Student Researchers Investigate the Microbiome of the Sargasso Sea

In the high seas region of the Sargasso Sea, college researchers pluck samples from the ocean’s twilight zone to study how microbes might affect climate change. On March 30th, undergraduates of Sea Education Association’s Marine Biodiversity and Conservation Program (MBC) boarded the SSV Corwith Cramer, and sailed East from Key West, FL toward the Sargasso Sea, also known as the North Atlantic Gyre. Student researchers Sharla Friend, Mary Noyes and Sarah Stover investigated the microbial biodiversity of the Sargasso Sea’s deep and surface regions, specifically targeting the twilight zone; the region where the sun’s light begins to fade away, sampling communities from as deep as 650m which is about a half mile below the sea’s surface is nearly.

There has been a photo of the Corwith Cramer in my room for the past 11 years. It has had a place in my childhood home, college dorm room, and even my current house. The form has changed overtime – at one point the 8x10 framed photograph was replaced by a 2ft x 3ft poster print, but the image has remained the same.

This morning we sailed from the Bermuda exclusive economic zone (EEZ) into the “area beyond national jurisdiction” (aka the “high seas”) in deepwater (about 5,000 meters) on the Cramer. Our progress is marked by twice-a-day collections of ocean water as well as surface and deep-ocean net tows.

You know you have made some great life choices when your dinner is interrupted by a surprise whale watching session.

Today we decided to approach another big mat of Sargassum and take some samples from it using our small boat. Mats of Sargassum are very rare to see.  For example, our Captain Jason has sailed this cruise track north six times while it’s the first time to really encounter such large mats of Sargassum with such consistency.

Sneakers in a sea of Chacos.

Everywhere I go, I am surrounded by Chacos. It seems to be the shoe of choice for adventurers, sailors, biologists, and study abroad students.

Today was an exciting day for all aboard the Cramer.  From a scientific standpoint we have entered into the predicted spawning area of the American eel, Anguilla rostrata.

What a whirlwind these past four days have been! We are in full swing now; Mama Cramer is under sail as we cruise past Eleuthera and into the open ocean. It is wonderful to see everyone becoming more familiar with her, getting the hang of very busy watch schedules and all the various tasks that must be performed to ensure that she is in true working ship shape.

The students of Class S-285, Oceans & Climate, join the SSV Robert C. Seamans in Lyttelton, New Zealand on March 28th. The voyage ends in Papeete, Tahiti on May 4th, after port stops in the Chatham Islands and Raiatea.

Jonathan Harris, C-112, winner of the 2019 Armin E. Elsaesser III Fellowship, has begun research on his project, “Pirates, Blockades and Commerce: an Expedition to Explore the Maritime History, Fortifications, and Lighthouses of the Gulf Islands National Seashore.”