Great question.  Because internal tides are so deep in the water (hundreds to thousands of meters), they do not cause tsunamis.  The internal wave is caused by some promontory or mountain on the ocean floor, and this doesn’t generate the same intensity of energy that say an earthquake would.  However, the waves can crash into the continental shelf (very deep) and cause a lot of mixing, which could bring colder water and nutrients up to the surface.  This would be important for fisheries because the nutrients would feed phytoplankton, that then in turn feed fishes.

— Judy Lemus, The Falkor

Research cruises tend to be quite busy with lots of different activities that involve different teams of people.  For example, on this cruise there will be a shift that covers 12pm – midnight, and another that covers midnight – 12pm.  Another thing that happens is that being on a boat can take a lot out of you and people may require more sleep than usual. Also, because we all work for universities, a lot of the time we might be catching up with other work, like writing papers or research proposals.  But when they are not on “watch” and not working or sleeping, people generally pass the time listening to or playing music, watching movies, or reading.  The Falkor has a very nice library and both outdoor and an indoor lounge where folks can relax.  There is also a small gym where we can work out to try to stay in shape (the food onboard is really delicious).