R/V Melville
This was
the first clear day that we have had since the beginning of our
southward transit, and a soul could not ask for more peace than
was ours as we sat on the fan tail, absorbing the sun and a good
book. We also got an ENORMOUS dredge for the first time in a while,
which was a relief after several over the past few days came up
empty. One would imagine that on such a day your trusty web-journal
keepers would forget their duty to the public; however, shortly
after sunset we dutifully sat down with our third focus subject,
Greg Kurras (see photo). Greg bears soul responsibility for the
upkeep and performance of our deep-sea camera, the Rabbit Cam.
The camera is actually just one tool on a large sled that also
can take samples of glass from the seafloor as well as measure
various environmental parameters including, depth, temperature,
salinity etc. Each day, Greg wakes up at 6am to prepare the sled,
“flies” it all day with the winch, and then recovers the sled
and the data, generally finishing around 11pm. Sometimes the camera
is used independently, but it is also useful to take pictures
of an area before or after we dredge, so as to get a more complete
understanding of the seafloor geology. Greg is originally from
Florida and now lives in Hawaii, where he got his masters in marine
geology and geophysics at the University of Hawaii. While working
on a PhD studying the arctic mid-ocean ridge he decided to leave
academics and pursue a career as a consultant for commercial marine
surveys and academic research cruises like this one. For Greg
the job is perfect because it allows him to travel extensively
throughout the world, exploring new places and meeting new people.
He was unable to think of anything he really dislikes about his
job. By Carrie Donnelly
