Over 40 ocean technologists attended a workshop at MBARI to review the state of performance of engineering infrastructure of ocean observatories and science sensors.

During a recent mission, MBARI's Wave Glider Tiny ran into some problems. When MBARI engineers went to sea to recover the Wave Glider, they discovered major damage to the fiberglass hull, mast, and solar panels.

Lonny Lundsten and Michelle Côté While the ROV and AUV surveys are the priorities for this research expedition, as per the multidisciplinary nature of this mission, we are constantly designing other science tasks that are undertaken as time allows. Investigating the release of methane into the water column from seafloor features is an additional area of interest for the scientists …

Lonny Lundsten and Michelle Côté We recovered two AUVs during the first several hours of the morning. At 10:30 a.m. the MiniROV arrived at the seafloor at a depth of 240 meters. The mission objective was to ground truth a slump scar using the video camera on the ROV.  A slump scar is essentially an underwater landslide with …

Lonny Lundsten and Michelle Côté Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operations are now underway. Our team has developed a rhythm and the crew of the Sir Wilfrid Laurier (SWL) is expertly handling AUV and ROV deployments. There is an ongoing dance between the various scientific elements of this expedition to integrate the mooring work, CTD casts, …

MBARI Postdoctoral Fellow Anela Choy, who studies the impacts of plastic debris on ocean food webs, has been selected as one of five recipients of the L'Oreal Women in Science Fellowship for 2016.

What happens when you merge dance and science? SpectorDance and MBARI have done it again with Ocean Trilogy.

Lonny Lundsten and Michelle Côté The principal activities conducted during this expedition on Sir Wilfrid Laurier are led by Chief Scientist Humphrey Melling of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. These activities include the servicing of subsea oceanographic instruments and moorings for ocean and sea‐ice monitoring, CTD rosette casts at selected locations, and continuous underway measurement of surface seawater …

Lonny Lundsten and Michelle Côté As development continues in the Canadian Arctic, it is crucial for scientists to understand the causes and effects of changes to the seabed and to identify areas of special concern, including ecologically sensitive habitats and geohazards. Mud volcanos in the upper slope area are of particular interest as they are thought to …

Today we sailed towards Kugluktuk, Canada, for a refueling stop alongside a Canadian fuel tanker. We sailed past the icebreaker CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent. While in transit, MBARI technicians and Canadian Coast Guard crew members hauled out gear from the hold and onto the well deck for assembly. MiniROV pilots Dale Graves, Frank Flores, and Ben Erwin …

This week, the Oceanic Engineering Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) presented MBARI with an award for the Institute's "consistent presence and efforts towards the goals of the society to advance ocean research for the science and technology community."

MBARI Adjunct Victoria Orphan has been named a 2016 MacArthur Fellow, in recognition of her work on microbial communities in extreme environments and their impact on the cycling of nutrients and energy through the oceans.

Yesterday we took a late-night flight from Yellowknife, Canada, to Cambridge Bay, Canada. Then we took a quick but cold ride, on a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), out to the CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier and arrived onboard at around 10:00 p.m. In Yellowknife, we switched to a plane that could land on a gravel runway. At the …

The weather is damp and windy, but the science gear was successfully loaded onto the Canadian Coast Guard Icebreaker (CCGS) Sir Wilfrid Laurier. A helicopter was used to deliver two loads, each slightly less than the limit of about 635 kilograms (1,400 pounds), to the ship.

Cannibalism is not so unusual in the deep sea, especially for squid, but until recently the diet of Gonatus squid was largely unknown. Remotely operated vehicle observations of these squid in their natural habitat have enabled scientists to learn a great deal more about their feeding behavior.

From August 24 to 28, 2016, researchers from MBARI and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary conducted research on the deep seafloor of the Sanctuary. The public can read daily notes on these dives on the Sanctuary's web site.

121o 47’ 13” W, 36o 48’ 16” N Many thanks to all involved in planning and carrying out this expedition! Successful ROV dive programs rely upon the ship’s crew, ROV pilots, and scientific party on board. Such work is truly a team effort and we are grateful to Captain Andrew McKee and Chief Engineer Matt …

37 o 1.2′ N 123o 20.7′ W Today’s ROV dive at Guide Seamount, which is a little over 100 kilometers (63 miles) due west of Davenport, California, was quite exciting and much different than the dives conducted at Axial Seamount. In comparison to Axial and its inhospitable fresh lava surfaces, Guide is a very old …

43o 50′ N 128o 40′ W The weather is predicted to deteriorate over the next couple of days. We decided it was best not to do our last scheduled dive at Axial Seamount today. Instead, we headed south last night to get ahead of the weather. We will do a dive at Guide Seamount, which …

45o 31.9′ N 130o W The goal of today’s dive was to sample lavas and take sediment cores on large flows located on the eastern flank of the South Rift of Axial Seamount. An analysis of the recent high-resolution AUV bathymetry suggests that two of those large flows may have resulted from the same eruption. …