! Cruise!Report!!! E/V!Nautilus,!ROVs!Hercules,!Argus! June!21!<!July!5,!2013!! ECOGIG!Consortium! Chief!Scientist:!Dr.!Erik!Cordes!!!

Transcription

1 CruiseReport E/VNautilus,ROVsHercules,Argus June21<July5,2013 ECOGIGConsortium ChiefScientist:Dr.ErikCordes

2 1.Overview Thiswasa16daycruisetosupporttheresearchoftheECOGIGconsortium,funded bythegulfofmexicoresearchinitiative.theresearchgoalsoftheconsortiumare to investigate the ecosystem effects of natural oil and gas seepage to the Gulf of Mexico.Thegoalsofthecruiseweretovisitbenthiccommunities,primarilydeep< water corals, in the vicinity of the Macondo well, the location of the 2010 Gulf of Mexicooilspill.Specifictasksincludeddetailedrepeatimageryofknownlocations on the seafloor, collections of live corals for experiments carried out on board the ship, acquisition of sediment push cores, marker deployments, andexplorationof unknownareasofthesites.portionsofthecruisewerebeconductedalongsidethe R/V Endeavor and logistics and sampling were closely coordinated between the vessels. 2.SummaryofResults BetweenleavingGulfport,MSonJune21 st andarrivingagainonjuly5 th,wewere abletomake14diveswiththerovsherculesandargus.thedivesrangedfrom4to 20hourseach,andwenttodepthsbetween400and2600meters.Onthecruise,we surveyed deep<sea coral sites that were impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, re<imaging corals that we have been monitoring since the spill. We collected livecoralfromtheseafloor,keepingthemaliveonboardandcompletingaseriesof oil< and dispersant<exposure experiments during the cruise. We also collected a seriesofsamplesofthewaterjustabovecoralsandnaturalgasseeps,andaseriesof sediment samples from the same environments. We conducted most of the water andsedimentsamplinginclosecoordinationwithther/vendeavor,guidingtheir samplingtotargetthesamelocationsthatwediscoveredwiththerovs. Inadditiontothesesuccesses,perhapsthegreatestimpactofthecruisewas intheeducationandoutreachachievedthroughthetelepresencecapabilityofthe ship.allofthediveswerebroadcastliveoverthenautilusliveandexplorationnow websites.wereachedover8,000peopleandhadover22,000websitehitsduring our cruise. In addition, the three educators on board reached thousands of other peoplethroughliveinteractiveshowswithvariousmuseumsandaquariaincluding the Mystic Aquarium, the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach CA, the Exploratorium in San Francisco, the Houston Natural History Museum, and the TitanicMuseuminBelfast,Ireland.

3 Table1:Sitesvisitedduringthecruise Study&Site& latitude( longitude( depth((m)( AT357( ( ( 1050( DC673( ( ( 2600( MC118( ( ( 880( MC294( ( ( 1395( MC297( ( ( 1585( MC328( ( ( 650( MC388( ( ( 1848( VK826( ( ( 420( VK906( ( ( 390( Table2:Operationsschedule date( dive( site( launch( recovery( 219Jun( Gulfport( 229Jun( ( H1259( VK826( ( 0800( ( 239Jun( VK826( ( 0400( 239Jun( ( H1260( MC294( ( 1200( 249Jun( MC294( ( 0800( 249Jun( ( H1261( MC118( ( 1600( 259Jun( MC118( ( 0800( 259Jun( ( H1262( VK826( ( 1200( 269Jun( VK826( ( 0000( 269Jun( ( H1263( MC297( ( 0800( 279Jun( MC297( ( 0000( 279Jun( ( H1264( AT357( ( 1200( 289Jun( AT357( ( 0000( 289Jun( ( H1265( AT357( ( 0700( 1500( 289Jun( H1266( AT357( 1930( 2300( 299Jun( H1267( AT357( 0800( 1900( 309Jun( H1268( MC388( 1430( 2400( 19Jul( H1269( DC673( 0800( 2400( 29Jul( H1270( MC328( 1400( 1800( 39Jul( H1271( VK826( 0900( 1300( 39Jul( H1272( VK906( 1600( 49Jul( 59Jul( ( ( VK906( Gulfport( ( 0700( ( 1000( (

4 3.Summaryofoperations 219June:Gulfport,MS 1200:departurefromEastPier Followingtakingonfoodandfuel,theshipleftthepiershortlyafternoontobegin the transit out to VK826. We continued to work on the integration of the camera system loaned to us by Ian MacDonald, including building a new oil<filled cable to connect the camera to the vehicle and provide communication up into the ROV controlvan. 229June 0000:arrivalatVioscaKnoll 0200:multibeamsurvey 0800:launch FollowingourarrivalatVK826,webeganamultibeamsurveytocheckoutthenew Kongsberg302 system on board. We replicated an existing survey of the site in order to provide data for the future calibration of the instrument. We then proceededtothelaunchcoordinatesandbeganourfirstdive. H1259VK826 Thevehicleswereinthewaterjustafter0900centraltime.Welaunchedoverthe southwest corner of the site, where a known seep site is located with abundant Callogorgia(americana(americanacolonies.WeimagedoneofthelargerCallogorgia colonies and deployed marker 34. We collected a small piece of Callogorgia from withinthismosaicintornalaterandthencollectedaseriesofothercoloniesforthe livecoralwork. WethencontinuedourtransittotheNWtowardsthecenterofthesiteand into the Leiopathes area. We deployed marker 37 and began to image some Leiopathes and other black corals. These images looked pretty good, but we were havingsomeissueswiththedepthoffieldandthelighting.atthistime,welostdp and were pulled off the site. We returned and fired a niskin and began collecting Leiopthes for the live coral experiments. We were pulled off site again during the collections,andcamebackdownintheseeparea.wefiredaniskinoverabubble plume in the active seep area, although the only fauna noted were dead clam and mussel shells. We resumed our transit to the NE towards the Lophelia area, and completedourleiopathescollectionsontheway. Thesamplingquiversandstopperswereonthestarboardsampletray,and pilotshadthemspacedoutevenlyonthetray.thisarrangementproveddifficultto work around, with stoppers and the occasional sample being dropped in between the quivers and onto the tray. Because each of the quivers was held on only by a singleboltgoingthroughthetray,oneofthemwasdislodgedduringacollection.it

5 wasplacedonthetooltrayonthefrontofthevehicle,butwaslosttowardstheend ofthedive. WhenwebegantocomeintoLophelia,weturnedtotheeasttostayoverthe main reef to the south of the crest of the knoll. We got some outstanding footage fromargusofherc stransitoverthecoral.reallyanimpressiveviewofthereef;a large<scaleoverviewthatihavenotseenbefore.wesetupanotherimagingstation oflopheliaafterdroppingmarker36,andthencollectedsomecoralsforlivecoral workinthisareaatapproximately2300.however,duringoneofthecollections,the forward biobox was opened, and one of the Leiopathes colonies was lost. We completedourlopheliaandspongecollections,andthenturnedtothesouthtothe edgeofthereefwherewecouldreplacethelostleiopathescolony. Aftertheworkatthemaincoralarea,wepickedHercupofftheseafloorand toweditovertothepredictedcoralsiteatapproximately1.5kts.uponarrivingat the Sam Hill site, two different large Lophelia mounds were discovered. This provided good proof that the model can successfully predict the distribution of Lopheliaatthelocalscale. We made a few more Lophelia and sponge collections at this location, and firedaniskin.thevehicleswereoffbottomaround0320andondeckat June 0400:recoveratVK826,transittoMississippiCanyon 1200:launchatMC294 Following recovery at VK826, we began our transit over to MC294. During the transit,thesamplequiversonthesamplingtraywerereplacedbythelargebiobox with four push cores on the outboard side of the box. We arrived on station, configuredthevehicleandlaunchedatmc294justafter1200localtime. H1260MC294 Thevehiclesreachedbottomandwebegantoworkjustafter1400.Weimmediately located marker 44 and carefully approached the site to ensure that we did not disturb any of the monitoring stations. We began imaging the corals, working aroundthesiteinaclockwisemanner.wefiredafewniskinsalongtheway,andas wearrivedaroundthe B areaofcorals,wewerepulledoffsitebyaproblemwith theship sdpatapproximately1700. When these issues were worked out, we switched over to push coring. A seriesof4pushcoresweretakenattwodifferentlocationsinthevicinityofmarker 44, and niskins associated with the cores were fired. At approximately 1900, we returnedtoimagingcorals,goingfromthe A areato F then E then C then B. Afewmoreniskinswerefiredinthisarea.Whileimaginginthe A areaofcorals, thebeastcambegantomisbehaveandwehadtocyclepowerafewtimesbeforewe regained communication. The camera came back online for the last image at the centralsite,andthenaniskinsamplewastaken. At approximately 0200 on the 24 th of June, we transited over to the Madreporasitetotakesomeniskinsamplesoverthisscleractiniancoral.Thecoral

6 colonyatthissitewasimagedandthenhercmovednorthtowardstheseeptarget. Therewereabundantbacterialmats,tubeworms,anddeadclamsshellsinthearea. Somefishinglinewasalsonotedhere.Aseriesofstillimagesweretaken,andthenit wastimetorecoveratapproximately June 0800:recoveratMC294,transittoMC :diveonMC118 We began our transit to MC118 after Herc and Argus were on deck. It was our intentiontotrya4<hourturnaroundandbeginourdiveat1200.however,rigging the video time<lapse camera (VTLC) for deployment at this site was more complicatedthananticipated.inaddition,duringthetransitovertothesite,oneof the Herc pilots pulled a muscle in their back and had to be taken to the ship s hospital. To cover this, Sam Georgian was switched from data logging and multibeamwatchtoarguspilot.meanwhile,weworkedontheriggingofthevtlc. Thehandleforthecamerawasasimpleplastichandleattachedonlytotheyellow plasticshieldontheglassballonthetopofthelander.thiswasreinforcedwitha steel cable running through the handle, around the ball, and down to the frame of the lander. After attempting to rig a way for the ROV to carry the VTLC to the seafloor,itwasdecidedtorigitasafreevehicleinstead.asinglealvinweightwas attachedtothebaseoftheframeusinga~20ftlinewithapull<pin,andthecamera wasdeployedovertheside. H1261MC118 Thevehicleswerelaunchedjustbefore1600localtime.Uponarrivalattheseafloor, wesearchedforthecameraforaboutanhour,havingitinthescanningsonarbefore beingpulledoffbytheshipwhenitlostdp.thevtlcwasrelocatedandbroughtto thedeploymentsiteat1900.thebubbleplumewassampledwithameshwandand thevtlcpositionedsothatitwasfacingtheactiveseepwiththebubblesrisingjust inviewofthecamera. WeheadedformarkerTatapproximately2000tobeginpushcoresandthen imagethisarea.ontheway,theshipagainhaddifficultywiththedpsystem,andwe were pulled off site. We reached marker T at 2200 and began a series of 4 push coreshere.fourmorepushcoresweretakenoveratmarkerx,andcompletedjust after A series of four niskins were sampled in the area over live and dead Madrepora. WebegantoimagetheMarkerXsite,butonlygotpartofthewaythrough before we were pulled off again when the stern thruster lost power due to overheating, just after 0000 on 25<June. We returned to the site at approximately 0130 and completed X, T1, M29, M28, M22, and M26. Another niskin sample was takenatthissiteaswell.wemovedovertotheseepsite,observingalarge,vertical outcropping hydrate that had an active bubble plume coming off of it. It was speculatedthatthiswas sleepingdragon, butinfactitwasonlyafewmetersaway. Sleepingdragonwasfinallyfoundaswewereleavingthislocation itwasalong

7 winding outcropping gas hydrate completely colonized by ice worms. We fired anotherniskinoverthehydrateandcollectedasamplefromanearbyparamuricea colony before beginning our ascent to the surface at The vehicles were on deckjustbefore June 0800:RecoveratMC118,transittoVK :LaunchvehiclesatVK826 WeleftMC118afterbringingthevehiclesondeck.Wewereattemptingafour<hour turn<aroundafterathree<hourtransit.whenwewereonstation,therewereafew issuesstillremainingwiththehydraulicsonhercules,andlaunchwasdelayedabit whilecompletingthepre<divecheckout.weareessentiallyrepeatingthediveplan from the other day (with the exception of Callogorgia and Leiopathes collections) withimprovedimagingandcollectioncapabilities. H1262VK826 We launched Argus and Hercules at approximately 1330 over VK826. We reached bottom at approximately 1430 and established a new Callogorgia monitoring station.theshiplostoneofthegeneratorsatapproximately1600andweremained inthemid<waterwhilewaitingfortheengineerstocomeupwithasolution. Whenwereturnedtothebottomatapproximately1830,webegantohead towards the mosaic M marker to establish monitoring stations. On the way, we madeaseriesoflopheliaandspongecollections,andfiredaniskinbottleoverlive Lophelia.WethencontinuedonourtransittomarkerM. On the way to the marker, a good location for Leiopathes monitoring was discovered, and another monitoring station established with about 10 Leiopathes colonies. Marker 38 was deployed in this location. When this was complete, Herc wasbroughtuptobegintosearchformarkerm,anditwasdiscoveredthatiteas justontheothersideofthelargelopheliacolonythatwehadbeenworkingnextto. We came around to the other side where there was abundant live coral, and establishedalopheliamonitoringstationatthislocation. We left marker M and moved over to marker N where we established another station. We dropped marker 39 in this area to have better scale in the photos, and moved outside of the area to make a few more Lophelia and sponge collectionsforthelivecoralwork.wefiredafewniskinsoverthelivecoralinthis area,andthenbeganrecoveryatapproximately June 0000:RecoveratVK826,transittoMC :LaunchvehiclesatMC297 Uponrecoveryofthevehicles,itwasdiscoveredthatthebioboxeswerenotholding temperature.thelargebioboxonthesampletrayhadafewholesinthebackand wasleakingondeck.theslidinglidwasalsoridingabithighonthetracksabovethe

8 box.ontheforwardtooltray,thesmallerbioboxdidnotretractallthewayunder thelid,sotherewasasmallgapinthetop.afewofthelopheliacoloniessurvived, butitappearsthatallofthespongesweredeadafterashortperiodinthecoldvan. There are no collections planned for the next dive, so work on the boxes was delayeduntilourlongtransit. Theprimarygoalofthisdiveistore<imageallofthemonitoringstationsat thissite.thisisthesitethatisclosesttothedeepwaterhorizonsiteandalsohas themostindividualcoralspresent. H1263MC297 The vehicles were launched at approximately 0830, and were on the bottom at approximately1000.webeganthediveatmarkerm3,andproceededtocomplete imaging here. We then moved to marker MM1 and imaged coral here, including whatmaybetwonewcorals.wemovedovertomarker3andtookfivepushcore samples. At this time, a steady leak began in the starboard Kraft arm. We then transited a few hundred meters into a seep area near marker 5, then moved to marker2andtookthreemorepushcoresatapproximately1800.wewentbackto imaging mode, completing imagery of the corals at M2, M6, M5. We brought Herc andargusupinthewatercolumnandtowedthemovertothearenearmarkerm21, approximately1.2kmaway.ontheway,weobservedwhatappearedtobeabubble plumeintheargussonar.wecompletedimagingofcoralsatm21,thenwentover andinvestigatedthebubbleplumesite.wefoundtheplumeandfiredaniskinwhile methane bubbles were passing through the cylinder. After this sample, we left the bottomat2230fora2400recovery. 279June 0000:RecoveratMC297,transittoAT :LaunchvehiclesatAT357 Followingthedive,webegana12hourtransitouttotheAtwaterValleyarea.The bioboxes were the top priority for the transit out there. The large biobox was pluggedupandanewrubbergasketaddedtothelidsothatitwouldmakebetter contactwiththefrontwalloftheboxwhenitwasclosed.thetracksaroundthelid thattheboxslidesonwerealsotightenedupsothatbettercontactbetweenthelid andboxwasachieved.thelidfortheforwardboxwasrepositionedsothatitmade atightsealwiththefrontwalloftheboxandthetracksonthisboxalsotightenedup toimprovetheseal. H1264AT357 We launched the vehicles over the northern seep area of this very large site just before1200.wedroppedrightonmarkerm30andbegantoexplorethenorthern edgeofthesitefortheactiveseeparea.wetransitedoverthebottomoftheslope over numerous dead clam shells, but did not see many areas of active seepage. Therewereafewisolatedlocationswithlivemussels,butlimitedactivitywasnoted

9 in the area. We finally found one area that looked fairly active and tripped two niskinbottles. We then came up the slope, and established a new monitoring station after deployingmarkert1.wecollectedapieceofoneofthephotographedparamuricea coloniesintoapreservativequiver.wecontinuedimagingatt1,andsoonrealized thatwewererightinbetweenthem12,m13andm14markers.weextendedthe monitoringstationovertotheothermarkersandre<imagedthecoralsatthatsite, and numerous new corals in the area. Following the imaging, we took three push coresnearmarker13andfiredtwoniskinsoverthemadreporathere.wethentook asmallsampleofthemadreporaintoaquiverandtookframe<grabsofthecollection location. Wethenenteredtheexplorationphaseofthedive,movingtoatargetoffto the west that was identified in the recent Seabed AUV survey led by Arne Dierks fromtheuniversityofsouthernmississippi.wemovedwestoverthebottomofthe slope.atfirst,weranoverplainsediment,whichstoppedusonpreviousdivesand madeusreturntothecenterofthesite,thinkingthatwehadreachedtheboundary. After crossing over this area, we began to come into an area of more rugged topography, with linear troughs running between adjacent ridges and mounds. There were numerous accumulations of dead vesicomyid clam shells collecting along the bottom of the troughs, and occasionally the appearance of brine<stained sedimentsandbacterialmatsalongthebaseofthesteepslopes.atthetopsofeach of the slopes were many small authigenic carbonates and numerous small Paramuricea colonies settled on both carbonate nodules and vesicomyid shells. TherewerealsosmallcoloniesofSwifita,Chrysogorgia,andClavulariainadditionto Paramuricea.Wetooksometimeatthislocationtocollectexcellentimagery(video andframegrabs)ofthecoraloutcropincludingtheassociates.weproceededtothe south,towardsasecondexploratorytarget,imagingmadreporacoloniesandafew unidentifiedwhiteoctocoralsalongtheway.wealsonoticedwhatappearedtobea liveclamanditstrailinthesediments,althoughnoothersignsofseepactivitywere noted. As we continued south, the pressure became dangerously low in the hydraulicreservoirfortheportarm.wewereabletosampleoneoftheunidentified coralsintothebiobox,andthenwebegantorecoverthevehiclesatapproximately 2100.Theywereondeckby June 0700:launchfordiveH :recovervehicles 1930:launchfordiveH :recovervehicles Following recovery, the pilots went over all of the hydraulics on the port Mongo arm and found a hose with a large blister in it. The hose was replaced, and the vehiclereadiedtogobackinthewater. H1265AT357

10 Wewereonbottomaround0800andcontinuedourexplorationfromwhereweleft off on the previous dive in the southwest corner of the site where we had not previously explored. We spent some time looking at the diversity of corals in this area, including Paramuricea, Bathypathes, Swiftia, and Chrysogorgia, all with numerousassociates.welocatedanareaofmildseepageandtookfourpushcores, twoinsidethematandtwoatdifferentdistancesawayfromthemat. We continued into the center of the site, stopping to collect two different Paramuriceacoloniesintothebiobox.Wefoundanareawherethereweremultiple species occurring together, and deployed marker T1 here. We collected Paramuricea,Madrepora,andChrysogorgiaallintothesameRNALaterquiver.As wecontinuedourtransittothemainareaofthesite,weremainedoverthepatchy coral and seep habitat. While there was a large area of plain sediment beyond the northwestcornermainpartofthesitebeforegettingtothenewlyexploredarea,the southwest corner appeared to be connected to the central site. We located two additionalparamuriceacoloniesforcollection(bothattachedtovesicomyidshells) at approximately We located marker M17 next to both Paramuricea and a Madreporacolony,andfiredaniskinovertheMadrepora.Afterthesecoralswere imaged,wemovedabitawayfromthemarkersandmadethefinaltwoparamuricea collections.asweleftandbeganourtransittom19,thehydraulicreservoirbecame dangerouslylowonceagainandweleftbottomaround1400. Uponourreturntothedeck,theportarmwasinspectedagainandasmallleakwas detectedontheo<ringaroundaplug.itwasreplaced,andthevehiclereadiedtodive onceagain. We also discovered that our cold van has been having difficulty maintaining temperature due to the extremely hot conditions outside and the frequent use by the scientists during the day. The live Paramuricea exposure experiments were started, but all of the corals died shortly after the start due to the fluctuation in temperature.thescheduleofvisitstothecoldroomhasbeenalteredtominimize trafficinthevan.also,reubenmills,theleadrovpilot,foundafewissueswiththe configurationofthevan,andhasattemptedtoimproveit. H1266AT357 Atapproximately1930,thevehicleswerelaunchedonceagain.Welandedverynear marker19andbeganimaging.onceagain,therewasaleakinthehydraulicsandthe reservoir pressure began to decline. There is also a steady leak in the starboard Kraftarm.Weimagedatmarker17then19,tookfourpushcores,firedtwoniskins, andleftbottomaround June 0800:launchfordiveH :recovervehicles,transittoMC388

11 Followingrecovery,theHerculesgroupwentovereveryaspectoftheportarminan effort to finally determine the source of the leak. A plug that was located at the bottom of the hydraulic fluid reservoir was discovered to be faulty and was replaced. H1267AT357 Welaunchedthevehiclesrightat0800,andwereonthebottomjustafter0900.We foundmakerm20andimagedthecoralsinthisarea,includingsomenewcorals.we then took two push cores in seep sediment near this site. The hydraulic pressure issue seems to be taken care of, although there is still a persistent leak in the starboard arm. There is also a persistent current and the wind is picking up. We traveledovertowardsmarkerm16,butwerepulledoffsitebeforewecouldsetup andimageatapproximately1200. Everytimewecamebackdowntothebottomandbegantowork,thestern jet pump would fail due to overheating, and we would lose the ability to maintain position.thiscontinuedforthenexttwohoursuntilwewerefinallyblownoffthe easternedgeofthesite.afterconsultingwiththecaptain,thedecisionwasmadeto comeoutofdpandtowthevehiclestothewesternedgeoftheselectedworkarea andtrytoslowlyworkourwaybacktotheeast.whenwecametoaplacewherewe couldbeginourwork,theshipwentbackintodpbutwiththeassistanceofthemain enginefightingthecurrent. Assoonaswecouldholdstation,atapproximately1500,webroughttheROV back down to the seafloor. Luckily, there were numerous small corals in the area. We quickly landed near one and grabbed a Paramuricea in the manipulator. The shipwasdriftingawayandtakingarguswithit,sowewerepulledoffthesite.the coral was stowed in the biobox, we came back under Argus, and returned to the seafloor.anothercolonywasgrabbed,wewerepulledoff,anditwasstowedinthe biobox.thisprocesswasrepeateduntilwehadsixdifferentcoloniesineachbiobox compartment. Some amazing piloting of both ship and ROV under adverse conditions. Followingthecollections,wereturnedtoM16andbeganourimagingofthe corals around that marker. We completed this fairly quickly and then proceeded overtom15tocompletetheimaging.wefinishedaround1800andcamebackupto thesurface. 309June 0700ArrivalatMC Launchvehicles Whenwearrivedonstation,therewasanintenselineofthunderstormsinthearea, andther/vendeavorwasstillworkingoverourlaunchtarget.wechangedcourse andcamebacktothenortheasttogetoutofthewayofthelineofstormsandwait for the Endeavor to complete their operations. Once the Endeavor was done, we came back to the site and went into DP, holding station over the site. The Captain was concerned that if we went into the water we would encounter the same

12 problems as we had the day before and would not be able to hold station. We continuedtowaitintotheafternoonwhenthewindsweresteadyat10<15ktsand the current (calculated as a summary vector by the ship s DP system) was approximately 0.7 kts. The ship appears to have a very low threshold for ROV operations. H1268MC388 TheweatherbegantocalmdownandtheCaptainwashappywithhowtheshipwas holding by about 1400, and we launched. At approximately 1530, we landed right nearmarkerm9inasedimentedareawithsomelow<lyingcarbonateoutcrops.we beganimagingnearthemarker,andatabout1700sawalargephotogenicoctopus andspentsometimefollowingitandcapturinghighlightvideoandstillimages.we then proceeded to image at the rest of the markers, moving quickly through them duetotheshorteneddivetime.thesewereallcompleteby2130andtheweather hadcalmeddownsufficientlysothatwecouldmovetheshipbacktotheeasttothe seep target. After having trouble locating a seep of sufficient size, all of the cores were taken back near marker M9. This was complete at approximately 2230, and thevehiclesleftthebottom. 19July 0000recoverHercandArgus,transittoDeSotoCanyon 0600multibeamrunsovertheDC673site 0800launchvehiclesonDC673 Onourapproachtothesite,weturnedonthemultibeamtogetbetterbathymetryof thesite.werantwoperpendicularlinescenteredonthedivetarget,andthenwent backtothedivetarget.thedatawereprocessedimmediately,andwereavailableas anunderlayforthedive.duringtheprocessing,ameetingwasheldtodiscussthe orientation of the ship and the vehicles with respect to the wall, and an escape plan wasdevelopedintheeventthattheshiplostit sdp. Duringthedive,itwasnoticedthatthegeneratorthatwasrunningthecold van on the bow had stalled. By the time this was noticed at 1900, the van was at approximately 22 degrees C. All of the corals and sponges in the cold van were sampled in every way possible, and all of the seawater disposed of and the containersandbucketswereallcleaned.thevanhasbeenhavingdifficultyholding temperature the last few days due to the extreme heat and the low set point we wereattemptingtokeepparamuriceaalive(4degc).wehaveshutdownthevan forthenext24hoursandareservicingthegeneratorfuelfilterandrechargingthe coolantonthehvacsystem. H1269DC673 Welaunchedjustafter0800,andmadeittotheseaflooraround1000.Wespenta littlewhileensuringthattheshipwasstablenowthattheentirelengthofumbilical was payed out. We searched the base of the escarpment for an active seep, but

13 couldn tlocateanappropriateplacetopushcore.wedidseelargeaccumulationsof whitepteropodshellsalongthebaseofthewall.aniskinwasfiredat1044at2595 mandwebeganourascentupthewall.weclimbedupaseriesofsmallsteps,but mostofthecarbonatesweredevoidofanycoralsexceptforafewwhip<likebamboo corals.atapproximately1300,wecollectedanotherniskinsampleandasmallglass sponge into the forward biobox at 2550 m. There were a few more corals in this area,butitwasstillmostlybaserock.at2400mdepth,webegantoseeafewmore corals,mostlyparamuricea.at1500,wefoundapatchofabout10<15paramuricea at2340mdepth.afterthis,theslopebecamemoregradual,andtherewerefewer outcroppingcarbonates. Aswecameupthisslope,thewallcouldbeseenagainupaheadofusinthe scanning sonar. There was a lot of dead skeletons here, and we collected one for ageingintothebiobox.wealsofiredaniskininthesamelocationatapproximately 1615.At1630,wefoundtheWall.Weclimbedupabout50mofthewall,whichwas covered in very dense corals. The ship was still moving towards the wall, so we stoppedtheshipandhaditbackupafewmetersandclimbedupuntilitwasstable. Wedeployedmarker41onasmallhorizontalledgeandfiredaniskin.Webeganto collect corals for genetics and microbial analyses, including Iridigorgia, a bamboo coral, Paramuricea, Corallium, and Paragorgia. Also noted in the area were Chrysogorgia, Anthomastus, a small unidentified white coral, and zoanthids. Associates include barnacles, brisingids, galatheids, crinoids, and a few species of shrimp.averyimpressivecollectiononthissteepverticalwall.allofthecoralsin the immediate vicinity of the marker were imaged for future monitoring from approximately1900to2000. Following the imaging, we continued up the wall and over the crest. There was a short step in the wall, and then it continued up for another 10<20 meters. There was far less coral coverage on this section of the wall. At the very top, it leveled out and there were a few outcropping carbonates. We deployed a marker andweregettingsetuptoimage,whentheshiplostdpandwewerepulledoffthe site. It took us until 2130 to get back to the marker location. We imaged as many coralsaswecould(8<10)andthenranoutoftime.weleftbottomatapproximately July 0000recoverHercandArgus,transittoMC launchvehiclesonMC recovervehicles,transittoVK826 We arrived on station at MC328 at approximately There was a large water< spoutverynearthedivetarget,sowewaitedforthattodissipatebeforelaunching the vehicles. As we were setting up for launch, the jet<pump thruster on the stern went out once again. After inspection, it was determined that the RPM sensor had goneout.itwasreplacedwithasimilarsensorfromanothermotoronboard,and thedecisionwasmadetolaunchthevehiclesandtesttheresponseofthedpsystem. Thesiteforthenextdivewaschosenbasedon3Dseismicdataandwasone of the candidate sites for the oil spill impact studies. It has not been previously

14 visited. We have taken the bathymetry and the available 3D seismic data and appliedwehaveusedamodeltopredictcoralhabitatatthesiteandhavechosen dive targets based on the output of the model for both Lophelia and general coral habitatareas. H1270MC328 HerculesandArguswerelaunchedandreachedtheseaflooratapproximately1415. Welandednearoneoftheshallower(650m)exploratorytargetsandsurveyedthe seafloor. As we traveled through our shallow targets, there were no hits on the sonar,anditwasonlymud.therewerenumeroussmallpockmarksontheseafloor, and the water was quite turbid, possibly suggesting fluid and mud expulsion somewherenearby.therewasaveryphotogenicoctopuswithwhatappearedtobe damaged arms, and we spent some time following it in HD. Numerous rattail fish were also observed. The ship was having difficulty making headway into the current,whichwasrunningfromthene,soweenteredtowmodeandwenttothe furthestpointintheneandworkedbacktothesw,exploringtherestofthemodel targets. We came across a long pipeline in the sediment, although it appeared too small (less than 0.5 meter) to be an oil and gas pipeline. After more time of exploringallofourtargetsandseeingnothingbutmud,thedivewascalledandwe cametothesurfaceat July launchvehiclesonvk826 recovervehicles,transittovk906 launchvehiclesonvk906 We arrived on station early in the morning and set up on the southern end of the site.therewasastrong(~1kt)currentpushingtheshiptothenorth,butlittlewind today, so the ship was not having a hard time holding station. As we prepared to dive,therewasanissuewiththehighpowersupply,andweweredelayed.theissue wasresolvedandthevehicleslaunchedjustbefore0900. H1271VK826 We were on bottom a little after We landed right on the area of large carbonate blocks and abundant Callogorgia. There were also a few good bacterial mattargets,andwesetdowntotake4cores.oneofthecoreswasdroppedonthe wayin,sowetookafifthinthemat.wethenquicklylocatedacarbonateoutcrop thatdidnothaveamarkeronitandcollectedtwocallogorgiacoloniesintothestbd biobox.wetrippedtwoniskinsoverthislocation.wethenbegantomovetothene, but the ship was going quite slow so we sat down at 1030 to collect two more Callogorgia. At approximately 1100, we turned to the east to go over the main Lophelia reefsite.wepassedoveraveryhighdensitytubewormarea,andsawsomebubbles coming out of the sediment. By 1115, we had crossed into the Leiopathes area on

15 theedgeofthesite,andsatdowntomaketwocollectionsintotheforwardbiobox. We then fired two niskins over the collection area and continued to move to the east. At approximately 1200 were came into the Lophelia area and set down to collectcoralsandasponge.onthewaydown,wefiredtwoniskinsoverthesite.we collectedasmallspongeintothestbdbiobox,andthenalargecolonyoflopheliain to the fwd biobox. Once the collections were complete, we left bottom at approximately1240. H1272VK906 Immediately afterrecovery,wetransitedtovk906andlaunchedthevehicles.on decent,therewasaverylargesquadronofsquidinthewatercolumn,accompanied byanabundanceofink.deeperdown,therewerelargeschoolsofsmallfishaswell. Wewereonbottomby1630totheSWofthemoundat445mdepth.Onourclimb upthemound,therewerealotofanemonesandspongesofdifferenttypesonthe flanks,andthensmallparamuriceacoloniesandafewleiopathes.wefiredniskin #12inthisarea.Wecameontotheedgeofthemoundat1645andfiredniskin#11 overthefirstsmalllopheliacolonythatwenoticedat414m.by1655,wewereat 400 m and into the beginning of solid Lophelia reef. Niskin #10 was fired in this location. At 1705, we were at the top of the mound in the reef flat adjacent to a sedimentedareaandfiredniskin#9at385mdepth.wecontinuedalongthetopof the mound until we came into corals again and settled in between two mounds at 390mdepthtofireniskin#8at1718.WecontinuedtotheNWacrossthetopofthe moundwithanumberofsedimentedpatcheswithleiopathesandmuricedesonthe edge.wewentoffthenedgewherethemoundfadesoutintothebackgroundand tookourfinalniskinsample(#7)justofftheneedgeat1735. Forthenexthour,until1845,weweremovingsouthalongtheeasternslope takinghighlightvideointhehd.at1900,wesetuptotakeourfirstlopheliasample into the biobox. At 1926 it was placed in the biobox along with Leiopathes and sponge. At 1940, we took another sample of Lophelia and Leiopathes into the fwd biobox.forthenexthour,wetookmorehdvideoofthereef.at2100,webeganto pushcorenearmarkerl,thenmovedoverandtookmorepushcoresnearmarkerj. We then began another series of Lophelia collections into the subdivided stbd biobox, making 6 collection from discrete colonies on the western slope of the moundbetween2200and2310. Atapproximately2400,webegantoimagearoundeachofthedown<looking mosaic markers for establishing monitoring sites, and also for characterization of thereef.thiscontinueduntilapproximately0600,whenwewentintoexploration mode.wemovedtothesw,exploringtheedgeofthelarger906/862knollovera seriesofsmallmoundsonthesteepslope.thesewereallcharacterizedbylophelia rubble, but with only a few very small Lophelia colonies noted. There were also small Leiopthes, Paramuricea, Muricedes, bamboo corals, and numerous small anemonesandspongesonthemounds.thebarrelfishandalphonsino(beryx)that were following us for much of the dive were not present once we left the main Roberts Reef area. After some exploration, we left bottom at approximately 1030

16 for an early recovery. The swell was building and there were numerous thunder showersinthearea,sowedepartedforgulfport,msabitearlyonjuly4. 4.SituationReports EV#NAUTILUS#SITUATION#REPORT# Author: MikeBrennan Cruise: NA028 Date: June21,2013 Time: 2100UTC LOCATION# Description: Gulfport,MS(Figure1) Latitude: 30.37N Longitude: 89.09W ACTIVITIES# Operations: Bunkers,provisions,ACdelivery,freshwater,anddeparture fromgulfportfortransittofirstdivesite. Outreach: LaunchofExplorationNowlivebetweenISCandNautilus DataManagement: Troubleshooting: LiveinteractionforExplorationNowlaunchdidnotworkfrom NautilusduetooverheatingoftheSatequipment.EthanandAl arelookingintofixingit. COMMENTS# WedepartedGulfportMSat1330Centraltimefora12hourstransittothefirst divesiteatvk826.theplanistoarriveaftermidnightandtestthemultibeam systemintheareaovernight.weaimtobeginthefirsthercdivearound0800 tomorrow,centraltime. PERSONNEL#ON#BOARD# GillianAshenfelter,SulaimanA Sibani,SamanthaBerlet,MikeBrennan,Zena Cardman,MeganCook,ErikCordes,RichardDannenberg,AmandaDemopoulos, MarkDeRoche,StephenEstrin,MikeFilimon,SarahFuller,SamGeorgian,Ethan Gold,ToddGregory,AlexKavanaugh,CalebKing,RoderickMacLeod,AlexMartin, DanielleMcKean,ReubenMills,MaryNichols,BrennanPhillips,DanniseRuiz,Al Santos,ClaraSmart,LizSmith,WillSnyder,NoelleTurner,DanielleYoung

17 EV#NAUTILUS#SITUATION#REPORT# Author: MikeBrennan Cruise: NA028 Date: June22,2013 Time: 1500UTC LOCATION# Description: NorthernGulfofMexico(Figure1) Latitude: 29.1N Longitude: R88W ACTIVITIES# Operations: Outreach: DataManagement: Troubleshooting: H1259diveatVK826 Workingonsettingupthewifiinthecontrolvanandan ipadforthewatchleaderstouseforupdatingthestatuseson NautilusLive. Someminortroubleshootingtookplacepriortothediveto fixanissuewithargus buttcam. COMMENTS# Thefirstdiveofthelegbeganat0900localtime,atsiteVK826,oneofthebestR knowncoralreefsitesinthegulfofmexico.theplanistohavethisbea24+hour diveforlocatingknowncoralsandphotographingthem. Weareconductingamusterdrillat1300localtime.Thiswillbewhenthevehicles areinthewater,soaskeletonteamofpilotsandnavigatorwillremaininthevan. Thebridgeisalsoawareoftheneedtohavesomeonecheckifanyoneisonthebow inthecoldvanduringanemergency.

18 EV#NAUTILUS#SITUATION#REPORT# Author: MikeBrennan Cruise: NA028 Date: June22,2013 Time: 2400UTC LOCATION# Description: NorthernGulfofMexico(Figure1) Latitude: 29.1N Longitude: 88W ACTIVITIES# Operations: Outreach: DataManagement: Troubleshooting: ContinueddiveH1259onsiteVK826;completedmuster drill;endeavorisnowinsightandtheyarereceivingourvideo overthewifisetupbetweentheships. Ethanisworkingongettingthestillcamfeedfromthe scientists laptoptoourvannetworksothepilotscanseethe anglestheyneedbetter,andalsosendittonautiluslive. Therewasaminorgroundfaultnotedduringthelaunchthis morningthatwillbechaseddownduringtheperiodbetween divestomorrowmorning. COMMENTS# WehavebeendivingontheVK826site,awell^studieddeep^seacoralareaofthe GulfofMexico,andcollectinglivecoralsforstudyinthecoldvanonboard.Thisdive willlastuntil0400localtime,atwhichpointwewillrecoverthevehiclesforsample processingandvehiclemaintenance. OurnextdivewillbeatnoonlocaltimeatMC294forstillimagesofindividual coralsaswellassedimentcorecollection.weexpectthisdivetolastroughly24 hoursaswell.

19 EV#NAUTILUS#SITUATION#REPORT# Author: MikeBrennan Cruise: NA028 Date: June23,2013 Time: 1500UTC LOCATION# Description: NorthernGulfofMexico(Figure1) Latitude: 29.1N Longitude: 88W ACTIVITIES# Operations: H1260diveatMC294 Outreach: DataManagement: Troubleshooting: COMMENTS# Werecoveredthevehiclesat0400localtime(andsawaschoolof~10sharks circlingherconcewegotto50mgillianandiaretentativelycallingthemdusky sharks).wearestandingdownthismorningtoallowforsomeminorvehicle maintenanceandre[toolingthesamplingequipment. Thenextdivewillbearoundnoonlocaltime.WewillbeexploringsiteMC294to imageindividualcoralsthathavebeenmarkedandrevisitedeveryfewmonthsfor thepastfewyears.wewillalsocollectsedimentcores.weexpectthisdivetolast about24hoursuntilmiddaytomorrow.

20 EV#NAUTILUS#SITUATION#REPORT# Author: MikeBrennan Cruise: NA028 Date: June24,2013 Time: 1500UTC LOCATION# Description: NorthernGulfofMexico(Figure1) Latitude: 28.6N Longitude: 88.5W ACTIVITIES# Operations: H1260,H1261 Outreach: DataManagement: Troubleshooting: COMMENTS# ThismorningwefinishedthediveatsiteMC294forstillimagesofindividual coralsaswellassedimentcorecollectionatadepthof895m.wearedivingearly afternoonatmc(mississippicanyon)118tocontinueimagingindividualcorals withthestillcamera,takepushcores,niskinwatersamples,andcoralsamples,and deployavtlc(videotimelapsecamera). Thelastdivecollectedsixsedimentpushcoresthatarebeingprocessedthis morninginthewetlab.wemayalsodoasmallboattransferthisafternoontosend someofthescientistsovertoendeavortoanalyzesomeofthecorestheyhave collectedwiththeirmulticorer.

21 EV#NAUTILUS#SITUATION#REPORT# Author: MikeBrennan Cruise: NA028 Date: June25,2013 Time: 1500UTC LOCATION# Description: NorthernGulfofMexico(Figure1) Latitude: 28.8N Longitude: 88.5W ACTIVITIES# Operations: H1261 Outreach: DataManagement: Troubleshooting: COMMENTS# DiveH1261atMC118beganwiththedeploymentofatimelapsevideocameraata gasseep,wherewealsocollectedhydrocarbonsinanet.pushcoresandniskin bottlewatersampleswerealsocollectedandphotographsofcoralsweretakenwith thestillcamera. WearetransitingnowbacktoVK826foraseconddiveatthissite. WewillprobablybeoutofrangeofEndeavortoday,butdoplantotransfer scientiststothemforafewhoursinthenextfewdaystoworkonthecoresfrom theirmulticorer,whichwedidnotgetachancetodoyesterday.

22 EV#NAUTILUS#SITUATION#REPORT# Author: MikeBrennan Cruise: NA028 Date: June26,2013 Time: 1500UTC LOCATION# Description: NorthernGulfofMexico(Figure1) Latitude: 28.7N Longitude: 88.3W ACTIVITIES# Operations: H1263atMC297 Outreach: DataManagement: Troubleshooting: COMMENTS# WefinishedourseconddivelastnightatVK826andtookcoralsamplesand photographs.werecoveredatmidnightandstooddownfortheeveningfor maintenanceandsampleprocessing. Wedoveat0800localtimeatMC297andwillbedownagainuntil~midnight.We areimagingcoralsandcollectingniskinwatersamplesandpushcores. Overnight,wewillbegina12hourtransittoasitetothesouthwest,AT357,and starta36hourdiveatnoontomorrow.wewillturnthemultibeamsystemonfor thistransit(andonthewaybackonsaturday)toseehowthesystemisworkingand ifitoverheats. WealsoplantosendsomepeopleovertoEndeavorthisafternoontoexchange samplesandideas.iwillsendalsantoswiththemtofilmbothshipsfromthewater.

23 EV#NAUTILUS#SITUATION#REPORT# Author: MikeBrennan Cruise: NA028 Date: June27,2013 Time: 1500UTC LOCATION# Description: NorthernGulfofMexico(Figure1) Latitude: 27.6N Longitude: 89.7W ACTIVITIES# Operations: H1264atAT357 Outreach: JASONNECInteractionthisafternoon DataManagement: Troubleshooting: Multibeamcrashovernight(seebelow) COMMENTS# WefinisheddiveH1263inMississippiCanyonaroundmidnightandbegana12 hourtransittoasitetothesouthwestthathasonlybeenexploredafewtimes.the planistodivearoundnoon/earlyafternoonandconducta36hourdiveuntil midnighttomorrow,atwhichpointwewilltransitbacktothemississippicanyon area. Weturnedthemultibeamonduringthetransitabitbefore0100localtime. Around0500itfailed.TheACinthemultibeamroomisstillworking.Sarahhasbeen onthephonewithnicole,butwearenotsurewhathappened.iwillincludean updateonthiswhenweknowmore.

24 EV#NAUTILUS#SITUATION#REPORT# Author: MikeBrennan Cruise: NA028 Date: June28,2013 Time: 1500UTC LOCATION# Description: NorthernGulfofMexico(Figure1) Latitude: 27.6N Longitude: 89.7W ACTIVITIES# Operations: H1264,H1265atAT357 Outreach: DataManagement: Troubleshooting: COMMENTS# WeendeddiveH1264atAT357early,around2230localtime,duetoaslowbut steaddecreaseinthehydraulicreservoiroillevel,indicatingaslowleak.we recoveredthevehiclesandbegananewdiveat0700localtime.coral,sediment core,andniskinwatersampleswereprocessedovernight. Theproblemwasfixedandwegotbackinthewaterat0700localtime.Wewill continueatthissiteuntilmidnight,whenwewilltransitbacktothemississippi Canyonareafromearlierthisweek. Weturnedthemultibeamonduringthenighttoseeifitwouldcrashagain.Ethan isworkingonitandwillprovideanupdatewhenhecan.

25 EV#NAUTILUS#SITUATION#REPORT# Author: MikeBrennan Cruise: NA028 Date: June29,2013 Time: 1500UTC LOCATION# Description: NorthernGulfofMexico(Figure1) Latitude: 27.6N Longitude: 89.7W ACTIVITIES# Operations: H1266atAT357 Outreach: LizandIareliaisingwithECOGIGpersonnelonshorefora mediaeventonjuly5. DataManagement: Troubleshooting: Persistentleakinhydraulicoilreservoir;leakingo]ringwas foundandreplaced. COMMENTS# WeendeddiveH1265atAT357early,around2300localtime,duetothesame leakinthehydraulicoilreservoir.werecoveredthevehiclesandbegananewdive at0800localtime.sedimentcoresampleswereprocessedovernight. Theleakwasidentifiedandtheo]ringwasreplaced.Wearedivingoncemoreat AT357,pushingbackourplannedreturntoMississippiCanyon.Wewilldeterminea newschedulefortheremainderofthecruiselegoncewefinishuphereandbegin the12]hourtransitback. Thetimingofthiscurrentdiveisdependentonhowlongittakestofinishthe imagingandsamplingatthissite.

26 EV#NAUTILUS#SITUATION#REPORT# Author: MikeBrennan Cruise: NA028 Date: June30,2013 Time: 1500UTC LOCATION# Description: NorthernGulfofMexico(Figure1) Latitude: 28.6N Longitude: 88.2W ACTIVITIES# Operations: TransittoMC388 Outreach: DataManagement: Troubleshooting: COMMENTS# WefinishedthedivesatAT357anddidthe12VhourtransitbacktoMississippi Canyonovernight.Wearedealingwithastormfrontpassingthroughwithhigh windsandwaves,andarestandingbytodiveuntilitcalmsdown.ournextdiveat MC388willbelatertodaydependentontheweather. Duringthetransitlastnight,wehadthemultibeamon.Ethanstayedupwithit untilabout0500andthingswerelookinggood.thismorningwhenthesystemwas shutoff,thedatahadsomeoddlinesinit,whichweneedtotakeacloserlookat.

27 EV#NAUTILUS#SITUATION#REPORT# Author: MikeBrennan Cruise: NA028 Date: July1,2013 Time: 1500UTC LOCATION# Description: NorthernGulfofMexico(Figure1) Latitude: 28.3N Longitude: 87.3W ACTIVITIES# Operations: H1269atDC673 Outreach: DataManagement: Troubleshooting: COMMENTS# OvernightwetransitedsoutheastfromMississippiCanyontoDeSotoCanyon.Here weconductedashortmultibeamsurveyofthearea,asthesitesherehavenotbeen mapped.themultibeamproducedgoodresultsinitially,butdroppedoutafterthe firstline.ethanislookingintotheproblems,butwedidcovertheareafortoday s dive. DiveH1269isalongasteepwallatDeSotoCanyon.Wearedivingto>2600mand movingupto<2100moverthecourseofthedive,movingupthewall.wewill collectcoralsandsedimentcores,andalsocollectaniskinbottlewatersampleevery 100masweascendalongthewall.Wewillrecoveraround2400localtimeand returntomississippicanyonfora~1000divetomorrow.

28 EV#NAUTILUS#SITUATION#REPORT# Author: MikeBrennan Cruise: NA028 Date: July2,2013 Time: 1500UTC LOCATION# Description: NorthernGulfofMexico(Figure1) Latitude: 28.6N Longitude: 89W ACTIVITIES# Operations: H1270diveatMississippiCanyon328 Outreach: DataManagement: Troubleshooting: COMMENTS# WearedivingatMC328around0930localtime.Thisdiveisexploratoryinnature, butwearedivingpreparedtotakeniskinwatersamples,deploymarkersandimage corals,collectlophelia,callogorgia,andoctocoralspecies,andcollectsediment pushcores.thisdiveisplannedtolastuntil~2400. Yesterday sdivecoveredastunningverticalwallrising>500m.weconducteda transectfrom2600mto2100mwithhercules,imagingandcollectingcoral samplesalongtheway. TomorrowwewillbereturningtoVioskaKnolltomaketwodivesontwositesfor livecoralcollectionandsedimentcoring.

29 EV#NAUTILUS#SITUATION#REPORT# Author: MikeBrennan Cruise: NA028 Date: July3,2013 Time: 1500UTC LOCATION# Description: NorthernGulfofMexico(Figure1) Latitude: 29.1N Longitude: 88W ACTIVITIES# Operations: H1271diveatVioscaKnoll826;H1272atVK906 Outreach: DataManagement: Beginningtopreparebackupsandcopiesofdatatochief scientist. Troubleshooting: DPsystemRPMsensorneedstobereplaced COMMENTS# YesterdayweconductedanexploratorydiveinMississippiCanyonanddidnot findmuchintermsofcoralsontheridgewherewedove.werecoveredinthe eveningandstooddownforthenightaswetransitedbacktovioscaknoll,where wewillconductaquickturnaroundoftwodivestoday. WearedivingforathirdtimeatVK826forlivecoralcollectionandsedimentpush cores.wewillfinishthisdiveearlyafternoonanddiveagainlateafternoonorso. OurlastdiveofthecruisewillbeatVK906andwilllastintotomorrowuntilwehave torecovereitherforthetransitbacktogulfportorforweather.wearemonitoring possiblehighwindsfortomorrowmorning. YesterdaywedelayedthediveduetoDPproblems.AnRPMsensorfailedand needstobereplaced.aspareisbeingorderedforgulfport.weareabletohold stationfornowwithoutit.

30 EV#NAUTILUS#SITUATION#REPORT# Author: MikeBrennan Cruise: NA028 Date: July4,2013 Time: 1500UTC LOCATION# Description: NorthernGulfofMexico(Figure1) Latitude: 29N Longitude: 88.4W ACTIVITIES# Operations: H1272diveatVioscaKnoll906 Outreach: TomorrowwewillbehostinganECOGIGmediaeventand touroftheshipalongwithendeavoringulfport. DataManagement: Troubleshooting: COMMENTS# WeareconductingourlastdiveofthecruiselegatVK906tocollectlivecoralsand sedimentcores,andexploreareasofthissitenotseenbefore. Weareunsureofwhenwewillendthisdive.Theoriginalplanwastorecoverat 1600andbeginthetransitovernighttoGulfport.Theweatherwaspredictedtobe highwindsandseas,butsofarisquitecalm.wewilldeterminewhenthediveneeds toendaswekeepaneyeontheweather. WewillbeinGulfporttomorrowmorningforapersonneltransfer,ECOGIGmedia event,andtooffloadlivesamples,andthecoldvanandgenerator.

31 5.DailyOperationsPlans Friday, June 21 Week 25 of 2013 Sonar ROV Admin Transfer Transit Travel R&R Port Outreach June 2013 S M T W T F S July 2013 S M T W T F S AM 1 AM 2 AM 3 AM 12:00 AM Gulfport, MS Timed Events 12:00 AM to 1:30 PM Gulfport, MS 10:10 AM to 10:20 AM Show 11:10 AM to 11:20 AM Show 12:00 PM to 12:30 PM Show 1:00 PM to 1:30 PM Show 1:30 PM to 2:30 AM (6/22) Gulfport to dive site 2:00 PM to 2:30 PM Show 3:00 PM to 3:30 PM Show 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM Exploration Now launch 4 AM 5 AM 6 AM 7 AM 8 AM 9 AM 10 AM 10:10 AM Show 11 AM 11:10 AM Show Noon 12:00 PM Show 1 PM 2 PM 1:00 PM Show 1:30 PM Gulfport to dive site 2:00 PM Show 3 PM 4 PM 3:00 PM Show 3:30 PM Exploration Now launch 5 PM 6 PM Eastern Time Time Zone Page 1/1

32 Saturday, June 22 Week 25 of 2013 Sonar Transit ROV Travel Admin R&R Transfer Port Operations Outreach June 2013 S M T W T F S July 2013 S M T W T F S AM 1 AM 2 AM 3 AM 4 AM...Gulfport to dive site 12:00 AM Multibeam around dive site Timed Events 1:30 PM (6/21) to 2:30 AM Gulfport to dive site 12:00 AM to 6:30 AM Multibeam around dive site 6:00 AM to 8:45 AM Pre-dive 8:30 AM to 9:15 AM Launch 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM (6/23) H1259 dive at VK826 10:10 AM to 10:20 AM EN Interaction 11:10 AM to 11:20 AM EN Interaction 12:00 PM to 12:30 PM EN Interaction 1:00 PM to 1:30 PM EN Interaction 2:00 PM to 2:30 PM EN Interaction 3:00 PM to 3:30 PM EN Interaction 5 AM 6 AM 6:00 AM Pre-dive 7 AM 8 AM 9 AM 8:30 AM Launch 9:00 AM H1259 dive at VK AM 10:10 AM EN Interaction 11 AM 11:10 AM EN Interaction Noon 12:00 PM EN Interaction 1 PM 1:00 PM EN Interaction 2 PM 2:00 PM EN Interaction 3 PM 3:00 PM EN Interaction 4 PM 5 PM 6 PM Eastern Time Time Zone Page 1/1

33 ECOGIGNautilusCruise NA028 H1259 6/22/2013 VK826 Vehicleloading: Tooltray:Beastcam,smallbioboxwithdivider(210x14) Sampletray:samplequivers(2withRNALater),4markers Other:niskinrack,coralcutters Diveobjectives:livecoralcollections,establishmonitoringsites DiveTargets: site name lat long species VK826 SW callogorgia VK826 SWslope callo&leio VK826 NEtop callogorgia VK826 theclaw lophelia VK826 SamsHill lophelia Launch:08006/22 Recovery:08006/23 Diveplan: 1) 0800: Dive on SW target 2) At all stations keep an eye out for sponges and collect live sponge into a quiver if found alert Caleb 3) Establish 3 Callogorgia monitoring stations a. deploy marker b. fire niskin 4) Collect 4 Callogorgia into biobox, more into quivers a. One RNALater from a monitored colony 5) Proceed to SW slope target 6) Establish 3 Leiopathes monitoring stations, additional Callo a. deploy marker b. fire niskin 7) Collect 4 Leiopathes into other side of biobox, more into quivers a. One RNALater from monitored colony 8) Collect additional Callogorgia as necessary into quivers 9) Proceed to the claw target look for the claw 10) Collect Lophelia into quivers, one piece into RNALater 11) Establish monitoring Lophelia stations deploy marker 12) Fire niskins at 4 different Lophelia areas 13) Continue to NE top target if more Callogorgia needed 14) If not, proceed to Sam s Hill