Follow along as participants in the cruise provide updates and reflections on their experiences, the science, the technology, and other elements of the expedition.
September 22, 2017 | By Caitlin Adams
It’s Friday, September 22—six days before the scheduled end of DEEP SEARCH 2017—and the Pisces is back in port in Norfolk, VA to avoid yet another hurricane. While the forecasts still aren’t certain as to what Hurricane Maria will mean for the eastern seaboard, the DEEP SEARCH team has made the difficult decision to end the cruise this weekend.
Read moreSeptember 21, 2017 | By Alanna Durkin
Several previous DEEP SEARCH mission logs have bragged about the tens of thousands of seafloor photos that autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry has taken so far despite the weather limiting our dives. They are also a somewhat daunting task to me—the pair of human eyes that needs to look at them all.
Read moreSeptember 20, 2017 | By Dr. Jason Chaytor
The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sentry collects a large amount of geophysical data (bathymetry, side-scan and sub-seafloor reflection profiles) during each 18- to 24-hour dive, all of which needs to be processed from streams of 1’s and 0’s into correctly located maps and other visual representations of the seafloor and sub-seafloor.
Read moreSeptember 19, 2017 | By Caitlin Adams
Since our expedition began on September 12, the DEEP SEARCH team has spent nearly an equal number of days at sea and onshore. After four successful, science-filled days at sea, we had to head into port in Morehead City, NC to avoid Hurricane Jose. Now that Jose is slowly moving north, we finally have enough of a safe weather window to head back out today!
Read moreSeptember 16-17, 2017 | By Dr. Amanda Demopoulos
I’m sitting at the dock in Morehead City, North Carolina, waiting for the weather to clear so that we can resume the DEEP SEARCH expedition. It would be an understatement to say that weather is an unpredictable force, particularly during hurricane season. However, Mother Nature has thrown us a few more curveballs than I would have ever imagined.
Read moreSeptember 15, 2017 | By Caitlin Adams
After looming out in the Atlantic all week, Hurricane Jose has finally become an unavoidable threat to the DEEP SEARCH team. Jose is expected to generate large swells throughout the entirety of our planned working area, and there’s just nowhere to avoid it.
Read moreSeptember 14, 2017 | By Caitlin Adams
On a cruise like this, there are many operational considerations to weigh as plans are made. Each of these operations can’t be completed solely by scientists—the ship’s crew plays an integral role in all of these tasks, and we have to be sure to schedule around their needs as well.
Read moreSeptember 13, 2017 | By Sean Kelley & Caitlin Adams
Though Sentry’s engineers are able to pre-program the AUV’s track before launch, it’s important to know where Sentry is whenever it’s in the water, to ensure that it’s operating as planned and that no complications have occurred.
Read moreSeptember 12, 2017 | By Caitlin Adams
It’s official: we’re on the Atlantic, and the real work has begun! Overnight, NOAA Ship Pisces will steam to our first dive target, Kitty Hawk seep.
Read moreSeptember 11, 2017 | By Caitlin Adams
It may be September 11th, our scheduled departure date, but the DEEP SEARCH team is still ready and waiting at the dock, delayed because of Hurricanes Irma and Jose.
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