Twenty-one Hours a Day on 30-Foot Floating Science Lab
Research Vessel (RV) Blissfully is a 30-foot sailboat that is the science lab and home for two sailing scientists, Captain Gordon Ackland and myself, Dr. Bridget Seegers. The RV Blissfully is a recent addition to the fleet of research vessels. Previously, Blissfully’s days were primarily spent peacefully floating snug in a San Diego boat slip with an occasional day sail. However, Blissfully was volunteered to support the PACE-PAX campaign and therefore transitioned a month ago into RV Blissfully.
In five slightly stress-filled days, research gear was loaded, Blissfully’s sitting area became a lab, and cables and instruments ready for deployment were hung from the stern. The goal is to gather ocean data for the validation of data from the exciting new PACE satellite. Now, RV Blissfully spends eight to 10 hours a day sailing for science.
Days on RV Blissfully begin in harbor with an alarm waking our sleeping research team. A thermos is quickly filled with coffee and poured into RV Blissfully crew mugs. Some mornings before departing, Bridget does video visits with classrooms of 4th and 6th graders, answering their questions about the ocean and life as a scientist.
Then, the dock lines are tossed, and a 2.5-hour morning commute begins. Leaping dolphins are frequently spotted along the way, and once a pair of fascinating mola molas were observed “swimming” along the surface.
The commute is also breakfast time, typically with yogurt, granola, and fruit.
A crew of two means everyone onboard fills many roles, including galley chef along with scientist, mechanic, and captain. The destination, 12 miles (20 kilometers) south, is an oil rig that is home to additional research instruments whose data will be combined with RV Blissfully’s data for a more complete picture of conditions in the atmosphere and ocean. The location is also a flyover target for the ER-2 and Twin Otter research planes, allowing for even more data sets for PACE validation.
Once on station, a bucket is tossed and 10-liters of water is gathered for a variety of samples, which are processed below deck. These water samples are filtered and frozen at -320ºF (196ºC) in liquid nitrogen or preserved in jars for further analysis when shipped back to the Ocean Ecology Lab at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The analysis will produce data about the community of microscopic ocean organisms like phytoplankton and bacteria that are critical to understanding our ocean. Bridget takes the lead on the water filtering, and because the lab bench used to be a couch, it is literally at knee-height, and therefore she spends much time working on her knees.
Meanwhile on the stern, Gordon is measuring ocean light with an instrument called a HyperPro—he’s a real pro with the HyperPro.
Once logging begins, he lets the instrument fall to a depth of 20 meters before hauling it up to the surface and letting it descend again to 20 meters. This is repeated 15 times at each station, and the final cast goes to 60 meters to explore the ocean light further below. The HyperPro is critical for PACE validation because it measures light like the PACE Ocean Color Instrument, so it allows scientists to compare measurements from the ocean with light measured all the way in space.
The routine of collecting water samples and HyperPro profiles keeps the crew busy station after station.
Occasionally, the routine is broken by the spotting of wildlife or a wave through a porthole. The shifting waves and weather keep it interesting. The days are beautiful, exhausting, a bit tedious, and inspiring. All emotions fit onto RV Blissfully’s 30 feet out at sea. The winds pick up through the afternoon, so when the final station is done for the day, a sail is frequently raised for the return to harbor.
A sailboat significantly reduces the fuel used for research. RV Blissfully used 14 gallons of diesel over nine days of sampling, covering roughly 230 miles and providing data from 19 research stations. Eventually, RV Blissfully is docked, the instruments are rinsed, the crew wanders to shore for dinner as the sun sets, and after dinner they wander back to RV Blissfully for sleep—resting up to be ready for the rinse and repeat research routine to begin again.
This was the crew’s first sailing field campaign, and both Gordon and Bridget would like to do it again. Accomplishing PACE-PAX research on RV Blissfully made the sailing for science dream a reality.