Crewmembers of NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer on the bridge as the ship departs Pascagoula, Mississippi. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2018. Download larger version (jpg, 5.3 MB).
The inner workings of remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer at sunrise. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2018. Download larger version (jpg, 7.3 MB).
The officers and crew of NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, particularly the ship’s engineering department, have gone above and beyond the call of duty over the last few days in order to rapidly complete necessary repairs to the port motor. The ship was cleared to sail in the morning and we departed Pascagoula, Mississippi, at 2 PM, CDT. While in transit to our next dive site in the northern end of the West Florida Escarpment in the De Soto Canyon region (146 nautical miles away), we will be conducting mapping operations. Our science team worked diligently to modify the expedition plan in a way that would still accomplish the overall objectives of the scientific community for the expedition. Given the distance to Key West, it was determined that moving east would provide us with the maximum number of dive opportunities for the remainder of the Gulf of Mexico 2018 expedition.
