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We left the dock at beautiful Victoria this morning to cut our way through very thick fog to another scenic spot, Saanich Inlet, about 4 hours away. Every two minutes the foghorn blew—and woe to those outside who forgot to plug their ears. En route to Saanich, the first call went around the ship that … Continued

After nearly two weeks criss-crossing  the shelf and beyond off Vancouver Island, the team is now safely back to Victoria, where the ship’s crew is quickly preparing for the expedition’s second leg with the ROPOS remotely operated vehicle. “This was a most amazing and highly productive cruise,” says Richard Dewey, Leg One’s chief scientist, “It was … Continued

It’s the penultimate science day aboard Falkor for this cruise, and the team is working hard to tick off the boxes next to jobs that still need to be accomplished. Yesterday they ran the coastal front next to Vancouver Island, then they zig zagged yet again along the continental shelf break. After that it was … Continued

Today the edits to the plan were minor, and we have started our final push. The weather is grey, with low clouds, irregular seas, and cool temperatures. The forecast calls for an increase in the SE wind. The MVP remains in the water nearly all day, with periodic checks on the fish to inspect for … Continued

The bumpy sea abated through the night, and by morning, the winds were light and the sea a confused wash of old and dying waves. We steam along at our preferred MVP speed of eight knots, and sample with particular purpose. We’ve used the MVP to find exact locations across the continental shelf front for our … Continued

The sea is constantly changing, and today, it was a shift toward the rough side, as the forecast for gale force winds proved accurate. Work continues, but with a few further shifts to plans. Until today, seas had been calm, making it easy to climb the four decks up to the observation platform to watch … Continued

The science team continues to pore over the fire hose of data they’ve collected from CTD casts and the Moving Vessel Profiler (MVP). As they’ve begun to delineate places where upwelled deeper water seems to make it onto the continental shelf, they’ve had to constantly readjust plans in hopes of mapping out the most critical areas. In … Continued

Based on work so far, the team is reasonably confident that deep water’s main path into the Juan de Fuca Strait and the Salish Sea is the Juan de Fuca Canyon. But figuring out what’s happening on the continental shelf west of Vancouver is proving a more vexing question. Data to date haven’t supported the … Continued

Today, work along the Tully and Juan de Fuca Canyons has brought the oxygen story closer to focus and confirmed recent work by other scientists. Along the way, the team also made a trip to shore and began working on a high-resolution map of a submerged pinnacle. Toward the end of the day, with the … Continued

Late Tuesday, the team was able to begin its first work with the Moving Vessel Profiler (MVP). Since then, this key tool has gathered a pile of data that has provided the scientists food for serious thought as they work to decipher the confusing paths lower-oxygen water is following. The work to date confirms that … Continued