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2/01/2025

Better Late Than Never: A Throwback to the R/V Mirai MR24-02 Research Cruise (March 2024)

哈咯~ D1のMiyaです!It’s February 2025, and I’m finally writing about a cruise that happened in March 2024. Why now? Because I’m heading on another one next week and, and instead of packing, I’m reminiscing. Call it procrastination or call it "mentally getting into the ocean zone"—either way, here we are.

The Struggle is Real (But Temporary)

Last March, I boarded JAMSTEC’s R/V Mirai (未来, "future" in Japanese) for my second-ever research cruise. We set off from Mutsu, Aomori, drilled 6-meter piston cores from the Chishima Trench (~6000m deep) near the Kuril Strait, and ended in Shimizu Port, Shizuoka, next to the legendary Chikyu (地球, “Earth”)—IODP’s deep-sea drilling vessel.

The first five days? Rough. Literally. I had just said my last goodbye to my grandmother in Beijing, was running hourly water sampling solo, and was severely sleep-deprived while trying to instruct others on something I was still figuring out myself. Large waves, constant motion, and self-doubt hit all at once. But as the days passed, I found my rhythm.

Finding Joy in the Deep

The moment I started getting along with everyone, and leaning on my shipmates for support, things shifted. I wasn’t just surviving—I was enjoying it. The student-led workout sessions every night became a mental health lifesaver (even some professors joined in!). Watching "Deep Blue" while the ship rocked in a storm was surreal. The footage of penguins stumbling on land after returning from sea had me laughing way too hard—because honestly, I could relate.

Watching documentary among the waves~ (I feel lucky that I didn't get seasick)

There was also a magic show performed by a fellow student (who happens to be a semi-professional magician), spontaneous chats with professors, students, and the crew from マリンワーク and 日本海洋事業, and deep-dive lectures on turbidites and contourites that rekindled my love for sediments. (I had drifted away from sedimentology after working on Antarctic sediments for my bachelor's thesis, shifting to seawater and then abalone shells—but this cruise reminded me why I loved it in the first place.)


Another super fun thing is I experienced using mouth to suck out some water in from the top of the pilot core to let the flow begin. I tried it once and accidentally drank a little bit of seawater from >5000m! How amazing!!! 

Oh one more thing, the first split of the piston core is like teppanyaki (if you know what I mean)



Water Sampling as Main Job, Sediment Subsampling as Side Job

This time I am in charge of water sampling. We only collected pumped up water of surface ocean with no CTD. Surface seawater is pumped into the vessel from the bow and can be collected from a faucet in the laboratory. Water sampling and discharging from the stern is done constantly so that local seawater can be sampled in real time. We sampled samples for dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) at 72 sites and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) at 14 sites. 



During my free time, I helped with core splitting. Playing with mud is so much more fun than staying up all night for water sampling! Not that I don't enjoy water sampling at all :p Or maybe, it's because there were so many people helping with sediment core splitting and chatting with them was fun.

Captain’s View & Learning to Lead

Since I was the only person doing water sampling, I had to track the ship’s location, speed, and direction to decide my sampling frequency. That meant I had the privilege of visiting the captain’s room multiple times—easily the best view on the ship.



Most importantly, I grew a lot on this journey. I learned that asking for help isn’t a weakness—it’s a skill. Learning when to take responsibility on myself and when to delegate tasks is a skill I still have to polish. 

Group photo at the beginning of the cruise (when I didn't know anybody on board)


Group photos at the end of the cruise (when I knew almost everyone on board). I was late for the first one where more people were in :p


What’s Next?

I once dreamed of working on Chikyu and even got accepted for a part-time job last year with マリンワーク, but then could not end up going since my residency in Japan caps work at 28 hours/week. Boarding Chikyu also requires helicopter evacuation training, where they drop a full-scale helicopter into a pool, flip it upside down, and make you escape. For several times in various scenarios! Sounds wild, but I still want to try someday.

Despite the struggles, the exhaustion, and questioning my life choices mid-waves, ocean science keeps pulling me back. The adventure, the unknown, and the deep-sea secrets make it all worth it. For now, I’m gearing up for my next cruise—hopefully with a little more sleep, a little more balance, and just as much excitement. I will bring ukulele this time heehee 🌺

Until next time—
Bon voyage! 🚢💙🌊

Jumping again!


P.S. Here are more information if you wish to learn more about this cruise~

If you want to see interesting stories of what happened on board, please check out my Instagram story archive.

If you want to learn more about the science on board, please check out the cruise report.

3/26/2014

むつに行ってきました:「みらい」での積み降ろし

2014年3月22日(土)と3月23日(日)の2日間、
宮入さんと坂下の2人で青森県のむつまで
海洋地球研究船「みらい」の積み降ろし、および梱包等のお手伝いに行ってきました。

むつは、まだ雪がたくさん残っており、トレッキングシューズで行って正解でした。
また、天候が非常に変わりやすく
突然、雷を伴った吹雪になったり
ヤマト運輸の伝票が引きちぎれる程の強風が吹いたりしました(そして寒かった...)。

現地ではJAMSTECの黒田さんに対応して頂きました。
ありがとうございました。

以下そのときの写真になります。
今後の積み降ろし時の梱包等に役立ててくれれば幸いです。

☆用意するもの★
現地では写真を撮る時間がなかったので、大気海洋研で撮りました
今回、梱包したのはLアングルサンプルです(段ボール6個分)。

①緩衝剤
(規格はたしか 90 cm × 10 mを2つ買いました, これでだいぶ余裕はありました)

②軍手
(荷下ろし等のときは必須ですね)

③養生テープ
(緩衝剤をまくときにけっこう必要でした、それでも2つあれば十分です)

④カッターおよびはさみ
(緩衝剤を切ったりするときに必要です)

⑤ラップ状の梱包材
(養生テープで固定した後に、これで最後に巻きました)

以上を準備した後は、、、

☆「みらい」へ★
「みらい」
(「白鳳」よりもだいぶ大きかったです)

☆梱包→コンテナへ★
まず緩衝剤の上にサンプル(段ボール)をおきます

巻きます

③養生テープと⑤ラップ状の梱包材で巻きます
※あまり巻きすぎたりすると、開くときに大変なので程々に、、、

梱包したものは、今回クレーンで降ろして頂きました

その後、コンテナに移動します。
その際、コンテナにもいろんな規格があることに注意して下さい。
ラッシングベルト(緑)でサンプルを固定するのが非常に重要なのですが
サンプルの量がコンテナに対し、非常に少なかったので固定するのに苦労しました。
今後の対策としては
①運送業者の方に布団等をお願いしておく
②サンプルを入れる段ボールの規格をなるべく同じにする

などが考えられます。

今回は応急処置として
残った緩衝材と段ボールを使用しました。

以上が今回の詳細になります。