Date: September 5-8, 2019
Location: North Kingstown, Rhode Island
As with every expedition, the onboard team had been keeping a watchful eye on the weather forecast, particularly now with Hurricane Dorian nearby. On the afternoon of September 4, the decision was made that due to the hurricane’s predicted pathway northwards into our expedition’s operating area, we would pull into port to weather the storm. While this meant putting our mission on hold for a few days, we were fortunate to be able to leave the storm path and seek shelter with ease.
After the dive on September 4, we set course for North Kingstown, Rhode Island, the home port of NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. We arrived in port on the afternoon of September 5, and remained there until the morning of September 8. Although we lost valuable time at sea, mission personnel and crew made the most of their unexpected time onshore by catching up on various duties such as equipment maintenance, report writing, video editing, and the creation of a revised schedule for the remainder of the expedition.
Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration Systems/Robotics Engineer Bobby Mohr. The ROV team took advantage of the unexpected in port by conducting routine maintenance on their equipment. Image courtesy of Art Howard, Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration. Download larger version (jpg, 47.3 MB).
Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration Engineers Sean Kennison, Levi Unema, and Dan Rogers. The ROV team took advantage of the unexpected in port by conducting routine maintenance on the remotely operated vehicles. Image courtesy of Art Howard, Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration. Download larger version (jpg, 58.4 MB).
During the unexpected time in port, we were able to continue with one planned element of our expedition, a live interaction with the Mystic Aquarium on September 7. Expedition Coordinator Daniel Wagner and Biology Science Lead Meagan Putts spoke over the live stream feed to a crowd of 50 people as a part of an ongoing series of talks related to ocean conservation at the aquarium. During the interaction, we showed video from our previous dive on Oceanographer Canyon inside the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument and answered questions from the audience. The thoughtful and engaging questions asked by aquarium visitors made for a great interaction during this sold-out event.
Expedition Coordinator Daniel Wagner during a live interaction with the Mystic Aquarium on September 7, 2019. Image courtesy of Art Howard, Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration. Download larger version (jpg, 32.8 MB).
We were able to get back underway on the morning of September 8, and were glad to begin our day-long transit to the next day’s dive site at Bear Seamount.
