Thursday: June 6, 2013
Log Day 5

Mike Judge
Fisheries Reporting Specialist
NOAA Fisheries - Miami Lab

Crane aboard the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster lifts a small-dive boat into the water. (Photo: Debbie Meeks)

Each morning at 0730-0745 scientists, dive teams and coxswains (the person in charge of a boat- the literal translation meaning 'boat servant'; cox- a small boat aboard a larger boat and swain- someone in authority); assemble on the back deck for a morning briefing. During this meeting, objectives for the day's mission are discussed by the chief scientist Sarah Fangman, and a pre-dive safety check is conducted by the unit diving supervisor Mitchell Tartt. Each diver/scientist is responsible for making sure their diving and sampling gear gets loaded on their respective boats before they are launched. Once the small boat is launched it is very difficult to come back and retrieve anything left behind. We have benthic teams, fish teams, and mixed teams, so getting the correct gear on the correct boat is very important and is predetermined the night before at our science meeting. The small boats are then lifted over the rail by the crew of the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster and put into the water. The science divers then go down a ladder and onto the boats.

Divers and observers descend ladder to small boat. (Photo: Debbie Meeks)

After the boats are put in the water and the dive teams are loaded we head out to our survey locations. The divers put on wetsuits for warmth and protection from stinging sea creatures like fire coral, jellyfish, and sea lice. Divers wear standard dive equipment like a scuba tank for an air supply, BCD, and regulators which attach to the tank and permit the diver to breathe underwater. The science divers carry clipboards with waterproof paper, measuring sticks and cameras down with them to document what they see. The diver teams also use a spot buoy/GPS system which remains on the surface and is attached to a line which is lowered down to the dive site. This serves a dual purpose by marking the exact location of the area sampled and providing a visual marker on the surface as to where the divers are. The divers (divers always go down as buddy pairs), do a back roll into the sea and descend to the planned working depth. When sampling is completed, the divers return to the surface and are retrieved by the coxswain of the small boat who remains close and maintains a watchful eye on the divers below. On the surface, the coxswains record the time the divers enter and exit the water which they then radio back to the ship.

Divers prepare to enter water from small-dive boat. (Photo: Debbie Meeks)

Each afternoon between 1630-1645 the dive teams return for the evening. The small boats come alongside the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster and the scientific field parties climb up the ladder onto the ship. After everyone is safely aboard, the boatswains (pronounced bosuns, the persons in charge of a boat- the literal translation meaning 'boat servant'), lower the crane cable to the coxswains to hoist the small boats aboard the ship (please see morning operations blog for more detail). After the chief boatswain Greg Walker gives the all clear, the scientists unload their gear and rinse it with fresh water. The coxswains rinse, refuel, make any mechanical adjustments, and prepare the boats for the following day's operations. Samantha Martin senior survey technician and Mitchell Tartt fill tanks. For our GRNMS dive operations we are breathing an enriched oxygen gas mixture called Nitrox. Normal air is approximately 21% oxygen, our Nitrox mixture is approximately 36% oxygen. Since the divers are making repetitive dives to approximately 70 feet, breathing Nitrox instead of air increases the amount of time we can spend at depth and also decreases the amount of time we have to spend at the surface between dives. We are able to do our jobs much more safely and efficiently. After showers and dinner we assemble in the ship's dry lab for an evening debriefings by chief scientist Sarah Fangman and diving supervisor Mitchell Tartt. During this meeting Mitchell conducts a post-dive safety check, Sarah discusses the days mission and plans for the next day are made. The meeting also gives us an opportunity to share stories and check out the day's photos.