R/V Pelican sets sail for ECOGIG's first research cruise of 2016

R/V Pelican sets sail for ECOGIG's first research cruise of 2016
R/V Pelican with ECOGIG equipment on deck. Photo courtesy of R/V Pelican crew.

March 03, 2016

ECOGIG researchers are heading out to the Gulf of Mexico on the R/V Pelican on Thursday, March 3rd, where they will be recovering and deploying several different pieces of equipment to the seafloor that allow them to do time-series experiments to track changes in the Gulf. 

One piece of a equipment, which they call a lander, contains sensors and experiments that allow scientists to track microbial oil degradation at the seafloor as well as the changes in oxygen concentrations in bottom water. They will be recovering one lander from their research site named GC600- a natural oil seep site.  The lander has been deployed at GC600 for one year. They will also be deploying a new lander research site AT357- a site known for its deep water coral communities.

A second piece of equipment, which they call the mini-lander, has sensors on it for measuring methane in bottom water, and how this changes with currents. They will be deploying two mini-landers on this cruise near the natural oil seep at GC600. 

The third piece of equipment they will be recovering is called a mooring, which has sediment traps to study how particles sink through the water column of the Gulf at their coral site AT357.

We wish them luck for a successful cruise!

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