I persist

One of the marine technicians aboard Atlantis has a sticker on her water bottle that grabbed my attention. It features a smiling cartoon frog with the caption, "The horrors persist, but so do I." What a fitting sentiment for our last few days at sea. 

After leaving Terra Nova, we steamed due south into the North Atlantic. A shorter route would have been to steam southwest, along the Canadian coast, but a large storm covered most of the Labrador Sea. We skirted around it, far enough from the epicenter to be safe but not so far as to excessively extend our travel time. As Atlantis pitched and rolled in confused 8-ft seas, I retreated to my bunk. As this point in my life, with the depth of sea-going experience that I have, I knew it was pointless to fight. So I took my anti-nausea medication and hunkered into bed, only venturing upstairs to eat carbohydrates every few hours. 

Thankfully, my body acclimates quickly. After a few days of my eat-sleep-medicine cycle, I emerged from my cabin refreshed. When a second storm kicked up and Atlantis steamed straight through it, I was solid as a rock. 

We call ourselves "Night crawlers"

The long transit home has given me a chance to reflect on the expedition. This one was different, being privately funded and hosting a different demographic than most research cruises. That said, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society participants have impressed me with their deep knowledge of history and passion for shipwrecks. The end of the expedition is not "goodbye," just "see you later." After we all return home, there will still be tons of analysis to do. I will be in regular communication with a few of my shipmates for months to come. 

The highlight of the expedition for me individually was obviously my Alvin dive to Quest. But individual highlights are not the only goal. The night shift crew - myself, the ROV team, and a few others - got to know each other very well over hours spent VSLAMing. We teased one another, had incredibly nerdy discussions, and ate about a pallet of potato chips. The vibe was like a campus library the night before finals. Our nutrition could have been better, but our camaraderie made up for it. We made the night shift fun. 

It has been an incredible expedition, and I am grateful that I got to be part of it. This project has brought together my two loves - Arctic biology and Maritime Heritage Ecology. Quest and Terra Nova extend my dataset of western Atlantic shipwrecks, demonstrating how tragedies at sea become oases of biodiversity. Only one question remains: where shall we go next?