Hello, my name is Brian Kennedy and I'm the expedition
manager for the upcoming Okeanos Explorer Expedition to
the New England Seamount Chain. From August through
October 2014 NOAAís Office of Ocean Exploration and Research
will be conducting a major mapping and remotely-operated
vehicle expedition in the North Atlantic focused on the
New England Seamount Chain and submarine canyons. Building
off work done between 2011 and 2013, the purpose of the
expedition is to provide critical baseline data to
address science and management priorities in the region. The
expedition will consist of three consecutive cruises off
the northeast coast of the United States and will employ
the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorerís core capabilities-
a mulitbeam sonar mapping system, a remotely operated
vehicle or ROV, and telepresence technology to
engage the scientific community and the public
during the expeditions. The North Atlantic Ocean borders
some of the most densely populated areas of the United
States and yet we know very little about it. The deep
ocean off New England has numerous seamounts and
submarine canyons that have never before been explored. To
give you an example of how little we know about the area,
on a previous seafloor mapping cruise in this region we
discovered a previously unknown seamount that is over
500 meters or 1600 feet tall! Just image taking a 2 hour
drive from Boston and seeing something no other person has
ever seen. It is hard to believe that within a few
hundred miles of Boston and New York there are whole
undersea mountains yet to be discovered. And, given that we
know so little about these areas we can only guess what
organisms we might find living on or around these seamounts.
The Okeanos Explorer will spend most of August creating
maps of the seamount chain. Once the mapping cruise is
complete we will load our ROV, Deep Discover and depart Rhode
Island on September 4th. During out transit to
Baltimore Maryland we hope to conduct four ROV dive along
the continental slope exploring submarine canyons.
After a week in Baltimore, we will head out to the New
England Seamounts Chain. If the weather cooperates we may
be able to do as many as 20 ROV before heading back to
Rhode Island in early October. During all 3 cruises we will
be live-streaming everything we do on the ship to the
internet so you can watch along from your home or
classroom. All of us at the NOAA Office of Ocean
Exploration and Research are looking forward to an exciting
and productive expedition and encourage you follow the
expedition through updates and the live video feed at our
website,oceanexplorer.noaa.gov .