A Visual Report of OOI in 2022

January: OOI offers opportunities for researchers to add equipment to arrays and to sampling schedules. In January, OOI added tags to a Pioneer glider to test its capability to track fish acoustically.

February: OOI hosted a virtual exhibit with twice-daily sessions during the Annual Ocean Sciences Meeting that was a virtual event in early 2022.

March: It’s difficult to keep equipment operational in the open ocean. During the 16th turn of the Endurance Array team the team tested strengthened surface to protect the solar panels, which often have to bear the weight of frequently visiting sea lions.

Gliders are regularly deployed at the coastal and global moorings to capture important measurements in the water column that otherwise would not be measured. In August, five gliders were refreshed in the arrays.

April: During Endurance 16, the R/V Sikuliaq went out to the OOI Regional Cabled Array Slope Base site to turn a sediment trap as part of Jenn Fehrenbacher’s (Oregon State Univ.) and Claudia Benitez-Nelson and Eric Tappa’s (Univ. South Carolina) foram ecology investigation.

May: The global arrays are serviced once each year. This year, OOI recovered and deployed moorings at its Station Papa site, and collaboratively did the same for NOAA’s surface mooring in the area.

June: A group of early career and seasoned scientists came together for a workshop to develop a Biogeochemical Sensor Best Practices guide.

June: OOI was designated as an endorsed action by the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. This development promises to bring OOI data into greater use by the international community of scientists.

August:13 scientists are spending 26 days at sea to ensure that the Iminger Sea Array continues to provide valuable data from one of the ocean’s windiest and wild ocean regions.

The ROV ROPOS was part of last year’s operations and maintenance expedition to the Regional Cabled Array. This year, Jason is doing the heavy lifting.

September: During Endurance 17, the science party was visited by a pod of ~ 300 Pacific white nosed dolphins, who were faster than the RV Sikuliaq.

October: Students from Queen’s College had the opportunity to deploy bottom seisometers at Axial Seamount and made a video of their experience to share with their peers and others interested in underwater volcanic activity.