After our nightly meeting and a presentation by Martín Hernández, the group’s focus shifted to preparation for the continuous experiments that will begin tomorrow, literally at the crack of dawn.

As usual, we stopped to make a CTD cast at a GOC 2012 site. The results of our standard time-series tests led the team to change our final destination closer to our current location than the originally planned spot. At 4:45 a.m. tomorrow  we will arrive at a point just southeast of Cabo San Lucas where we will set up for our three-day time series, beginning with a CTD cast at dawn (6:00 a.m.). We will be making casts every six hours for 72 hours straight.

Although sometimes tedious, the prepping that takes place before this round-the clock schedule is crucial. The scientists must: 1) label all of the bottles and vials that will hold the seawater samples; 2) prepare all necessary solutions and treatments; 3) assemble the tools and instruments that are needed (e.g., filtration systems, sediment traps, syringes); and 4) keep everything organized in secure and easy-to-find locations for when we wake up bleary-eyed in a few hours.