MBARI Expedition #453

Expedition goal: Our cruise off the central California coast has several objectives related to three research themes in deep-sea ecology: 1) study the sponge and coral communities at Sur Ridge, 2) revisit a corn stover to sample the colonizing communities, and 3) begin a wood-fall experiment to see how species colonize these ephemeral sources in the deep-sea.

Expedition dates: November 30 – December 5, 2018

Ship: R/V Western Flyer

Research technology:  ROV Doc Ricketts, Benthic respirometer system, Deep particle image velocimetry (DeepPIV)

Expedition chief scientist: Jim Barry