A group of UW oceanography students recently spent 10 days aboard UW’s large research vessel, the Thomas G. Thompson, to conduct research for their senior thesis projects. The 24 students traveled to Nootka Sound off the west coast of Vancouver Island and blogged about their daily experiences.
During the trip, shifts worked round the clock collecting seafloor sediment and water samples, measuring water properties and mapping the seafloor along a remote and rugged section of coastline, collecting data for various research projects.
While they worked, they also took the time to post dispatches about the trip. The first couple days focus on the difficulty of adjusting to rough seas (at 4 a.m. on day two, the crew dealt with 9.5 meter waves with 40-knot winds). Things settled down and allowed the students to conduct research, although there were some snags along the way.
Read about the entire experience at the links below:
Day one
Day two
Day three
Day four
Day five
Day six
Day seven
Day eight
Day nine
Day ten