Endurance 18 - Ocean Observatories Initiative

Mission Accomplished Despite Weather

By ooistaff | March 23, 2023 |

Thirteen days at sea. Two weather days. Wave heights that ranged from 2 – 12 ft, with most days somewhere around 7 foot waves. Winds from a pleasant 5 knots to days with up to 35 knots, with higher intermittent gusts. Except for two days when the sun shone, the weather was damp, cloudy, rainy, with an occasional wintery mix. Despite the conditions, the Endurance Team 18 accomplished its main mission objectives.

Much of the experience for those aboard the R/V Sikuliaq for the 18^th turn of the Coastal Endurance Array focused on the weather, which presented operational challenges and less-than-ideal working conditions on some days with wintery conditions. Yet it was unseasonably mild for March. The team did a great job of taking advantage of good weather windows and, when needed, donned foul weather gear and kept at it for the duration of the expedition.

[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/recoveryinRain-1.jpeg" link="#"]Not required: sunscreen. Required: a good set of foulies, dry socks, and breaks for hot chow and beverages. The Endurance 18 expedition experienced less-than-ideal weather during this late winter recovery and deployment mission. Credit: Jonathan Fram, OSU.[/media-caption]

“I can’t say enough about the professionalism of our team, and the crew of the R/V Sikuliaq,” said Jonathan Fram, Chief Scientist for Endurance 18, and project manager for the Coastal Endurance Array. “We literally weathered storms together to ensure a timely recovery and deployment of the Coastal Endurance Array. Everyone worked safely, without complaint to get the job done. “

Every six months, the Endurance Array Team heads to sea off the coast of Washington and Oregon to recover ocean observing equipment that has been in the water reporting data. This time, the expedition happened earlier in the year, in late winter rather than in early spring. This timing could have been compounded this year by the atmospheric rivers on the west coast of the US, but luckily the associated storms stayed south of the Endurance Array.

Nonetheless, the Endurance 18 succeeded. They recovered and deployed seven moorings, recovered two gliders, and deployed four gliders on the array. The team also deployed a coastal surface piercing profiler. Working with a remotely operated vehicle, the team was able to locate and recover an anchor that was stuck on the bottom.

[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Anchor-clip-2.jpg" link="#"]A remotely operated vehicle was used to recover one of the mooring’s anchors that was stuck on the bottom. The ROV remote arm was used to clip on to the anchor and an onboard winch pulled it onboard. Credit: Alex Wick, OSU.[/media-caption]

The expedition had a few non-weather-related novel components, as well. During leg two, University of South Carolina researcher Eric Tappa led the recovery and deployment of a sediment trap adjacent to OOI’s Oregon Slope Base site. This was the fourth time the sediment traps were deployed as part of Oregon State University Professor Jennifer Fehrenbacher’s and University of South Carolina Professor Claudia Benitez-Nelson’s work reconstructing ocean circulation, temperature, and chemistry in the past from sediment collected.

Each leg of the trip also had a new University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) cruise volunteer and an OSU undergraduate, employed by OOI to help with the refurbishment of moorings, onboard. Such seagoing experience is invaluable to those deciding on future career paths. Listen to what UNOLS volunteer Olana Costa and OSU Undergraduate Athena Abramhamsen have to say about their experiences.

Last but not least, during leg two, OSU science videographer Kimberly Kenny recorded onboard work and shared her experiences in multiple videos and images that can be seen here and here.

“Regardless of conditions, there is nothing like being at sea with an energetic, committed group of colleagues,” said Fram. “Time at sea provides a unique opportunity to re-enforce the importance of our work to provide data to help better understand some of the changes taking place in the ocean.”

Eighteenth Turn of the Coastal Endurance Array

By ooistaff | March 7, 2023 |

On Tuesday March 7th, 11 hearty scientists and engineers from Oregon State University (OSU) are heading out to the northeast Pacific aboard the R/V Sikuliaq to recover and deploy (turn) the Coastal Endurance Array. For some of the team members, this will be the eighteenth time they have made this journey to ensure that the Coastal Endurance Array continues to report data from this important region.

The array is in an important region with coastal upwelling, where strong winds cause surface waters to be pushed offshore and water from the ocean depths is pulled up – or upwelled – to the surface to take its place. These regions comprise less than 5 percent of the ocean’s surface area, yet account for a quarter of the global fish catch. The Endurance Array has been collecting data in this region since 2016, which scientists have used to examine ocean health issues, including hypoxia, ocean acidification, and how they affect ocean life.

[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG_6460-scaled.jpg" link="#"]The Endurance 18 will be deploying seven moorings, six gliders, and four coastal surface piercing profilers, which requires the expedition to be conducted in two legs because of space limitations on the stern. Credit: Darlene Trew Crist ©WHOI.[/media-caption]

The Endurance team will be very busy during their 16-day expedition. Because of the size of the equipment, the expedition will occur in two legs so recovered equipment can be brought back to shore and replaced with equipment to be deployed. They intend to recover and deploy seven moorings and recover two gliders, while deploying a full contingent of six gliders. Three gliders will “fly” at shallow depths of 200 meters across the shelf. Another three will travel at 1000 meters depth offshore. Weather and seas permitting, the team also plans to deploy four coastal surface piercing profilers.

The team will also be conducting water sampling before and after each deployment. They will conduct CTD (conductivity, temperature, and depth) casts at the deployment/recovery sites and carry out shipboard sampling for field validation of the platforms and sensors that will remain in the water for the next six months.

Chief Scientist, Jonathan Fram, who will lead both legs of the expedition, said, “Endurance 18 is happening earlier than our usual spring expeditions, which means we are likely to face rough seas. We have a highly experienced team, the ship has an exceptional crew, and we’ll be on a weather-hardened ship, so we will be able to make the most of our time at sea. Platforms that can be deployed from a smaller vessel may be deferred to spring if there are long weather delays on this end-of-winter expedition.”

The team had already experienced some unexpected weather as a freak snowstorm covered the ocean observing equipment in the storage area in Corvallis. The team had to “clean off the cars,” so to speak, before loading the equipment onto trucks for transport to the dock in Newport, for loading on the ship.

[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Screen-Shot-2023-03-06-at-10.04.08-AM.png" link="#"]A few days before ocean observing equipment in Corvallis was set to be transported to the dock in Newport for loading onto the R/V Sikuliaq, an unexpected snowstorm made its way to Corvallis, covering the equipment in white. Credit: Jon Fram, OSU.[/media-caption]

In addition to OOI’s recovery and deployment operations, during leg two, University of South Carolina researcher Eric Tappa, will lead the recovery and deployment of a sediment trap adjacent to OOI’s Oregon Slope Base site. “This is an example of how OOI tries to maximize ship time by partnering with scientists and other partners and institutions to make full use of the time at sea. We are always open to discussing ways we might advance other scientific objectives,” added Fram. (See How to Participate for more information.)

[media-caption path="https://oceanobservatories.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Screen-Shot-2023-03-06-at-10.06.37-AM.png" link="#"]One technical improvement that will be deployed during Endurance 18 is a new steel frame over the solar polars to prevent damage caused by frequent sea lion visitors. This is one of many incremental technical improvements that are made to OOI arrays to optimize their operations while at sea. Credit: Jon Fram, OSU.[/media-caption]

During the expedition, two University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) cruise volunteers will be onboard as well as two OSU undergraduates who are employed by OOI to help with the refurbishment of moorings. An OSU videographer will also be onboard to share the ongoing work. Bookmark this site and follow along on the journey.