We’re back on shore after a successful cruise thanks to everyone’s hard work. The LRAUVs have also all come back in from their deployments around MARS and within the acoustic cone of DEIMOS. Each environmental sample processor (ESP) within an LRAUV can hold 60 cartridges which each contain a filter that we used to sample eDNA. These filters need to be preserved and labeled so we can match them back to the acoustic and environmental data collected when the samples were taken. Then we can clean all the components to make sure they’re ready to be assembled and used again for the next deployment!

These autonomous platforms allow us to collect samples in new ways that complement our shipboard sampling. On this cruise, we were able to collect acoustic, genetic, and bioluminescence data autonomously and video data through ROV Ventana to match with our shipboard CTD and net sampling. It will be exciting to uncover what we’ve learned through these different methods!