ROPOS helps protect sensitive benthic areas

ROPOS helps protect sensitive benthic areas

ROPOS Cruise leads to protection of 9000 square km² of vulnerable cold water coral habitat

In June 2014, CSSF was part of a collaborative research cruise between Dalhousie University, NOAA, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), to explore deep sea corals in the Gulf of Maine onboard the RV Bigelow. This cruise explored several offshore canyons and discovered significant concentrations of breath-taking centuries-old cold water corals. Over the course of 12 days, ROPOS conducted 16 dives, visited 7 dive sites, and accumulated 168 hours of dive time providing the research team with 68 video transects, 236 physical samples, 7.5 terabyte of HD video, and over 1000 digital stills.

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Expedition Update - INDEX 2015

INDEX 2015 Expedition

After four years of prospecting, INDEX 2015 was the first exploration cruise to locate and define active and prospective inactive sulfide sites.

From November 22nd to December 12th we had the pleasure of working in the Indian Ocean for the German Federal Institutes of Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) onboard the R/V Pelagia. This project had ROPOS diving as deep as 3400 metres in its “mid-depth” configuration but with its 5000 metre foam pack. This was our first time mobilizing on the R/V Pelagia, a vessel with a formidable crew operated by the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ). The vessel was a great fit for ROPOS and we hope to be able to work onboard again in the near future.

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Expedition Update - Visions' 15

VISIONS' 15 Expedition

First maintenance expedition of the Regional Scale Nodes cabled ocean observatory

For 5 weeks, we were out at sea on-board the R/V Thomas G. Thompson with the University of Washington (UW) for the VISIONS '15 expedition which ran from the 4th of July to August 7th, 2015. For our fourth year with the project, our role shifted from the installation to the maintenance of the the secondary infrastructure of the OOI Regional Scale Nodes cabled ocean observatory with the UW Ocean Observatory Initiative (OOI) team of oceanographers and engineers. On all fronts, this expedition was a resounding success and marked the first operational and maintenance expedition of the RSN's project, now called the Cabled Array. As always, CSSF and its staff enjoyed the many challenges brought forward by this ambitious project.

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Expedition Update - Visions' 14

VISIONS' 14 Expedition

Completing the construction of the Regional Scale Nodes cabled ocean observatory

For just over 12 weeks, we were out at sea on-board the R/V Thomas G. Thompson with the University of Washington (UW) for the VISIONS '14 expedition which ran from the 13th of July to October 6th, 2014. For the third year, our role was to install the secondary infrastructure of the OOI Regional Scale Nodes cabled ocean observatory with the UW Ocean Observatory Initiative (OOI) team of oceanographers and engineers. On all fronts, this expedition was a resounding success which marked the transition between RSN's construction to its operation and maintenance. As always, CSSF and its staff enjoyed the many challenges brought forward by this ambitious project.

Read more: Expedition Update - Visions' 14