• After an alert from JASCO about the newly surfaced lander, ADEON’s team worked throughout the long holiday weekend with Kerry Strom, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (https://www.whoi.edu/)  and Melissa Brennan of the M/V Alucia, (OceanX fleet (http://www.oceanx.org/) to orchestrate a rescue effort. On December 1, in concert with JASCO who provided coordinate feeds for the drifting lander, Captain Nick Inglis and the Alucia crew (http://www.oceanx.org/ship/) worked into the night to find the lander.  Near midnight one of the crew [who deserves the name Owl-Eyes] spotted the lander bobbing [without a working beacon light] in the dark waters of the Atlantic. The Alucia crew, OceanX, WHOI, JASCO, and all those involved that willingly worked together on this recovery, demonstrated a true community partnership and a dedication to rise above the call of duty in the advancement of ocean science.   Not only did this group’s actions facilitate the recovery of a valuable ocean observation asset, it also returned over a year of data in a three-year dataset, which by contract will be made available to the public in support of present and future science.
  • Wendy Klemperer, Artist in Residence on the R/V Neil Armstrong ADEON Research Cruise, AR040 has been painting portraits of the crew, seascapes, and attempting some deep sea creatures, based on Chief Scientist Joe Warren’s photos. She is painting using 2000 meter deep sea water, the creature's natural habitat, to make them feel at home.
  • The science crew made sure to make the best of our time while we were transiting by celebrating the holiday! The dry lab was decorated with numerous hand-drawn spooky monsters and critters such as Nessie who came all the way across the Atlantic to see us and other creatures of the night.
  • Species like lanternfishes and hatchetfishes have photophores. When photophores activate they break up the silhouette of the fish making it more difficult for predators to see. Living in the deep sea can be especially hazardous considering the huge pressures and low temperatures, so it is all the more impressive seeing the adaptations they have evolved to cope with this extreme environment.
  • During our first deployment cruise, we had the pleasure of catching many different larval and juvenile fish as we crossed the outer continental shelf of the mid Atlantic ocean.  We were able to identify a variety of reef and deep-sea fish including mahi-mahi, deepsea lizardfish, roughtongue bass, lane snapper, butterflyfish, squirrelfish, tilefish, cardinalfish, surgeonfish, anglerfish, and Sargassum filefish.
  • We now have seven ocean bottom landers deployed in their new homes for the next 8 months. A successful and productive cruise thus far. The deployments have gone smoothly, literally just a drop in the ocean and so far they’ve both landed with their feet on the bottom. We’ve deployed both active and passive acoustic components, which should produce an interesting data set to examine and analyze later.
  • The crew aboard the Neil Armstrong put us through the emergency protocol of what to do in case of a fire or an abandon ship situation. Drills are important on ships, because if there is an actual emergency on board, the team needs to know where to go without hesitation.

ADEON --- An Integrated Network


The Atlantic Deepwater Ecosystem Observatory Network for the U.S. Mid- and South Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) was developed and deployed in November of 2017.   The lead P.I. for this project is Dr. Jennifer Miksis-Olds, University of New Hampshire (UNH).  Dr. Miksis-Olds leads a collaborative research team consisting of individuals from UNH, OASIS, TNO, JASCO, Stony Brook University, and NOAA.

This observatory network will generate long-term measurements of both the natural and human factors active in this region, thus informing the ecology and soundscape of the OCS.  These data will provide further a mechanistic understanding of the cumulative impacts these factors have on marine resources and provide insight for ecosystem-based management efforts.  Long-term observations of living marine resources and marine sound will assist Federal agencies, including BOEM, ONR, and NOAA, in complying with mandates in the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), and Sustainable Fisheries Act (SFA).

The ADEON data collection network of vessels, satellites, and ocean bottom landers

ADEON OBJECTIVES

  • Establish an ecosystem observation network that provides baseline monitoring and supports predictive modeling of the soundscape and its relationship to marine life and the environment of the Mid- and South Atlantic Planning Areas.
  • Develop standardized measurement and processing methods and visualization metrics for comparing ADEON observations with data from other monitoring networks.
  • Assess baseline soundscape and ecosystem conditions in support of predictive environmental modeling and trend analyses in the planning areas.
    • How do soundscape and ecosystem components vary with water depth across the OCS?
    • How do the soundscape and ecosystem components vary with latitude along the OCS?
    • Where are the hot spots of human activity for consideration in ecosystem/habitat health impacts?
  • Assess the spatial and temporal distribution of the soundscape and biological scatterers, including their expected variation and correlation with distance from the bottom-lander locations.
    • What are the environmental factors that define and constrain the horizontal range of appropriate extrapolation of observations measured at the stationary bottom-lander sites?
  • Develop and apply new methods for the effective visualization of five-dimensional (5D – time, latitude, longitude, frequency, and depth) soundscape data to interactive visual analysis tools that enable users to explore, analyze, and integrate ancillary ecosystem data streams with the 5D soundscape.
  • Develop a robust data management system that archives and provides public access to multiple data streams to encourage future development of ecological models targeted at questions beyond the scope of this study.