Engulf the Gulf

   Yesterday we were lucky enough to be crew members of the Weatherbird for a day! Our vessel traveled 18.25 mi off the coast onto the continental shelf and stopped at 2 different sites to sample for biodiversity and water quality tests. I've never been abroad a research vessel before so this experience was all new and exciting to me. We all worked as a team but had separate groups controlling certain machines and tests. The first site was the farthest offshore at 18.25 mi SW off of Tampa Bay, and was 23m in depth. We arrived there around 3:30 pm,midday, where my group deployed the neuston and bongo nets out to capture phyto and zooplankton. The neuston net was dragged at the surface for 10 minutes, then the bongos with the flometer for ten minutes 12.5m deep in the water column. These nets are excellent research tools for plankton studies controlling the food web. 

                                    Neuston                                                          Bongos

The whole time on the deck keeping our safety in check!

                                                                                  

After running through a CTD, water quality tests, plankton nets and trawl and dredge nets at the first site we enjoyed our freetime by exploring the ship.      
 Hung out in the captains quarters

Enjoyed the scenery

 
enjoyed the scenery upside down

Learned a few things about the controls

The second site was nearshore by the skyway around sunset being only 5m in depth. This site varied greater with the more deeper offshore site, which we were soon to find out after sampling. At this site we were in charge of deploying the CTD and collecting water samples at depth. 

From this one very expensive machine we obtained tons of data including salinty, temperature,  dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and chlA levels at the surface, mid column and the bottom. It was really eye opening to witness and be a part of all the communication through crew members in all areas to help everything run smoothly.

Mid sampling we got a brief rejuvenation break to enjoy the gorgeous sunset abroad the massive vessel (My favorite part)

Then back to work!

We were then in charge of deploying the otter trawl net. We had to run two trials on this because the first try the net got twisted at the bottom and we caught nothing but seaweed. The second trial was a success we caught a wide diversity of species from macroalgae and sponges to crustaceans, echinoderms and lots and lots of fish!

Teamwork was definitely the most important factor!

               Lizard fish

CRABS!

Flounder

This experience taught me so much and definitely impacted my decision on what I want to research in the future. If I ever get a chance to research abroad a vessel again I would take it in a second!