Follow along as participants in the cruise provide updates and reflections on their experiences, the science, the technology, and other elements of the expedition.
By Martha Nizinski and Anna Metaxas
On June 9, 2017, an international team of scientists aboard NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow left the dock at Naval Station, Newport, Rhode Island, en route to canyons off the coast of New England and Atlantic Canada, as well as the shallower shelf habitats in the northern Gulf of Maine.
Read moreJune 21, 2017 | By Martha Nizinski
Multibeam mapping operations ended yesterday evening around 8 pm. This completes our data collection for this mission. As luck would have it, the fog had lifted, the sun came out, and the seas began to lay down. We should have a smooth ride back to Newport.
Read moreJune 20, 2017 | By Matt Poti
A typical dive plan for one of our surveys with the ROPOS remotely operated vehicle looks straightforward. It includes a series of waypoints, which are the coordinates used to navigate ROPOS along the intended path; information on the kinds of sampling that may occur during the survey; and a map of the waypoints overlaid on data depicting the depth of the seafloor in the survey area.
Read moreJune 19, 2017 | By Martha Nizinski
Last night our remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operations came to an end earlier than planned due to building seas caused by increasing wave height and strong winds. Out here, weather is a factor in everything we do. ROPOS has a weather window for operations—conditions when it is safe to deploy the ROV.
Read moreJune 18, 2017 | By Dave Packer
Today we returned to U.S. waters in the northern Gulf of Maine to survey a site in western Jordan Basin. During today’s dive, we surveyed a number of high relief hard-bottom “bumps” that could be good coral habitat but that we hadn’t surveyed previously.
Read moreJune 18, 2017 | By Liz Shea
We have been seeing a lot of cephalopods on this cruise, and they never fail to elicit shouts of “squid!” from the control room as they are encountered and either jet away or pose for the camera.
Read moreJune 17, 2017 | By Arieanna Balbar
Preparing for my voyage debut, I was unsure what to expect. I will be gaining my ‘ship time requirement’ as a graduate student at Dalhousie University while on the Henry B. Bigelow. My main duty on the ship is to aid in the processing of collected specimens and organize the dive logs and video.
Read moreJune 16, 2017 | By Marta Miatta
I am Marta Miatta, a PhD student at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. I work with Dr. Paul Snelgrove and my project aims to clarify the processes occurring in deep-sea sediments and the role that different animals play. This is my very first oceanic expedition and I could not be more excited!
Read moreJune 15, 2017 | By Joost Verhoeven
The main “attraction” during this scientific cruise onboard NOAA Ship Henry Bigelow is the beautiful and diverse deep-sea corals. While most people will be familiar with corals overall, the bottom habitats that make up the continental slope and the Gulf of Maine hold many other fascinating and lesser-known creatures. One of those is the enigmatic sea-sponge, Chondrocladia grandis.
Read moreJune 13,14, 2017 | By Paul Snelgrove
Returning to Corsair Canyon for the first time since our last visit in 2014 generated excitement among the science team that had been involved in our previous visit. The data we collected on that dive helped Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s decision to close Corsair Canyon to protect fragile resident corals that grow slowly and damage easily when disturbed by fishing gear.
Read moreJune 12, 2017 | By Dave Packer
Day 3 of our ROPOS dive surveys went off without a hitch. This time, we dove on an unnamed “minor” canyon between Heezen and Nygren canyons in U.S. waters. Our intention was to survey the eastern wall of the canyon in an up and down, zig-zag pattern.
Read moreJune 11, 2017 | By Dave Packer
The remnants of the storm were still recognizable in the swells that we either endured or enjoyed as we slept overnight. We arrived at our first station, an area on the continental slope between Munson and Nygren canyons that contained many smaller, unnamed canyons. We were on stand-by mode as we waited for the sea state to further improve before launching. Short delays are part of the routine at sea, but it’s always better to wait and make sure both humans and equipment are safe and ready to go.
Read moreJune 10, 2017 | By Cheryl Morrison
One of the research objectives for this cruise is to collect samples of deep-sea corals and associated fauna for genetic connectivity and coral reproduction studies. Pilots of the high-tech ROPOS remotely operated vehicle can carefully snip the small coral fragments needed, and exact locations and environmental conditions can be recorded using the ROPOS data logging system. However, keeping a dozen or more small fragments of coral in discrete containers so that the other data can be referenced back requires some advanced planning and multiple trips to the hardware store!
Read moreJune 9, 2017 | By Liz Shea
After a 24-hour weather delay, we were happy to pull away from the dock in Newport, Rhode Island, and watch land recede into the distance. Although remnants of the storm were still being felt off shore, it was a beautiful morning to leave, and we were eager to go. The views of the bay, the bridges, the marinas, and mansions were stunning on the way out of Narraganset Bay.
Read moreJune 8, 2017 | By Dave Packer
With a high pressure ridge over the Gulf of Maine today, and a gale warning with reported winds of 30-40 knots on the edge of the shelf, and seas at 14-18 feet, the Navy told us it would be wise to stay at the dock until Friday morning at 9 AM. The ROPOS can only be launched in seas of less than six feet and winds of less than 25 knots, and that's about the limit for concentrating on computers, too.
Read moreJune 7, 2017 | By Martha Nizinski
Gray skies, drizzle, and cool temperatures did not dampen the enthusiasm of the crews of NOAA Ship Bigelow and the remotely operated vehicle ROPOS on Monday as we began mobilization for our transboundary cruise.
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