As many of you know, we are sailing through the holidays on this research expedition. The end of the calendar year also happens to be when the weather is best at the East Pacific Rise. As we wrap up our Alvin dives and get ready to start our transit home, the lab is in the middle of our sample processing. We finished our recoveries, having put our sandwiches down two weeks ago, and we’re now picking through the animals that have settled or colonized them.
While this is the first Christmas most of us have ever worked, we are still doing our best to be festive, and had planned events to make this a memorable time at sea. It’s difficult for many of us to be missing the holidays, but we are lucky to have internet access, and enough of it to even video call all the way out in the middle of the ocean. We miss our families back home but spending nearly four weeks at sea together has created a new family we can celebrate with.
The crew on board has done an exceptional job decorating the ship and making food throughout the month to make us feel more at home this holiday season. In the galley tinsel and Christmas lights are strewn about the entryway and support poles. In the movie lounge what feels like a hundred snowflakes hang from the ceiling, with a Christmas tree and presents in the corner, and a small fireplace in front of the TV. In the main lab we created a festive scene with our own snowflakes, lights, and used red ribbon to make candy cane support poles. My favorite part is one of our SSSGs (Shipboard Science Support Group), Allison, had printed Santa hats in various sizes and placed them on all the pictures around the ship. In the galley a fish identification guide sports some very well-fitting hats.
This year is unique in that Christmas day also falls on the last day of Hannukah. One crew member, an Able-Bodied (AB) named Alex went out of her way to celebrate for those on board. As someone who celebrates both, I really appreciated her going out of the way to make sure I felt included. She made a variety of Jewish foods like matzah ball soup, latkes, and kugel. While she made enough for everyone to try, she made sure to set aside plates for the Jewish scientists. She even stopped me in the morning and had a request, that she paid for in gelt (chocolate coins).
Typically, we light candles for Hannukah, but that isn’t the safest thing to do in an enclosed space, so we had to get creative. Some of us called home to light candles with our families, and others brought LED menorahs to safely celebrate in our state rooms (although mine was so bright I hope it didn’t blind my roommates).
The Christmas festivities began the night before. After spending most of the day and some of the evening sorting, we earned a break. We spent the rest of the night watching Christmas movies and decorating Styrofoam cups to be shrunk with the Alvin dive the next day. There were passionate discussions about what is the ultimate Christmas movie. There were many votes for Die Hard, the Grinch, some for the Gremlins and the Polar Express, but for Christmas Eve we ultimately decided on watching Elf. After that we watched the Nightmare Before Christmas, and then Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Once the cups were finished, we all headed to bed, hoping Santa would visit us in the middle of the ocean.
In the morning it looked like Santa had come! In front of each of our doors were knitted hats made by the ladies of the St. John’s Bethel Baptist Church in Charleston, South Carolina. They came in all colors and sizes, some fit better than others, but we were grateful for gifts out at sea. The main lab is also quite cold so they will be used!
Many of us began Christmas day calling our loved ones, opening presents, and participating in our \ traditions with our families from afar. Science operations were still happening, we still had a Christmas Alvin dive. Wyatt Heimbichner Goebel (WWU) and Susan Mills (WHOI) would finish up our recoveries at Tica and Riftia Mound. As the science team approached the aft deck where the launch occurs, we were welcomed by Alvin pilot Bruce Strickrott wearing a flashing Santa hat, SSSG Allison covered in tinsel, a manta ray hat with reindeer antlers, and ornaments, and AB Mike Sessa in a full elf costume. The Alvin swimmers were also adorning their own Santa hats. This had to be one of the most unique Alvin launches, although watching the Halloween Alvin recovery where the swimmers were dressed like hotdogs may have it beat. As Santa’s helpers descended into the water on top of Alvin, they began their journey down to the seafloor.
While our scientists completed their dive objectives, there was still a lot of science processing to be done back on the ship. Dressed in hats and Tanika in her Santa jumpsuit, we sorted through our sandwich deployments until the submersible returned. These sandwiches can vary in the texture and the amount of bacteria on them, and the one I was sorting through had a white, filamentous bacterial mat on it. Not quite the White Christmas I was dreaming of, but while we played Christmas music, it felt somewhat fitting. Throughout the day some Christmas presents were exchanged, ugly sweaters were prepared for the contest after dinner, and a lot of candy was eaten. Apparently, candy canes are not a thing in some European countries and while we urged our Italian and French colleagues to try them, the “toothpaste” taste was not enjoyed by all.
When the submersible returned, so did the outfits, and Alvin was heroically rescued by our resident elf. These elves work hard, he kept the entire outfit on even when swimming. To make this recovery even more memorable, Vanessa Jimenez (WWU) was able to ride the small zodiac boat used to return the swimmers and attach the line that tows Alvin into recovery position.
Alvin Christmas recovery. Top left: Vanessa Jimenez after riding the zodiac. Photo by Shawn Arellano. Other photos by Vanessa Jimenez.
Once the recovery was complete, we all headed to Christmas dinner, usually a very important time for this holiday. We were not let down. Yet again, our amazing chefs had put together a feast! One filled with Christmas specials from all over including roast turkey, green bean casserole, empanadas, and many desserts like rice pudding and apple pie. In the fridge were a plethora of egg nog options to drink. While we ate and talked about our unusual Christmas, the Alvin team each handed us a present, a letter with an Alvin sticker inside, which were highly coveted.
After dinner and our science meeting, the festivities began. The ugly sweater contest that Dr. Dykman (WHOI) had planned, was happening in the galley. While Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree played, each contest cat walked through the entrance, did a twirl in the middle of the room, and exited into the library. Targeting different predetermined categories, some put on a performance. Once all the contestants had walked, our judges discussed intensely. The categories were: most creative, most ocean-inspired, and ugliest. Our winners were clear. Matt Skorina (Alvin) won most creative with his sweater crocheted from climbing rope and ship line. Dr. Dykman won most ocean-inspired, with her sandwich sewn sweater, and Randy Holt (Alvin) won ugliest, with a bobblehead elf sweater.
To end our day, Matt and Benen from the Alvin team decided to whip up something special. Using liquid nitrogen, they made ice cream on the aft deck. In both vanilla and chocolate, it turned out more delicious than we had expected. As liquid nitrogen poured over the table, the creamy concoction quickly chilled into ice cream. Some Oreos were poured over that also turned them brittle and caused our mouths to erupt chilled air like breath on a cold day. As we enjoyed our tasty treats, we laughed and shared stories about Christmases past, a perfect end to another holiday at sea.
EPR Biofilms4Larvae project is a multi-institutional NSF grant: OCE-1948580 (Arellano), OCE-1947735 (Mullineaux), OCE-1948623 (Vetriani).
