SinD Lopper

We dive down with a bright yellow light

Chief Sci says when you gonna sample it right

Oh Anna dear we're not decision-making ones

And microbes, they want to have fun

Oh microbes just want to have fun

Jimmy sits in the middle of the row

He yells out we're gonna do this thing right

Oh Jimmy dear you know you're Jason pilot one

 But microbes, they want to have fun

Oh microbes just want to have

That's all they really want

Some fun

When the science is all done

Microbes - they want to have fun

Oh microbes just want to have fun

Some say all you need is CTD

But we say you need more creativity

We want to be the ones to bring them up in the sun

Oh microbes they want to have fun

Oh microbes just want to have

That's all they really want

Some fun

When the science is all done

Microbes - they want to have fun

Oh microbes just want to have fun, 

They want to have fun,

They want to have fun....

Science isn't all technobabble and pipetting. Sometimes we have to get creative in our sampling methods, and at sea, that's where engineers come in. See our post on its origins from a previous cruise here: http://tinyurl.com/FST3000.   After Anna-Louise challenged our scientists to come up with something that, unlike the strong arms of Jason, wouldn't crush fragile chimney and beehive structures, creativity came to life.

We began with the FST3000, whose tin bottom was tragically too weak to cut through the chimneys all the way. After some experimenting, Jimmy came up with a new contraption - the SinD Lopper. Made out of a coffee can with the bottom removed, the SinD Lopper acts as a guillotine, sending a metal bottom slicing across the chimney and beehives to remove them from their bases. Not only is this less forceful than Jason's grip, the reduced surface area allows the chimney structures to stay more or less intact for transfer to Jason's deck. It is still undergoing beta testing, but SinD Lopper is so far doing better than we could have imagined, and we look forward to exploring future realms of the deep with the new invention!
Contributed by Morgan Haldeman