RCA VISIONS 25

Tomorrow, we say farewell to our incredible friends aboard the R/V Atlantis and the amazing ROV Jason team. They have welcomed us with open arms and treated us spectacularly well throughout our time together. We are deeply grateful for their hard work, generosity, kindness, and outstanding professionalism—not to mention the delicious meals that kept us going! Thank you all for…

Dr. Jackie Dixon, University of South Florida My first cruise to the Juan de Fuca Ridge was in 1980. I was an undergraduate, but had taken some time off to serve as a marine navigator on the USGS vessel R/V S. P. Lee. This was before GPS and navigation, for science was done on a paper…

We returned to our friend Axial Seamount on Monday, August 18 – the weather and sea gods decided to be kind and we were able to immediately dive once we reached the summit. Many of our initial dives focused on turning a small, cabled substation (junction box) and instruments in the International District Hydrothermal Field…

The morning of August 17th, was met with much excitement as the R/V Atlantis was scheduled to depart at 0830. The morning was filled with insuring 1) all team members were onboard; 2) all gear was stowed and secured; and 3) that a secondary junction box (benthic experiment platform – BEP), zooplankton sonar, and digital still camera were ready for deployment. With…

Leg 1 of VISIONS 2025 (completed August 15) was successful in achieving all the planned science objectives, and two recovery dives at the end that were originally scheduled for Leg 2. During the 12 days at sea, the ship went to all Regional Cabled Array sites. The ROV Jason completed 27 dives. All the instrument packages on three Shallow Profiler Moorings were turned,…

Working at sea brings unique challenges. The one we commonly experience on RCA cruises is weather, specifically wind and waves. When wind and waves combine, they create swells, groups of waves with an average height and period that can travel long distances. At our sites, the average wave height is usually around 3 to 6…

On August 8th, we visited the ASHES Hydrothermal Field near the western caldera wall of Axial Seamount. This was the first dive in the caldera of Axial Seamount of VISIONS’25 and a very exciting one for new and old folks alike. Axial Seamount has been under much scrutiny lately due to increased seismic activity and…

It is hard to believe that it has only been four days since the R/V Atlantis left port. So much has happened that it has felt like we have been out much longer. This is due to our around-the-clock operations – there is always something happening and people are always up and working, which also means there…

The past week has been a whirlwind of activity in preparation for departure on August 4 – all team members arrived onboard the Atlantis at the Newport International Terminal. At ~ 10 am August 5th, the the R/V Atlantis departed Newport bound for the Oregon Offshore site~ 50 miles west of Newport. Looking back on the cruise blog from last…