The first seismic reflection line!




The streamer disappearing into the misty horizon.
We already finished the first seismic reflection line! Deploying the streamer was a lot of work, but definitely worth it. 15 kilometers of hydrophones will allow us to identify more deeper structures, like the moho.

Mei releasing an XBT into the ocean.
While collecting the data, we had to keep an eye on the streamer tension, the multibeam bathymetry recording - like we always do - and we had to release some XBT's, which are instruments used to measure the water column temperature. This is important information for the bathymetry data and operation of equipment, but also for the seismic oceanography studies that Will has been working on. As scientists, we spend a lot of time in the comfy main lab (cleaning the multibeam files haha), so it's a refreshing experience to go out to release the XBT's. It's super cold outside and my shift goes from 2am to 10 am, so this time - as well as when we were deploying the OBS's - we were able to see some weird animals in the water that can't be seen during the day. You can check one of those here: Weird animal.

There were some problems with some streamer birds that inflate when they sank too deep into the ocean while the ship was turning. Likely, they already deinflate! so now the data looks beautiful.

Luan and Valeria working hard on the multibeam files.
Even though we recently finished the first line, we couldn't wait and we started looking at the data a few days ago. Donna processed the first part so we could see the Hokkaido trough and other structures immediately. Besides Donna's and Brian's data processing, each of the students is working in a section of the line, so we hope to find some interesting features soon.

We have been in the M.G.Langseth for a while, but there's always something to do. Now we are working on the streamer data, but before that everyone has been working together to get the bathymetry data clean and happy before arriving to Kodiak. On the other hand, we have Lindi Hop clases with Robert, bridge games with Tony and today starts the ping pong tournament! Wish me luck!

Valeria Cortés-Rivas

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