"Sampling the ocean for particulate matter... one liter at a time." – Allen Milligan, OSU

Out here, the ocean is about 4000m deep. That’s over 13,000 ft all covered in water! So just think of how little we are actually sampling: in 1 cubic mile, there are 1.1 x 10^12 gallons of water, or 4.16 x 10^12 liters of water. Which means that in a typical CTD cast, we sample 240 liters, so we are sampling 5.76 x 10^-9 % (or 0.00000000576%!!!) of the water in 1 cubic mile. And that’s just a cubic mile of the ocean… and the ocean is much larger than that. It’s crazy to think about how little we are actually getting at to try and describe this HUGE system.
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In other news….

Does anyone want to join me down here March 5-19 for traveling in Peru? I'd be up for whatever and I'm leaving S. America from Cuzco on the 19th. Let me know!
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We're at 10S, 100W now, something like more than 1000 miles away from the Chilean coast. The water has transitioned in color to a grayish-blue as more life has appeared. We've been finding a lot of interesting macroscopic things in the plankton tows and I’m actually seeing more of a color on my filters, meaning I'm gathering more chlorophyll on the filter! Hooray! We expected this because we are in warmer waters. This morning around 6AM when I was helping grab samples, there were many creamy orange squid swimming around the boat. It’s crazy to see those things! Mmm, calamari!
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Go USA! We were already up to 4 medals this morning. It's hard to believe those are going on... We're so separated from the world out here sometimes. It's been weird not being able to watch the news and keep tabs on current events regularly.
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Sometime within the past few days I gained my sea legs. I don't know when or how, but suddenly, I ceased noticing the movement of the boat. I don't need to wear the accupressure bracelets any longer and don't feel the least bit sick at all.

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Some people have asked about the food here. OMG, let me tell you: I am seriously going to gain a few pounds during this cruise. The cooks are AMAZING and spoil us with all sorts of perfectly-spiced and prepared meals AND desserts. Here is a sample: creamy gouda polenta, fresh-baked French bread, chicken cordon bleu, blueberry cobbler, creamy asparagus soup, spinach noodles with walnuts and ricotta, and a cream puff filled with tapioca pudding. They’ve also prepared Indian and Thai food, homemade pizza, and always prepare veggies in a deliciously edible form.
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Ok, signing out! Happy Valentine’s Day!