Follow along as participants in the cruise provide updates and reflections on their experiences, the science, the technology, and other elements of the expedition.
On November 7, 2019, the Surveying Deep-sea Corals, Sponges, and Fish Habitat expedition ended. This expedition was the latest in a series of multi-agency collaborations known as EXPRESS, short for EXpanding Pacific Research and Exploration of Submerged Systems.
Read moreOctober 28, 2019 | By Meredith Everett
One of the goals of this cruise, especially for the Deep-sea Coral Research and Technology Program’s West Coast Research Initiative, is to continue to characterize the biodiversity of deep-sea corals and sponges in various habitats along the West Coast.
Read moreOctober 28, 2019 | By Abigail Powell
When the Reuben Lasker arrived in San Francisco at the end of leg 1 our autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Popoki had already done seven dives and taken around 40,000 images.
Read moreOctober 16, 2019 | By Curt Whitmire
Just after breakfast each day on the Lasker, the AUV team heads up to the bridge for a safety meeting with Commanding Officer Chad Cary and officers and deck crew currently on watch.
Read moreOctober 14, 2019 | By Dave Lovalvo
What lies beneath ‘the ocean’ is the fundamental question this Reuben Lasker expedition is working to address.
Read moreOctober 12, 2019 | By Nancy Prouty, Jamie Conrad, Amanda Demopoulos, Pete Dartnell, and Janet Watt
Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey recently mapped an unusual seafloor mound feature – during this expedition, they had the opportunity to visually survey the feature.
Read moreOctober 11, 2019 | By Diana Watters
One of the objectives of the EXPRESS cruise is to collect quantitative information about the seafloor communities in the areas we are studying. To characterize these communities as accurately as possible, our surveys must be standardized to avoid bias, and conducted multiple times to capture variation. This means that we need to measure the area we are surveying, and within that area, identify the animals that we see, count them, and estimate their size. We also need to identify and measure the types and amount of seafloor habitats within the survey area. How is this done with the remotely operated vehicle?
Read moreOctober 3, 2019 | By Shannon Rankinand Anne Simonis
On October 3, the team on NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker located and recovered a buoy that had been drifting on its own for 26 days, about 50 nautical miles offshore Eureka, California, where it had been eavesdropping on the sounds of whales, dolphins, fish, and ships.
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