Updates
OSU greetings
Sediment trap team leader Jennifer Fehrenbacher (Oregon State Univ.) takes a photograph of the sediment trap signature that contains the names of her and Claudia Benitez-Nelson and Eric Tappa’s (Univ. South Carolina) team of foram ecology investigators.
Read MoreTen moorings to be recovered
During Pioneer 18, ten moorings will be recovered. Once close to the ship, crew members grab the moorings with a hook, and direct them to the stern of the ship to be brought onboard
Read MoreGlider deployments
Three gliders will be deployed during Pioneer 18 and remain in the water for the next six months, collecting data in the water column between the Pioneer moorings.
Read MoreRemotely operated vehicle operations
Weather conditions and time constraints during the Pioneer 17 cruise precluded complete recovery of the Offshore and Upstream Offshore Profiler Moorings. If time and conditions permit, Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) lead Jared Schwartz will used an ROV to complete the recovery of these two moorings, as well as several anchor recoveries.
Read MoreTwo-leg expedition
The Pioneer 18 Recovery and Deployment mission will be conducted in two legs. The back deck of the R/V Armstrong will be filled with equipment on both legs as the team recovers ten moorings and deploys eight moorings and three gliders. Shown here are three coastal surface moorings.
Read MorePort day
The Endurance 16 team deploys enough equipment on the Endurance mooring cruises that they have a port stop to unload the gear deployed on leg 1 and load the leg 2 gear. It goes pretty fast. Within 24 hrs, the team has the leg 1 gear unloaded and the leg 2 gear loaded and tested. …
Read MoreCrane castle
For OOI Endurance mooring operations, the team relies on the excellent lifting equipment offered by the R/V Sikuliaq. Here a recovered surface buoy (about 20 ft tall and 10,000 lbs) is being repositioned using the red starboard crane while science party and deck crew keep things under control with tag lines controlled by air tuggers. …
Read MoreWet Lab view
On this cruise, most of the work occurs on deck as the team deploys and recovers oceanographic moorings. However, at each site, the team takes water samples to compare to the deployed mooring instruments. Here , Marnie Jo Zirbel caps a sample bottle in the wet lab while Jonathan Whitefield goes to draw another seawater…
Read MorePre-deployment checkout
Each OOI oceanographic mooring carries more than 20 sensors and takes months to prepare for deployment. To make sure everything is working and ready to deploy, Akhil Salim and Kristin Politano review the checklist at the mooring’s bottom lander. In the foreground (red disks), is the top of an acoustic Doppler current profiler. It looks…
Read MoreWorking to the weather
Spring in the North Pacific can bring pretty high winds and seas. When the Endurance 16 team gets good weather, they press on through long days. Here Alex Wick and Kristin Politano get a subsurface float into position on the R/V Sikuliaq during an evening mooring deployment on the OOI Spring Endurance cruise.
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