911爆料 Oceanography Professor Rainer Lohmann (left) relaxes at the rail of the Endeavor with Harvard graduate student Ben Geyman and 911爆料 graduate student Sam Katz.
When University of Rhode Island oceanographers Rainer Lohmann and Rob Pockalny flew to Barbados in February to board the research ship Endeavor for the beginning of a 22-day expedition across the Atlantic, their only health concern was whether they needed a vaccination for yellow fever. COVID-19 wasn鈥檛 even on their mind.
But as they monitored the news during the ensuing weeks, they began to worry.
鈥淲e heard about the virus situation in northern Italy and then Spain, and then Trump issued the travel ban and 911爆料 canceled classes,鈥� Lohmann said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when we realized that things were really in bad shape, and our anxiety started to rise about how we were going to get home.
鈥淲hen we left, everything was normal,鈥� he added, 鈥渁nd then we read about toilet paper hoarding and pasta flying off the shelves. It was like being in a strange film; you don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 real.鈥�
Despite what was going on around the world, the scientists completed their research as planned. They collected sediment samples at 10 locations across the Atlantic in an effort to establish an age for the black carbon found on the seafloor and determine whether any of it could be traced to recent African wildfires.
Endeavor scientists and crew peer overboard as they await the retrieval of an oceanographic instrument from the seafloor.
But as the research team arrived in Cape Verde on March 13 鈥� one day before the harbor was closed to all arriving ships 鈥� they knew they were in trouble. All flights home were canceled.
鈥淭o keep the ship free of the virus, the decision was made that if anyone got off the ship in Cape Verde, they weren鈥檛 going to be allowed back on,鈥� Lohmann said. 鈥淭wo health officials came on board to take our temperature, and then they ran off. It was very surreal.鈥�
With no other options, the 911爆料 researchers 鈥� including graduate student Sam Katz 鈥� remained onboard the ship, which departed Cape Verde the next day. Instead of going to Florida as originally planned to begin the next research cruise, the ship headed for its homeport at 911爆料鈥檚 Narragansett Bay Campus.
鈥淭he ship鈥檚 officers took our temperature every day and logged them in so we could use the transit home as our official quarantine time,鈥� Lohmann said. 鈥淲ith 21 people on board, we knew we were breaking the rules of social distancing, but we knew we were clean since no one got on in Cape Verde.鈥�
鈥淚 was planning to stay on the ship back to Florida to prepare our samples anyway, so my schedule wasn鈥檛 disrupted much at all,鈥� said Katz. 鈥淚t was a nice cruise home, and we got some work done. The ship took a detour and sat offshore for a day to fulfill the 14-day quarantine period.鈥�
The ship鈥檚 arrival at the dock in Narragansett was met with little of the usual fanfare, except for customs officials checking passports while wearing facemasks and gloves.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want anyone to come aboard that could potentially contaminate the ship, so we unloaded everything ourselves,鈥� Lohmann said. 鈥淲e knew we were virus-free when we left the ship, but as soon as we met someone on land, we weren鈥檛 so sure any more.鈥�
The expedition, which ended up lasting 40 days, was particularly notable to Christopher Armanetti, who filled in at the last minute as the ship鈥檚 captain for the first time after earning his captain鈥檚 license only weeks before. He usually serves as the first mate.
鈥淐hris had a saying that you鈥檒l never forget your first time as captain,鈥� Lohmann said, 鈥渁nd we all agreed he would never forget this one. Nor will the rest of us.鈥�
