15 May 2009 – End the first dye study and wait for the second.

We collected water from the dye plume again at 0400, sampling at 9 m (below the dye) and at 6 m (within the dye).  This station was numbered dye06.  We then sampled at four points to the N, S, E, and W of this station dye06 at a distance of 1 mile.  We did not detect dye at these other stations.  We then lost track of the dye, as did the Point Sur.  We decided to move the ship to station CR-30 and wait until morning to start the next dye study. 

Many scientists on board spent this free time processing samples.  Mariya Smit ran a PCR in preparation for on-board probe array hybridization.  Erica Kiss began DNA extractions on coastal samples.  Byron Crump (me) processed bacteria production samples.  Tawnya Peterson ran two dozen samples through the Flow Cam and collected terrific pictures of phytoplankton and protists.   Colleen Durkin and Sara Bender ran an incubation experiment in which they amended surface water samples with nitrate and silica.  David Needham processed 13-C primary production samples.  Matt Wolhowe measured methane with a gas chromatograph.  Jarred Swalwell got his flow-through cytometer warmed up and running well.  Vikki Campbell measured tons of chlorophyll samples.  Alex Jaramillo caught up on our CTD notes.  Michele Maier, Pete Kahn, and Misty Blakely filtered lots and lots of water.