While at sea there really isn't that much to take pictures of. The first 80 or so miles are through the Straight of Georgia and Juan de Fuca but this cruise it was nearly dark by the time we got out of Saanich Inlet. And I can't get the MIMS fully up and running till we are out of Saanich (the water is too eutrophic and I'm afraid it will contaminate the tubing and membrane compared to the open ocean water), so I'm generally stuck in the lab during the scenic part of the cruise. For the next 2600 km the only thing that changes is the weather. But sometimes that change is pretty spectacular.
The view from the lab on a relatively calm day.
And the view during a storm. Of course a still picture can't capture the feeling of the world around you shifting, occasionally throwing everything that isn't firmly secured across the lab (chairs, boxes, a very large tool kit, compressed gas cylinders eek, other scientists...)
This was the scene at the lab door just before I took the above picture. Generally we don't use the water door between the aft deck and the lab-for one I can't lift the 50L carboys over that sill. However, the storm 2 weeks ago was big enough that we were taking fairly major waves over the aft deck so they put the sill back in to keep the lab from flooding. For reference, in calm seas the aft deck is 10-12 feet above the water.
I'm fascinated with the development of storms out sea. Rather than looking at the sky like you'd watch a thunderstorm develop on the prairies, you watch the water. Here is the beginning of the storm. The ripples on the surface of the water indicate the the wind is getting strong enough to disturb the water which eventually lead to the big waves and swell.
Even though we still we under nice skies, the coming storm is whipping up white caps and driving air into the water changing the color.
The view from the lab on a relatively calm day.
And the view during a storm. Of course a still picture can't capture the feeling of the world around you shifting, occasionally throwing everything that isn't firmly secured across the lab (chairs, boxes, a very large tool kit, compressed gas cylinders eek, other scientists...)
This was the scene at the lab door just before I took the above picture. Generally we don't use the water door between the aft deck and the lab-for one I can't lift the 50L carboys over that sill. However, the storm 2 weeks ago was big enough that we were taking fairly major waves over the aft deck so they put the sill back in to keep the lab from flooding. For reference, in calm seas the aft deck is 10-12 feet above the water.
I'm fascinated with the development of storms out sea. Rather than looking at the sky like you'd watch a thunderstorm develop on the prairies, you watch the water. Here is the beginning of the storm. The ripples on the surface of the water indicate the the wind is getting strong enough to disturb the water which eventually lead to the big waves and swell.
Even though we still we under nice skies, the coming storm is whipping up white caps and driving air into the water changing the color.
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