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By Sophie Theiss, USF graduate student in Digital Journalism and Design

Chatter fills the salty air and waves slosh against the bow of the . It鈥檚 an early morning in September. The caffeine hasn鈥檛 hit at full force, but excitement rises with the hot 91社区 sun as the ship exits St. Petersburg鈥檚 Bayboro Harbor. Crew members raise their voices to be heard over the engine.

On board is a mix of faculty, staff, and students from and (SPC), embarking on an interdisciplinary cruise for the newly established Collaborative Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) program organized by the USF College of Marine Science (CMS). I鈥檓 joining to document the experience as a graduate journalism student.

The CORE cruise is a unique opportunity for the thirteen USF and SPC students who will call this ship home for five days. The program aims to provide experiential learning through interdisciplinary science. Although officially a mooring expedition, this inaugural CORE cruise incorporates elements of physical, biological, geological, and chemical oceanography. Future iterations may include different disciplines focusing on student development.

鈥淭he CORE program aims to train the next generation of scientists through hands-on fieldwork,鈥� says Jay Law, physical oceanographer at CMS and one of the cruise鈥檚 lead organizers. 鈥淭his cruise gives students the opportunity to take what they鈥檙e learning in a lab or classroom and apply those skills and knowledge at sea, assisting on funded research projects. The combination of experiential learning, multi-institutional collaboration and interdisciplinary science at sea is quite unique and offers exciting possibilities.鈥�

Diving deep into mooring and physical oceanography

Multiple times each year, the at CMS deploys and recovers buoys moored to the seafloor in the Gulf of Mexico. With thick layers of sunscreen protecting the crew from the grueling 91社区 sun, they work to rig the buoy and prepare it for deployment. An A-frame rig towers overhead as it slowly moves the buoy into the water. Once released, the buoy鈥檚 anchor shoots off the boat with a resounding splash.

The sea is flat as glass, making it easier to hop on the buoy to install temperature, wind speed, humidity, and air pressure instruments. These devices help researchers monitor ocean and atmospheric conditions and contribute to hurricane tracking and forecasting.

Adorning a hardhat that reads 鈥淒ECK BOSS,鈥� Sam D鈥橝ngelo, a USF St. Petersburg undergraduate with six buoy deployments under her belt, leads the mooring deployments on the cruise as part of her advanced at-sea training. Equipped with her walkie talkie and 鈥淚 <3 buoys鈥� phone case, she says, 鈥淒uring Hurricane Ian, you could see the [air] pressure drop 鈥� It was super cool!鈥�

Back in the comfort of the air-conditioned lab, Luis Sorinas, a PhD candidate at USF CMS, describes how his team works with the data collected by the buoy.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been maintaining buoys continuously for the last 22 years,鈥� Sorinas says. 鈥淪o, we鈥檙e trying to look to see if there is any climate change [or] global warming signal in this area.鈥�

In between mooring activities, scientific dive training occupies the boat deck. The CORE cruise includes a handful of dives to survey fish populations at natural and artificial reefs. Divers scribble on special whiteboards with charcoal pencils to document what they see.

One dive during the cruise is to retrieve a bottom mount device that rests on the ocean floor and measures important data on sea currents to help researchers better understand the ocean circulation of nutrients. Circulation effects can drastically change the ocean environment all the way up the food chain to us.

Numerous checks on air tanks, gauges, and other equipment ensure the safety of the scientific diving team before they go underwater. Visibility is often limited beneath the surface; touch is sometimes all divers can rely on. A weighted blanket of wetness surrounds them, and the knowledge of numerous safety checks gives them a sense of comfort.

There is not much to see from the surface once the divers go under. However, that changes at night, as diver鈥檚 wear high-visibility glow sticks that allow them to be monitored from above. The light scatters beneath the surface and creates a mosaic akin to shimmery paint blended into an abyss.

Back inside the confines of the Weatherbird, a team of physical oceanographers are at work behind a door unassumingly marked 鈥淓lectronics Room.鈥� This team oversees a device called a CTD that attaches to a large metal frame called a rosette and measures numerous parameters such as conductivity, temperature, and depth.

The crew deploys the rosette at various locations along the ship鈥檚 route, which allows them to collect a wide range of data from multiple environments and gives scientists insight into the differences between each region. This is particularly important for the chemistry team collects water samples in conjunction with the CTD 鈥� one location may show a high concentration of a certain type of algae, whereas another may show a complete lack of it. 

A microscopic look at chemical and biological oceanography

A can of ginger ale in hand, Lilly Verrill, an undergraduate at USF St. Petersburg, points to a map of the Weatherbird鈥檚 route. 鈥淎 lot of people don鈥檛 go out this far, so we don鈥檛 have a whole bunch of samples,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ecause this is a nice, easy transect that 鈥� we鈥檙e hoping to maintain, it鈥檒l be really interesting because we鈥檒l be getting data from areas that a lot of people don鈥檛 regularly visit.鈥�

Verrill, a biology major with a concentration in botany, oversees chemical sampling on the CORE cruise using bottles that are attached to the rosette. When the rosette is lowered into the ocean, the bottles have a mechanism that closes when an operator on the ship presses a button. This gives the team samples from the ocean鈥檚 surface, the area of maximum chlorophyll concentration (a measure of phytoplankton abundance), and the seafloor.

Collecting and testing samples comes second nature to Verrill, who spends three to five days each week in the chemistry lab on campus. Her experience helps her guide fellow students through water sampling.

Collecting these samples can help scientists identify significant changes in the coastal ocean ecosystem. One of the most prominent things they are looking for are traces of harmful algae blooms, such as red tide, which can kill marine animals and affect the respiratory system of humans.

Marine animals are of special concern to Linae Boehme, a professor of biology at SPC, who leads the biological component of the CORE cruise. Later, on the comfort of steady land, Boehme gives me insight into her role.

Boehme鈥檚 primary tool for biological sampling is a Bongo net that collects microscopic organisms such as phytoplankton in the water. Towed behind the boat, the Bongo net can reach a depth of 200 meters, or about 656 feet, and filters seawater into two containers, which allows Boehme to bring the water samples back inside the lab to look at under a microscope.

From there, she can identify critters in the water.

Boehme鈥檚 research interest is in the animals that eat phytoplankton, called zooplankton. Phytoplankton, which she calls 鈥渘ature鈥檚 little Cheez-Its,鈥� are 鈥渁 link between 鈥� ocean circulation, chemistry and the tasty fish that we like to eat.鈥�

Seen under a microscope, some of the creatures bounce around and others casually float within the water sample. Though they aren鈥檛 appealing snacks to humans, phytoplankton are a primary food source for many marine animals. They are small but mighty; their impact goes all the way up the food chain.

Returning to shore

The combined data collected by the physical, biological, chemical, and geological oceanography teams dure the CORE cruise will help shape our understanding of the ocean. Changes in ocean conditions impact the little critters that live within it. Those impacts in turn influence larger marine species. In dire circumstances, animals can struggle to adapt or die if conditions change too drastically. Even land animals 鈥� yes, including us 鈥� depend on the health of the ocean for survival. It all interconnects.

Oceanography offers different paths students can pursue. Luis Sorinas says 鈥渕ost of the job is still behind a computer, but 20 percent is [in the field] like this 鈥� You never get bored. When you鈥檙e tired of the computer this is great, and when you鈥檙e tired after a cruise, the computer, and the A/C sounds amazing.鈥�

As the Weatherbird returns to the dock in St. Petersburg, I remember what Sam D鈥橝ngelo shared with me on the first day. She was looking forward to 鈥渟eeing how this all plays out because it鈥檚 a brand-new cruise and we鈥檙e having a lot of new components.鈥�

Back on land, discussions among the students and researchers reflect the accomplishments of this inaugural CORE cruise and highlight the enthusiasm for the program moving forward.

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Editors鈥� note: This article and accompanying video were produced for the College of Marine Science by Sophie Theiss, and graduate student in the , who interned with CMS during the Fall 2023 semester. Sophie鈥檚 story documents the inaugural cruise of the new Collaborative Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE) program offered by CMS and its partners. 

Special thanks to the Ocean Circulation Lab and its director, Yonggang Liu, for organizing the cruise and the , for R/V Weatherbird ship-time support.  

Thanks, too, to all the students, faculty, and staff from USF, , the and who participated in this exciting research trip and helped lay the foundation for future CORE expeditions.

-          Dyllan Furness, science communication manager, and Jay Law, physical oceanographer