A sunrise over rough seas. The arm of a crane stretches over the top of the photo.

Rockin’ and Rollin’

This entry is written by Debbie Thomas, co-chief scientist of Expedition 378. It comes from her Expedition 378 Odyssey blog, which can be found here.

We hit some weather this morning! I was awakened at 0400 by the big change in ship motion. Here is why:

A wind speed map of New Zealand. There is a small pocket of high winds between the North and South islands, with wind speeds up to 40 knots.
Scroll down to compare our location to the little red spot between the North and South Islands of New Zealand!

I stayed in bed until 0715, but meanwhile, Ulla caught this photo at sunrise (since I get off shift at 0000, I will have to rely on her for the sunrise shots, and I will return the favor with sunset photos):

A sunrise over rough seas. The arm of a crane stretches over the top of the photo.
Credit: Quiet Co-Chief (aka Dr. Ulla Roehl)

Then we started discussing how to tell the difference between sunrise and sunset at sea – you’ll need to note the orientation of the ship and make sure there are diagnostic features to indicate port or starboard. In this case, we are headed mostly south (our heading at the time of this photo was 221.2:

A map showing the JR's position, at the mouth of the strait that separates the North and South islands of New Zealand. The timestamp reads '11 JAN 2020, 15:16:55' and the ship's heading is 221.2.

Compare this to yesterday (or YESTERDAY, if you have a son obsessed with Imagine Dragons…):

A shot off the bow of the JR. The sea is very calm and the windsock is only partially inflated.
Glassy calm seas and very little breeze – several of the science team went to bed with sunburns.
In fact, the weather yesterday was so lovely that the amazing catering team opted to host the Sunday cookout on Saturday at 1200:

Several crew members standing at a grill on the deck of the JR.
Thank you SO much!!!

Several people sitting and eating at two picnic tables on the deck of the JR. Most of them are smiling and waving at the camera.
Steve and Randy are outnumbered by micropaleontologists…clockwise from the bottom we have Steve, Chris, Rosie. Sonal, Isabella and then Flavia and Randy at the back table.
In other rockin’ news, the day shift musicians have been developing a pretty sweet set list during the 2100 coffee break:

Several people sitting on couches and chairs around a coffee table. There are people holding ukuleles and guitars, and there is an electric drum set in the foreground. The people in the photo are smiling and laughing.
Clockwise from Laura at the keys we have Alex, Gabby, Ann, Ingrid, Erika, and Rosie. There is the drum kit, Coach Kayci!

Several people sitting on couches and chairs around a coffee table. This photo is from a different angle than the last one. Everyone is playing an instrument or looking at sheet music.
We have informally identified as Ann and the Squeezecakes. It’s a chem lab thing and you’ll understand once we have core…!
And finally, to round out the nuances of the post title, I give you Laurel’s adaptation of a soon-to-be classic meme:
A photo of a poster. The poster is Groot holding baby Yoda, but Little Cthulhu, a fuzzy green plush, has been photoshopped over baby Yoda's face. The poster says 'THAT LOG HAD A CHILD.'

Until the next time,

DT

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