Jim Holden, Chief Scientist, AT15-47. Earlier, Jim gave me a rundown on what his typical day looks like.
6:00. Alarm goes off. Time to get up. Check email and the blog if the internet is working. Then head down to the submarine to check on preparations for the day’s dive. Hike up to the bridge to check on the weather and other ship operations and talk with the mate on duty.
7:00. Breakfast time. Quickly eat breakfast then hurry back down to the Alvin hangar to watch the final submarine preparations. Sign off on submarine operations paperwork. This has to be done before every dive. There is a lot of paperwork that comes with performing operations on a ship. Watch the submarine launch.
After the sub launches, usually around 8am, go to the lab to check on culture tubes to see if anything grew overnight after inoculation. Find a quiet place. Sit down and begin working on dive plans for the next day and night operations for that evening. Planning for a dive includes determining where the dive will take place, making a sequence of events to occur during the dive, listing what kinds of samples need to be taken and where they should be taken, what equipment needs to go down in the basket, and make a map for the science observers that will be in the submarine. For night operations, make sure the bridge has all the coordinates for where the ship needs to be and a sequence of events for the night (what types of operations will be occurring, approximate times, etc). Contact the bridge, top lab (where Alvin is monitored), expedition leader, pilot, and scientists to make sure they know what’s happening that night and for the next day’s dive.
Talking with Jeff, a PIT, about the next day’s dive.
11:30. Lunch time. Check on things in the lab and around the ship. Attend to urgent matters and be available for important questions regarding operations. Find another quiet place and go through previous dive reports and sample logs. Take a nap if time permits.
14:00. Science Meeting in the library. Discuss previous dives and previous night ops. Discuss next series of dives and night ops. Entertain thoughts, questions, and opinions.
Greet submarine when it comes back from the dive. Gleefully dump bucket of cold water on new diver. Get synopsis of dive. Make sure samples get to the correct people in a timely matter.
Filling buckets of water for a new diver initiation
Examining a rock that had gotten stuck underneath Alvin during the dive and ended up on deck. It had worms and other small sea creatures stuck to it.
17:30. Dinnertime. Chat with colleagues and crew about science, pop culture, and anything else that comes up. Answer questions.
Dividing up a sulfide sample.
Check to be sure night operations start off ok. Collect the “The Beast” sample report. Make sure the dive tapes are duplicated. Check on lab work to make sure everything is moving along smoothly. Attend to questions. lots of administrative work, solve problems. Check email if the internet allows.
22:00 Bedtime.
