Today I want to tell you about live on the ship and the people out here. Our science team comprises 19 students and researchers from six different countries (UK, US, France, Spain, Argentina), plus an Argentinean observer. We work in two shifts, from noon to midnight (the day shift), and from midnight to noon (the night shift). I ended up as the ‘watch leader’ on the day shift. The watch leader is the person that keeps the science team informed on what is going on, makes sure all jobs that are outstanding get done, and that everybody in the team is doing ok. As on all scientific ships, operations happen all around the clock, every day of the week. Chartering a big vessel for scientific purposes is a very expensive endeavour, and hence there is no such thing as a weekends, or days off. But we try to pace the science operations to make sure we do not overstretch the work capacity of all the lovely people on this ship.
Next to the scientists there are a number of people employed by Raytheon who help us get our work done. Raytheon is an organisation that supports all science projects around Antarctica for the National Science Foundation in the US (this is where the funding for this cruise is coming from). We have three MTs on board, marine technicians, who do the actual work of deploying the dredges/coring devices/cameras/CTDs and other things we throw over board to collect corals, mud, pictures, and water. Furthermore we have a mapping specialist on the ship, who looks after the shipboard system to collect bathymetric data (data on the topography of the seafloor). There are also two MSts (marine science technicians), who help us with processing things in the labs, two IT people, and two ETs (electrical technicians). The MPC (marine project coordinator) overlooks all of them and is the direct interface between the science crew and the Raytheon people.
Of course there are many more wonderful people, like the engineers, who keep the ship going, the mates and the captain, who stir the ship from the bridge, and all the busy hands to keep the ship clean, fix small problems here and there, and last but not least, the galley people.
The galley on a ship is the kitchen, and I have to say a big word of praise here for the wonderful food the two cooks and their helpers have been producing so far. Luckily I am not too much into deserts, because if I would, I could feed myself on it day and night. There always seems to be a new cake or cookies on the counter, and the meals that are served every six hours are delicious.
In the few hours everybody has time off, people can entertain themselves by using the launch with its comfortable leather sofas and a rich movie collection, work out in the gym, or pay a visit to the sauna. Yes, you heard right – there is a sauna on this ship. After some of our long working days out in the cold Southern Ocean winds, people really enjoy the steamy environment. Personally, I rather work out in the gym, take a hot shower, and cuddle up in my bunk (bed) to read a few pages of the crime story I am currently into. While in ‘normal life’ I am very happy with 6-7 hours of sleep, this is not enough on a cruise like this one. After being out here for 2.5 weeks, I already went up to 7-8 hours of sleeping time. From experience I know, that by the end of the cruise I will spend 10 hours of my 12 hours off in bed, where the steady motion of the ship makes me sleep like a baby.