R/V Atlantis steams through Town Cut, Bermuda, with a pilot boat escort. (Photo by Ken Kostel, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

I am the least qualified person to write on behalf of the Popping Rocks team because I’m not on the ship and I’m not a part of the science team.

I was, however, on the expedition before theirs and I saw Atlantis off at the pier in Bermuda this morning. I will also be helping them run their blog from shore during the trip, so that gives me some reason to contribute. Read More→

Photo by Mark Kurz, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Photo by Mark Kurz, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Photo by Mark Kurz, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Photo by Mark Kurz, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Photo by Mark Kurz, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Photo by Mark Kurz, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Photo by Mark Kurz, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

We are excited to go to sea again, but it takes an enormous amount of time and effort to actually get ready. Atlantis returned to Woods Hole for a few days recently and we had a brief window to gather everything we’ll need and load it onto the ship before it sailed to Bermuda, where we will board.

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A panorama with my fisheye lens to try and capture the truly sphere-like feel on the inside.

While I did not get the chance to dive in Alvin on the Popping Rocks cruise, I did get a chance to hangout inside the personnel sphere with two of its pilots (Jefferson and Danik) and sketch for a few hours the other day.

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The Patriach, subject of our search on the open ocean, bobbing in the waves. (Photo by Lance Wills, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Dan Fornari, one of five people on Atlantis who speaks French, communicates with the crew on Patriach. (Photo by Lance Wills, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

The Atlantis crew in the Avon approaches Patriach. (Photo by Lance Wills, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Transfer complete, the Avon returns to Atlantis. (Photo by Lance Wills, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Atlantis and Patriach crew approach Atlantis. (Photo by Lance Wills, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

On the evening of Saturday, March 26, R/V Atlantis received a call from the U.S. Coast Guard informing us of a vessel nearby with a severely seasick sailor who needed to be evacuated. It was a French vessel that had originally contacted the French Coast Guard for assistance, which then alerted their U.S. counterparts. After assessing the situation, the U.S. Coast Guard decided that Atlantis presented the best option to safely evacuate, treat, and transport the sick sailor. Read More→

The world’s largest mountain range lies underwater, stretching around the globe like the seam of a baseball. This mountain range, called the global mid-ocean ridge, is the source of more than 70 percent of Earth’s volcanism, hosts a myriad of bizarre underwater creatures, and contains towering cliffs larger than those in Yosemite or Ireland’s Moher. Yet, no one knew about these amazing features until the mid-1900’s. Read More→

(Mark Kurz, chief scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Eric Mittelstaedt, co-chief scientist, University of Idaho; Funder: NSF; ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Prepare to get up close and personal with some deep-sea rocks! Read More→

Josh Curtice, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Megan Jones, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Kate Kaminski, University of Idaho

Frieder Klein, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Mark Kurz, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Photos by Dan Fornari, WHOI)

Elise Rumpf, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Darin Schwartz, Boise State University

Dorsey Wanless, Boise State University

There’s a first time for everything, and for a small group of people, that includes a first dive in Alvin. Read More→

R/V Atlantis is many things to us. It is our home, our office, our “car,” our restaurant, our laboratory, our laundromat, and our repair shop during our time at sea. Read More→

When I was offered a spot in the science team for the Popping Rocks cruise I got really excited: My first research cruise! The open ocean! Mid-ocean ridge basalts! HOV Alvin dives! Escaping the New York City winter! At the same time, I was a little apprehensive. Over the past decade I’ve studied lava flows on four continents and four planets but I’ve never studied submarine flows beyond a few classroom assignments when I was a student. How are submarine flows different from subaerial flows? How do we collect data? Will I know how to process the data? Will I recognize submarine flows in data and imagery? So I started doing some research.

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