Photo & Video Log
This page contains photos and videos regarding the
Lophelia II 2010: Oil Seeps and Deep Reefs Exploration taking place this year from
October 14 – November 4, 2010. Click on any image to view
a larger version and for additional information.
If a movie camera icon 
is
present, a video can be viewed by clicking on the image. Multiple
video formats are available on the linked pages. If a Podcast icon 
is
present, a video or audio file is available for download or you can subscribe to the RSS Podcast Feed. 
If a slideshow icon 
is
present, a visual log of exploration images can be viewed. You can scroll
through them one by one, or select the play button for an automatic slideshow.
(HR) = "High Resolution" images available.
Video & Slideshows
October 21 Log
This rock outcropping is covered with gorgonian and scleractinian corals, and home to a galatheid crab.
October 21 Log
Collecting corals with the Jason manipulator arm.
October 20 Log
A carbonate rock outcropping with various corals and sponges on it.
October 20 Log
Video footage of a sixgill shark, a species of deep water shark fairly common in the Gulf of Mexico.
This rock outcropping is covered with gorgonian and scleractinian corals, and home to a galatheid crab.
Images
November 3 Log
The gorgonian sea fan Callogorgia americana and symbiotic brittle stars. (HR)
November 3 Log
A single colony of coral with dying and dead sections, living tissue, and bare skeleton with very sickly looking brittle star.
November 2 Log
Ensign Bryan Begun is the Safety Officer aboard the Ronald H. Brown. Bryan easily mingled with the science team. (HR)
November 2 Log
Bruce Cowden, the Ronald H Brown’s bosun, is also an artist. Dr. Chuck Fisher asked him to capture the expedition in a watercolor. (HR)
October 31 Log
Close up of brittlestar Asteroschema sp. on the coral Callogorgia on the seafloor. (HR)
October 31 Log
Brittlestar Asteroschema sp. on the coral Callogorgia on the seafloor. (HR)
October 31 Log
A “constellation“ of brittestars on the seafloor (538 meters). (HR)
October 31 Log
Close up of Walter Cho examining a brittlestar in the lab. (HR)
October 30 Log
The graceful fantail of the ship is completely obscured by Lophelia communities. (HR)
October 30 Log
Black-bellied rose fish find shelter within a mass of Lophelia. (HR)
October 30 Log
A section of hull covered in clusters of Lophelia and inhabited by Venus flytrap anemones and squat lobster. (HR)
October 30 Log
The ventilator thrown from the ship in the sinking blast supplies Gooseneck barnacles with a surface to grow upon. (HR)
October 29 Log
Rising over 10 meters off the seafloor, the bow and stowed anchors bear mute testimony to the 1942 catastrophe. (HR)
October 29 Log
Empty gun casings are scattered across the rear deck near the 4-inch gun mounted at the stern.
(HR)
October 29 Log
Although partially hidden by draping Lophelia, the letters G U L F O I are still visible across the transom. (HR)
October 29 Log
Large rusticles drip from the scarred hull of the GulfOil where the torpedo ripped through.
(HR)
October 29 Log
We discovered the stack intact resting beside the starboard hull.
(HR)
October 27 Log
Large scale photo mosaics help scientists relocate sites that have been previously studied. (HR)
October 27 Log
Bathymetric maps guide scientists as they explore the seafloor for coral and reef sites. (HR)
October 27 Log
Photo mosaics are created using a series of photographs that overlap along a straight transect. (HR)
October 26 Log
The Jason ROV's robotic arm collects several stalks of black coral from the seafloor. (HR)
October 25 Log
Hoisting sediment trap aboard after recovery. (HR)
October 25 Log
Throughout the day scientists and grad students ready the samples for transport back to the labs on land. (HR)
October 24 Log
Bringing the ROV set Medea and Jason home. (HR)
October 24 Log
Knowing where the science sampling occurred is critical to future analysis. Lead Scientist, Erik Cordes, goes over each track plot. (HR)
October 24 Log
The Jason, flight crew know exactly where the ROV is at all times. (HR)
October 24 Log
Once the samples are up the documentation and analysis begins. Pen-Yuan Hsing is measuring mussels. (HR)
October 24 Log
Samples for geology, genetics, and biology fill sample bags, bins and boxes. (HR)
October 24 Log
The days are long and as the saying goes, “the nights are longer.” (HR)
October 23 Log
Morning recovery of the Jason ROV onto the Ron Brown. (HR)
October 23 Log
Ian MacDonald in the lab aboard the Ron Brown. (HR)
October 23 Log
Live, bright white Lophelia coral is typically found amidst large amounts of dead coral. (HR)
October 23 Log
The MacDonald group's camera deployed on a coral mound. (HR)
October 21 Log
Microscopic view of the coral polyps of Paracalyptrophora sp. and Acanthogorgia sp.. (HR)
October 21 Log
Coral polyps of Paracalyptrophora sp. and Acanthogorgia sp.: differences in polyp morphology between species. (HR)
October 21 Log
Octocoral diversity. (HR)
October 21 Log
Collecting a small branch of a coral colony in the Jason manipulator arm. (HR)
October 20 Log
A scenic rock outcrop covered in deepwater coral and occupied by a galatheid crab.
October 20 Log
Lara Henry works with coral samples in one of the Ron Brown's cold rooms.
October 20 Log
Jason II prepares to collect samples from a rocky outcrop covered in Lophelia.
October 20 Log
A diverse Lophelia coral community. This photo shows how living coral (white) builds upon the skeletons (dark green) of previous generations.
October 19 Log
The Spanish Dancer is a type of sea cucumber (Benthodytes) that is mesmerizing when it swims.
October 19 Log
A mussel bed at the edge of the brine pool.
October 19 Log
These craters mark the formation of brine pools, from which salt has seeped through the seafloor.
October 19 Log
Collection of the dead giant isopod (Bathynomus giganteous) found floating in the large brine pool, just visible in the background.
October 18 Log
Close up image of a clump of mussels. Forming dense beds, deep-sea mussels are often early colonizers at cold seeps. (HR)
October 18 Log
Close up of a tubeworm “bush”, which mines for sulfide in the carbonate substrate with their roots. (HR)
October 18 Log
Seafloor photo mosaic, made up of more than a hundred images taken with the remote operated vehicle (ROV) Jason II. (HR)
October 17 Log
The robotic arm of a remotely operated vehicle samples a clump of deepwater coral.
October 17 Log
The sediment trap is hauled back to the surface after chronicling the flow of sediment and biological material for 10 months, 1,500 feet deep.
October 17 Log
Tim Shank handles one of the 21 'cups' deployed with a sediment trap to collect both organic and inorganic matter.
October 17 Log
The control room aboard the R/V Ron Brown lets researches get a close-up look at the position and status of deployed sediment traps.
October 17 Log
A colony of lophelia provides shelter for galatheid crabs and a firm foothold for anemones.
Monitoring
A forward looking mosaic of the coral community at Marker F at 550 m depth, including colonies of Lophelia pertusa. (HR)
Monitoring
These Antipatharians in the genus Leiopathes range in color from white, through peach to orange and red. (HR)
Monitoring
Photo taken on May 27 near the Deepwater Horizon spill convergence zone, showing dark brown and red emulsion oil. (HR)
Archaeology
The tanker Gulfoil, prior to being sunk by a German U-boat in the Gulf of Mexico in 1942.
Archaeology
Side scan sonar mosaic of the Gulfoil shipwreck site.
Biology
Colony of Lophelia pertusa with polyps extended for feeding. (HR)
Biology
Two invertebrates commonly found associated with L. pertusa: the squat lobster Euminida picta (left) and the sea urchin Echinus sp. (right). (HR)
Mission Plan
A field of the soft coral Callogorgia sp. with its ophiuroid symbiont. (HR)
Mission Plan
Lophelia pertusa, Leiopathes glabberima, and an assortment of anemones on Roberts Reef. (HR)
Mission Plan
Down-looking mosaic of Lophelia covering the bow of the sister ship to the Gulfoil, the Gulf Penn. (HR)
Mission Plan
Mosaic of a large colony of Lophelia on the bow of the Gulf Penn. (HR)
Mission Plan
Ophiuroids on Lophelia pertusa, Callogorgia americana, and other gorgonians at Roberts Reef. (HR)
Introduction
An orange brisingid basket star on the large Lophelia pertusa reef at 450 m depth in Viosca Knoll 826. (HR)
Introduction
A down-looking mosaic of a coral community at 1400m depth, including a variety of hard and soft corals. (HR)
Introduction
Mosaic of a Callogorgia community. (HR)
