R.V. Hi'ialakai

On Thursday, November 2, 2006, Vanessa, I and three other classmates got to go on an all day education cruise aboard the Research Vessel Hi’ialakai. We can both safely say that this was one of the most awesome experiences we’ve ever had!

The 224 foot vessel with a cruising speed of 11 knots was built in Tacoma, WA and launched in 1984 as a U.S. Navy vessel. Transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard in 1998 it was used as a border patrol vessel in the Caribbean but it was too slow to really be effective. In 2002 it was sold to NOAA and its home port became Honolulu, HI. It is currently used as a research and educational vessel.

Hi’ialakai is Hawaiian for “embracing pathways to the sea” and “guiding leaders of the seas”, an appropriate name! Our day aboard the ship was full and fun. Vanessa’s favorite part was the ride out on the jet boats, which once we got out of the incoming/outgoing lane was quite fun. Climbing up the ladder to actually get on the Hi’ialakai was a different story. Vanessa scrambled up ok, but I pulled the rope ladder out to me and then stepped on. Luckily I didn’t swing into the side of the boat too hard, but I think I had the crewmembers wandering about me!

First on our agenda aboard the ship was a Scavenger Hunt. Basically we toured the ship, getting to see the fantail (stern), the bow, the navigation area, the sick bay, the firefighting area, the decompression unit, the wet and dry labs and the sonar area. Really cool stuff and the crews’ quarters are really nice too. Shoot, they have a big screen plasma T.V.!

Water quality was up next. There we learned about the various tools, like refractometers, used to measure pH levels, salinity, temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen levels, nutrients, and density. We also learned about CTD units. Conductivity-Temperature-Depth units are the main way to measure salinity, temperature, pressure, depth and density. The ship even had one! Crazy piece of equipment.

Lunch was decent considering it was tuna sandwiches, cold fried chicken, crackers, chips and Oreos.

The plankton section of the day was on of the most interesting. We looked at plankton they had netted earlier in the day under microscopes. There are some crazy creatures out there! Saw both zooplankton and phytoplankton, and a couple we couldn’t identify. I had given Vanessa and one of our friends, Aliena, a run down on plankton information earlier. During this presentation Vanessa and I were banned from answering questions, even though Vanessa was just regurgitating word for word what I had earlier told her. Oh well, I don’t mind being banned from answering questions!

Last on the agenda, the sediment/live rock section was really fun. Basically live rock means the stuff that is living on the rock: the algae and animals. In this activity we had to find, observe with the bare eye and then with the microscope animals that were living in the rocks. They had a slipper lobster, rock boring urchins, sea hares, worms, crabs, and star fish. Lot of fun looking at and drawing these animals. I also learned that slipper lobsters are particularly good eating and that not locking my knees really does help me stand straight on a rocking boat...

We ended the day with a question answer session in which Vanessa (my parrot) and I impressed many of the scientists with our knowledge and won several prizes. Squirty turtles, a lunch bag, a shoulder bag and verbal amazement were ours! We were also given a poster of Hawaii’s marine mammals, a much sought after item.

Our group was the first to head back to shore and it was an interesting, but fun experience. That morning had been nice, but as the day progressed it started down pouring and the swell had grown. They had brought the jet boats into their on deck holdings and now lowered them down, but only halfway. They had us climb in suspended boats and all sit on one side. We, having seen way too many movies, were very nervous and were preparing for a rapid drop and a sudden, soaking, splash as we hit the water. How mistaken we were though! They gently lowered us into the water without hardly a ripple and we were on our way back to land. It was fun, but sad really leaving the Hi’ialakai. I wish I could go on it next year!