Follow along as participants in the cruise provide updates and reflections on their experiences, the science, the technology, and other elements of the expedition.
September 12, 2016 | By Dr. Martha Nizinski
Unfortunately, not all missions go as planned and some seem plagued from the start. No amount of planning can control the weather. One thing we have learned from previous expeditions is to be flexible and able to adapt to changing conditions. The goal is always to keep working and make the best of a difficult situation.
Read moreSeptember 4, 2016 | By Katie Wagner & Dr. Martha Nizinski
You can’t control the weather, but you can control the ship. In the end, the crew made the difficult but smart decision to cut the expedition short and depart Hatteras Canyon on Friday to make the nearly two-day transit north to Davisville.
Read moreSeptember 3, 2016 | By Liz Baird
A fun way to demonstrate the change in pressure is to attach a Styrofoam cup to a piece of sampling equipment and send it down to the bottom of the ocean. As the cup descends, the air is squeezed out of the Styrofoam and the cup shrinks. The deeper it goes, the smaller it gets.
Read moreSeptember 3, 2016 | By Liz Baird
We provide some background information about the science team on the Explorers page. However, we want to give a sense of who they were before they were scientists. Next up is Will Hefner, Multibeam Processor.
Read moreSeptember 2, 2016 | By Liz Baird
We provide some background information about the science team on the Explorers page. However, we want to give a sense of who they were before they were scientists. Next up is Molly Curran, Mechanical Engineer.
Read moreSeptember 1, 2016 | By Martha Nizinski
With a two-day forecast of good weather on our side, we planned to deploy autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry for a 36-hour dive to collect images and side-scan sonar data.
Read moreSeptember 1, 2016 | By Danielle Power
My days can be very high tempo or very low tempo, scarcely anything in between. My job may require me to be on watch for 12-hour days, 12-hour nights, or something in the middle. While most vessels that conduct 24-hour operations have two survey technicians, NOAA Ship Pisces has only one.
Read moreAugust 30, 2016 | By Dr. Amanda Demopoulos & Dr. Jason Chaytor
As we headed to shallow waters off Cape Fear, NC to wait out some rough weather, we tried to think of ways to make the best use of our time. What better way to pass the time on a research vessel than to collect some data!
Read moreAugust 30, 2016 | By Liz Baird
We provide some background information about the science team on the Explorers page. However, we want to give a sense of who they were before they were scientists. Next up is Carl Kaiser, AUV Program Manager.
Read moreAugust 29, 2016 | By Liz Baird
We provide some background information about the science team on the Explorers page. However, we want to give a sense of who they were before they were scientists. Next up is Liz Shea, curator of mollusks.
Read moreAugust 28, 2016 | By Dr. Martha Nizinski & Katie Wagner
The team’s efforts to overcome the challenges of the Gulf Stream have paid off. After heading farther south to an area with a lighter current and improving the stability of Sentry’s transceiver pole, today we had a successful dive exploring Pamlico Canyon.
Read moreAugust 27, 2016 | By Liz Baird
We provide some background information about the science team on the Explorers page. However, we want to give a sense of who they were before they were scientists. Next up is Amanda Demopoulos, research benthic ecologist.
Read moreAugust 27, 2016 | By Katie Wagner & Dr. Martha Nizinski
Working at sea is not without its challenges. There are known or expected challenges, such as working in remote locations, dealing with extreme weather, sampling in deep, dark environments, maintaining gear, and adapting to changing conditions. Today’s challenge was conducting operations in strong currents. We are in the Gulf Stream.
Read moreAugust 26, 2016 | By Dr. Carl Kaiser
Radio signals do not effectively penetrate water. This means that normal navigation systems such as GPS do not work for submersibles, such as the AUV Sentry. The main method used to track and communicate with submersibles is sound.
Read moreAugust 25, 2016 | By Liz Baird
We provide some background information about the science team on the Explorers page. However, we want to give a sense of who they were before they were scientists. First up is Shelby Bowden, multibeam processor.
Read moreAugust 24, 2016 | By Katie Wagner
And we’re off! We just set sail aboard NOAA Ship Pisces for a 15-day expedition to explore deep-sea coral habitats in three canyons off the coast of North Carolina.
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