My First Time at Sea With the Ocean Discovery League Team Aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer
My First Time at Sea With the Ocean Discovery League Team Aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer
Posted January 24, 2024Above: Ocean Discovery League (ODL) Team onboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. Left to right: Ami Vice; Brian Kennedy, ODL Chief Scientist; Katie Leeper, ODL Community Engagement Manager. Credit: Kasey Cantwell, NOAA Ocean Exploration (OER).
Ami Vice, a student from the University of Guam, recounts her first-time at-sea experience aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer
I was fortunate enough to be able to join a team sent by Ocean Discovery League (ODL) on the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer in early December 2023. Expedition 2309 set sail from San Francisco, California, with the goal of deep-sea mapping and drop camera deployments. I spent my time onboard working with the ODL team testing deployment methods for the Maka Niu, their low-cost deep sea camera and sensing system. We designed and tested three separate deployment configurations, two made of PVC and one of metal. Each was mounted with a camera and light module and deployed to around 600 meters to test deployment and retrieval procedures along with the rigidity of the configuration frames.
ODL Chief Scientist, Brian Kennedy, preparing the Maka Niu system for deployment at sunrise. Credit: Katie Leeper.
I learned a lot during this expedition. This was my first time living on a boat, so almost everything was new to me. It did take some effort to initially adjust to eating and sleeping on the water, but it was worth it just to be out on the ocean for the sunrise and sunset every day! Aside from working with ODL, I was also able to learn from the other teams who spent their time onboard mapping the ocean floor. This was the biggest highlight of my time on Okeanos: meeting and learning from everybody else on the boat. Everyone was extremely welcoming and made my time onboard as enjoyable as it was. I am extremely grateful to the Ocean Discovery League, PacIOOS, and the Micronesian Conservation Coalition for organizing this opportunity for me!
Ami Vice splicing and marking spools of rope in preparation for Maka Nui deployments. Credit: Katie Leeper.
To watch a time-lapse of a Maka Nui deployment, click here.
