A Good Distraction

NOAA's Okeanos Explorer

For two weeks now NOAA's Okeanos Explorer has been conducting an expedition in the Northeastern U.S. Canyons for purposes of observing benthic communities, gas hydrates at cold seeps in the seafloor, and the canyons geomorphology (the Earth's topographic features), among other things. With four more weeks to go, the scientists expect to observe all of these things via an ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) called the Deep Discovery 2 and its partner vehicle, Seirios.

The day after they started I noticed an email from Emily Crum, the website manager, informing me, and others who are subscribed to Ocean Explorer's email updates, of the new expedition now underway. I have always had an interest in marine biology, including maritime history and archaeology, and was eager to find out more about it. I turned on the live feed (which you can watch by going to their site) and my family and I have been glued to our TV/computer screen since. We turn it on as early as 7 o'clock (our time) in the morning and leave it on sometimes long past their return, which averages around 3 - 3:30 (their time) in the afternoon on most days. It has been incredibly enlightening and we have a had a great time learning new things.

Since it is something that interests me I have decided to do my own log. A little late, of course, but this won't be anything official. Its totally personal. And just to add ahead of time, I am an amateur marine biologist, which is just the same as saying, "I don't know a great deal but I like it". So anyone looking to learn some hard facts needs to keep in mind the aforesaid. I do plan to give facts, and very true facts, but they will be the product of my own research.

Image of a bobtail squid

I am thrilled to find out that they allow the use of their images and information as long as you attribute them. Being a blogger, its sometimes hard to get ahold of images, or rather, to get permission to use specific images. Articles are made better by pictures, I've learned. And you know what they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words."

So don't go away, I'll be back soon with more on the expedition.