Videograb in Emerald Basin

Videograb being deployed. 

Settlement box behind
jaws of videograb.

With Campoding now behind us, science staff mobilized Videograb and sent it over the rail and into the water below.  

Videograb was delivering settlement boxes the floor of Emerald Basin.  These modified milk crates covered in ceramic tile will act as substrate for settling fauna over the years to come and hopefully will provide information on the growth rates of Russian Hats.  They will be collected in the future when opportunities arise.

After delivering the settlement boxes, Videograb collected samples of rocks and fauna typical of Emerald Basin, including Russian Hats.  Some rocks retrieved were as large as a basketball and attached were recently settled Russian Hats about the size of a dime.

A very small Russian Hat clings to a rock face.

Science staff spent hours picking through Videograb samples, identifying species and adding the information to a database.  Once our work with Videograb wrapped up we began the 16 hr steam to the Laurentian Channel.  We are due at our first Campod site in the Laurentian Channel at 5 am on Saturday June 11.

Science staff clean a grab and pick our organisms that will be identified and cataloged.

A clump of Russian Hats on a rock collected by Videograb and photographed on the ship.

Science staff have a quick meeting before deploying Videograb.