Log - July-27-2003 by Gerhard Behrens Previous | Next Expedition Expedition | People Samples are not so simple! We are about 73 degrees north, getting close to a very small town called Pond Inlet, in Baffin Bay. There is no nighttime now, which is a good thing because collecting water samples is a 24-hour a day job, and no one wants to be reminded by darkness, that it is 3:00 in the morning. We get to a station (did you learn your words in the fun facts section?) and cast the rosette (that is another word you should look up in the fun facts). As it drops down, the chief scientists watch a computer picture and look for interesting things about the waterÕs temperature, salt, and oxygen levels. On the way back up, they collect water at these places by clicking the computer mouse. When the water samples are back on the ship, itÕs time for others to collect what they need for their experiments (remember yesterdayÕs picture of Òmilking.Ó). Then the ship steams off to the next station and the crew gets the rosette ready for another cast. That pattern is repeated over and over again in different parts of Baffin Bay. By the end of Sunday, the team will collect water 12 different times. We are on a very strict schedule, so you cannot call Òtime outÓ and take a rest. It is a rare chance to get these water samples, so sleep can wait. Working together, the team must keep going. Some people have been awake and working for more than 24 hours. Others have only had a few hours sleep in the last 3 days. That takes a lot of perseverance and patience! Co chief scientist Humfrey Melling clicks the mouse to get a water sample at just the right spot. Collecting a water sample for testing is not like going to the kitchen sink and filling a bottle. There are very clear rules on how seawater must be collected. John Harris is testing for a chemical called freon, so he must go first. He must also collect his samples with a big needle so no outside air gets into his water sample. Then he has to put his sample in a water bath so the temperature stays even. Dale Hubbard is testing for oxygen. He has to tip his sample bottle upside down and flush it out so that none of the roomÕs oxygen is in the bottle. Then he fills it to overflowing, and lets it overflow for about 15 seconds. While it is overflowing, he taps it to make sure no air bubbles are inside. Finally, he can cap his bottle. Everyone who collects samples must rinse the sample bottle 3 times. Then, you have to report your sample to a person who checks off that you took a sample from a certain bottle. Chi Meredith is our Òsample copÓ making sure water is taken in the right order, from the right place. Joe Jennings rinses out his bottle before filling it with seawater sample. As I mentioned before, some testing is done right away on the ship. Joe Jennings is testing for nutrients, the things plants and animals need to live. He has to do tests right on the ship because waiting until we get home will change the water sample too much. Dale, who is measuring for oxygen, must ÒpickleÓ the oxygen right away. He adds a chemical to his water sample, and this chemical takes all the oxygen out of the water and holds it in a kind of slime at the bottom of his flask. A little later, he can measure the amount of oxygen in this sludge to know how much oxygen there was in the water. Some testing will be done on shore back home. For Kumiko Azetsu-Scott who is testing inorganic (non-living) carbon, this means she has to pack her water samples for later. She has to follow very special rules for packing: rinsing her bottle, collecting it carefully, creating some air space, adding a poison to kill any living things, adding 4 strips of a sealer to the bottle top, then locking the top with a special rubber band. She is following a worldwide protocol, which means these are rules that every scientist in the world must follow for this testing. It takes integrity (doing the right thing) to follow the rules and not take short cuts. And, as Kumiko said, you must be in good shape to handle the long hours. I was able to help with taking water out of the rosette. It felt good to be part of a team. I also felt honored to be touching water that had been cruising the ocean floor over a mile below us, so close to the North Pole. When was the last time this water had been in contact with air on the surface? When was the last time that water was a raindrop? Chi Meredith, the sample cop, records each personÕs sample. Kumiko Azetsu-Scott adds poison to her sample. Notice the rubber band locks on the bottle top. Finally, I thought about how precious this water is to science and to our earth. It takes a lot of money, a lot of people, a lot of equipment, and a lot of knowledge to get samples from this far-away body of water. I looked at the water everyone was taking, hoping that the clues inside would help us understand our oceans better, and help us take better care of our planet.