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The importance of having a plan B (and C, D, E, and F)

The successful recovery of Medea after a ship-wide power outage. Jason, which can be seen floating at the end of the tether cable, was recovered shortly after. Photo by Zachary Clayton.

While power outages aren’t excessively common on research cruises, this event does encapsulate the nature of conducting science at sea: anything that can go wrong might go wrong at any given moment and—as happened today—without any prior warning. Chief Scientist Chris German’s mantra is to treat every day at sea like it may be your last day for conducting science, which is why he always has a plan B (and a plan C, D, E, and F if it comes to it).

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