It’s a long trip from our research site offshore of Eureka, California, back to our home port of Moss Landing, California, but at least the swells and winds have subsided. The science team used the day to pack up their gear, clean the labs, and catch up on writing, reading, and editing projects.
Just about every time ocean chemist Peter Brewer and his team go to sea, they put a new technique or tool to the test as they perform controlled experiments on the greenhouse gases of the deep sea.
MBARI intern Wilson Sauthoff controls the ROV’s main science camera while the laser Raman spectrometer is taking a reading.
Today we used the laser Raman spectrometer to analyze gas being released from oil that we collected near the seafloor and then brought up toward the surface.
University of Georgia Postdoctoral Researcher Lindsey Fields takes water samples from Niskin bottles mounted on the side of the remotely operated vehicle.
We are lucky to have science illustrator Kelly Lance with us on this expedition. Her sketches capture the team at work and her illustrations will help explain the science. Here, Kelly shows Peter Brewer in the chief scientist’s chair…
Research programs at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) encompass the entire ocean, from the surface waters to the deep seafloor, and from the coastal zone to the open sea. The need to understand the ocean in all its complexity and variability drives MBARI's research and development efforts.