Week 4 - USFSP Lexy Gabos
This past week at USF St. Petersburg was one of the more informative weeks for sure. We spent much more time in the classroom than outdoors, but we were learning about really cool parts of deep sea and open ocean biology which I find really interesting, so I didn't mind the indoors for a few days. On Tuesday we went on the R/V Weatherbird II research vessel for the day to do biodiversity sampling nearshore and offshore, and that was truly the experience of a lifetime. I had never been on a research vessel before and I'm not sure when my next chance will be, so I appreciated every second of it. The vessel was pretty spacious and had a large open deck out back where we could handle and deploy so many different types of equipment. It was a pretty long trip out to our first offshore location so we had a few hours during the daytime to explore the ship and enjoy being out on the water. We saw a bunch of dolphins following us in pods right under the bow of the boat for most of the ride, so it was a great sea-sickness distraction and a subtle reminder to pay attention to how wondrous nature can be anywhere you go.
On the Weatherbird we did a few types of plankton sampling, CTD measurements, and otter trawl and dredge samples as well. My team was in charge of deploying and unpacking the dredge samples and I was super happy about that because we got to pick through all of the awesome stuff that came up right from the bottom of the ocean in the dredge before anyone else got to see it. We got some really amazing things: lots of cool-looking crabs, large sponges and small bits of coral, different types of sea stars, and one tiny octopus in each haul (my personal favorite)! I was so happy that I got to observe and hold a lot of different types of organisms, and it made me think that I might enjoy a job in this type of field one day as well. We also had to use field guides to identify each organism that we pulled up and sorted, which honestly might have been my least favorite part of the day just because I find that I'm not very good at species identification; however, I know that's a skill only developed with practice so I was definitely grateful for the hours of practice I got that day.
I also enjoyed being able to talk with the crew members about their backgrounds and positions in the field. I find it helps to hear how other people made it to where they are in relieving the pressure most of us feel to find a well-paying, dream job right out of school. The vessel crew were really nice and willing to share information about anything I asked, and I feel like that is a trait in people that oftentimes goes unnoticed and underappreciated.
Looking back on the week in general, I enjoyed the content we learned this week the most so far. I love learning about the wonders of the ocean and it is always a great reminder to appreciate everything we find out there while we still have it. I would absolutely love to do another research cruise in the future, so that is something that I will definitely have to keep my eye out for!
Lexy Gabos
06/12/2021
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