"I've got a whale of a tale to tell you lads, a whale of a tale or two..."

During the first two weeks of August 200, Dr. Richard Styles and lab tech Dara Hooker participated in a research cruise off the coast of Charleston, SC aboard the research vessel Seward Johnson . This project was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Explorer Program. Click here to go to their comprehensive website which chronicles the entire cruise. We were part of a research group studying the physical and biological dynamics of the Charleston Bump, a geological feature which rises approximately 300 meters from the sea floor off the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia and impacts the flow of the Gulf Stream. In addition to Dr. Styles and Dara, other participating USC members included Steve Stancyk, Brian Helmuth, Denise Stickland, and Frank Helies. The scope of the cruise was largely exploratory, but our specific goal was to characterize how the local hydrodynamic conditions affect the benthic invertebrate communities in the area. An amazing amount of data was collected, including biological and geological samples from the seafloor, hours and hours of video from the sub dives, and 2 weeks worth of ADCP current data and CTD cast data. The data from the ADCPs and CTD casts will form the basis of Dara's thesis work. The trip was an experience that we will never forget. We traveled 1800 feet to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean and came back to tell the tale!

				Dr. Styles (left) and Dara Hooker (second from left) represented the BLASST Lab. Also pictured (left to right): Jerry, Phil, and Betty
CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth) sensors attached to a metal rosette frame.
	Dara, prepared for inclement weather!
How many scientists does it take to operate a pipe dredge? This custom pipe dredge will collect samples from the bottom for analysis.
Critters from the Charleston Bump, brought to light by the intrepid sub crew: bathynectes .carrion shrimp really cool rock sponge toadfish These are clod cards, shown before deployment on the left and after deployment on the right. These are plaster of Paris cards that dissolve at a fixed rate. By measuring the rate of erosion, one can estimate the shear stress near the sea bed. Thus, clod cards are a relatively inexpensive method for measuring near bottom flow patterns.

Oceanography...not for the faint of heart...or weak of stomach!