ROV HyperDolphin

Kris just returned from five days aboard the RV Natushima (RV=Research Vessel) for a research cruise run by JAMSTEC. The ship is home to the ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) Hyperdolphin. It was very cool to see how deep sea research is conducted. Below is the ship as we boarded.



Below is the the ROV Hyperdolphin. This is the view from the front...the basket is where all of the samples go. There are several cameras and lights on it as well. The next photo is the control room for the ROV. It is actually in a container on the top of the ship, where the crew operates the ROV using controls that look like a video game. There are five seats behind these three for the scientists to sit and direct the crew to what they want to collect.



The photo below is the room Kris, Haruka, Erina, and Nanae shared on the cruise. The waves were very big due to an approaching typhoon, so I had trouble sleeping because I was literally rolling around in bed. The next photo is the wetlab, where we processed our samples, also in a container on the deck.



This is one of the crew members operating the arm of the ROV during a dive. Our dive took the ROV down to 500 meters and then back up to 260 meters.



Here you see one of the arms picking up a sea anemone and taking a sediment core.



The hose attached to the arm is a "Slurp gun"...that is a vacuum to suck up samples into a sealed box. Below the arm is picking up a glass sponge and taking a octocoral off of a giant rock in the middle of the sandy slope. The arm reminds me of the tv show "Lost in Space."



After 5 hours of watching the dive we were on deck ready to get the samples. One of the rules of the ship is that you always wear a helmet when out working. Due to the typhoon and large waves, we also had to wear life vests.



Below are the slurp gun box and sample box that we brought up from the dive.



Due to the typhoon, we could not return to port on Okinawa as planned. Instead, we had to transfer to a small boat outside of Ishigaki Port via a rope ladder. It was pretty exiciting in the ~3 meter waves, although we were all wearing helmets and life vests. Safety first!

Below are videos of the launching of the Hyperdolphin and bringing her back in. It is a really impressive operation. It is nice to be back on land again, although the land seems to be rocking as much as the ship was.

Chicken Rush

Not too much to speak of here since Mom and Trish left. We've been snorkeling and diving a bit, and otherwise life as usual. We finally made it to the batting cages that we've wondered about since we moved here. It was Nate's first time batting! I didn't know that is was possible to be 39 years old and have never been to a batting cage!

Nate did great! We chose the slowest pitches to start off, 80 km/h. He did almost as good as Kris did. Next time we'll do the 90 km/h pitches and work our way up to the 125 km/h.



A couple of weeks ago, Nate had a toe infection. Unfortunately we didn't get a photo, but it was pretty gross. It was caused by an ingrown toenail after he stubbed his toe walking through a river. Antibiotics cleared up the infection and he had a wire installed to correct the growth of the nail today. It is totally painless, but has to stay until his nail grows out, probably 2-3 months. Hopefully it will work!



In other news, we spotted this exciting new cup of soup at the supermarket today. It's a chicken rush! Not sure what that means, but we'll find out soon.



Kris goes on a research cruise on Sunday for 5 days. The cruise sends a remotely operated vehicle to the deep sea to collect samples, so it should be pretty interesting!