A zoarcid fish peeks out from a bed of chemosynthetic mussels. A few tubeworms are visible in the background. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2012. Download larger version (jpg, 1.2 MB).
A zoarcid fish peeks out from a bed of chemosynthetic mussels. A few tubeworms are visible in the background. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2012. Download larger version (jpg, 1.2 MB).
At approximately 0830, ship and mission crew launched Little Herc and Seirios for the sixteenth and final dive of the cruise (EX-12-02 Leg II). The launch location was the source of a gaseous plume imaged by the multibeam system during Leg I. This was our first attempt to groundtruth a water column plume signature with the remotely operated vehicle (ROV). After approximately two hours on bottom, the Team successfully located an active seep in the midst of an expansive bed of chemosynthetic mussels. The ROV and Camera Platform were safely recovered by 1800.
