By Edi
Sunday, July 20, 2025

One flying fish. Two flying fish. Three flying fish. Four flying fish. Five flying fish.
…

Oh, hi.

Are you here for a recount of our adventures? Here you have it.

Sunday was long but fun. A single day at sea feels like a whole week – and not necessarily in a bad way. There’s a lot to learn and discover.

First of all, we got to meet Xiao Li, a super strong Buddhist elf from Nepal. The lil guy came on the ship without raising any eyebrows at the TSA checkpoint. Rick, Las Vegas king, has been housing this elf for about 20 years. They must be really good friends by this point. Anyway, the whole School of Rock crew beheld an amazing performance by Xao Li in which he maintained his body inside an upside-down conical flask while holding a wide array of objects. Very nice fella. I think I will invite him – or any of their superstrong relatives – to my classroom in NYC. 

As you can see, Sundays are out of the norm out at sea. We have these Japanese candies that I’ve been lovin’. There’s one that tastes just like watermelon. Yummy!! 

Speaking of food, the galley does NOT miss. Breakfast was great. Lunch was awesome. Dinner was immaculate. 

Immaculate are the night sky/ocean views we have from the R/V Langseth. Picture this: calm blue waters, flying fish (1, 2, 3, 4, 5…) jumping away from the ship, multiple immature boobies diving, and a bright star warming up your skin. At night, the Milky Way has not stopped following us. It’s a bit uncomfortable, but I think I’m starting to see the good in having your galaxy say goodnight to you every night before going to bed.

Things couldn’t get any better. Maybe less humidity? Sigh. I know, I know. We’re at sea after all.

Don’t look down. Stay focused. Put on those steel-toe shoes, helmet, and safety vest. Hook and release; don’t loosen that grip. The safety training got us all excited for the deployment phase of this transit. I am personally super excited to see that Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) rosette descend into the abyss. Bye-bye, conductivity-temperature-depth sensor. Hello, data!

You got me there. I don’t enjoy that acronym/name “CTD” as much as “Sea 3PO” and “Chicken Joe”. Our 5 OBSs (ocean bottom seismometers) were solemnly renamed at the end of this hectic Sunday. Now the insturments respond to the names of Minion (Bob), Xiao Li – the most graceful of all –, Dr Sylvia Earle, also known as Dr. SE, Spongebob, and Sea 3PO. After the renaming ceremony, the team decorated the big 5 with various drawings and writing pieces, and I was honored to be included as an illustrator (or tattoo artist) for those sesismometers.

More happened on Sunday, but it’s hard to recall since minutes are hours and days are weeks at sea. My colleagues will surely tell you more about our adventures in the next blogs. 

Farewell, dear reader
…

Where was I? Oh yes.
Six flying fish. Seven flying fish. Eight flying fish. Nine flying fish. Ten flying fish.

#NSFfunded