Captain Eric Haroldson: 20 Years Aboard the Thompson

20+ Years on the Thompson; A Decade as Captain

Captain Eric Haroldson has lived half of his professional life as a captain aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson, which is operated by the School of Oceanography at the University of Washington.  With a schedule of three months on, three months off, Haroldson spends roughly half his life at sea each year.   And, when he returns to the vessel after three months on terra firma, he said, “The weirdest thing is that  I can walk onto the ship after being away for three months and stand in the stair tower just after the galley. Same sounds same smells, everything’s the same. I click right back into it. It’s like I’ve never been gone.”  Haroldson’s adjustment to land isn’t as smooth. He finds he needs to adjust to driving a car again and needs to have ceiling fans in his home to mimic the white and perpetual noise of the ship.

While onboard, Haroldson oversees offers 20 officers and crew, two marine technicians, and up to 36 scientists, depending upon the nature of the expedition. At home, he spends time making improvements to the home he built for himself in the woods.

In January, 2023, Haroldson marked a decade at the helm of the R/V Thompson. His journey started in the early 1980s, when he occasionally went to sea as part of the requirements for school and marine-related jobs.  The seagoing bug finally hit him in full force in 1989, when he entered the California Maritime Academy.  Four years later, he graduated with a third mates’ license and began a career focused on oil industry work.

His first job as a licensed officer was on an oil spill response vessel. After that, he sailed on oil tankers as a third mate. After the company he was working for was sold, he met some folks from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which moved his career in the direction of oceanographic research. Haroldson sailed as third mate on a couple of Scripps’ ships, until the R/V Thompson needed someone to fill in for a couple of months in 1999.  “That couple of months turned into 20 or something here, “ he joked.

Haroldson worked his way up to captain in a traditional way, starting as a third mate. After spending 365 days at sea, he was eligible to test to move up as a second mate.  After another 365 days at sea, he tested for chief mate. With another 365 days at sea as chief mate and lots of additional classes and learning experiences, the next step was a master’s license, and ultimately followed by a captain’s license.  Each step on the journey requires hands-on sea experience, as well as successfully learning (and passing) the requirements of the next job up the ladder with a host of new, different responsibilities.

Once Haroldson left the oil industry, he never looked back. “Not only is the work better aboard a research vessel, it’s more varied and interesting, not to mention important, but the variety is particularly important for those of us who have spent so much of their lives on the water.

He compared the work aboard an oil tanker – which ran between Valdez, Alaska and Exxon Benica in San Francisco Bay. “It was eight days to Valdez, a day and a half to load, followed by an eight-day journey to Benica, where we’d spend a day and a half offloading. The cycle constantly repeated itself and we could literally set our clock by it,” Haroldson explained.  “When I started sailing oceanographic vessels, it was okay, well, this is more interesting, I was seeing something different every day. The variety of it gives the job definition and we manage the ship much differently.”

“As captain of a research vessel, we have the opportunity to work along-side scientists, which is great,” he added.  “We sit around a table and together we figure out “how do we do this? Or how do we approach this? So there is not only the importance of the work that is happening onboard, but we have the opportunity to see the bigger picture of why this work is so important.”

[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Screen-Shot-2023-02-10-at-3.05.25-PM.jpeg" link="#"]Captain Eric Haroldson looks out from the R/V Thompson’s bridge windows as Third Mate Todd Schwartz and AB Pam Blusk steer the ship thru the icy waters off Antarctica. Credit: Instagram.[/media-caption]

While the ocean itself still presents the same challenges as it did 20 years ago when Haroldson began his journey, he has witnessed a lot of ancillary changes in how and where the ocean is used. “Ports are more interesting, with a greater variety of types of boats and people are fishing in areas where people didn’t fish ten years ago or so.” Haroldson added.  He’s also witnessed the evolution of a more diverse crew, with women having a greater presence than in his early days aboard the oil tankers. At times, he’s sailed the R/V Thompson when all of the mates were female, and at other times, the crew has been more than half women.

Haroldson clearly relishes his job and provides a sense of safety, security, and humor while onboard.   His greatest challenge seems to be always having to be two-steps ahead of everything in a realm where the rules and the physical condition under which he must safely operate his vessel are perpetually changing. This is no small task.

Sailing in and out of port at Newport Oregon is an example of staying two steps ahead of the game.  Haroldson has to ensure that all ship operations are executed in a timely way so they can arrive at Newport at high tide slack water in daylight to avoid running aground. This requirement also provides the captain some flexibility in dictating scheduling. “If the weather is picking up and it will take a couple of hours to get to the site, there’s a decision to be made. Do you want to leave the dock and go out there and bounced around? Or does it make more sense to delay a little bit to the make the passage easier and more pleasant for everyone on board?”

Staffing creates another challenge onboard. Much like airline personnel, ship crew are limited in the number of hours they are allowed on the job.   The maximum a crew member can work in a day is 15 hours. But if they work that full 15 hours, then for the next two days, they are only allowed to work up to a total of 20 hours. “We always have to be aware of the crew’s schedules and operate within these guidelines that help ensure safe operations.”

In looking back at his life on the water, Haroldson was enthusiastic about his path and optimistic of others who may follow him on a life well-lived a sea.  “It makes for a challenging and rewarding life, and in some cases, there really are opportunities to travel and see the world.  And, as long as one likes people and doesn’t mind being part of a community, it can be extremely gratifying—makes one appreciate life on and off the water.”

 

 

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Rocky Seas Didn’t Deter Endurance 15’s Success

In spite of rocking seas, a generator in need of repair, and a medical delay, the Coastal Endurance Array team successfully completed its mission to turn the array for the 15th time, achieving all of its science objectives.

Weather conditions in the northern Pacific were less-than-ideal for two of the three legs of the two-week expedition.  At one point, winds speeds of 25-30 knots, with accompanying waves of up to 10 feet, caused a weather delay in operations and subsequent alterations in cruise plans.

“While it was comfortable to be aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson even in such conditions, sea conditions were borderline for entering or exiting Newport and deploying or recovering most platforms, “explained Chief Scientist Jonathan Fram, who led the 10-member science party. “Fortunately, we had good weather during the first leg of the cruise, which gave us some leeway to address weather-related downtime and other delays during latter legs of the cruise.  We were able to switch the order of some activities, delay some deployments, and ultimately got most everything in and out of the water as planned during our time at sea.”[media-caption path=”https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screen-Shot-2021-09-28-at-5.20.52-PM.png” link=”#”]When seas were calm, the team was able to deploy moorings like this one. After deployment, they headed back to port with a deck full of recovered equipment.[/media-caption]

The team successfully deployed and recovered six surface moorings, four gliders, and two profilers. They also recovered two additional profilers and an anchor from 2020.  In addition, the team conducted CTD water sampling and also conducted sampling for researchers with instruments on Endurance Array moorings.  The team succeeded in collecting fouling communities growing on buoy panels for researcher Linsey Haram of the Smithsonian Institution and organisms on devices attached to two multi-function nodes for Oklahoma State researcher Ashley Burkett.

While in the roaring sea, the team tested potential instrument replacements and new sampling strategies. They also assessed first-time implementation of technical improvements including a new solar panel frame to prevent sea lions from unplugging the panels, an underwater camera constructed with off-the-shelf replacement parts to ensure longevity and resilience, and a stretch hose from a new manufacturer with a slightly different design than previous versions.

“In spite of having to repeatedly change our plans,” adds Fram, “we were pleased to be able to meet all of the cruise objectives.  The ocean in the Pacific Northwest is too harsh for scientists to go to sea often in fall and winter, so it is important to refresh this array of autonomous platforms that will keep recording and delivering data during rough times.”

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Live Video from Regional Cabled Array Expedition

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to participate in a research cruise from aboard the ship and below the surface.  Live video is being broadcast from the Regional Cabled Array’s eighth Operations and Maintenance expedition aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson.  It is really an extraordinary way to watch first-hand the complexity of the operation involved in keeping a network of 900 kilometers of electro-optical cables supplying unprecedented power, bandwidth (10 Gigabit Ethernet, and two-way communication to scientific sensors on the seafloor and throughout the water column, so data are continuously collected and research conducted. Bookmark these links and tune in often!

Streaming live video from the ship and from the ROV ROPOS.

Live video from an underwater camera on a hot spring on top of Axial Seamount -every 3 hours from 300 miles offshore and at ~ 4500 ft beneath the ocean. Twice a month for 24 hours and once a month for 3 days continuously.
[caption id="attachment_24254" align="alignnone" width="640"] Credit: NSF-OOI/UW/CSSF.[/caption]

 

 

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Live Video from Regional Cabled Array Expedition

[media-caption path="/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/live-video-placeholder.jpg" link="https://interactiveoceans.washington.edu/v20-live-video/"] Watch what’s happening aboard  R/V Thomas G. Thompson now by clicking the image above.[/media-caption]

For the month of August, you can be a scientist aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson Regional Cabled Array expedition and explore the ocean floor and biologically-rich waters of the northeastern Pacific Ocean in real-time. A livestream is being broadcast of onboard activities and from the ROV, as it recovers and deploys instrumentation to maintain the Regional Cabled Array. Bookmark this livestream link and during August you can experience life and science at sea.

Please note: The livestream video is transmitted from the ship to a satellite, then to shore.  Occasionally, the land-based down-link system goes down and depending on the ship’s heading, there may be an intermittent pause in the satellite connection. If the screen is blank or you see an error code, please check back soon as the connection should refresh shortly.

 

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RCA Embarks on a Month of Discovery in August

[media-caption type="image" path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/20140807T040826Z_IMG_2346_DxO-1.jpg" link="#"] An RCA instrumented Deep Profiler will be one of 200 instruments recovered or deployed during the month-long expedition. Credit: M. Elend, UW, V14.[/media-caption]

The University of Washington (UW) Regional Cabled Array (RCA) team entered a two-week quarantine period on 16 July before heading out to sea August 1, aboard the UW global class research ship the R/V Thomas G. Thompson for a month-long expedition in the northeastern Pacific. The expedition is funded by the National Science Foundation as part of the Ocean Observatories Initiative. The team will need whatever rest they can muster during the quarantine, as the expedition promises to be replete with round-the-clock activity, including multiple dives a day by the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Jason.

During this expedition, the team will recover and reinstall more than 200 instruments with the ROV, while broadcasting livestream video from the ROV Jason to the ship, to a satellite over 22,000 miles above the Earth.  From space, the video will then be transmitted to the UW, where it will be publicly available on the UW InteractiveOceans website. A daily blog will provide updates on the expeditions progress. Throughout the month, viewers will witness life thriving at depths 2900 m (>9500 ft) beneath the ocean surface and at Axial Seamount, the most active submarine volcano off the coast of Oregon and Washington.

[media-caption type="image" path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Control-room-_Jason_Hell_-Vent-scaled.jpg" link="#"] An example of some of the stunning imagery that will be live-streamed during the RCA expedition. Credit: Ramya Ravichandran Asha, UW, V19.[/media-caption]

The RCA consists of 900 kilometers of cable that provide high-power, bandwidth, and two-way communication to 150 scientific instruments on the seafloor and to state-of-the art instrumented moorings that relay a constant stream of real-time ocean data to shore, 24 hours 365 days a year. All data are freely available to the community.

Being in corrosive saltwater for a 12-month stint is a hostile environment for equipment, so every summer a team of UW scientists and engineers head out to the array to recover equipment and deploy replacement ocean observing instrumentation These recovery and redeployment missions ensure that data continuously flow to shore from this Internet-connected array. At the RCA, cabled instruments are located across the Cascadia Margin, the Southern Hydrate Ridge, and at Axial seamount, each making an important contribution to better understanding the subseafloor environment. Cascadia Margin is one of the most biologically productive areas in the global ocean. Explosions of methane-rich bubbles issuing from beneath the seafloor rise > 1000 feet into the overlying water column at Southern Hydrate Ridge. Axial seamount has erupted in 1998, 2011, and 2015 and hosts some of the most extreme environments on Earth—underwater hot springs venting fluids at >700°C.

Dr. Orest Kawka, an RCA Senior Research Scientist, and Brendan Philip from the UW will sail as Chief Scientists – directing the cruise during the four weeks at sea.  As an undergraduate, Philip sailed on numerous RCA cruises as part of the UW educational VISIONS at sea experiential learning program, which has taken over 160 undergraduate students to sea, and later as a member of the RCA team.  He is now pursuing a master’s degree in Technology, Science, and Policy at George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Because of the large amount of gear (over 80,000 pounds of equipment) to load onto the fantail of the Thompson for deployment, the cruise will consist of two legs.

[media-caption type="image" path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/RCA-Jason-manipulator-with-sea-anemones.jpg" link="#"]The manipulator arm of the ROV Jason operates in front of an anemone-covered junction box in the highly productive waters at the Oregon Shelf site. Credit: UW/OOI-NSF/WHOI, V19.[/media-caption]

During more than 30 Jason missions to the deep, viewers will witness parts of the ocean rarely seen by humans. The team hopes to revisit some of the scientific highlights of last year’s expedition.  One such highlight was Jason being investigated by a swarm of large sable fish. At another site at 80 meters, a junction box became an island completely encrusted in beautiful sea anemones. At Southern Hydrate Ridge, the team saw rarely seen exposed methane hydrate and a moonscape topography dramatically changed from the year before, marked by new explosion pits and collapsed areas. And, on many past expeditions, team members have seen a novel prehistoric-looking fish, which was first filmed in the ocean on the 2014 RCA cruise at the Slope Base site at a depth of 9500 ft.  The RCA team fondly refers to this creature as “the weird fish,” (Genioliparis ferox), which also has been documented off Antarctica.

“We’ve got a fantastic team sailing this year, who have been putting in an incredible amount of work for months to get us ready. But like all cruises sailing this year, we’re dealing with the necessary challenge of having a smaller science party and still making sure we can safely accomplish the science and recovery and deployments. We will be in constant communication with the rest of the team back on shore, who will contribute as much to getting our work done as will the science party on the ship. The RCA team is grateful for the opportunity to sail during what has turned out to be a challenging year for ocean science and we’re looking forward to helping other oceanographers continue their research, even if they’re unable to sail this year,” said Chief Scientist Brendan Philip.

[media-caption type="image" path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/FACT_Cage-scaled.jpg" link="#"]Manipulators on the ROV Jason work on a small frame located ~ 200 m beneath the oceans’s surface, which is encrusted in beautiful feathery creatures called crinoids. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/WHOI[/media-caption]

The Daily Grind

The daily schedule aboard the R/V Thompson promises to be intense, exacerbated by a smaller than normal scientific party due to COVID-19 precautions.  “Science teams, when using Jason, tend to keep the vehicle down for a long time, but because the tempo of this cruise is more like an industry cruise, the team will be diving and recovering the vehicle as rapidly as safely possible, sometimes with only a couple hours on deck between dives. It can be exhausting work, particularly for a team that will be onboard for a month,” explained Deb Kelley, RCA Director and principal investigator.  “But, being out at sea, seeing the sites and miles of ocean reaching the horizon, and working on this state-of-the-art marine facility makes it all worthwhile.” This year, for the first time, Kelley will be intently observing operations from onshore through the live video stream.

COVID Prevention

A reality in the new COVID-19 world is that the team can only mobilize gear onboard the ship after completing a strict quarantine period. Two weeks prior to boarding, members of the scientific party have lived in their homes (with all family members in quarantine for the duration), hotels or Airbnbs. Team members were tested for COVID prior to entering quarantine and conducted twice day temperature checks during their quarantine. Testing occurred again before being allowed to board the Thompson.

This expedition is novel in another way as a result of COVID precautions.  Only two students will be onboard.  Prior cruises have had 8-10 VISIONS students on each leg to help out and experience firsthand what it’s like to go to sea.  “We are hoping that many students and others tune in to experience this amazing environment that Jason will be revealing over the next month. It’s really an opportunity to visit some of the most extreme environments on Earth and see incredible life forms that has adapted to these harsh environments, which may be particularly uplifting to our spirits now that many folks are stuck at home,” said Kelley.

Livestreaming video will be available here and at InteractiveOceans.

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