In March 2024, over 200 earthquakes an hour rattled the Juan de Fuca Ridge, and the Ocean Exploration Trust (OET) exploration ship Nautilus plans to visit the site for the first time.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e about to embark on the annual maintenance trip of our North-East Pacific Time Undersea Networked Experiment (NEPTUNE) Endeavour observatory,B次元官网网址� said Meghan Paulson, Ocean Network Canada (ONC) expedition lead. B次元官网网址淭his is an ocean observatory, where we have 100-kilometre loop power and fibre optic cable off the coast of Vancouver Island.B次元官网网址�
The Nautilus will be at sea for 21 days before disembarking from the Canadian Coast Guard docks in North Saanich on Thursday, June 6. The ship will boast a crew of over 50, including scientists, marine technicians, engineers, and science communicators, and there will be little downtime when out at sea.
B次元官网网址淭here is 24-hour monitoring on an expedition like this, so we want to make every second count,B次元官网网址� said Allison Fundis, chief operating officer, OET. B次元官网网址淪o we run people through different watch teams, and thereB次元官网网址檚 always somebody on watch.B次元官网网址�
The voyage to the Juan de Fuca Ridge will involve maintaining equipment over 2km underwater. The Nautilus will launch remotely operated vehicles, Hercules and Atalanta, that will maintain NEPTUNESB次元官网网址� plethora of sensors, cameras, and instruments at the bottom of the ocean.
B次元官网网址淥ne of the reasons is that the instrument just flat out died, itB次元官网网址檚 not working at all anymore. So that would be a full swap of the instrument,B次元官网网址� Paulson said.
The trip to the ridge will mark the eighth time OET and ONC have collaborated.
B次元官网网址淥ur collaboration allows us to combine our expertise and technologies to tackle challenging operations associated with the maintenance of ONCB次元官网网址檚 world-leading subsea cabled observatory and to broadly share our work and discoveries with those joining us from shore,B次元官网网址� Fundis said.
A 24-hour live stream will allow viewers to ask the various crew and scientists questions.
