The following is a post from the Bering Sea part of our trip that was not published on August 2nd, as it should have been. I think too highly of David Leech to ignore this oversight!
You may not guess by the snappy dress, but you are looking at a mooring master. Though he would be humble and scoff at the verbiage, David Leech’s vast experience makes “master” simple, proper usage. Dave is responsible for the building, deployment and recovery for all of the moorings used in the Bering Ecosystem Study. These devices rest on the ocean floor and collect data over time. In the case of BEST, the moorings collect data, like that of a CTD, every thirty minutes for an entire year.
To do this job, a mooring technician must employ skills in engineering, physics, chemistry, oceanography, electrical work, weather, computer technology and be a mariner on top of all that. Below is one of Dave’s “babies” which needed a little assistance in recovery. The moorings are controlled by unique, acoustic signatures and sometimes even though they can “talk” to a device, it may not release properly. This poor guy was down for two years, requiring the aid of two divers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks to bring it back home.
The level of teamwork and commitment to fulfill the cruise objectives and successfully recover all data is superb. Key to this expedition was the support of Shawn Harper and Heloise Chenelot, both research diving technicians with the University of Alaska Fairbanks. To achieve the recovery of this mooring, the divers had to go to depths of 80 ft. in water reaching 30-32 degrees F.
Sometimes you need a little help from things operated by Playstation controllers. This little ROV took a swim in the Bering Sea and lived to tell about it.
Dave talked about the enormous pressure he feels during the recovery phase and that he would not want to know his own blood pressure reading during those moments. As he is waiting to recover all of his moorings and the precious data they hold, he thinks about the people who’s jobs are depending on the success of the recovery and the research and the future grant money riding on that critical phase. Hearing that made me think that instead of mooring master, it may be even better to able to just be able to call him a friend.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Ok this is probably a dumb question but what is CTD data?
No such thing as a dumb question. However, it is one that I found someone better to answer. In a nutshell, CTD’s are used for water sampling. Here is a lot more info from a previous post.
http://www.wellspicedlife.com/2010/08/04/all-about-the-water-sampling-in-the-bering-sea/