Celtic Explorer Cruise CE10005, 16-24 Sep 2010, Milford Haven, UK to Galway, Ireland. Porcupine Abyssal Plain Observatory servicing

Abstract

The principal objective was to maintain the Porcupine Abyssal Plain (PAP) observatory infrastructure. The main components of this are:-

• A large ODAS buoy mooring (PAP 1) with real time telemetry and multiple underwater and meteorological sensors. The buoy and sensor frame will be recovered and most of the sensors and telemetry systems replaced, before redeployment.
• A sediment trap mooring (PAP 3). This mooring will be recovered and replaced with a new one.
• A Bathysnap camera lander. To be recovered and replaced.

Associated work will include CTD sensor calibration dips and deployment of 2 ARGO floats. The work proposed will be vital to maintaining the long standing time-series measurements at this site, and will also provide critical feedback on sensor and mooring design performance.

This cruise was originally conceived as a key component of the MODOO (MOdular Deep Ocean Observatory) ESONET demonstration project http://www.modoo.info/ . The main part
of this project was a BoBo lander belonging to NIOZ that was deployed at the same time as the ODAS buoy in June 2010. This lander should have been recovered during CE10005 to obtain in-situ data from the lander and to assess the performance of the acoustic telemetry system. Unfortunately the lander appears to have suffered an implosion shortly after deployment, and one objective of this cruise will now be to attempt to communicate with the lander’s acoustic releases.

An ancillary task led by Marine Institute (MI) involves the collection of samples as part of the Marine Biodiscovery project in NUI, Galway. The aim of this research is to investigate the possibility that phytoplankton species in Irish waters can produce biologically active compounds (bioactives) of significance for use as human medicines.

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