Karen's Daily Blog

 

“Cooking is great. You’ve got a captive audience. But being out there in a boat on the  water, that’s my joie de vivre [joy of life].” -- Carl Wood, Atlantis Steward and Alvin swimmer

“You need to have passion, you need to have the right idea, and you need to have people who want you to succeed. But most of all you have to have passion.” -- Chief Scientist Craig Cary, University of Delaware

“I’m SO excited.” -- Extreme scientist Doug Fadrosh of the J. Craig Venter Institute, getting ready to dive in Alvin.

“In the scientific community we don’t have a clue to the diversity of microorganisms on this planet. We just don’t know how many species there are. Part of what we’re doing and have been doing for ten to twenty years is play catch up.” -- Pete Countway, University of Southern California

“Look out your portholes and don’t let me bump into anything.” -- Expedition Leader and Chief Pilot Bruce Strickrott, talking to observers during an Alvin dive.

“The microscope links them to those living at other areas, but they had not yet been found here. That’s a paper!” -- Diane Kim, University of Southern California, talking about the alveolates found in samples by the Caron lab.

“The lab group that she belongs to would have an elaborate torture plan prepared, usually involving buckets of ice-cold water (one of the primary uses of our -20 degree freezer) and squishy things in shoes.” -- Amy Koid of University of Southern California, talking about what happens to newbie Alvin divers.

“Life at sea is almost indescribable for me. From my first cruise until now I have loved every minute of it.” -- Lisa Zeigler of JCVI

“Seeing the hydrothermal vents will help me very much in my work. I didn’t know what a difficult job a pilot did. I hope they pay those guys a lot.” – Fanny R. Moussan of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.

“The other night I arrived at the biobox after dinner to find it full of giant clams.  If clams grew this big in our estuaries, we could eat just one or two and be full!” -- Karen Lloyd of the University of North Carolina

“What do we got, what do we got? Ooh!” -- Anonymous Extreme scientist while viewing the results of a CTD cast.

“Un sistema hidrotermal submarino somero se caracteriza por presentar descargas de agua caliente que se encuentran hasta una profundidad de 200 m.” – Ruth Villanueva Estrada, Universidad Autonoma de Mexico.

“There’s a limited time. You have this many dives to get this amount of research done. What if you lose a dive -- how is your science affected by that? What if you can’t find what you’re looking for? What if a trap burns? What if the LVWS hose goes bad and keeps pumping and you have to throw away all that data? I never know what’s going to happen. There’s conflict here.” -- Filmmaker Lauren Farrar

“I admit to a healthy dose of what some people call the ‘Cousteau Effect,’ as watching various documentaries about the marine environment definitely contributed to my interest in studying the sea.” -- Shawn Polson, University of Delaware

“Surreal. You can’t believe it’s all right outside your window.” -- Conrad Pilditch of the University of Waikato, talking about visiting the hydothermal vents at 9º North in Alvin.

“This is the moment when you feel like you’re on some kind of amusement park ride, being bumped around a little.” -- Bekki Helton of the University of Delaware, talking about when Alvin surfaces.

“My eye is drawn to the water where a spotlight shines down. The light draws fish and squid to the surface. The orange squid are my favorite, with their characteristic propulsion through the deep turquoise water.” -- Julie Smith, University of Delaware

“Men, and now women, go to sea for as many reasons as there are ships at anchor off the coast of Panama. For some it’s about the money, but just as often the catalyst is an unshakable belief that the holy grail is floating somewhere just beyond horizon.” -- Ordinary Seaman Kevin Threadgold

“The blue gave way to black at around 300 feet and we watched the bioluminescent organisms give off little spatters of light as they flew by our windows.” -- Jamie Botelho of University of Southern California, talking about diving in Alvin.

“Every new field of view has a new organism. And this was just Day One!” -- Dr. Karla Heidelberg of the University of Southern California, talking about the environmental scanning electron microscope, the first ever brought to sea.

“The Captain calls out to the second mate, ‘five off the port-bow, two ship lengths ahead.’ Sure enough just off to the port side the quick flash of the strobe appears. However, the rough seas continue to challenge us.” -- Dr. Eric Wommack, University of Delaware, describing the recovery of the Large Volume Water Sampler “Thing One.”

“We’re working with eukaryotic DNA, of which we’re made.” -- Dr. Dave Caron, University of Southern California

“Can you ride them?” Craig Cary, responding to a news headline about giant bacteria.

“The only escape from a burning ship is by leaping into another hostile environment.” -- WHOI safety video

“Craig was nearby, but he wasn’t interested in the stream. He visited the Dry Valleys for very different reasons: he wanted to look at the guts of dead animals. I kid you not!” -- Lee Stanish of the University of Colorado at Boulder, talking about Craig Cary’s work in Antarctica.

“We walk off this ship with very little data. We walk off with lots of samples. It’s the botttom of an inverted pyramid of work.” -- Dr. Craig Cary of University of Delaware and the University of Waikato

“Extreme Perseverance 2008.” -- Joke name for this research cruise. Or maybe it’s serious.

“The protist traps have been left out for a whole year now, and we’re hoping that many protists have found their way into these traps to call it their home.” -- Diane Kim, University of Southern California

“Dream big, study hard, do what you love, and watch for those unexpected opportunities.” -- Kathy Coyne of University of Delaware, giving advice to Extreme students.

“It’s funny to think that all it took was a school assignment and participating in an outreach program similar to Extreme to start a dream that eventually would come true!” -- Katrina Twing, talking about how she got into marine science.

“I know and respect these guys a lot. I feel very honored to be on this ship.” – Craig Cary, describing the crew of Atlantis.

As for me, what do I say? “Watch out, I’m going to try science!” But also, thanks.

The Extreme 2008 Research Team

 

Thanks to the National Science Foundation and the University of Delaware. Thanks to Tracey Bryant, David Barczak, and Pam Donnelly at the University of Delaware. Thanks to Craig and all the Extreme Scientists, to the Atlantis crew, and to the Alvin Group and WHOI engineers. And thank you for reading and looking. Thank you for trying science yourself. 

Wishing you fair skies and following seas.
El mejor respectos siempre y

Yours,
Karen Romano Young

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