The U.S. NSF Ocean Observatories Initiative's cabled observatory in the NE Pacific. Design, construction, early operations led by University of Washington
- Tweets1.7K
- Following41
- Followers589
- Likes19
ALT The high definition camera, nearly a mile beneath the oceans' surface is installed at the summit of Axial Seamount, the most active underwater volcano off the coast of Oregon, nearly 300 miles offshore. The camera streams live video to shore every 3 hrs of the active hot spring called "Mushroom" covered in microorganisms fed by gases coming off the volcano, as well as novel worm communities. The camera is one of ~ 150 instruments on NSF's Regional Cabled Observatory as part of the Ocean Observatories Initiative. It is connected to shore by >500 km of submarine fiber optic cable, allowing video to stream live at the speed of light to shore. Credit: UW/NSF-OOI/CSSF, V22.
ALT Assemblage of organisms clustered around the mechanical anchor of the Slope Base Shallow Profiler mooring (2900 m)
ALT Bathydoris aioca, a large (~30 cm) deep-sea nudibranch at the OOI Slope Base site (2900 m)
ALT Snagging the Slope Base Shallow Profiler 200m platform float with a hook and recovery line as it approaches the starboard aft side of the R/V Thompson
ALT Lifting the huge 200m Shallow Profiler platform float aboard the R/V Thompson using the vessel's aft A-frame
ALT Pycnogonid (carrying egg mass) in a sample jar collected at Axial Seamount
ALT Small bird that stowed away on the Thompson visiting the main lab during our OOI cruise
ALT ROPOS launching off the R/V Thompson with a FETCH sonar tripod at Axial Seamount
ALT A fogbow off the starboard bow of the R/V Thompson at Axial Base
ALT Engineer working on the HPIES instrument as the sun rises over the Pacific Ocean behind him
ALT The new, clean profiler vehicle attached to the Oregon Offshore mooring cable following deployment
ALT The 2021 biofouled profiler vehicle at the base of the Oregon Offshore mooring prior to recovery
ALT ROV ROPOS grabs the top of the Deep Profiler mooring float which is covered in anemones
ALT The spherical float at the top of the deep profiler mooring covered in an entire ecosystem of anemones, algae, crabs, fish, etc.
ALT A curious blue shark visited the ROV several times while we were working on the deep profiler mooring
ALT Lights of the CSSF ROV ROPOS peeking above a mound of gas hydrate at Southern Hydrate Ridge
ALT Dumbo octopus sitting on the sediment at Southern Hydrate Ridge
ALT Brown catshark swimming towards the ROV camera at Southern Hydrate Ridge
ALT A robotic arm holding a scrub brush in front of the lens of an underwater camera
ALT The remotely operated vehicle (ROV) ROPOS, operated by the Canadian Scientific Submersible Facility, is a multi-purpose ROV for scientific investigations and specially designed for installing underwater cabled observatories for scientific research focused on processes operating in our dynamic oceans, including underwater volcanic eruptions, climate change, mammal vocalizations, and submarine earthquakes. During an 84-day expedition in 2014, ROPOS successfully installed 18 small cabled substations on the seafloor up too 300 miles off Oregon, over 100 instruments, and thousands of meters of extension cables to complete the NSF-funded Regional Cabled Array underwater observatory operated by the University of Washington. This novel technology brings power and the Internet into the ocean - streaming data live to shore for a global audience to use. Credit: M. Elend, University of Washington, V22.