Log Post: Research vessel Falkor prepares for ROV operations at sea

It has been a busy day preparing the R/V Falkor for departure. The research team and crew are excited to begin the second shake-down cruise. A shake-down cruise tests ship operations under real world conditions. This ‘deep-sea coral shakedown’ is the first time that a science-class remotely operated vehicle (ROV) has been brought on board … Continued

News: S S Terra Nova discovered

August 13, 2012—Last month, during routine functional performance testing of the mutibeam mapping echosounders on the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s flagship R/V Falkor, the team aboard—including researchers from the University of New Hampshire, Ifremer, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution—discovered the S.S. Terra Nova, a whaler, sealer and polar exploration ship that sunk off the southern coast … Continued

Log Post: Falkor Crew, Researchers Make Shakedown Cruise a Success

The R/V Falkor, Schmidt Ocean Institute’s newly refitted research vessel, arrived safely at Woods Hole, Massachusetts at 7 a.m. July 28, 2012 after making its maiden transit across the Atlantic Ocean as a research vessel.  This transatlantic voyage was the first in a series of shakedown cruises intended to provide the crew with practical experience … Continued

Log Post: A Delicate Life Balance for Deep-Water Microbes

On July 24 and 25, researchers and the crew aboard R/V Falkor cast the Conductivity, Temperature and Pressure Rosette (CTD) to depths of 5,000 and 4,300 meters, respectively. The CTD casts took place about 300 miles east of Nova Scotia in some of the deepest parts of the Atlantic Ocean.  R/V Falkor ventured into waters … Continued

Log Post: Falkor Encounters Signs of Warm, Salty Gulf Stream Current

As the R/V Falkor made its way south past the Grand Banks of Newfoundland this sunny, calm morning, Second/Third Officer Paul Shepherd overheard Chief Scientist Dr. Cabell Davis talking to researcher Melissa Patrician about the sea ahead, which had a slightly rusty reddish hue in relation to the blue sky. Throughout the Falkor’s maiden voyage … Continued

Log Post: VPRII launch and recovery

The Video Plankton Recorder (VPRII), is launched daily during the Schmidt Ocean Institute Research Vessel Falkor shakedown transatlantic cruise.  These videos show the launch and recovery operations recorded today. Safe deployments of VPRII require well coordinated interaction of a complete team, including FK003-2012 Chief Scientist Dr. Cabell Davis, Research Engineer Fred Thwaite, two R/V Falkor … Continued

Log Post: Research Team Seeks Greater Understanding of Ocean’s Bacterial Diversity

Scientists from the University of Rhode Island working aboard the R/V Falkor’s first shakedown cruise are collecting ocean water samples from the North Atlantic seas between Greenland and Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Gathered using a platform called the Conductivity, Temperature and Depth Rosette (CTD), the water samples are rife with the ocean’s smallest, but most abundant … Continued

Log Post: VPRII Observes Distinct Thermal Gradient Along Coastal Shelf

As the R/V Falkor continued its maiden voyage across the North Atlantic on Friday, July 20, the Video Plankton Recorder (VPRII) in tow observed a sharp temperature drop off at approximately 30-meter depth. Water above that thermal layer was about 9 degrees Celsius along the coastal shelf approximately 100 miles from the Newfoundland coastline. Below … Continued