Rough Seas

Box Corer 0
Ocean 1

We currently are at Station 17 which is about 4200 meters deep. The winds are 25 knots and the ocean swells are between 5-8ft. The waves are crashing over the back and sides of the boat creating some pretty challenging working conditions. We just finished box coring which was about an hour and a half ride to the bottom and the same coming up. From inside I watched the progress of the corer from the sound transmissions of the pinger and also kept an eye on the tension of the line. The tension reached over 4000lbs and showed continuous spikes as the boat bobbed up and down. In calm conditions, a clear drop in tension can be seen when the corer hits the bottom but today, it was almost impossible to tell when/if that happened. When the box corer reached the surface it was mangled and barely in one piece. There were bolts that had been stripped and bent and a few that were even missing, the pinger was hanging on from one arm and the actual box itself was cracked along one of the sides. The force from the waves may have caused the box to trigger on the way down, opening and slamming shut each time the boat rose up and crashed down. It is also possible that the box was dragged along the bottom.

None of the damage is unrepairable, and if necessary it all could be fixed at sea. However, the weather is projected to get much worse and the captain wants to head for the coast by 8AM Tuesday morning. On Wednesday we will be facing 40 knot winds and 15-20ft swells and unless that changes this will probably have to be our last station.

-Katlin