During a 10-day cruise on the R/V Melville, scientists probe for strange new biological life forms, communities, and ecosystems dependent on as-yet-unknown conditions. http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/welcome.html http://www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/include/images/ocean_explorer_podcast_100.jpg http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/welcome.html ____________________________________________________________________________ So here we are home, safe and sound.  Well, not home exactly, but tied up in port... http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/logs/apr30/apr30.html ____________________________________________________________________________ A couple of days have passed since I last had chance to post and we have been working... http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/logs/apr29/apr29.html ____________________________________________________________________________ We have 14000 photographs on board and a quick quality control scan shows they are good... http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/logs/apr27/apr27.html ____________________________________________________________________________ TowCam worked through the night, brought up some first wonderful 16MPix photos from the seafloor and even collected is first biological sampling... http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/logs/apr26/apr26.html ____________________________________________________________________________ TowCam had some gremlins that required a change of plan... http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/logs/apr25/apr25.html ____________________________________________________________________________ Throughout the 25 years I have been going to sea, an instrument I always rely on is the CTD-rosette system... http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/logs/apr24/apr24.html ____________________________________________________________________________ The thing about Autonomous Vehicles is that they do tend to have a mind of their own... http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/logs/apr23/apr23.html ____________________________________________________________________________ Everyone is going through final checks - on the vehicles, on their lab instrumentation, and even on the logic of what we're going to do (and in what order) so there are no last-minute surprises. http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/logs/apr22/apr22.html ____________________________________________________________________________ Whenever I wasn't working today, I was pretty much goofing off on deck taking in the view, trying desperately – and failing – to capture the magnificence of the scenery. http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/logs/apr21/apr21.html ____________________________________________________________________________ Lots going on the past two days. Carl and the Sentry team and Dan and the TowCam folks were all keen to get as much done as possible in the remaining time before we left port. http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/logs/apr20/apr20.html ____________________________________________________________________________ We joined the ship around 8 am Wednesday morning. By 9 am, we had confirmation that our vans full of gear were in port and ready to be delivered. http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/logs/apr18/apr18.html ____________________________________________________________________________ The trip begins with 24 hours of air travel to Punta Arenas, where we will be ready when the ship arrives to get on board and set up our equipment. http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/logs/apr17/apr17.html ____________________________________________________________________________ Perhaps the single biggest change is that we will start our 2012 exploration by focusing on the seafloor, rather than the overlying ocean, to search for hydrothermal vents. http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/background/sentry/sentry.html ____________________________________________________________________________ During the first decade of the 21st century, a new approach to vent-exploration was pioneered using the Autonomous Benthic Explorer autonomous underwater vehicle (ABE AUV) designed and built at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/background/abe/abe.html ____________________________________________________________________________ The goal of the INSPIRE project has been to conduct reconnaissance mapping of the Chile Triple Junction. This is the only place on earth where an actively spreading mid-ocean ridge is being subducted beneath a continent. http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12chile/background/plan/plan.html ____________________________________________________________________________