Leg 2

The RCA 8 Team saw a Dumbo octopus at Southern Hydrate Ridge. They also have successfully deployed 100% of the equipment planned for Leg 2 of the OOI RCA O&M cruise. Double win, two ways. Dumbo and done. Two legs, missions accomplished.

A curious Brown catshark has shown up repeatedly while the RCA team has been working at Southern Hydrate Ridge on the OOI RCA O&M cruise! Here it is again, as the team surveys the site and manage the seafloor cables (orange loops) that send real-time data back to shore.  

After a year deployed in 80 meters (~260 ft) of water (and being hit by a log!) our Oregon Shelf camera has a little bit of growth on it. That’s why ROPOS is holding a brush: to clean off the lens and lights, so it can keep taking photos for another year!

The underwater state-of-the-art robotic vehicle ROPOS allows us to see what is happening at a highly active methane seep site -Southern Hydrate Ridge – hosting novel microbial communities sustained by methane and hydrogen sulfide. Watch life below the surface here.