"Through
expeditions that leverage the pooled expertise of NOAA, HARBOR BRANCH
and the research community, we will not only chart the ocean but discover
resources and phenomena that will benefit mankind and improve our environmental
stewardship of the planet."
Richard
J. Herman
President and CEO, HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution, Inc.
Ft. Pierce, Florida
Credit:
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
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Capable of
working in any of the world's oceans, Harbor Branch's R/V Seward Johnson
is shown preparing to retrieve the Johnson Sea-Link submersible
after a dive. At 23.6-ft long, 10.9-ft high and 8.3-ft wide, the submersible
can dive to a depth of 3,000 ft and carry up to four people. Scientists
have maximum visibility in its 5-inch thick panoramic acrylic sphere.
Highly maneuverable, it can navigate underwater slopes and other tricky
bottom typography. A hydraulic robotic arm manipulates multiple sampling
devices. A suction tube "vacuums" up delicate samples. A claw can scoop
up rock samples. Jellyfish can be collected via jars that close automatically
once an animal floats into them.
Credit:
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Highly
maneuverable, the Johnson Sea-Link submersible can
navigate underwater slopes and other tricky bottom typography.
A hydraulic robotic arm manipulates multiple sampling devices.
A suction tube "vacuums" up delicate samples. A claw can scoop
up rock samples. Jellyfish can be collected via jars that
close automatically once an animal floats into them.
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During Arctic exploration, scientists carried equipment to a sample
site away from the Louis St-Laurent in an effort to obtain samples
that will not be affected by the ship's presence.
Click
here to see a robotic
arm in action at
first "undersea island" to be called a seamount.
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Painstakingly
Recovering History
To
recover the turret of the USS Monitor, a Civil War ironclad
that sank off the coast of North Carolina, the damaged hull first
had to be removed. Excavation was the continuation of a commitment
that began after NOAA determined nearly a decade ago that, unless
headed off, collapse of the Monitor’s hull was imminent
and would result in loss of much of the ship’s structure and historic
contents. Dr. John Broadwater, manager of NOAA's Monitor National
Marine Sanctuary, called the successful and complex recovery "a
landmark for NOAA's sanctuary program." Today the famed revolving
gun turret and two cannons, estimated to weigh nearly 150 tons,
are undergoing further excavation and conservation in the Mariner's
Museum in Newport News, Virginia.
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At the USS Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, marine archaeologist
Jeff Johnston (left) and sanctuary manager Dr. John Broadwater
excavated the area behind the cannons inside the Monitor's
gun turret. LTJG Jeremy Weirich, marine archaeologist for
NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration, was also on the excavation
team.
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During last year's recovery, NOAA divers guided a sub-bottom
profiler around the turret, searching for historic objects
buried in sediment. This marked the first-ever successful
diver-assisted sub-bottom profiler survey at any depth.
And this one was conducted at 240 ft! The profiler was tethered
by cable to a research vessel. On board, images were viewed
via computer.
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Credit: U.S. Navy/Photographer's Mate Second
Class Petty Officer (DV) Eric Lippmann
Divers lived in this chamber for two weeks at a time saturated
with a gas mixture of 85 percent helium and 15 percent oxygen.
This allowed the divers to work in eight-hour
shifts on the USS Monitor site 240 feet below the
ocean surface.
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A radiosonde attached to a weather balloon is released into the
upper atmosphere from the Ronald H. Brown, flagship of
the NOAA fleet. Radiosondes measure atmospheric pressure, temperature,
humidity and ozone concentrations. As a scientific research platform,
the vessel is designed to simultaneously measure the ocean and
atmosphere to better understand sea-ocean interface, work that
is essential in understanding global climate, among numerous environmental
issues. It is the only U.S. ship to carry a Doppler radar aboard.
It also carries two echo sounders to develop broad-based profiles
of the seafloor, to a depth of 10,000 miles. Echo sounders can
also be used to locate fish for studies of species distribution
and abundance. |
Two kinds of high-tech robots, both engineering marvels, are
used in deep-sea research. Each carries instruments, collects
samples and conducts surveys, all the while enabling scientists
to track their progress from the safety of a ship. The key difference
is that ROVs, or remotely operated vehicles, are tethered to
the ship by fiber optic cable. AUVs, or autonomously operated
vehicles, are not.
Credit: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research
Institute
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ABE, an autonomous benthic (bottom) explorer,
works at places on or near the seafloor where marine life
dwells. During the Pacific "Submarine
Ring of Fire" exploration off of the western North American
coast, ABE created detailed maps of the vent areas,
measured temperature and salinity and provided guidance on
where to deploy an ROPOS, or Remotely Operated Platform for
Ocean Science. Operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
ABE runs on batteries and can survey the seafloor for
more than a day. Before each dive, ABE's sophisticated
computer is pre-programmed for specific tasks.
Tiburon's "manipulator arm" put this sea star in a
"bio box" to protect it from thermal shock on the trip to
the surface. The ROV, or remotely operated vehicle, Tiburon,
was at work this spring when scientists explored the Davidson
Seamount, located southwest of Monterey, California and one
of the world's largest known seamounts. Tiburon was
designed and built by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
to be scientists' eyes, ears and hands in the sea. It receives
power and control signals via a tether, and returns data from
cameras back up the tether, where they are displayed on monitors.
Tiburon can float motionless in the water, causing
less disturbance to animals.
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This huge sulfide "chimney" structure - almost 50-feet tall
-- is venting fluid at 312 degrees C, the highest temperature
yet measured in the "Magic Mountain" area of the Pacific "Submarine
Ring of Fire" exploration. To make subsequent visits
easier, it is marked by a ROPOS, a Remotely Operated
Platform for Ocean Science. Volcanic ridges lying as close
as 60 nautical miles of the northwest U. S. and Canada are
part of the world-girdling Mid-Ocean Ridge system, a 37,200-mile-long
series of sea floor spreading centers where new earth is born
and an interdisciplinary exploration team of U.S. and Canadian
are using new sea floor mapping systems.
The chimney is also the first "black smoker" scientists saw
here. All other active chimneys were venting clear, intensely
shimmering fluid, called by NOAA geologist Bill Chadwick "a
volcanic wonderland."
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For centuries trawls, or nets towed behind a boat to collect organisms,
have been used for fishing. Today's trawls can also be used for scientific
research. With advanced net design and high frequency echosounder technology,
nets have become tools to study the ecology of the sea's still mysterious
midwater zone, 660 feet to 3,300 feet under the surface. This region
is particularly key because the creatures that live here constitute
most of the world's seafood. In this photo, crew members are deploying
an Isaacs-Kidd midwater trawl to sample marine life. About 20-feet long,
this trawl is used with echosounders that target a sampling area.
Credit:
Institute for Exploration
Sidescan sonar towfish, with "swath" covered by sonar beam reflected
in yellow.
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Collaborating with Dr. Robert Ballard and his Institute for Exploration
at Mystic Aquarium in  Connecticut,
NOAA has twice surveyed the deep waters of Thunder Bay National Marine
Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve in Lake Huron, Michigan. Spanning over
a century of maritime history, about 160 shipwrecks are thought to lie
under the murky waters. With the assets of ECHO, an instrument
that uses sound to create images of the sea floor, scientists last year
located and acoustically imaged over 20 wrecks, including schooners and
freighters from the 1800s. This year they returned and, with two remotely
operated vehicles, captured video footage of these wrecks.
Brittlestars reflect the broad diversity of marine life along the Olympic
Coast, where the Sanctuary Quest Expedition team conducted research,
exploration and monitoring activities within and adjacent to the national
marine sanctuaries from southern California to Washington State. Exploration
is helping to build a framework for understanding more about the efficacy
and role of the sanctuary system in protecting and conserving marine
resources and providing the impetus for continued regional research.
 Educating
at an open house, Mary Sue Brancato, of Olympic Coast National
Marine Sanctuary, explained how the crew used the remotely
operated vehicle, Super Phantom, during this year's
two-part Sanctuary Quest exploration along the Pacific coast.
With vast areas of submerged mountain ranges, canyons, volcanoes,
basins and pinnacles still to be explored, the region teems
with abundant and diverse living and non-living marine resources
subject to a wide range of natural and human pressures.
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