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Expedition Log

03.12.15

Gulf of California 2015, Seafloor Mapping – Log 1

Dave Caress writes: We had hoped to achieve five surveys over the seven-day leg. The planned sites are far apart so we were going to lose a lot of time to transits. After having the AUV snagged on derelict fishing gear for two days, we achieved three surveys, all with high-quality data.

Expedition Log

03.11.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 3 – Biodiversity and Biooptics – Log 4

Siphonophore Evolution and Development Cat Munro writes: I am a second year graduate student in Casey Dunn’s lab at Brown University, and this is my third cruise aboard the Western Flyer. I’m interested in siphonophore evolution and development. Siphonophores are long rope-shaped animals that are relatives of corals and jellyfish. Siphonophore larvae bud off new “bodies” (also …

Expedition Log

03.10.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 3 – Biodiversity and Biooptics – Log 3

Larvaceans, Jellies, and other Animals George Matsumoto writes: My primary research interests are split between larvaceans and jellies. On the basis of MBARI’s 2003 Gulf of California expedition where we found thick layers of giant larvaceans at a depth of 15 meters, I have been hoping to investigate the fluid flow patterns within the inner …

Expedition Log

03.09.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 3 – Biodiversity and Biooptics – Log 2

Exploring Farallon Basin For today’s ROV dive we took a second look at Farallon Basin. Diving in the same location for two consecutive days gives us a chance to conduct night operations (such as trawling) and the opportunity to see how the water column changes day by day. From our dive video it would have …

Expedition Log

03.08.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 3 – Biodiversity and Biooptics – Log 1

Research Goals for the Biodiversity and Biooptics Leg The R/V Western Flyer set sail on Saturday, March 7th, at 7:00 a.m. the third leg of the MBARI 2015 Gulf of California Expedition. Led by Steve Haddock, MBARI researchers and collaborators onboard during this leg specialize in molecular studies of “gelatinous zooplankton”—jellyfish-like siphonophores and ctenophores that can dominate …

Expedition Log

03.03.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 2 – Midwater Ecology – Log 8

Wrapping Up a Productive Cruise Today we completed our leg of the Gulf of California expedition with a half-day ROV dive close to the port where the Western Flyer docks near La Paz. It was an incredibly productive cruise with ROV Doc Ricketts dives every day, MiniROV dives most days, midwater trawls most nights, and even a few nights …

Expedition Log

03.02.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 2 – Midwater Ecology – Log 7

Food Web Ecology As we near the end of the midwater ecology leg, scientists onboard are beginning to piece together a unique collection of observations and data gathered from ROV dives and midwater trawls. A synthesis of these observations will provide us with new insights regarding how deep-water animals of the Gulf of California interact …

Expedition Log

03.01.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 2 – Midwater Ecology – Log 6

Unique Organisms in the Deep Sea In addition to documenting the ecological zonation of the water column in the Gulf of California, we are venturing into parts of the ocean that have likely not been explored by humans before, in particular, not with the deep-sea observational tools we are using during this cruise. We have …

Expedition Log

02.26.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 2 – Midwater Ecology – Log 5

MiniROV and ROV Doc Ricketts Today was another very successful day aboard the Western Flyer, with nearly six-hour dives with both the MiniROV and ROV Doc Ricketts. Working with both ROVs lets us cover a greater depth range than with one alone. As I mentioned in the February 22 post, ROV Doc Ricketts is capable of very deep dives (up to …

Expedition Log

02.25.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 2 – Midwater Ecology – Log 4

Oxygen Minimum Zones My research program at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel investigates the life cycles, behavior, and ecology of pelagic fauna and, in particular, oceanic cephalopods. One specific goal of my work is to establish a baseline of pelagic animal diversity, distributions, and abundance in relation to the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) …

Expedition Log

02.24.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 2 – Midwater Ecology – Log 3

Coping with Low Oxygen Levels Nutrients are brought to the Gulf of California by runoff, causing phytoplankton to thrive near the sea surface. The phytoplankton add oxygen to the surface layers as does the exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere. This makes the surface waters relatively oxygen-rich. When phytoplankton die, they sink down from …

Expedition Log

02.23.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 2 – Midwater Ecology – Log 2

MiniROV Deployment We began the day bright and early, ready to deploy the MiniROV. This small ROV was designed as a fly-away system that could be shipped anywhere in the world and used on any ship. It has been used to explore Arctic seafloors multiple times. Now it’s getting the chance to explore the warm …

Expedition Log

02.22.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 2 – Midwater Ecology – Log 1

ROV Doc Ricketts to the rescue Upon arrival in La Paz, the midwater scientists were informed that our colleagues on the R/V Rachel Carson needed the help of the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Doc Ricketts. The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), used to map areas of the seafloor to help scientists target interesting features, had gotten caught on something not far …

Expedition Log

02.18.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 1 – California Current – Log 11

Wrapping up It’s 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon and we are getting close to La Paz, where the Chavez team will disembark. The first leg of the Gulf of California expedition has come to an end! The crew and the ship, however, will be continuing on to the next leg of the expedition with a …

Expedition Log

02.16.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 1 – California Current – Log 10

Another busy day I often mention the schedule we have of dawn, noon, dusk, and midnight casts but in reality, those four cast times are only the main events of each day. Today, for example, we had a cast at dawn, a pump cast at about 11 a.m., the recovery of the second sediment trap …

Expedition Log

02.15.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 1 – California Current – Log 9

Second day at time-series station We’ve almost made it through the second day. We’re tired and hot (it’s been in the high 80s (F) every day, and even warmer inside the lab), but generally pleased with how smoothly we’re getting through the work. That doesn’t mean that every single cast goes perfectly. Today at dawn, …

Expedition Log

02.14.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 1 – California Current – Log 8

The First Endless Day It’s 9:30 p.m. on our first day at the time-series station. Fifteen hours ago we were all on deck, ready to begin our dawn cast. As I had predicted last night, the nervousness proved to be for nothing—or maybe it’s what kept us on our toes—but the cast went off without …

Expedition Log

02.13.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 1 – California Current – Log 7

“We’ve got a lot of prepping to do!” After our nightly meeting and a presentation by Martín Hernández, the group’s focus shifted to preparation for the continuous experiments that will begin tomorrow, literally at the crack of dawn. As usual, we stopped to make a CTD cast at a GOC 2012 site. The results of …

Expedition Log

02.12.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 1 – California Current – Log 6

Another Day, Another Cast At about 1:00 p.m. we reoccupied another GOC 2012 site and made our first pump cast on this expedition. Gernot Friederich, an ocean chemist at MBARI, has designed a system of water collection that differs from the Niskin bottle method. The cable that lowers the CTD rosette has a tube running …

Expedition Log

02.11.15

Gulf of California 2015, Leg 1 – California Current – Log 5

Back to Sea, Back to Work Although we crossed into a different time zone today (we are now in Mountain Time), the Western Flyer has no need to change its clocks an hour ahead. We will be on the boat for the next week so really, it matters very little what the time is elsewhere and it …