ROV exploration of the Northeast U.S. Deepwater Canyons complementing and continuing the work of the 2012 ACUMEN expedition. The two legs of EX1304 will perform systematic exploration, investigating deep water areas in and along the northeast canyons off the U.S. East Coast.

ROV exploration of the Northeast U.S. Deepwater Canyons complementing and continuing the work of the 2012 ACUMEN expedition. The two legs of EX1304 will perform systematic exploration, investigating deep water areas in and along the northeast canyons off the U.S. East Coast.

This dataset contains oceanographic data collected along the continental slope submarine canyons, en route to and returning from the North Atlantic Seamount Chain. ROV operations were conducted on the seamounts both inside and outside the U.S. EEZ. Operations focused on areas of high potential for discovery and of interest to the management community. ROV dives were conducted mostly during the day, while CTD casts and acoustic mapping occurred when the ROV was on deck. Data acquisition from shipboard sensors includes navigation data, meteorological data (wind, air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure), and oceanographic data (thermosalinograph, remote temperature probe, sound velocity probe, bathythermograph).

This dataset contains oceanographic data collected on little or unknown areas of the continental slope between Rhode Island and Chesapeake Bay. The major driving objective during these dives was to conduct engineering trials of the ROV and focused outreach events. Dives in the area of Lindenkohl canyons were devoted to ROV engineering trials, dives in the area of Washington Canyon were focused on exploration, and dives at the head of Norfolk Canyon and the mid-Atlantic gas seep site focused on outreach operations. ROV dives were conducted mostly during the day, while CTD casts and acoustic mapping occurred when the ROV was on deck. Data acquisition from shipboard sensors includes navigation data, meteorological data (wind, air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure), and oceanographic data (thermosalinograph, remote temperature probe, sound velocity probe, bathythermograph).

This dataset contains oceanographic and meteorological data, logs, and still images. This expedition is the first of three cruises for the Deep SEARCH project focused on exploring and characterizing seeps, corals, and canyon environments along the Atlantic margin. Oceanographic still images were obtained with the Sentry AUV. The images are raw Bayer-encoded (color) TIFF files directly from the camera.

This dataset contains oceanographic data (ADCP, CTD, ROV, Jason, Lander, SCS, Vehicle, XBT), images, and documentation. The primary goals of this cruise were as follows: Exploration of new sites and new areas within known sites, sampling of corals and associated fauna for biodiversity and biogeography, community sampling at seep and coral habitats, sediment sampling at soft sediment sites for biogeochemistry and diversity, collections of corals for live coral experiments, water sampling for water chemistry and microbial diversity, sediment, water, and faunal samples for eDNA work, geological observations and sampling for geomorphology, and lander deployments.

The U.S. coast from southern California to Washington state features vast areas of submerged mountain ranges, canyons, plateaus, volcanoes, basins, rocky outcrops, and pinnacles, many of which have never been surveyed or explored adequately. These unique conditions contribute to one of the greatest diversities of marine life in the world, including whales, sea otters, seabirds and hundreds of fish species. Aboard NOAA Ship McArthur, the Sanctuary Quest Expedition team conducted research, exploration, and monitoring within and adjacent to the national marine sanctuaries in this region. Over the long term, the expedition should help to provide a framework for understanding more about the efficacy and role of the sanctuary system in protecting and conserving marine resources, and to provide the impetus for continued regional research.

Following annual ship shakedown and patch tests, EX1301 completed the comprehensive mapping of the Northeast canyons and the adjacent continental shelf carried out by the cruises involved in the Atlantic Canyons Undersea Mapping Expeditions (ACUMEN) 2012 project.