We have officially left Mauritius! Before leaving, we went through a deep security and safety training on the ship that covered what we need to do under all potential threats we could experience. Due to the fact that I am the only non-Korean speaker on the ship, I was given my own personal training in English. The training included everything from if there was a fire on the ship to what to do if someone falls off the ship. We even have a security guard team to keep us safe in the event of piracy, which is still a very real and pervasive issue in certain parts of the Indian Ocean. Luckily, we are only going to spend a limited amount of time in regions where pirates may be active, and even then we are on the edges of their reach. After the safety and security training, all of the scientists and some of the crew gathered for a science meeting where we discussed the timing of the stations we will be stopping at for sampling. We also went over the types of instruments we will be deploying to collect seawater and other data at these stations.
Once all of this was complete, we set sail from Mauritius towards our first station. We all watched from the decks as we left the beautiful island of Mauritius and said goodbye to land for the next month. During our departure we even saw a couple of rainbows over the island. After setting sail, it did not take long for us to hit some fairly rough seas. A lot of us on the ship are still getting used to the feeling of these waves and are having to stave off sea sickness. Hopefully all of that passes as we spend more time on the ship and start doing research. Despite this, I am excited that we have finally begun our journey at sea.
