NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer: Mid-Cayman Rise 2011 Expedition Daily Updates

Update for August 18, 2011 - The Mid-Cayman Rise Expedition Concludes

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Thursday, August 18, 2011 12:00:00 GMT

The ship pulled into port in Key West, FL early this morning, officially bringing the 2011 Mid-Cayman Rise Exploration to a close. Personnel are busy packaging and shipping equipment and science samples, wrapping up end of cruise items, and cleaning up mission spaces in preparation for the next expedition. Over the next few days, Mid-Cayman Rise personnel will pack up and depart the ship, and new mission personnel will arrive and begin preparations for the ship’s upcoming mapping expedition to the Gulf of Mexico, scheduled to begin on August 22.

Update for August 17, 2011 - Back in U.S. Waters!

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Wednesday, August 17, 2011 12:00:00 GMT

The multibeam system remained secured while the ship transited through the Cuban EEZ today. The ship crossed into the U.S. EEZ at 1655 and commenced mapping operations, and a man overboard safety drill. Following successful completion of the drill, small boat operations were conducted to obtain scenic video footage of the ship, making the most of today’s glassy seas. Afterwards, the ship got underway and continued transit to Key West, FL, where we expect to come into port tomorrow morning, bringing the expedition to a close.

Update for August 16, 2011 - Wrapping up Operations and Heading Home

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Tuesday, August 16, 2011 12:00:00 GMT

After mapping along the Cayman Trough Fracture Zone last night and into the early morning, the ship departed the Mid-Cayman Rise 2011 operations area and began transit to Key West, FL. Onboard personnel are busy developing and finalizing expedition products, and packing and preparing systems for departure.

Update for August 15, 2011 - Final Dive

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Monday, August 15, 2011 12:00:00 GMT

The final ROV dive of the expedition was conducted today up the interior (south-facing) wall of the North Cayman Fracture Zone. Geologic highlights included a 40-foot high sheer vertical cliff face thousands of meters deep. Despite the steep slope of about 30-40o from horizontal, the rest of the dive was spent over thick biogenic carbonate sediment, but interspersed with an array of biological highlights.

Update for August 14, 2011 - Exploring 'Mount Doom'

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Sunday, August 14, 2011 12:00:00 GMT

Today started with a visit to 'Mount Doom' – a tall conical mountain about 1000m from the Von Damm vent site and similar in size and shape. Although no active venting was encountered on Mount Doom, a return trip to the Von Damm site approaching from the East encountered more tube worms and a new site of active venting outside the previously explored area, almost doubling the total extent of venting now known at the site.

Update for August 13, 2011 - A Dive on the Southeastern Rifted Oceanic Core Complex

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Saturday, August 13, 2011 12:00:00 GMT

The tenth ROV dive of the expedition was conducted towards the SE corner of the Mid-Cayman Rise, transecting NNW across the rifted Oceanic Core Complex. Much of the dive was spent traversing biogenic sediment, however highlights included fresh basalt pillow lavas, and examples of frozen sheet flow lavas.

Update for August 12, 2011 - Operations Do Not Always Go as Planned...

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Friday, August 12, 2011 12:00:00 GMT

The ninth ROV dive of the expedition was conducted at ‘Europa’, a suspected low-temperature ‘Lost-City’ type hydrothermal field toward the SW limit of Mt Dent’s summit. Much of the dive was spent traversing biogenic carbonate sediment and basaltic rock types. A geologic highlight was finding what appeared to be intercalated sediment and lava flows, but no active venting was found.

Update for August 11, 2011 - Eighth ROV Dive Completed

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Thursday, August 11, 2011 12:00:00 GMT

The eighth ROV dive of the expedition was conducted west of the summit of Mount Dent, following a series of topographic highs at the base of a steep west facing scarp. Fantastic geological imagery was captured, including video of a double fissure.

Update for August 10, 2011 - Save the Best for Last

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Wednesday, August 10, 2011 12:00:00 GMT

The seventh ROV dive of the expedition was conducted to the west of the Von Damm site and focused on visiting a series of "hard-grounds" – or areas where sound reflects strongly in sonar images of the seafloor. Most of the dive was spent exploring rocky and sedimented areas with relatively low levels of biota, and then during the last 5 minutes of the planned dive a habitat with dense biota, corals and very diffuse fluid flow was discovered. The on-bottom time for the dive was extended about an hour to characterize the site.

Update for August 9, 2011 - Today Was an Incredibly Rewarding Day

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Tuesday, August 9 2011 12:00:00 GMT

To start, we began with the discovery of extensive new biological communities, including both tubeworms and shrimp, hosted in diffuse hydrothermal flow. We also found new chimney structures in the same area, emitting hot clear fluid in a much more focused manner. By lunchtime it was time to prepare for a VIP event with both the Silver Spring Exploration Command Center and URI’s Inner Space Center. During the event shore-side participants watched live video feeds coming from Okeanos Explorer of an active hydrothermal vent habitat swarming with shrimp ~2300m deep at the Mid-Cayman Rise, and footage from the E/V Nautilus exploring an ancient shipwreck in the Black Sea. Shore-side attendees had the opportunity to hear about the operations of both ships, and ask questions about the ongoing explorations. Then by 2pm we were back at work exploring new parts of the seafloor and testing a new approach – following sonar targets identified from a prior AUV survey (generously shared with us by shipboard scientist Paul Tyler and his UK colleagues from NOCS, Southampton). On three occasions this afternoon, wherever we visited such sonar targets, we found rocks outcropping, at least some measure of fluid flow out of the seafloor and extensive deep sea coral communities ± other fauna.

Update for August 8, 2011 - Overnight Mapping Operations

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Monday, August 8 2011 12:00:00 GMT

The mapping team has been working overnight to collect multibeam sonar data and provide daily updated maps to shoreside scientists. Scientists are using these maps in near-real-time to make decisions on where to send the ROV the following day. This morning we developed mapping coverage out to the east and to the north, as far north as Piccard, the deepest vent in the world!

Update for August 7, 2011 - The Fourth ROV Dive of the Expedition was Completed Successfully Today...

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Saturday, August 6 2011 12:00:00 GMT

TThe fourth ROV dive of the expedition was completed successfully today and focused on taking a close-look at the biology and other “hot spots” of the Von Damm hydrothermal field. Incredible images of the vents and animals living at the sites were captured by the cameras on the ROV. CTD tow-yo operations were conducted in the evening following completion of the ROV dive to search for hydrothermal vent plumes in the water column. Little evidence of a plume was shown in the in situ sensor data on the CTD, however analysis of water samples through the gas chromatograph revealed an elevated presence of methane, which persists for more than 3km from the vent site.

Update for August 6, 2011 - TUBEWORM!

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Saturday, August 6 2011 12:00:00 GMT

The absolute highlight for just about everyone, today, was the discovery of a tube worm at the Von Damm hydrothermal field. While tube worms are some of the most iconic animals to have been discovered at vent fields in the Pacific they have only been found associated with cold seeps, previously, anywhere in the Atlantic Ocean. So while first impressions were that this tube worm looked more like its nearest Atlantic cold-seep cousins it was, nevertheless, the first tube-worm we know of that has ever been found at an Atlantic vent-site. We hope to be following up on this in more detail in tomorrow's dive.

Update for August 5, 2011 - The First ROV Dive of the Expedition was Successfully Completed Today

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Friday, August 5 2011 12:00:00 GMT

The first ROV dive of the expedition was successfully completed today at the Von Damm hydrothermal vent site, approximately 2300m deep. A systematic video survey was conducted to explore the extent of the site and search for "hotspots" of activity to be looked at in greater detail during tomorrow's dive. Shore-side participants were engaged in the expedition through "telepresence" - many for the first time - contributing observations and expertise to ongoing operations. And for the first time, all three video feeds and embedded audio streamed off the ship were made available to the public online, enabling users from around the globe to join our exploration more than 2300m deep beneath the surface of the sea in real-time.

Update for August 4, 2011 - Ready to Dive...

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Thursday, August 4 2011 12:00:00 GMT

Folks on the ship have been busy preparing for operations at the Mid-Cayman Rise. The first ROV dive of the expedition is planned for tomorrow morning and will include shore-side participation using telepresence technology.

Update for August 3, 2011 - Out of the Canal and Underway...

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Wednesday, August 3 2011 12:00:00 GMT

Okeanos Explorer completed her passage through the Panama Canal early this morning and continued transiting towards the Mid-Cayman Rise operating area. The high speed connection to shore went down late last night, stopping all real time feeds to shore (RTS Intercom and Video). The cause is unknown, and does not appear to be related to the VSAT. Troubleshooting and repair efforts will continue tomorrow with shore-side personnel.

Update for August 2, 2011 - Passing through the Panama Canal

NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer — Tuesday, August 2, 2011 12:00:00 GMT

Following nearly a week in port, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer departed Rodman, Panama this evening and commenced her passage through the Panama Canal. The ship expects to clear the locks early tomorrow morning, and continue her transit to the 2011 Mid-Cayman Rise operating area.