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After 26 days at sea, the T-Beam crew has sailed back into port along the Derwent River, and tied up on land. We never expected this work to be easy – battling with the constant barrage of storms headed directly from the southern ocean – the Tasman Sea did not disappoint.

Every day, the ocean’s tides create massive underwater waves known as internal tides that radiate around the globe with major impacts on the ocean’s heat budget and climate.

Like a domino effect, several things happen to seawater when it comes in contact with a volcano. When a volcano is not erupting and there is hydrothermal activity, hot water with very different chemistry from seawater rises up, just like steam would over a boiling pot. It spreads out and begins to create particles, or … Continued

What does Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting, the whirlpool galaxy, and billowy cloud traces all have in common? The answer is visual representations of fluid motion, something which is very difficult to see in water. However, over the next few weeks the scientists on board Falkor will try to do this exact thing, understand small … Continued

Today I present another look at my art process aboard the Falkor. This unique residency presented a fantastic opportunity to focus and also brought unexpected challenges. Overall it has been an excellent learning experience. From macrobiology to microbiology and chemistry Before this voyage, most my collaborations with marine scientists have been with biologists studying relatively … Continued

During the Hydrothermal Hunt, we have been searching for new hydrothermal vents in a vast unexplored stretch of the Mariana Back-arc, a zone where we know submarine volcanism occurs (at least occasionally), providing the heat for seafloor hot springs and their weird-and-wonderful chemosynthetic ecosystems. A few days ago, we had only 2 segments still to go … Continued

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

Up early again today for our first Nereus dive in earnest, heading down to 2250m at the top of Mt Dent, just West of the Von Damm hydrothermal field, for engineering tests. After a few concerns right before diving (waiting for the coffee to kick in and provide clarity) we were ready to go and … Continued

My name is Kate Malloy. Despite being an undergraduate student from James Cook University studying marine biology, I recently learned to look past all the fish in the sea on a student exchange to Hawaii and began to develop an interest in physical oceanography. I am currently on board the R/V Falkor learning how to … Continued