Category Archives: Current Internships

Biscayne Week 2: No trap left behind

My second week at Biscayne kicks off the derelict trap retrieval operation everyone at the office has been anticipating. This is the one week, every two years, that they can remove whatever lobster, stone crab, and blue crab traps they find. This is the only ten day period every two years during which blue crab season. For this week, and this week only, all three traps left in Biscayne National Park are illegal, because all three fishing seasons are closed. The team has been carefully recording the locations of traps for the last two years, and if they are still in place, they will know for sure that they are derelict, abandoned, or illegal.

Monday, we also conduct some turtle surveys, collect water samples for red tide, and remove any derelict traps we spot along the way. The bay is a smooth mirror and we can see everything from the boat, right down to a little nurse shark snuffling its way through the eelgrass. The water is so clear that when I jump in to grab two traps without buoys, I can see without a mask. Pulling up older traps is like pulling up a treasure chest. They are packed with lobsters, crabs, brittle stars, and translucent baby Caribbean octopuses with eyes like opals. Seriously. They are the most amazing glittering blue orbs in an otherwise colorless little slime ball of cuteness.

Adorable little Caribbean Reef Octopus and Delaina collecting water samples. Mornings like these are such a treat to enjoy. Photo Credits: Delaina Ross.

After a week of calm seas and skies, Mother Nature decided that this week of all weeks was the time to let loose. The forecast shows an onslaught of thunderstorms peppering Biscayne National Park all week. Luckily, being in Florida means it could be pouring buckets on you, but if you slung your dive buddy off the boat, they’d be under sunny skies. I’m not strong enough to throw them overboard with their steel cylinders (if you haven’t picked up by now, I have a grudge against the steel 120s), so I guess they’d be stuck in the pouring rain. After careful consideration, we head out, with a watchful eye on the radar, ready to dodge storms if needed.

Removing derelict traps is no joke. A lot of traps are weighed down with ballasts, which are concrete slabs poured into the bottom of traps to keep them on the ocean floor. Lobster traps are by far the heaviest, made out entirely of wood and concrete, and can weigh up to 70 pounds. Wet and biofouled, ours have weighed in at over 100 lbs. It usually takes two lift bags to get them to the surface. This requires careful coordination between a buddy pair to make sure they are filling each lift bag with air at the same time so that the trap rises in a controlled manner to the surface. At one dive site, Rachel Fisher, Amanda Rivard, and I follow a line of traps for a couple hundred yards, but for what feels like miles as we kick into a strong current.

You can never take enough lift bags on a dive. Photo Credit: Amanda Rivard

As soon as you think you are exhausted from digging broken traps out of the sand, swimming against strong current, and untangling heavy lines fouled with sponges, algae, and (my favorite) fire coral, you find yourself up on deck hauling in trap after 70 freaking pound trap. Pretty quickly you find yourself excited to get back in the water, and so the cycle continues. Back at the park headquarters, all the debris needs to be sorted, weighed, and taken to dumpsters. It’s challenging work, but I enjoy getting to be with a team of upbeat, funny, and motivated people. While having mostly female teams can still be a rare occurrence in many scientific fields, Biscayne’s divers set amazing examples to look up to, and they kick some serious butt. I’m thrilled to get to work and learn alongside them.

While I admit I spend a good part of my dives staring at the bottom and cursing traps through my reg, Biscayne National Park refuses to be ignored. On one dive, loaded up with a plethora of lift bags, clips, and mesh bags, we descend onto a beautiful reef with a friendly turtle, nurse shark, and even a moray eel! If my internship ended the next day, I would be content with all I saw! Even more exciting is our second dive. Amanda Rivard picks out a reef patch for some scouting work that has an average depth of around 15ft. At first, it seems devoid of hard corals but is a beautiful garden of purple and orange gorgons and sponges. Then, as we hit the end of the patch and start returning on the West side, I notice Rivard freaking out.

Amanda Rivard (left) and I (right) observing a turtle and untangling some rope. Photo Credit: Delaina Ross

My concern turns to amazement as I see the staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis (Acer), littering the side of the reef patch. Rivard, Delaina, and I all look at each other in disbelief. Seeing healthy Acer in South Florida is now rare, as the compounding effects of extremely warm temperatures in the summer and disease outbreaks reduce whatever populations are left to deeper reefs (National Park Service). Observing this coral growing pleasantly in about 12ft of water is mind-blowing and so exciting. When we get on the boat, Rivard immediately contacts the restoration team. These corals are large enough to spawn, meaning they could add genetic diversity and heat resilience to the coral restoration nursery.

Photo Credit: Delaina Ross, Amanda Rivard

It’s easy to fall into a rut of only seeing environmental destruction in the field and feel pretty pessimistic about the future of our natural world. Getting to see this resilient coral, which has seemingly defied two recent heat waves, hurricanes, and the pressures of marine debris from fishing, gives me hope. Apparently, I give the Biscayne team hope because they joke they should start taking me on each dive as a lucky charm after our day of turtles, sharks, coral, and more.

Spot the turtle! Photo Credit: Amanda Rivard

On the last day of trap removals, we head out on the Bay as offshore weather is a little too spicy for diving. We have a tough tide window to work with, and end up doing a lot of wading to get to traps too shallow to reach with the boat. At one point, I reach to grab a trap buoy, and end up back-flopped, belly up, staring at some clouds while my legs are bent at 90 degrees, disappearing in mud up to my knees. I was hoping no one saw, but when the water had drained from my ears and I pulled the sargassum off my head, I found an entire boat of people laughing at me. The wind is strong, and Delaina and Shelby rise to the challenge of keeping our flat-bottom boat (fondly nicknamed the “hockey puck”) from sliding all over the surface as we try to pull up to traps. I get to meet beloved long-time volunteers Suzy Pappas (Coastal Cleanup Corporation) and Frank Reyes (Mangrove Sasquatch), who also each coordinate beach cleanups and community outreach events in their own time. The stewardship that they and other volunteers show to Biscayne National Park and the surrounding area is a testament to how dedicated they are and how beloved the park is.

Suzy and I about to jump in for a trap. Delaina with a stone crab trap. Photo Credit Delaina Ross, Frank Reyes

By the end of derelict trap week, we have removed over 85 traps, 5300+ pounds of debris, and approximately 2.6 miles of trap line. Countless stone crabs, blue crabs, lobsters, and other bycatch like nurse sharks were saved from derelict traps. To be clear, the fishing community was not being robbed of its dinner! Most of these traps were super old (besides being illegal) and would have never been found again. One of the teams was also able to save a sea turtle entangled in trap line, highlighting the danger of this marine debris and the importance of removing it.

At the end of the week, with the little free time I should have used to sleep, I’m able to connect with the 2025 OWUSS REEF Intern, Imogen Parker. I attend a coral outplanting workshop with the organization I.Care in the morning and then join her on a boat ride to one of I.Care’s sites. Getting to carefully clean algae off the outplanted coral bases was a peaceful end to a strenuous week of diving. The divemaster literally had to take the toothbrush out of my hand to tell I was done with my site. I personally think there were a few more pieces of algae that needed some attention. Finished with our sites, Imogen and I had fun getting to goof off together, and we ended International Women’s Dive Day with some fish tacos.

Biscayne Week 1: Eat or be eaten

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The first thing I learned at Biscayne National Park is that I am, in fact, not faster than a mosquito. After being picked up from the Miami airport and driven to Park Housing by Park Biologist and DSO Shelby Moneysmith (on her day off, too, because she is the best), I decided to go for a short run after a couple of cramped hours on the plane. It’s a short story and was an even shorter run because the mosquitoes ate me alive.

They become an ever-present part of my time at Biscayne and relentlessly torment anyone caught outside. Shelby says they are worse because of a recent week of rain, but I think she is trying to make me feel better about slapping and swatting while everyone else stoically endures the feasting. I try my best to ignore them, but by the evening, my face, neck, ears, and hair are crusty with mats of dried, smeared mosquitoes.

The last known photo of the two giant horseflies on the side of my hat.

Luckily, most of the days at Biscayne are spent out on the water, a mosquito-free paradise of turquoise blue. Compared to the cold, low-visibility waters of the Pacific Northwest, where I started my Scientific Diving journey, Biscayne is paradise. Looking down at coral patches from 40 feet above on the boat is unbelievable. My first day at the park, I get in four dives observing Shelby Moneysmith, Ana Zangroniz, and Amanda Rivard as they do fish ID Reef Visual Census (RVC) surveys. I also assist in marine debris removal and scouting for derelict lobster traps.

Biscayne National Park is unique in that it is one of the only National Parks to allow fishing, both recreational and commercial, within its waters (National Park Service). This means it has unique conservation issues, such as ropes, lines, and traps left behind from fishing. These items often foul up with algae and encrusting sponges where they sink to the ocean floor and can smother, tangle, or rip up precious coral habitats, especially during rough weather. At one site alone, we removed over 100 pounds of line.

Next week will be the only week of the year when it is illegal to leave out lobster, stone crab, and blue crab traps. Blue crab traps are only out of season for 10 days every other year. This means park staff basically only have one week every two years where they can go out and determine, which traps are derelict (forgotten, lost, left out “accidentally”) or illegal, and can do a large-scale removal.

Delaina examining a lobster from a derelict trap.

The next day, I head out with Delaina and Bianca, both Scientific Divers through Florida SeaGrant, on a project that is in collaboration with Biscayne National Park. The goal for the day is to find and remove any derelict lobster or stone crab traps. Until Friday, all blue crab traps are still legal. We spot two buoys right away and notice both are missing identification tags, which means they are illegal. However, neither seems derelict (missing parts of the trap indicating it is no longer/can no longer be used). Since this is more in the domain of park law enforcement and not within our jurisdiction, we put the traps back but drop a pin so we can return if needed.

We head out on a pretty calm morning, which is important for spotting traps in the shallow waters. Bianca examining an illegal trap with no identification tag.

The rather quick start to our day is misleading, and we spend the next couple of hours carefully navigating around the Featherbeds, which are shallow, sandy shoals. We scan the clear water for anything that could be trap material since lobsters and crabs like to burrow into the sandy banks of the shoals where they drop into deeper waters, making this a popular trapping spot. To Delaina and Bianca’s surprise, we don’t find anything. This could potentially mean recreational and commercial fishers are respecting the laws more than in previous years, or it could mean my trap-spotting abilities are subpar. I’d like to think it’s the first explanation.

Finally, we spot a buoy off in the distance, and upon closer inspection, pull up a stone crab trap. Inside are four stone crabs and the remains of many more. If stone crabs are stuck in traps together, they will eventually cannibalize each other, another reason why derelict traps are destructive and should be removed.

This trap had been left for a while, based on the algae fouling the outside and the amount of cannibalized remains.

Based on the number of claws we pulled from the trap, Delaina estimates that at least three crabs had been cannibalized, and the smallest of the four had already shown fresh wounds, indicating early attempts. It was a pretty good feeling to return them to the ocean, even if this included scooping them up and then a less than gentle toss overboard to avoid their large claws.

This was my first time seeing a stone crab, and I was impressed by how beautiful their spotted shells were, although I’m not sure they had as nice things to say about me as I chucked them overboard. Photo credit: Bianca Banato

Thursday, I head out again with Delaina and Bianca for turtle surveys which include looking for signs of crawling, new nests, and predation. We also try to pick up what trash we can, because the beaches are covered in it. Rope is tangled in the thick mats of sargassum that wash up on shore, and anything from buoys, beer bottles, and shoes to makeup containers and coolers is littered along the coast. We squelch our way through mud of a particularly fragrant odor and try to weave through mangrove branches that have a hankering to slap us in the face. The mosquitoes… well, I digress, words can’t do them justice. Thankfully, I get to wear a bug jacket, and the mesh keeps them from hungrily chewing at my eyeballs like usual. It quickly becomes my favorite piece of clothing that I’ve never owned.

The trip to the beaches involves a chest-deep wade through the water and sargassum mud.

Bianca and I eventually come across a marked nest with a few eggshells strewn about. She excitedly grabs them to verify hatched turtles, and her face drops as she points out incision marks on the leathery, shriveled material. She explains that this is a sign of predation from ghost crabs. The mood turns somber as we excavate the rest of the nest and find evidence of 107 eggs, all likely predated by ghost crabs. It’s a huge disappointment, especially when it’s such a large nest and had the potential of producing many offspring that could return to the beach and lay their own eggs. As we solemnly put the nest back and record our data, the scene in front of me is bleak. Even if every single turtle in this nest had hatched and survived predation, they would have needed to navigate their way around and over the mounds of trash on the beach to make it to the ocean. The haunting scene of bleached bones and carapaces, barely discernible between the bottles and buoys, tells the story of adults who returned only to die on these beaches.

What may seem like only a few pieces of plastic close to the nest turns into a barricade of trash at the high tide line.

If you look closely, you can see a pile of predated shells in the top left corner of the turtle nest. The remains of a stranded turtle are in the right photo. Photo Credit: Bianca Banato.

It’s easy to jump to conclusions. Well, why doesn’t the park keep its beaches cleaner? Why don’t they pick up the trash? The simple and honest answer is that they do. They spend countless hours navigating miles of beaches, braving the heat and mosquitoes, regularly picking up hundreds of pounds of trash both in and out of the water. And so do numerous volunteers, participating in Biscayne National Park’s Beach Cleanup Program. The truth is that beach cleanups aren’t going to save the turtles when trash, specifically, plastic, continues to stream in from users of the park and beyond. Curbing the amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean is the only true solution to this problem. But that includes a community and cultural shift in behavior and values, and realistically, beach cleanups are Biscayne’s strongest tool at the moment.

On a happier note, some baby raccoons await us at the dock. As Delaina expertly guides the 27ft Munson into the park slip, a huddle of people at the next boat over draws our attention. After some investigation, the most adorable bleary-eyed raccoons gaze up at us from their nest of rope in the anchor hold. Their mom watches us unconcerned under the shade of the nearby dock ramp, escaping the blistering heat.

What I got to see versus what I imagine the raccoons got to see.

Friday, I get to head out with the coral restoration team to observe their surveys and get some practice with the camera rig Brett Seymour from SRC sent me with. Before I left, he told me it was idiot proof and while I like a good challenge, I felt this wasn’t the time or place. This is my first dive with the steel 120s that everyone uses at Biscayne. I’ve been intimidated to go near one so far, probably because I’m imagining a scenario where I go to pick it up in front of the team and it doesn’t budge. Thankfully, I make it into the water, steel tank, camera, and all with no mishaps, and then proceed to have the longest dive I’ve ever been on at 163 minutes. The restoration plot is shallow, an average of 18ft deep, and I watch (very unhelpfully) as the coral team sets out many transect tapes and surveys the site.

Outplanted coral. Still figuring out exposure and other settings…

Rachel Fisher, Gabby Cabral, and Laura Palma from the coral restoration team doing transect surveys at a coral outplanting site. As you might notice, there isn’t much naturally surviving except some soft corals called gorgonians.

The swell is pretty strong, and they work hard to keep on task as they get rocked back and forth across the plot. I focus on not crashing into their outplanted coral with my heavy tank and awkward camera rig because that would be the most horrible and shameful event of my life. Besides the event earlier in the morning, where I almost let my housemate’s cat escape out the door into the mangroves. The Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station is just down the bay, known for the most robust population of American crocodiles in the United States due to the warmer discharge water. I’ll leave it at that.

With both the cat and coral surviving my presence, we stop at Boca Chita Lighthouse to eat lunch and then go back to headquarters to finish up the day. I walk back to the housing, more than a little hungry, contemplating whether iguana tastes good and how fast my first week at Biscayne has flown by. Turns out I’m not fast enough to catch them anyway (only to say hi, I swear), and they all skitter safely away, probably on their way to invade the continent.

Cute little flamingo tongue hanging out on a gorgonian.

Diving into… Denver?

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Anyone who knows me might be surprised to learn that I traveled to New York City. After all, I am usually found far from towering buildings, definitely covered in dirt, probably a little stinky, and ideally with a critter in hand. Navigating a big city like NYC was new to me, and while I wasn’t used to having to be clean and smell nice, I was looking forward to checking a rat eating pizza off of my critter bingo card. All of this to say, even outside of my “natural habitat”, I had the most amazing time in NYC because I was meeting wonderful, friendly people all brimming with the most incredible stories.

The first day, meeting all the other interns and scholars is a bit intimidating, but quickly becomes a fun adventure. We eat yummy bagels and navigate angry cyclists, all while getting to learn where everyone is from, their diving journeys, and their hopes for the next few months. Getting to listen to past interns and scholars present their experiences the following day is like getting to watch a live mashup of Planet Earth, NatGeo, and perhaps a little bit of Red Bull TV. I sit in awe, thinking, “I’m supposed to stand up there next year and be this awesome.”

The 2025 OWUSS Interns. Hint: My hair is covering my name tag.

The Explorer’s Club is absolutely the most interesting building I’ve ever been in, with each component, from floorboards to artwork, telling a story. I was also thrilled to be reunited with the two 2024 AAUS Interns whom I had become good friends with the previous summer at Shannon Point Marine Center. The weekend flew by quickly, and soon it was time to say goodbye to everyone. I am so excited to follow along with everyone’s diving journeys across the globe this year!

The Explorer’s Club has a long history (many displays predate the Lacy Act).

After NYC, I went home to pack for my internship with the Submerged Resources Center (SRC) and National Parks Service (NPS) and to also give my dog (who will probably never forgive me for leaving, again) some snuggles.

The flight to Denver, where the SRC headquarters are, was surreal. Flying over rolling plains, empty deserts, and mountains so tall it felt like you could lean out of the plane and touch them, really put into perspective the scale of our Nation’s unique geography and my upcoming internship. I’ve always been proud to belong to a country with such an amazing and diverse park system and am honored that I will get to work alongside the people who contribute to ensuring they are protected and functioning for us (and the world!) to experience.

SRC Deputy Chief and Audio Visual Specialist Brett Seymour picks me up from the Denver airport in a big truck he tells me I’ll be driving around for the next week. Awesome! The next day, I get to meet Dr. Dave Conlin, SRC Chief, see the SRC headquarters, and load up on dive gear. Also, awesome! It was so nice to finally get to meet the two people who have dedicated so much time and effort to ensuring this internship happens in a time where federal jobs and the future of these programs are uncertain. I would like to express my utmost gratitude for their dedication and also thank OWUSS for doing everything possible to support my internship. Even with the few people I have met so far, it is apparent that the NPS and SRC staff are unwaveringly committed to serving our Nation through their stewardship of the parks.

Getting all of the gear I need in the SRC Dive Locker and a last minute drysuit try on to make sure I’m ready for Crater Lake. Everything went downhill when my hair tie sprang off. This will also be my first time getting to use a camera with housing and lighting! (Photo Credit Drysuit Monster: Brett Seymour)

My first day at the office was also my 21st birthday, and I was able to carry on my tradition of a birthday hike when Brett kindly took me to some trails around Red Rocks Amphitheater. The next morning was the swim and skills tests that I had been somewhat nervously waiting for (I passed – whew).

Brett giving me a run down on how a rebreather works. You might notice the oxygen censors read the partial pressure in Denver as 0.16 when it’s normally 0.21 at sea level – now you can guess how fun the swim test was.

Any free time I get, I’m exploring hiking trails in the area. I guess my clean and nice-smelling era didn’t last too long. I love getting to see how different the vegetation is in Colorado. There are so many unique flowers, and a lot of the ground cover reminds me of coral reefs. Different sedum is shaped like boulder coral, while other odd-looking plants look like staghorn coral. There are magpies everywhere, and I even was able to see a western tanager, which is a bird with beautiful bright orange and red coloring.

On the morning of the Fourth of July, Dave takes me on a lovely hike in the foothills of the Rockies. After some breakfast, I decide it’s a good idea to see if there are trails to the top of the “Flatirons” we were gazing up at from below. After quite a few steep miles uphill, buckets of sweat, and perhaps some regret, I am rewarded with a beautiful view of Boulder, CO, nestled against the Rockies. I arrive back at the trailhead feeling half-dead but accomplished and proceed to eat a lot of ice cream on my way out of Boulder. My adventures should have ended there, but along the drive back to Denver, another beautiful, rugged, tabletop taunts me from the side of the road. The next thing I know, I’ve pulled over and am huffing and puffing my way up to the top for a nice sunset.

Taking a photo of what will soon destroy me. Photo Credit: Dave Conlin

The following day, I have the pleasure of meeting Sarah Von Hoene, the 2021 NPS Intern. I spend the evening limping after her on yet another amazing hike and then eat some more ice cream (shocking, I know). One of my favorite parts of the internship so far has been getting to meet past interns and the incredible network of people in OWUSS and beyond. It is a pretty cool feeling to know that wherever you travel, there are likely OWUSS or NPS connections! Every person I have interacted with has been so welcoming and genuinely excited to help me out and offer whatever support they can. I’d like to give a special shoutout to Shaun Wolfe, Hailey Shchepanik, Leeav Cohen, and Sarah, all former NPS Interns, for spending time answering all the questions I felt were too silly to ask Brett or Dave and giving me tips for navigating this internship. The legacy of former interns and the OWUSS community is truly incredible, and I look forward to being a part of it as I leave the SRC headquarters tomorrow and begin my internship at Biscayne National Park.

Behind the Scenes: Crafting a Cultural Landmark

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By: Diana Phillips

Have you ever walked into a museum and wondered what went into making the place? Me either! I have always happily interacted with the beautiful exhibits, merely excited to learn new things alongside the people I love.

My perspective has evolved after interning at the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) this summer. On June 7-8^th, 2025, REEF will open a brand-new Ocean Exploration Center (OEC). This center will become a cultural landmark and a staple of Key Largo. Within it, REEF will showcase all its incredible citizen science projects with a multitude of interactive exhibits.

FRAME meeting to discuss the details of the sign at the new center.

As an intern, I was able to participate in meetings with FRAME, a team dedicated to creating spaces visitors love, staff can maintain, leadership can champion, and the organization can sustain. Over the course of a week, I watched as these essential meetings molded the direction of the Ocean Exploration Center. This involved things you would expect, such as reviewing exhibits, providing feedback on tabletop games, and creating a timeline before the grand opening. Mostly, we all agreed on prospective changes, but occasionally we had differing opinions. One of our most heated discussions related to what sign should be positioned in front of the Ocean Exploration Center as a photo opportunity for social media. Questions dropped like a rainstorm. Should the logo have a cutout fish or a fish impression? Should the background be a photo or a drawing? Should it be swirling fish or a horizontal school? So on and so on. It was fascinating how we could see details differently, which most others would consider minute. Yet, this sign will draw in visitors and should inspire them to share it with their friends and family. Therefore, these decisions play a huge role in representing who we are and how we want our beautiful center to be shared.

I was shocked by how many of our discussions went beyond the museum itself. A crucial part of this experience was developing confidence and direction within the organization during this critical time. We discussed our mission and what excited and concerned us about opening the new center. Beyond that, we discussed how to deal with the increased capacity for visitors and how staff positions would need to evolve to meet the demands of the new center. The experience taught me that museums couldn’t exist without the dedicated staff behind them being united in mission and execution.

I am so grateful to REEF for being included in these meetings as an intern. One component I spoke up about was increasing diversity by creating opportunities to engage the Hispanic community, which makes up over 30% of our local population, yet has been historically underrepresented in participation within our programming. To work towards this goal, we had several discussions about translating exhibits and additional materials for Spanish speakers. Over the course of my internship, I got the opportunity to translate materials for the new center. As a Colombian American, it makes me proud to help increase accessibility for other Spanish speakers.

I am proud to have contributed to decisions for the new center, which will educate and inspire visitors for generations. It is so special to have an organization that concerns itself with the voices of its youngest members. Being a part of this pivotal moment in REEF’s history has been inspiring, and I am left in awe at the tremendous leadership demonstrated by the directors to accomplish the grand task.

Hands-On Learning: Building Educational Activities for All Ages

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By: Diana Phillips

Sterile classrooms. If you asked me what it meant to educate the public before my internship began, I would have envisioned sterile classrooms with seated audiences for hour-long lectures. Imagine my surprise when my first educational event involved thirty people packing into a hallway to drink and eat snacks. It became immediately obvious that not everything I learned that night would happen during the lecture next door. An equally important component was the opportunity for the community to come together: to have fun, to interact, to catch up on projects, and to hear about each other’s goals. Nor was the classroom sterile, as the room was covered in a mural of fish, the audience filled with laughter, and the lecture filled with equal parts information and jokes about the ghost that haunted our building.

That night was my first introduction to the concept of passive learning. Not everyone who learned something was trying to or would even realize that they eventually internalized new information. Rather than expecting participants to become well-versed in a topic, the focus was on highlighting key concepts that any passerby could internalize.

Another such passive learning opportunity was my project to fabricate a lionfish model which participants could shoot at with foam darts. The message was simple: invasive lionfish are harmful and removing them is good. I began by dismembering an old model, ripping it apart to start anew. The body was made with an old water jug, while the fins, head, and tail were made from cardboard, with some structural support from wood and wire. The model was covered in duct tape to secure the fins and create an even texture, then it was given an eye-catching lionfish paint job.

Child shooting a nerf bow and arrows at an educational lionfish game.

Ironically, the fins that make real lionfish hard to predate upon also make it incredibly difficult for an intern to transport as a 3 ft model when packing it into their car. To overcome this obstacle, I decided to add hinges to the pectoral fins. Aesthetically, this meant that the fins could “swim” while simultaneously giving us a flat side of the fish so it could be more easily transported. Interestingly, adding this singular moving component was surprisingly difficult. It made me understand the saying common in engineering: “The fewer moving parts, the better.” Eventually, the fish was complete and positioned as an activity for participants in our derby to engage with. Ultimately, there are a few things more gratifying than watching people of all ages enjoy the activities you created. Seeing the family’s bond as their curiosity was stoked was satisfying.

Child learning to spear a lionfish while avoiding the coral reef.

The lionfish model was not the only educational activity I fabricated for our derby, as we had another key concept we intended to share. Avoid hitting the reef when spearing lionfish. This game utilized a real lionfish spear with the tip removed and replaced with a tennis ball for safety. Then, I fabricated two boxes designed to look like a coral reef. Images of fish attached to cut-up pool noodles were covered in Velcro and attached. The game taught participants how to shoot the lionfish spear and capture the lionfish while avoiding the reef and other fish species. This activity was heartwarming to facilitate as it became an intergenerational activity for parents who go lionfish hunting to show their kids how to use the spear. It was so sweet to hear the eagerness of their children, hoping to join their parents for lionfish hunting. It was also fulfilling to hear the fishermen explain to their kids why they should avoid hitting the reef and other fish species with their spears as they helped them play.

Fabricating these hands-on activities during my internship showed me that not all learning happens in classrooms. I realized that the most influential information can be shared in ways that are fun for the audience. Facilitating interactions between participants is equally as important as the message we hope to share.

Every inch of the Titanic through a single strand of fiber – Part 2

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The 348ft (106m) Dino Chouest on the North Atlantic horizon.

Just as soon as the Dino Chouest has peaked its bow over the continental shelf the sun cracks over the horizon, time for the ROV’s first dive with their new high-tech additions. Not only will this be a shakedown for our cameras, but it will also be a chance for the ROV crew to set the right buoyancy and trim to properly displace the weight of the camera array that has been added on. As we hit the bottom, everyone’s eyes shoot to the screen that has all the cameras live feeds; this is the best screen on the whole ship as every inch of our survey lines will be flashing in front of our eyes three times over. While we are not yet at the Titanic, seeing the bottom, at over 500 meters below, for the first time is still an incredible experience. Throughout our test dive, we test many variations for height off the bottom, light intensities, and camera parameters. The many crabs crawling around act as our test subjects for a few hours as we work to get the sharpest images we possibly can. Imaging in complete darkness is a tremendous challenge, as every parameter you change affects another. Finding the right balance between ROV speed and height off bottom, while maintaining sharp focus and limiting motion blur all while retaining enough light in our images will be a dance we will do for the next few weeks on site.

Mounting cameras on the ROV for the trial dives

With trial dives over and a four-day journey ahead of us, there is no time to wait around — workflows for changing camera settings, data management, and exporting begin. Each morning we glance at the vessel’s navigation chart as we get closer and closer, signifying the amount of time we have to tackle what is at hand before the clock runs out. Constant talks about preferred lane spacing for the appropriate overlap surround us as we get closer, and survey lines start to get laid out on the grid of the wreck site. We’ll be separating the wreck site into boxes and within each box running lanes at three-and-a-half-meter spacing. This will ensure we retain enough overlap from lane to lane in order to render models, but also cover enough ground at a quick enough rate to image the site and debris field. As we arrive on site and the subs get prepared for their first titanic dive, final checks are done twice if not three times over. Cameras are mounted, cables are routed, and fiber is cleaned, with over a six-hour round trip journey from the bottom, the project can’t afford to be held back by unnecessary ROV trips back to the surface.

*Evan Kovacs and I dressing cables and securing housings before the ROV’s dive. Photo: Brett Seymour*

Leading up to the first dive there were so many tasks I could distract myself with, whether it be becoming familiarized with the software we’ll be using or assisting with camera setup. However, once the ROVs finally splash and start making their way towards the bottom, not much can be done but wonder what the wreck will look like and what kind of debris we will come across. As soon as we reach the bottom, image quality checks and camera parameters are adjusted. Each time we make a change we make sure to export a few images to check our results before moving on to adjust the next camera. Finding the appropriate speed for the ROV to fly is of the utmost importance. Too fast we’ll get impacted by motion blur, too slow and we won’t cover enough ground to complete the survey area. With each change to ROV speed or camera setting, quality checks must start over again, in order to ensure our resolution is where we expect it to be; sub-millimeter.

We’ll be in constant communication with the ROV pilots over the next few weeks, as they’ll be calling out lanes and we’ll periodically have them adjust the height and camera tilt according to the frames we see on our camera feed, ensuring exposure and depth of field is ideal for the debris we come across. In the meantime, most of our lanes will be surrounding debris fields and we’ll get to the superstructures later. After the buzz about reaching the bottom dissipates and we make our first few passes, it’s time to head to bed. Brett and I will be in the control van from 12 AM to 6 AM while Evan and Josie will be from 6 AM to 12 PM, and then again from 12 PM to 6 PM and 6 PM to 12 AM. Imaging around the clock in these stints ensures the camera operator will always be sharp and aware of the feed in front of them, crucial for quality control. As we settle into our new routines and our bodies submit to our new alien sleep schedules, days begin to blur. It is amazing how you could be on a vessel in the middle of the North Atlantic and go days without taking a few minutes to stare off into the horizon to absorb your surroundings.

The second expedition ROV hovers over the Titanic’s bow.

As sunrises begin to blur with sunsets and single twenty-four-hour days start to feel like two, the lanes start ticking away. Getting closer and closer to the wreck we start to stumble into bigger debris. Entire sections of the ship and massive boilers that look as though they were made of paper and torn off from the tremendous force of the wreckage. Its always tricky to understand the scale of the objects, but a quick internet search reveals just one of the many boilers we imaged was taller and wider than the control van we were sitting in — truly incredible. Throughout our imaging, we consistently pull images from the servers for field renders. Not only does this serve as a quality check for our lane spacing and camera parameters, to ensure there are no holes, but it also captivates everyone who walks through our control van. As word spreads more and more people stop in to have a look at the live feed that flashes in front of our eyes 24/7, and look at the possibilities of future model creation.

*“Painting in” the propellers while in constant communication with the ROV pilots. Photo: Brett Seymour*

Many of the debris we came across we were able to image by continuing in our lanes and running three and a half meters off the bottom with the cameras facing straight down. With enough time of your eyes glued to the screen this way the camera feed finds its way to morph, and you start getting the sense you are right there on the bottom swimming along, just with three eyes instead of two that all seem to be blinking at their own rate. What was exciting to see at first like shoes, cups, luggage, and small debris becomes more and more prevalent as you make your way towards the wreck structures. Larger structures take time, patience, and constant communication with ROV pilots to image correctly. Giving them concise direction on ROV placement, camera tilt angles, and distance from the debris is critical to maintaining overlap while capturing the detail of an object for it to be able to be rendered successfully and not have any gaps or holes in coverage. While we are solely looking at our camera feeds, the ROV pilots have a plethora of monitors and controls to manage, from their lateral movements, vertical height adjustments, managing the tether connecting them to the ship, and all while not getting stuck, wrapped around any debris, or silting up the bottom cause us to lose visibility. The skill many of the pilots demonstrated in getting us close to complicated structures that seemed impossible to image was incredible. At certain points when imaging the propellers on the stern, we were under the overhang of the fantail, their efforts to get us in the best possible position are truly admirable. “Painting in” large structures as we began to call it, was a time-consuming component. Often structures would take hours at a time if not days, but running with lines would simply not produce good imagery for modeling as holes would be too prevalent, and light loss from the top-down view due to clearance would mean we would lose all image for a considerable amount of the object and or its surroundings. Throughout the weeks ROV pilots got a good sense of what distance and angles we were looking for while we started understanding where we could or could not fit, but it still never hurts to ask if we can just get a litttttlee bit closer!

*ROV returns to surface after one of its last dives on the wreck site. Photo: Brett Seymour*

With ROVs in the water until the last possible moment before turning back towards shore, it still feels surreal being able to witness all of Titanic. Every inch of the superstructure and major debris fields flashed before our eyes, from iconic bow shots to debris that told stories of those on board, now safeguarded in over two million images on servers in our control van. With a breakdown of equipment, cleanup of data, and packing up to do, our ride back to shore will be far from a cruise. As we switch back to our normal sleep cycles it seems almost impossible to think I’ll be awake for over six hours in one go. Even now I find myself remembering small memorable moments that seem to have gotten lost in the chaos of all the preparation and work at hand in the moment. It has been truly incredible to assist with an expedition of this scale and collect imagery of this caliber. My time spent learning and observing the experts around me such as Evan set up cameras and leave no stone unturned to achieve the highest possible quality will be an experience I will carry with me for a long time and am grateful to have!

*Camera Shack and UHD 327 (ROV) team photo, concluding a successful expedition on RMS Titanic.*

A dive into this summers projects

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A dive into this summers projects

One of the first projects I got to work on this summer was for the Cypress Island Aquatic Reserve where we were deploying artificial reef modules (ARMs). These reef modules were deployed on the south end of Cypress island and will remain there for a full year until they are collected and the growth on them is recorded. While we waited for the tides to hit slack, some of the REU interns took the chance to get in the water with us.

Waiting for the tides to hit slack, photos by Larkin Garden

Getting ready to deploy the ARMS

Another project that I worked on was on sea pens. This was a capstone project for Katie Shaw, one of the divers in the scientific dive class. She is working on developing a long-term dataset on sea pen populations. For the summer, we worked to to get initial population estimates and an idea of their special arrangements. This site was often a challenge to find due to strong currents and the site boundaries coming undone, but we were able to fix them and collect the data.

Sea pens. Photo by Larkin Garden

Out-planting

The biggest project I had the chance to work on this summer was with the REU diving interns. Partnering with Puget Sound Restoration Fund and NOAA to reintroduce Pinto abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana) whose population has been declining and is listed as an endangered species. This project began with us driving out to pick up just over 500 juvenile abalone from the NOAA hatchery to prepare them to be introduced to the wild.

AAUS and diving REU interns at NOAA hatchery collecting abalone

Once we had them, we had to measure and place bee tags on them for future studies. This was a tedious process because the number tags are around 2.2 mm and the abalone wouldn’t stop dancing. Tagging and measuring all of them took around 5 hours of lab work which had me looking forward to the next part of the experiment that wasn’t in the lab.

To give an idea of how small these tags were

The final part of the study was a 24 hour survey where divers went in every hour to count the number of abalone that had left the tubes. This was the big day for us this summer where we were finally beginning to collect data for this project.

5AM start to the day loading up the boat. Photo by Teagan Cunningham

REU Ana counting the abalone. Photo by Larkin Garden

AAUS interns after their first abalone dive of the day

After 16 hours of being out at the site, we decided to cut the study short due to the abalone not leaving the tubes. We then decided to get some sleep before we went out at 9 the next morning to count again. We would then check the out-planting site every day for the next week until there was finally no more abalone inside the tubes.

Taking a break from the class, Derek and Nate decided to take us out for a fun dive out at Turn Island. This was a dive where I would get to see another species on my bucket list, a Giant pacific octopus.

Jason Love and I exploring Turn Island

While staying at Shannon point, Teagan and I were invited to dinner with the 1999 OWUSS scholar Julie and her husband Jay. This was a nice chance to hear some amazing stories from them and have some amazing food.

Julie Barber, Teagan Cunningham, and myself

While on our way to watch REU presentations at Friday Harbor Lab, Larkin, Ana, Teagan and I got the chance to dive with Derek at Lime Kiln lighthouse state park. Here, we worked with Dr. Jason Wood and SMRU by deploying an acoustic release, uncrossing some cables, and moving a hydrophone. Some unique challenges we faced on this dive was a rough entry site and some strong current, but it was still an amazing dive and super cool to help on such an interesting project.

Acoustic release we deployed

Taking a break from the murky water of the Salish Sea, we took a trip up to lake Whatcom and got to enjoy some amazing visibility and help clean up some trash from the lake.

A close-up of a seabed

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Lake Whatcom’s clear water and the trash we removed

Before we all left Washington, we got the chance to try a blue water rig dive. This was something I wasn’t expecting us to do but it was an interesting opportunity and a new skill A red balloon and a white rope on grass

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The blue water rig ready to be deployed

Sadly, due to the visibility we weren’t able to see much on this dive but it was a good way to practice our communication skills and buoyancy.

Captain Nathan Schwarck, myself, Teagan Cunningham, and Dr. Derek Smith

SPMC diving residents Teagan, myself, Ana, and Larkin

While I am sad that my internship has ended, I couldn’t be more grateful for the amazing summer I have had. Thank you to AAUS and OWUSS for such an unforgettable experience. I also want to thank Derek and Nate for putting in so much work to make the summer go as well as it did. Finally, I want to thank the SPMC dive team Teagan, Larkin, and Ana who were an integral part in making this summer so special. I look forward to presenting at the 2025 annual meeting and look forward to seeing everyone again

The Final Splash

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Friday Harbor Adventures

July 30^th, 2024 – All of the REUs and divers woke up bright and early to leave for the ferry to Friday Harbor at 5:45 am. We drove to a local nature preserve to walk around before heading to Lime Kiln. The tide was very low, and the fog rolled over the horizon. But a bunch of marine scientists still enjoyed looking at the shoreline! At Lime Kiln, our scientific dive team was assisting Jason Wood at the Sea Mammal Research Unit to deploy and move hydrophones that were capturing real time acoustics for marine mammals and noise measurements. We went down in two groups: Derek, Ayden, and Ana moved the smaller hydrophone deeper while Larkin, and I untangled the crossed cable wires disrupting the sound on the shallower hydrophone. Then the whole group moved the smaller hydrophone to a shallower, new location. It was very important that we timed the tide correctly and got our work done in a timely manner because the current was only slack for ~40 minutes.

After the dive, we quickly made our way to the Friday Harbor Research Lab where we watched their summer REUs give their final presentations. Tim Dwyer gave Ayden and I a tour of the facilities including the labs and dive locker! Tim is a Bowdoin alum like me, husband to Megan Cook (2012 NA Scholar), and a teacher at Friday Harbor High School. I even met another Bowdoin graduate working on the Friday Harbor research boats: small world. As we were waiting for the ferry back to Anacortes, the group walked around Friday Harbor. It was a good time to pick up so small gifts to bring home to family and friends!

The Last Week

August 1^st, 2024 – The dive team travelled to the WWU Lakewood Boathouse in Bellingham to dive Lake Whatcom. We pulled right up to the lake to unload dive gear, and it was truly a beautiful sight. We had the facilities to ourselves, and the surface water was so warm! It was about 63 degrees until 40 ft and then 42 degrees at depth. The stratification was crazy, but the water was so clear! It looked like the Caribbean. Ayden and I explored the lake and got to a maximum depth of 111 ft which is our deepest dive to date. We also assisted in collecting marine debris from right off the docks. The group found some interesting items including a bike and many pairs of sunglasses.

Later that afternoon, we dove right off the SPMC beach to look for good spot to outplant our additional abalone. Nate suggested we outplant in an area near the end of the intake pipes. Since it was high tide and the intake pipes are covered in kelp and algae, it took us about 15 minutes to find them. We then followed the pipes to their end, towards the center of the bay and searched for a suitable habitat to place our precious abalone. The end of the intake pipes were close to the channel which has a lot of boat traffic including ferries. It was very important for us to stay at depth and properly place our dive flag float. On our way back to shore we saw a Giant Pacific Octopus hiding in the kelp! I almost touched it while I was detangling our SMB from some kelp because it was camouflaged so well! We were all so excited as it was on our Pacific Northwest bucket list.

August 3^rd, 2024 – The Art Show in Anacortes was a nice way to round out the internship. The local artists really produce beautiful work from wood cravings to clothing to paintings. Some of my favorite pieces were the wood carved bathymetry maps of the Salish Sea and the abstract landscape paintings of the pacific northwest. Brian also took us to see the boat that was used in Pirates of the Caribbean because it was docked near SPMC. We spent the last week soaking up the beautiful WA summer weather.

August 7^th, 2024 – On the Wednesday of our final full week in WA, the REUs gave their final presentations on their summer research projects. It was cool to see their final results and how their projects had developed as I had been hearing updates all summer long. The presentations were followed by an end of summer goodbye potluck. It was a full circle moment as we opened the summer with a potluck as well. It was crazy to remember back on that first day and realize how far we have come in our research, dive abilities, and friendships! Later that night, we did a sunset night dive at the Cabana (one of the location marinas). We took Holly and Will (two of the REUs) as well to snorkel. We saw a huge gorgeous white spotted rose anemone! The bioluminescence was also spectacular; we splashed around in the water for a while at the surface enjoying the sparkles.

August 9^th, 2024 – All the REUS left SPMC, and it was a sad weekend for Ayden and me because the commons felt so empty without them. Although, we had a couple incredible dives to look forward to over the next couple days!

Enhancing my Dive Education

August 8^th, 2024 – As an additional part of our Scientific Dive Training, Derek instructed the group on blue water diving. Blue water diving is a branch of technical diving in which a rig system keeps the dive team together, and it is meant to be used for work in the middle of the ocean. Since this type of diving does not have a bottom and is usually not near reefs, artificial structures, or coastlines, it is very important for the divers to have excellent buoyancy. Derek set up the blue water rig and showed us how it works on land. It is a series of lines that are connected to a main system (wooden panel) with carabiner clips. A thicker line is connected to a buoy on one end, the main system in the middle, and then a light weight on the other end to hold the system in place vertically. The additional lines with the carabiner clips are what keeps the divers together. A group of divers go down and one diver stays at the main system and is the buddy for the other divers. The divers communicate with the main system buddy diver by tugging on their lines. A communication system defining how many tugs means what is predetermined. For example, 1 tug is I’m okay, two tugs is go up, three tugs is go down, and many tugs indicates a problem. For buoyancy control testing, the divers that are not in the middle at the main system were writing an essay on their slates. While writing the essay, buoyancy is not at the forefront of the diver’s mind, so it is easy to start descending or ascending by a ft or two without knowledge. It was the main system diver’s responsibility to make sure each diver was at the appropriate depth. We completed these skills in groups of four and rotated being the main system buddy diver. This was a great test of buoyancy while working, and I have to say my buoyancy is better than I anticipated! It was enjoyable to write an essay, or should I say journal entry, to reflect on my summer of diving while diving! This was our last dive as a complete dive team for the summer. It was bittersweet.

August 11^th, 2024 – Ayden and I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed to texts saying the Derek could take us to Strawberry Falls. This dive site was on the bucket list for us as we had heard all summer that it has some of the most stunning anemones lining the wall. We had tried going to this location one other time this summer as a dive team, but the currents did not cooperate. Let me just say it did NOT disappoint! This must be my favorite dive of the summer and arguably ever. When you look up from about 60 ft deep you see what looks like a waterfall of small strawberry anemones cascading down the rock face. And if you swim 20 ft to you right then you see white metridium anemones flowing down the rock face. It was stunningly beautiful. If you descend a little deeper to about 80 ft, then there’s a ledge and then a huge drop off that goes down to hundreds of meters. You are quite literally swimming over the deep ocean and looking down into darkness. It is a very intriguing and eerie feeling. As an ocean lover, the deep was calling me. Whereas if I asked my mother what she would think about this experience, she would have been terrified. As we ascended and completed our safety stop at about 15 ft, we were surrounded by gorgeous kelp flowing in just a little bit of current. Every depth had something different. It was a truly amazing dive in every way.

August 12^th, 2024 – On the foggy morning of my last second to last day in WA, Derek, Ayden, Jeannie (WWU Student), Jason (WWU Student), Alex (from Puget Sound Restoration Fund), and I made our way to Deception Pass. We got there early before the slack to make sure we did not miss our very slim window. We watched small eddies form along the shoreline under the bridge which was a very cool site but slightly nerve racking because we were about to jump into those waters. Derek called the slack and gave us the green light to get into dive gear. Derek even gave us his AAUS flag, so Ayden and I could take pictures! And then we took a giant stride into Deception Pass. I was in awe as I looked up at the bridge towering above me. I was a little nervous descending but as soon as my head went below the surface my anxiety vanished. We stayed very close to the shoreline wall to avoid boat traffic and be able to grab onto the wall in case of excessive current. We saw some very cool tube anemones that I had never seen before as well as rose anemones, white metridium, rock fish, rare nudibranchs, and crabs! Towards the end of our dive, the current started picking up very quickly. We did hold onto the wall for a couple minutes before making our way towards the surface for a very cool kelp forest safety stop. All the divers got back onto the boat giddy from an incredible dive. And then just like that we dove Deception Pass! The legendary dive site that only a handful of divers have been due to the challenging conditions. The slack tide had to be timed perfectly because there is significant current and downwelling at this location. You must be an advanced diver and very cautious of boat traffic. I could not believe that I had just completed my last dive in WA! But it was a phenomenal last dive to have. It was a very full circle moment for me because during our first week, the first outing we did as a group was to Deception Pass. This dive was the perfect way to end my internship and fabulous summer of diving!

Thank you so much to OWUSS, the AAUS Foundation, and SPMC for this extraordinary internship and the ability to advance my diving skills in one of the most beautiful states. I am so grateful I was able to be part of an impactful biological oceanography research project on abalone out planting and restoration! This research showed me how I can combine my love of ocean field work with diving! A very special thank you to Derek and Nate for being the best advisors I could have asked for all summer. Both are incredible dive instructors that showed me how beautiful cold water diving is. I am so appreciative of all the connections and friends I have made this summer and cannot wait to connect with so many of you again in the future. I am honored to be part of this ocean loving community!

Every inch of the Titanic through a single strand of fiber – Part 1

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From its tragic sinking in 1912 to current day, the Titanic has retained its capture on audiences worldwide. Whether it’s through famous James Cameron films or recurring expeditions, the stories told have continually captivated audiences and embedded themselves into modern mainstream interest. The wreck now rests nearly two and half miles deep in the North Atlantic, split in two, the bow and stern sections sitting about two thousand feet away from one another. Surrounding the superstructures is a massive expanse of debris, littered with both artifacts and structural pieces from within the ship.

For 2024, the expedition’s goals are to map and image the site like never before, surveying the area with both cameras and lidar, enabling future 3d reconstruction of the site and debris in situ with millions of images. Evan Kovacs, founder of Marine Imaging Technologies and National Park Service’s partner on the SeaArray – the state of the art multi-camera photogrammetry system – will be the Director of Underwater Photography on this expedition. Brett and I will be joining him along with his imaging intern Josie Clapp for the next month while offshore to collect imagery on the site.

Evan Kovacs preps the camera systems prior to departure offshore. Photo: Brett Seymour

Not without having my fill of lobster rolls and clam chowder along the way, I head up to Falmouth, MA — Marine Imaging’s headquarters — to meet Brett, Evan, Josie, and the remainder of the Marine Imaging team. Everyone is full throttle ahead at helping pack, arrange, and prepare for the upcoming expedition. Shortly after saying our initial hellos we all scatter to get as much done in the two days remaining onshore. I head to Providence to meet the Dino Chouest (the ship we’ll call home for the next month) and pick up the camera housings, while Brett and Evan head to Boston to set up servers and storage for the incoming overload of images.

I get into the Providence port just in time to watch the Dino make its way in and throw its line over. As I sit in the car waiting for the gangway to be lowered, I can’t help but be in absolute awe at the scale of all the ships and machinery running around the port. Troy Launay, the expedition co-leader greets me and gives me a thorough rundown of what has been done to the ship in preparation for such an expedition. Having the ship properly outfitted ensures it will be capable of having two ROVs in the water at a time. One of which will be flying with a lidar and magnetometer while the other will be running lanes with a photogrammetry array. As soon as the gangway is lowered Troy disappears onto the ship and arranges for the pelican cases with housing to be unloaded. With the precious cargo in my possession I return to Falmouth, sneaking in just one more lobster roll in on the way before the next month offshore.

*The Dino Chouest in Providence the night before its departure. Photo: Brett Seymour*

The next morning all hands are on deck preparing and packing every possible spare and necessary component for our trip, if only Marine Imaging’s shop could fit into one magical pelican case. Always better to have extras and not use them rather than be stuck on-site and out of options, with over a four-day transit time and multiple teams pushing to get a massive amount of area covered no one wants to be the cause of any setbacks. As soon as we arrive at the port and meet the Dino set up begins right away, but not without first doing a lap and getting acquainted with our new home, its many decks, and its many many stairs. This is the first time I get to check out the ROVs that will be diving, and they could not be more impressive, a true feat of engineering, and some of the most advanced ones in the world of deep-sea operations. With a lot of setups yet to be done we head to the back deck where we have been given a control van to make our headquarters for the duration of the expedition.

The servers that will hold each subsea image (and its duplicate backup copy) carefully get hoisted onto the ship using one of its many cranes, four petabytes of storage isn’t light. As the raids get set up and switched on the fans kick in and we start getting used to the immense noise and heat that will be generated just a few steps from our desks. Keeping the servers happy is of the utmost importance, the entire expedition relies on them functioning properly and safeguarding each image, and as we soon learn they heat up quickly. Constantly monitoring their internal temperatures and adding A/C units, inventive ducting, and fans all around seems to do the trick in keeping them at an appropriate temperature. Once our storage system is setup, we quickly shift gears towards the cameras that will be acquiring all the data.

*Servers onboard the Dino surrounded by inventive ducting to keep them cool. Photo: Brett Seymour*

Taking an image on the ocean floor over two miles deep is no simple feat, but depth plays a relatively minor part in relation to the challenges of maintaining camera control and communication, all of which is done through fiber optics. The ROV runs fiber from the sub to the surface in its tether, on either end that fiber is split to accomplish many tasks from control to backups for cameras and ROV function alike. With multiple components on the sub needing fiber for control and a limited amount in its tether, cameras make up just one of the strands of glass fiber that will make its way from the ocean floor to our control van. Both at the surface and on the bottom this single strand is split numerous times, each camera runs a fiber into a control bottle that then merges them and delivers a single strand to the control van, which then needs to be reseparated by wavelengths to regain control and communication which each individual camera. Its effectiveness all comes down to the amount of light that can be delivered, and each connection decreases its efficiency. At a certain point from either too many connections or the connections themselves being dirty the amount of noise (loss) is too high and camera communication is lost altogether.

*The single fiber running from the ROV into our camera shack. Photo: Brett Seymour*

With the entire project relying on these strands of glass fibers you can imagine the nerve-wracking stress that comes with dealing with them, whether it be to disconnect/reconnect them, route cables, or secure them to the sub. Exposure to dealing with them constantly helps dilute the nerves, but even better is watching a professional like Evan deciding on a whim to redo nearly all the connections at any given moment to get rid of as much light loss as possible.

*ROV getting ready for its first test dive at sunrise. Photo: Brett Seymour*

With fiber connected and cleaned everywhere it can the little time remaining is spent learning the software we’ll be using to control camera parameters and record data to the servers. One of the many screens that will be sitting in front of will show us live feed from the three cameras on the photogrammetry array so we are able to adjust parameters like aperture, shutter, and focus on the fly depending on proximity, speed, and light availability. We head to bed after a blur of days spent packing, unpacking, and getting acquainted with our new home. No one will be sleeping for long as we have just left port and in a few hours get to drop the ROVs off the continental shelf for their first shakedown with the cameras in some deeper water. After that it will be a four-day transit before we reach the Titanic wreck site, where I’ll be writing again!

EXPLORING THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST DEPTHS

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On May 30^th I began my adventure as the 2024 American Academy of Underwater Science (AAUS) Mitchell Scientific Diving Research Intern for the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society (OWUSS). The first leg of my journey began in New York City where I got to attend the 50^th anniversary of OWUSS. This was my first introduction to the society, so I was definitely a bit nervous. The nerves quickly went away after the first event which was lightening talks with previous scholars and interns. These talks were a great way to hear about where previous interns and scholars are now and where I could be in the future.

Along with all the amazing OWUSS events in New York, I was also able to attend world oceans week at the Explorers club. While there, we got to interact with individuals from all over the world who were working towards preserving the worlds oceans. I found it incredibly fascinating to hear about everyone’s unique backgrounds and their different approaches to educating others about our oceans and promoting conservation strategies. We also got the chance to hear from some amazing people like Dr. Sylvia Earle.

After New York, I was even more eager to begin my internship so on June 10^th, with a 6AM flight from Boston, I took finally took off for Washington. As I left the east coast and everything I knew, I was excited but a little nervous because this was going to be my first time on the west coast, and I wasn’t sure how similar diving would be to back home or what it would be like living at a marine center.

I spent my summer at Shannon Point Marine Center along with the 2024 Somers intern Teagan Cunningham; 2 REU diving interns, Ana Hoffman-Sole and Larkin Garden, as well as 8 other REU interns Will, Holly, Angel, Mackenzie, Amy, and Kelita; and 2 Western Washington University art residents Birdie and Myrie. This summer, I got to work with a few local organizations with underwater projects as well as helping out the scientific dive class attain their AAUS scientific diving certification. This was also a chance to improve my diving and leadership skills by assisting Dr. Derek Smith, the laboratory manager and research assistant professor as well as Capt. Nathan Schwarck, the DSO as they teach the AAUS scientific diving course.

Upon arriving at SPMC, after unpacking everything and introducing ourselves, some of the REU interns and I wasted no time and decided to go for a swim at sunset where the water was a brisk 52°F. Little did we know that this would become a regular event throughout the summer.

My first sunset on the west coast

One of the first things we did as the scientific dive class was the swim test. Consisting of a 25-yard swim on a single breath, a 400 yard swim in under 12 minutes, 10 minutes of treading water, and finally towing a buddy 25 yards. After the swim test, we got to try out the gear we would be using for the summer.

After we had finished swim tests and pool skills, we went out to Rosario beach to complete the open water checkout portion of the class. This was my first time getting into the water out west and getting to see what it was like. Unfortunately, the visibility that day wasn’t the best, so I didn’t get to see anything too exciting, but it was still nice to get into the water and begin exploring what the west coast has to offer.

2024 AAUS interns. Photo by Derek Smith

Helping with the scientific dive class was a great experience for me because it has allowed me to share my own personal experiences from when I took the class myself. I was also able to help some students in the class get past some troubles that I encountered myself and that was a rewarding feeling.

Taking a break from the water, the art students, REUs, Teagan and I got the chance to see some cool sites around Washington. This was especially cool because aside from the art residents, most of us had never been to the west coast. The first place we got to explore was Deception Pass.

2024 REU, art and AAUS interns at deception pass

Sharing a common room and kitchen with everyone was a great chance for all of us to become close and have some great bonding experiences from making meals together to watching the local wildlife dance outside.

Some entertaining deer outside the common room

Another great opportunity for us to become close was getting a tour around the islands. We were taken out on the SPMC research vessels Magister and Zoea for a day where we got the chance to see some seals, eat lunch on one of the islands, and get a glimpse of some orcas which was a bucket list item for many of us.

Photos by Teagan Cunningham

While staying at SPMC, Teagan and I got a chance to work on some of the behind-the-scenes aspects that go into a scientific dive class. The first of which was helping Capt. Nate Schwarck with visual inspections for most of the tanks at Shannon point. This was a great learning opportunity and a fun way to learn more about what goes into being a DSO at a marine lab.

Photo by Teagan Cunningham