February 25-March 8, 2008 Mission Aboard R/V Nancy Foster

During the 13 day mission CCMA-BB scientists and partners will gather data to explore and characterize nearshore habitats (10 to 30 meters) within high priority conservation areas in Puerto Rico. Ultimately, data gathered will help shape local management priorities and improve the understanding of fishery closures, particularly Bajo de Cico, Tourmaline Bank and Abrir la Sierra, all of which are important fishery spawning areas.

• March 6

  Heading home.

• March 5

  A day of unusual finds.

• March 4

  A taste of terra firma.

• March 3

  Mona Island dazzling diversity.

• March 2

  "Little Bajo" reveals spectacular montage of seafloor habitats.

• March 1

  Hardbottom patches rich with sea life.

• February 29

  Topographic mapping of a unique seafloor plateau, "Little Bajo".

• February 28

  Mapping completed of Tourmaline Bank marine reserve.

• February 27

  NOAA ship NANCY FOSTER and NOAA scientists conduct media day event at Tourmaline Bank, PR with Puerto Rican resource managers, media, fisherman, and scientists.

• February 26

  The R/V Nancy Foster is a scientific laboratory on the high seas, fully equipped to handle the needs of scientists. Also, read about the launch of the remotely operated vehicle.

• February 25

  Scientists aboard the R/V NANCY FOSTER set sail today on their way to Tourmaline Bank off the southwest coast of Puerto Rico.

• On Saturday 4/12 at 9:00 am the NOAA ship Nancy Foster got underway departing from the U.S. Coast Guard Station, San Juan, Puerto Rico to Bajo de Cico conservation area on the northwest side of Puerto Rico.

• April 2

  On the last day of the mission, the NOAA ship Nancy Foster transited to San Juan Puerto Rico to offload the science team.

• April 1

  For the first survey of the day the ROV targeted a submarine ridge protruding from the shelf slope at 650 m.

• March 31

  Three transects were preformed today: two deep transects over mud and a shallow transect down a rock precipice.

• March 30

  The first transect of the day followed a 650 m bathymetric contour 11 km south of La Parguera.

• March 29

  The surveys began late today even though everyone was ready early in the morning.

• March 28

  The Nancy Foster traveled 12 hours west to Puerto Rico overnight.

• March 27

  Several kilometers offshore of Buck Island the shelf edge gives way to a slope that drops precipitously from 100 m to 1000 m in little over 2 kilometers.

• March 26

  The ROV team woke up still drained from Saturday's long day.

• March 25

  The ROV team began the day before sunrise in order to get an early start.

• March 24

  On Friday 3/24 the multibeam team continues to make excellent progress mapping the 40m to 1000 m depth regime along the northside of St. Croix.

• March 23

  On Thursday 3/23 the multibeam team continues to collect data with high productivity.

• March 22

  On Wednesday 3/22 the multibeam team successfully conduct a patch test and outer beam angle offset calibration at sites on the west and east side of Buck Island.

• March 21

  On Tuesday 3/21 at 9:45 am the NOAA ship Nancy Foster got underway departing from the east end pier at Frederiksted, USVI to Buck Island on the northeast side of St. Croix.

• March 20

  On Monday 3/20 Joel Tutien (Superintendent of Parks, National Park Service, USVI) Zandy Hillis-Starr (Biological Resource Manager, National Park Service, St. Croix) and Tim Battista (Chief Scientist NOAA's Ocean Service, Silver Spring, MD) provided a mission briefing to students and local St. Croix, USVI radio, newspaper, and television media.

• February 11

  The ROV team conducted four transects in the region of Frenchcap Cay.

• February 10

  The day ended with the science crew covering over 6 kilometers of habitat with three transects.

• February 9

  The ROV and science team completed three transects along two of the northernmost ridges of the mid-shelf reef.

• February 8

  The science crew completed four transects in an area approximately 10 km south of Pillsbury Sound, a channel separating the islands of St John and St Thomas.

• February 7

  The Nancy Foster and her crew continued multibeam acquisition of the area labeled NPS Monument inshore (see cruise plan).

• February 6

  The Nancy Foster and her crew finished multibeam acquisition of the area labeled NPS Monument Offshore (see cruise plan).

• February 5

  The Nancy Foster and her crew finished multibeam acquisition of the area labeled NPS Monument Offshore (see cruise plan).

• February 4

  The Nancy Foster and her crew finished exceeded survey estimates of the time required for Grammanik Bank.

• February 3

  The Nancy Foster and her crew finished multibeam operations on Grammanik Bank at 1300 hour after steaming there the night of 2.2.05.

• February 2

  The Nancy Foster and her crew finished multibeam and ROV operations around Buck Island Reef National Monument and Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve (St. Croix, USVI) at 1900 on Wednesday, February 2.

• February 1

  The Nancy Foster and her crew began mid-water mapping and seafloor Characterization activities in and around the Buck Island Reef National Monument (St. Croix, USVI) at 0830 on Tuesday, February 1.

• January 31

  The Nancy Foster and her crew completed mobilization of the multibeam and ROV equipment while the ship was tied up to the Gordon A. Finch Molasses Pier on the south shore of St. Croix.

• March 9

  The mission is now complete, and as you may have guessed from previous updates, the crew of the Foster did not see a reprieve in the wind and waves.

• March 1

  The weather that began to build up yesterday afternoon persisted through the late night hours and on into this morning.

• February 29

  The weather that began to build up yesterday afternoon persisted through the late night hours and on into this morning.

• February 28

  Seas were calm during the early hours of the 28th, and the SCUBA diving crew once again prepared for their morning dives.

• February 27

  As has often been the case, the Foster's late night multibeam sonar mapping crew found several interesting physiographic features while the rest of us slept.

• February 26

  Not long after we signed off last night (see previous day's mission update), the crew of the Foster settled in for a night of multibeam sonar surveys.

• February 25

  As has become usual during this mission, the Foster and her crew continued multibeam sonar data collection activities all through the night.

• February 24

  After a full night and early morning of multibeam sonar data collection, the Foster was positioned to deploy a full complement of scientific divers (see previous day's accounts for details on dive operations).

• February 23

  During the early hours of February 23, the Foster initiated mapping operations off of the southern shores of St. John and St. Thomas, in an area called the Midshelf Reef (MSR).

• February 22

  The Nancy Foster and her crew continued deepwater mapping exercises through the night (2-21), and completed the set of target lines of acquisition by 0700.

• February 21

  The Nancy Foster and her crew began deep water mapping and biological assessment activities in and around the Buck Island Reef National Monument (St. Croix, USVI) at 0830 on Saturday, February 21.