Northwest Hawaiian Islands Cruise Fall 2016

On Tuesday October 18, Chief Scientist Dr. Brendan Roark and graduate students Ellen Bartow-Gillies, Kelci Miller, John Schiff, and Mackenzie Schoemann embark on their fall 2016 cruise to the Northwest Hawaiian Islands and the Emperor Seamount Chain on the University of Hawaii's R/V Ka`imikai-O-Kanaloa.

"Fearless on Every Front," their cruise will take them to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, recently expanded by President Obama to be the biggest fully protected conservation area on the planet at 583,00 square miles. Using the two three-person (one pilot and two observers) submersibles Pisces IV and V of the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL), the team will take turns diving 1000-2000 meters deep, to the ocean floor, to survey the resilience and recovery of a series of seamounts that were disturbed by varying degrees of fish trawling 30+ years ago. This survey will allow them to establish the timing of deep-sea coral re-colonization, the source populations of the new colonizers, and assess the seamount recovery on decadal timescales.

We will post updates on their progress on our Climate Science Lab Facebook page, so check back for news and pictures!

The Pisces V deep diving manned submersible (photo credit: John Schiff).