Falkor: Waves in the sky!

Although we are furiously chasing after internal waves underneath the ocean surface in the Tasman Sea, we got a pleasant surprise the other day on a transit between stations – beautiful atmospheric “internal waves” in the sky above us! – Amy Waterhouse, Falkor The Tasman Tidal Dissipation Experiment//Supported by the National Science Foundation

Falkor: Looking into the Plastisphere

Whilst Falkor is rushing about chasing internal waves for next few weeks, this platform is also being modestly utilized to hunt down any microplastics that may cross its path. Back in my home state of Victoria, I have been collaborating with researchers Slobodanka Stojkovic and Mark Osborn from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), and citizen scientists to investigate … Read More

Revelle: The Sphere Half Full

If you haven’t gleaned this already, studying hidden processes miles below the ocean’s surface is challenging. Even worse, we’re cruising in an unpredictable region in the Tasman Sea, a spot notoriously dubbed the “Roaring Forties” due to the strong winds ripping from the west through the Southern Hemisphere between 40 and 50 degrees latitude. We’re limited to the tools we … Read More

Falkor: Taking the Ocean’s Temperature

If you’ve been paying any attention at all to the news in the last, say, two decades, you will know that the temperature of the ocean is increasing. Many national and international agencies and non-profit organizations have devoted funding to study these phenomena and they all point to the same answer – Earth’s ocean is getting warmer. Understanding how the … Read More

Revelle: Wellness In the Waves

There’s a science to staying healthy on a boat that dishes endless supplies of savory meals, pastries, snack foods and deserts. We’re confined to a 284-foot ship with a daily commute of scaling a flight of stairs and walking a few dozen feet to our workspaces. This, combined with a typical 16-hour workday, makes an exercise routine a necessary part … Read More

Falkor: Chlorophyll is Key to the Biological Oceanographer

This week Pete and I started doing our experiments with water collected from the CTD profiles. We are using the water to conduct chlorophyll measurements, particular organic matter contents, nutrient samples and incubation experiments. All the data that will be collected from our water samples will help us to piece together the possible mixing that is being caused by the … Read More

Revelle: Mooring’s Back!

Most research cruises leave their moorings in the water for months or years, but not these guys. They’re recovering a mooring they just deployed seven days ago. After it’s back on deck, they’ll pull off the data and will re-release it again in a few days. All in the name of science! The instruments on this mooring have been gathering … Read More

Falkor: Connecting Physics and Biology

The connection between physical processes in the ocean and the organisms that live in it can be summed up with one word: Nutrients.  The movement of nutrients through the ocean by tides, gyres, eddies, and waves are in fact the reason we can exist on Earth.  That’s a bold statement, I admit, but let’s examine it a bit more closely.  … Read More

Two ships passing in the…. TTIDE

Well, not just passing, but collaborating in a very unique way. By the time Falkor started steaming out of Hobart, the RV Revelle had been at sea for a week and a half, deploying their record 15 moorings and starting CTD-LADCP profiling along the continental slope of Tasmania. With the Revelle’s head start on the science, we decided to make … Read More