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Joshua Voss, graduate students Ryan Eckert and Erin Shilling, and HBOI assistant professor Jim Masterson recently joined Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) superintendent G.P. Schmahl as well as Todd Gregory, Karl McLectchie, Joshua Carlson, Jeff Laning, and Roland Brian from the Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration (GFOE) aboard the Research Vessel MANTA for a week of Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) operations. This mission was the first of three legs with GFOE in the Northwest Gulf of Mexico. The goal of this mission was to use GFOE's ROV Yogi and portable VSAT to demonstrate the ability to perform live-broadcast ROV telepresence missions from a small vessel. During the course of the mission the team streamed live ROV dives every day, and conducted live interactions with Marine and Oceanographic Academy (MOA) at HBOI and Moody Gardens Aquarium in Galveston, TX.
Throughout the week the team explored Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems (MCEs) on several banks in the NWGOM, including Alderdice Bank, McGrail Bank, Sonnier Bank and Geyer Bank, all under consideration for sanctuary expansion. In addition to technology demonstrations, HBOI researchers collected video and photographic transects for comparison to previously collected data from these banks. The team also tested the sample collection abilities of Yogi, collecting samples of sponge and black coral for use in genetic connectivity analyses throughout the NWGOM with collaborator Santiago Herrera (Lehigh University). The second and third legs of the GFOE cruises are being led by collaborators Sarah Davies (Boston University) and Mercer Brugler (NYC College of Technology) with focuses on MCE coral spawning and black corals, respectively.
Thanks to GFOE, the crew of the R/V Manta, and FGBNMS for a successful research mission!
Learn more about the mission here:
https://www.engineeringfordiscovery.org/flower-gardens/
Review twitter posts from this cruise using #seathegarden
Throughout the week the team explored Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems (MCEs) on several banks in the NWGOM, including Alderdice Bank, McGrail Bank, Sonnier Bank and Geyer Bank, all under consideration for sanctuary expansion. In addition to technology demonstrations, HBOI researchers collected video and photographic transects for comparison to previously collected data from these banks. The team also tested the sample collection abilities of Yogi, collecting samples of sponge and black coral for use in genetic connectivity analyses throughout the NWGOM with collaborator Santiago Herrera (Lehigh University). The second and third legs of the GFOE cruises are being led by collaborators Sarah Davies (Boston University) and Mercer Brugler (NYC College of Technology) with focuses on MCE coral spawning and black corals, respectively.
Thanks to GFOE, the crew of the R/V Manta, and FGBNMS for a successful research mission!
Learn more about the mission here:
https://www.engineeringfordiscovery.org/flower-gardens/
Review twitter posts from this cruise using #seathegarden
