A Sinking Ship Part 2

This week, I had the privilege of serving on the science party to study how the sinking of the SS United States affects the environment just south of Destin, Florida. We set sail at 00:01 on Monday morning and returned at approximately 23:40 on Tuesday, an entire day earlier than expected. The seas were quite rough on the way out and many members of our science team, myself included, got sick in the morning of day 1, but we arrived on site and got to work collecting sediment and water samples. The sediments were sandy, not muddy, which made for challenging sample collection and processing steps. The coarse grain size means that the corer struggles to get deep into the sediment and the collected samples are difficult to get into the falcon tubes for storage. The Hamdan lab collects samples from the center of each core layer because the polycarbonate tube both smears the sample, which means microbes from other layers can end up in the sample layer and the tube contaminates the outer edge. The water quality collection and processing steps were far easier, albeit slow, as we passed 5 L of water through filters using a peristaltic pump and collected a few hundred mL for metals analysis.

Our team was comprised of three professors (one retired), two postdocs, one graduate student, one research technician, and six undergraduates. We worked two eight-hour shifts, though because of the arrival time to site and our departure time from site, I don't think anyone worked a full 16-hours. We got to work at sunset and sunrise (both during my shifts), sample with spotted dolphins swimming in the background, problem solve on site, identify small animals within the sediment cores, consume many energy drinks/coffees/sodas to keep spirits high, all while collecting data integral for understanding how shipwrecks influence the environment.

I couldn't pick a favorite picture this week, so I've attached a slideshow of some great shots taken by various members of the science party. If you are viewing on a mobile device, you may not be able to see all the photos.