Go Endeavor Go! Nighttime Adventures...

A unique low light vantage point of the Endeavor

A look at all the instrumentation on the bridge of the R/V Endeavor. 

The full moon as it shines over the ocean water! Creepy!

The OBS retrieval at night! One of the crew members installed a light at the end of the hook to aid in the equipment capturing process. 

This picture was take from the bridge of the Endeavor. It is the Quantum of the Seas cruise ship at ~0300 during an OBS retrieval. 

This picture is ~2 miles away from the Quantum of the Sea cruise ship and is as close as the Endeavor can legally pass another large ocean vessel under maritime law. The bright celestial object overhead is Jupiter.

This photo shows the Endeavor docked at port just before we embarked on this high seas adventure. The first evening we went to a chinese restaurant called 7 moons. By the time we arrived back at the shipyard the gate had been pulled shut and appeared to be locked and was topped with plenty of barbed wire. After some deep thought our highly intelligent group realized that it was pulled closed and all we had to do was roll it open haha. There is a geophysicists joke embedded in that experience. 

This is the WHOI crew carefully bringing the OBS back onto the ship. Hard hats and life preservers are required when on deck during retrieval operations. The OBS in this photo is hanging down beneath the orange apparatus.  

As the Endeavor aligns itself with the OBS in the ocean currents at night the WHOI crew get in position to capture the Ocean Bottom Seismometer. 

After a successful OBS capture the WHOI crew quickly disassembles the OBS and prepares it to be stacked with the other equipment that is strongly secured to the surface of the deck. 

This shows the spotlight at night. It is used to help orient the ship alongside the OBS in the pitch black darkness of the night at sea. We have also thankfully had the full moon over the last few days to assist us in finding the OBS once it pops up to the surface.

This lovely burry image is the spot light as it tracks the OBS. The spotlight is extremely useful once the OBS is within several ship lengths of distance. 

The OBS is starting to get closer now....

Full moon over a perfect OBS recovery.

Hammock in the middle of the night!

You can really get a good feel for spotting the OBS at night in this picture. It is obviously a ship length or two off the starboard bow. 

Terry Cheiffetz

  

Survival Suits to the Rescue!

Before the R/V Endeavor embarks on its research voyage the new crew/scientists get to enjoy the challenge of a mock sinking scenario where they have ~2mins to jump out of their shoes and wiggle into these fashionable lobster costumes.  

Dr. Maureen Long and one of the crew members race each other to safety!

Graduate Student intern Colton Lynner is almost unrecognizable once the survival suit is fully on. Only the last troublesome step up zipping up to go before full emersion can take place. 

Graduate Student intern Terry Cheiffetz struggles with the final zipper step as well. 

Dr. Maggie Benoit looks like she wants to really know how to put on the survival gear in case of emergency or... she can't believe she has to participate in these fun shenanigans.

The final product appears to be both fashionable and comfortable. We would interview the model in this photo but he declined to comment....hopefully next years model will have a mouth hole haha!

Living Quarters aboard the Endeavor

This is what the state rooms look like for the research scientists on the Endeavor. That lovely extra piece of wood wedged in on the top and bottom bunks help prevent us from falling out of bed in the middle of the night if the ship rolls more than expected.

Using the restroom at sea can be challenging at times...... especially when the seas unexpectedly turn on you while you are trying to take a shower. It is basically an unexplainable balancing act.

This lovely area is where we gather for three amazing meals a day and get an opportunity to socialize with some of the various crew members aboard the ship.

Maggie has about a million movies to choose from. They are an ancient technology called VHS used a long, long time ago....

The science deck is the room where all the magic happens. Everything from running the burn sequences on the OBS's to recalculating the surfacing locations due to variable ocean currents occurs here. The amount of technology on the Endeavor is impressive.

Terry Cheiffetz