Meyer-Kaiser lab

8:00 pm  SS United States  listed slightly to port. One boat on the port side shined its spotlight on a set of open bulkhead doors, the lowest opening on the ship. We all knew that was where the water would come in first.    8:30 pm  Waves splashed into the open bulkhead doors. Duncan sprang to attention and started recording video. I was ecstatic.   8:45 pm  Matt placed a microphone on me. Under Dave’s direction, he adjusted a camera to capture my face with the ship sinking in the dimly lit background. Dave asked Chuck to turn the boat around so the camera could get a better view.    SS United States listing to port side as she sank 8:52 pm  A tug boat gave 3 short blasts and then backed away from the SS United States . Chuck saw it first - the ship was listing hard to port. We were on the starboard side. Water must have been pouring in the open port-side doors. Every light within a mile was trained on the sinking ship.    8:...

1:00 pm This was the predicted sinking time of the SS United States . But she was still afloat, and our film crew was still on board. I scanned the horizon - we were surrounded by hundreds of boats. Sailboats, power boats, small boats, big boats, all in a circle around the 1-mile security perimeter. 1:30 pm I heard loud bangs coming from inside the ship. Each bang was identical in volume and pitch, and the sounds were a few seconds apart - like a person using a hammer to open something.  2:00 pm The VHF radio crackled. “Fire Department boat, SS United States is trying to reach you. Turn to channel 65.”   VHF radio channels are all open, so there is no such thing as private communication at sea. Channel 16 is used for hailing, but then conversation partners usually switch to another channel to keep 16 clear. Any curious soul could also change to the same channel and listen in. I watched Chuck punch up the channel button on his radio to 65, and I was glad I didn’t have to ask h...

7:15 am I stood next to a pile of camera gear on a dock in Destin, FL. The sky was bright, and the early morning air was pleasantly cool and dry. The sound of waves lapping against the pilings was interrupted by three outboard engines turning over. As Captain Chuck readied his boat, the IMAX film crew traveling with me transferred their cases on board. I stepped over the transom, Chuck threw the lines, and we were off.  7:45 am Captain Chuck from Lone Star Fishing Charters in Destin, FL, our charismatic guide for the day. Photo by Dave Clark. Chuck knew everybody at the fuel dock. He teased a friend about his workout routine, then tried to convince an employee to come to sea with us for the day. He belly-laughed when the targets of his ribbing dished it back. With full tanks, Chuck pulled his boat out into the main harbor. “Here we go!” he called. All three outboard engines revved, and the boat gained speed. Chuck claimed his boat could make the 22 mile trek to the sinking sit...

Ladies and gentlemen, it is a good day in Destin, FL. I have my water bottle, sunscreen, and a hat because today, I will be on a boat 22 miles offshore in the Gulf. We have waited a year for this, but today, the SS United States will be deployed to become the world's largest artificial reef. The vessel was towed over from Mobile, AL starting on Monday. She arrived at her final resting place (or rather, 55 m above it) yesterday. Today, we are all systems go for an incredible sinking event.  There is lots of media coverage for this event, so I had four interviews yesterday. It was an honor to represent my team of collaborators who will study the ship as it transforms into a habitat.  You can join the action live online! The entire sinking process will be live-streamed at TheSSUS.com . If you see a woman with a bright, beaming smile and a teal long-sleeve shirt with a giant WHOI logo, that's me!

DRAGON exploring a shipwreck in Hathaway Pond. The diver on the left is Fred Marin, a WHOI engineering technician.  "I felt like it was going to lay eggs on me." - Fred Marin DRAGON was designed for biomimicry, but it seems the engineers might have done a little too well. My dive buddy for the day, Fred, was a little creeped out by the soft robot's motion. I'll admit, DRAGON did look a lot like a worm. It bent and wriggled, whereas most robots spin and pitch.  With a sharp inhale, I watched the DRAGON robot swim through the water. I let my breath out slowly, focused my camera, and triggered the shutter - one photo, two photos. Another breath in, and I counted in my head to slow my inhale. DRAGON bent this way and that, sweeping its own camera to take in the submerged boat. Three photos, four photos, and I breathed out through my regulator.  We were only underwater for about 10 minutes, but I took a few dozen photos. Fred captured video. In a kayak above us, robotics p...

L to R: Me, imaging expert Dwight Coleman, the 3D model of Quest , Alvin pilot Benen Elshaks, and Alvin team lead Bruce  Strickrott. Photographed at the RCGS gala.  The card reader on my hotel room door flashed green, and I pushed the door open with my shoulder. It seemed heavier than it had that morning. My feet hurt. I slapped the wall to flip a light switch, and the yellow glow felt out of place against the midnight city outside. As the door slammed shut behind me, I collapsed onto one of the fluffy queen beds and pulled off my shoes. It had been a long day.  This week was the annual gala of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Among other events, the Society celebrated its successes during the Heroic Age Expedition, which took place last summer. RCGS partnered with WHOI to explore two shipwrecks in the Labrador Sea - Quest , captained by Ernest Shackleton, and Terra Nova , captained by Robert Falcon Scott. Even though both Shackleton and Scott were most famous ...

The room was full - absolutely full. A late arrival made his way awkwardly through the rows of chairs to the only empty seat remaining. I saw heads bobbing and weaving to get better views of my slides. Proudly, I shared my shipwreck research with the crowd.  The Cape Cod Maritime Museum has an incredibly cool lecture series called History on Tap. Participants enjoy cups of locally-brewed beer while listening to a seminar on some historical topic. The atmosphere in the museum's basement auditorium is very relaxed, but the audience is deeply engaged.  Over about 45 minutes, I shared research I had conducted in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, the Gulf of Mexico, Palau, and the Labrador Sea. The last portion of my talk, focused on two far northern shipwrecks that I had visited this summer, was new - I had never presented that project publicly before. It was a pleasure to share the history of two iconic exploration ships and how they have become habitats in the Labra...