coast - should arrive early-mid morning. Not sure what connectivity will be like, but will post when I can - so very, very excited!

3.5 kHz and 'mowing the lawn'

The Vector is set to leave tomorrow (Saturday). I’m packed and ready to go, and ready to help load the ship Saturday afternoon. Weather forecast is for RAIN for the next five days off the west coast, so, lots of warm clothes and rain gear! Apparently I will be helping to gather data for 3.5 kHz – which has to do with sending sound waves (I think) to the bottom of the sea and back to then record the details. I will have to learn what that means very quickly. I did however learn that you don’t pronounce it “three point five” – it is “three and a half” J. I will also be ‘mowing the lawn’ which is terminology for doing multi-beam work that scans the ocean floor back and forth and gathers data. I would be thrilled to discover a ship wreck out there!!! Actually, in all honesty, I’m just thrilled that I get to be out there! Hoping that I'm not seasick, or that if I am it passes quickly!

The Adventure!!

As noted in the ‘info’ section, I have the privilege of participating on a Science Research cruise aboard the Coast Guard Ship Vector!! As the Manager, Research Development, at Royal Roads University, my role, along with an awesome team, is to help facilitate research for/with faculty at the university. This includes seeking funding opportunities, brainstorming ideas, commenting and assisting with draft proposals, developing budgets, and, once the grants are awarded, assisting with project management, financial oversight, and reporting.

This research trip is led by Dr. Audrey Dallimore (Royal Roads University) and consists of a team of eight in total.  First, a little bit about Audrey’s research:

Earth's climate is highly variable on both long- and short-term time-scales. The Pacific ocean-atmosphere processes which contribute to this variability can be interpreted from a combination of: a) surveys of the modern ocean conditions along coastal British Columbia, and b) "laminated" ocean sediment records. These "paleo" or "past" sediment records extend our knowledge of variations in the natural climate system well beyond the reach of the existing century-long instrument record and help us to understand climate changes which occurred thousands of years ago.  In turn, this enhanced knowledge of our climate system increases our understanding of the rapid climate changes we are now experiencing. Similarly, the nature and frequency of past great earthquakes along the Pacific coast of Canada can be interpreted from these same laminated ocean sediment records.

Audrey’s overall research program involves ocean research cruises to obtain oceanographic data and piston cores of laminated ocean sediments along the previously uninvestigated mid and northern B.C. coast. These data and cores are subsequently analyzed for clues to the functioning of the northern Pacific climate system, both what occurred in the past and what we may expect in the future. The results will contain insights into the causes, dynamics, critical thresholds and past impacts of natural rapid climate changes, as well as seismic activity along the B.C. coast, on time scales of human interest. The conclusions will fill critical knowledge gaps, not only for the understanding of physical sciences researchers studying the Pacific Ocean, but also for planners, policy-makers and the public in order to minimize their future risk under rapid climate changes and possible large earthquake events. An improved understanding of Pacific paleoclimate is also critical for validating global and regional climate models which are currently being used to forecast future climate change.