Posts Tagged ‘Pioneer Array’
Doozy of a Day
Today was the best weather day of the Leg, so we decided to use the ROV (remotely operated vehicle) to recover the last surface mooring. Chris Basque piloted the ROV on the mission to hook a recovery line onto the Multi-Function Node (MFN) of the mooring, with the anchor nested inside, and pull it out…
Read MoreBig Eyes, Fishing Lines and Delicious Meals, Oh My!
People often ask us if we see lots of animals at sea. The answer is usually “no”. We are busy deploying and recovering moorings, so we don’t often have the time to look for fish and marine mammals. A number of birds visit us at sea – including some that should be on land. A…
Read MoreBack at it again!
After a couple days of rest in my own bed, I returned to the R/V Neil Armstrong for the final leg of the trip yesterday morning. This science party for Leg 2 is a little different from Leg 1 party as it is made up of scientists and engineers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution…
Read MoreUnloading and Reloading
We landed in port at Woods Hole on November 6 around noon Eastern. Immediately the dock support began to unload the recovered moorings, and began to restock the ship for Leg 2, leaving Monday. We thought you might enjoy watching the activity, as was filmed on an earlier cruise.
Read MoreWhy It Matters
After witnessing how hard the Pioneer 17 team and the crew of the R/V Neil Armstrong have worked over the past seven days, under sometimes quite arduous conditions, I found myself wondering why? Why should these folks work so hard, put in such long days, with intermittent sleepless nights (not to mention upset stomachs), to…
Read MorePunting When the Sea Dictates
Today was our last work day on the first leg of Pioneer 17. The recovery of the Inshore Surface Mooring was first on the agenda. Recovery starts when an acoustic command is sent from the ship causing the anchor to be released from the multi-function node (MFN), which houses it. Sometimes even though the release…
Read MoreA Temporarily Clear Deck
At 8:30 this morning, the team began deploying the last of the three coastal surface moorings. Like the other deployments, this one was like a choreographed ballet, with each participant ready in the wings to execute the perfect next move. By mid-day the deck was temporarily clear of all mooring-related equipment, ready for the recovery…
Read MoreRosette Recovered
The team was on deck as the sun came up to prepare a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for a rescue mission. During an expedition earlier this summer aboard the R/V Neil Armstrong, a CTD rosette (pictured below) was lost. The Pioneer 17 cruise with its ROV onboard provided the perfect opportunity to recover the CTD.…
Read MoreAnother Mooring Dispatched
Today was a gift for early risers. The sun was bright, the weather comfortable. This was fortuitous, for the team was on the stern deck of the R/V Neil Armstrong as the sun rose at 6 am. They diligently worked to finish attaching the various parts that ultimately comprise the Inshore Surface Mooring (ISSM). Deployment…
Read MoreGlider Day at Pioneer 17
Inclement weather has made us slightly adjust our schedule of what to put into the water each day. Today started off with a glider deployment. Gliders are an integral part of the OOI and are operated at both the Coastal and Global Arrays. Gliders at the Coastal Arrays (Pioneer and Endurance) sample the water space…
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