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. …

MBARI’s Tethys long-range autonomous underwater vehicle recently travelled to one of the world’s largest freshwater ecosystems—the Great Lakes. This operation is a collaborative effort between MBARI and the Great Lakes Science Center, and is this vehicle’s first-ever freshwater deployment.

46o 01.9′ N 130o 01.1′ W The ROV dive today covered lava flows of the April-May 2015 eruption on the mid-North Rift of Axial Seamount, in between those sampled yesterday and those sampled on August 1. The good folks on the R/V Rachel Carson mapped the axis of the North Rift over the past few …

Bill Chadwick 46o 07.7′ N 129o 57.6′ W Today’s ROV dive was full of surprises, and one of the biggest surprises for me was finding miniature black smoker chimneys near the top of one of the thick lava flows that erupted in April-May 2015. This particular lava flow is over 60 meters thick and we …

Peering into the insides of a machine can be a useful way to learn about how it works. MBARI researchers Ken Johnson and Hans Jannasch created a transparent version of a profiling float, an instrument that makes biogeochemical measurements in the ocean, for educational purposes.

In 2014, MBARI researchers discovered a jet engine on the floor of Monterey Bay. Since that time, MBARI Deputy Director of Marine Operations Chris Grech has been gathering clues as to how this engine arrived on the muddy seafloor of the bay.

45o 59.6′ N 129o 57.4′ W After a long steam from Newport, Oregon, we arrived to Axial Seamount about midday. Although we only had time for a short ROV dive, it was a very important dive for some of the long-standing work we have been doing here. The primary objective of today’s dive was to …

45o 37.5′ N 124o 02.7′ W We departed Newport, Oregon, at 7:00 a.m. in the fog and were welcomed back onto the northeast Pacific Ocean by surprisingly calm seas. We steamed west toward Axial Seamount at nine to 10 knots all day. The clouds remained overcast and it even sprinkled, and the seas gradually grew …

45o 37.5′ N 124o 02.7′ W We entered Yaquina Bay in Newport, Oregon, this morning in heavy fog. The sun broke out just as we passed under the iconic Highway 101 bridge. We tied up promptly at 10:00 a.m. and everyone evaporated from the ship! We will resume the logs when we depart again on August 8.