by David Schmidt, Chief Scientist
We've had a successful cruise offshore Oregon aboard the R/V Atlantis! The weather cooperated for a second straight year, and we were able to accomplish all of our science goals. The temperature was comfortable out at sea, while the interior baked in a heat wave.
We did four dives with the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Jason, each lasting about 5-16 hours in duration. In the end, we replaced six transponders in total with fresh batteries at two GNSS-A sites, and we serviced a seafloor fiber optic strainmeter. We also collected two depth profiles of salinity and temperature (CTDs) and deployed one Wave Glider for GNSSS-A data collection. While we encountered some challenges communicating with the electronics package for the seafloor strainmeter, we were still able to recover data from the past year, inspect the fiber optic cable, and install a new instrument package.
Members of the science team that were new to research cruises received trainings in Jason operations, CTD operations, ship safety, and protocols for life at sea. They even got the chance to test their skills driving Jason on the seafloor at the end of one of the dives.
We were well fed throughout the expedition. Some highlights included coconut shrimp... blueberry pancakes... banana bread with coconut shreds... freshly baked orange-nut scones... surf & turf... seasoned mashed potatoes... BBQ ribs... and fried rice with vegetables.
A big thank you to the crew of the Atlantis and the Jason team for enabling our science and making us feel welcome.
All in all, a successful cruise with lots of memories!
Fantastic! So glad to hear the science was successful.
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