Time for Science!
Hi everyone!
We have arrived at our first station, Viosca Knoll! Yesterday was a busy day filled with assembling equipment and putting together the MOCNESS net (more on this in a later post) while at the dock and we headed out just after midnight after our safety briefing was completed by the captain.
Guess What Time It Is?
Yes, my friends, it is time for another DEEPEND cruise!
We will be heading out late on Friday, Sept. 6th into the Gulf of Mexico on one of our favorite vessels, the R/V Point Sur. This trip will be a little different than our past DEEPEND cruises as we have received funding for a new project, "Deep Sea Benefits". We will be using acoustics, our trusty MOC10 net, and perhaps have a couple new projects to share once we are underway.
Another Successful Journey
By- Heather Judkins
Well, that's a wrap! We finished processing our last station in the wee hours of Friday morning and headed bock to Gulfport, MS. It's been quite a successful trip with many new finds and exciting new questions to look into as we continue to explore this region of the Gulf of Mexico!
At the last station, we had quite a haul of crustacean species as well as lots of hatchetfishes- both of which scatter sound. We did acoustic work using the multibeam sonar to locate the DSL and towed the MOC10 system within these layers to get an idea of which animals may be found. This region is of the ocean is important because it represents the transfer of energy from the upper epipelagic to the deeper benthic systems. Many of the fish and crustaceans in the DSL are prey for benthic invertebrates and predatory fishes. (see Haley G's blog for more on acoustics).
The Endless Wonder
By Tracey Sutton
As we churn towards the finish line of another successful DEEPEND cruise in the offshore Gulf of Mexico, we take a pause to appreciate some new milestones. One of these is our 250th deployment of the 10-m2 MOCNESS pelagic trawling system, which has been the workhorse of DEEPEND. With six nets on each deployment, that means we have collected over 1500 pelagic trawl samples during our DEEPEND time series. Despite its status as the largest sample set of its kind, what continues to amaze us the most is that we continue to observe and collect NEW THINGS on every cruise. This one has been no exception.