RICHARD Marianas 2022 Cruise
Follow the NOAA RICHARD mission as we map the ocean floor and deploy scientists to conduct coral reef assessments around the Mariana Archipelago.
Images from the Seafloor Mapping and Coral Reef Assessment in the Mariana Archipelago expedition shown in the Reef Assessment and Habitat Mapping in the Marianas story map.
NOAA Ship Rainier
The Rainier has arrived in Honolulu! The reef assessment team will begin training and gear loading over the next couple ...
The scientists spent a day on the Rainier for safety drills. Here, scientists practice launching and recovering the smal...
The ocean and climate change scientists head to their survey sites on the first day of dive operations off the northwest...
One of the small boats returns to the ship after a day of dive operations. Specialized cranes safely raise the boat fill...
The ocean and climate change team conducts a structure-from-Motion (SfM) survey at one of their long-term monitoring sit...
The fish team stumbled upon an anemonefish (Amphiprion melanopus) during one of their dives. An exciting sight to see fo...
Fisheries scientists find an anchor at one of their survey sites! Maritime artifacts like this anchor are common in the ...
The ocean and climate change scientists prepare an instrument package that will detect changes in ocean chemistry and en...
Our team of fish divers saw a round ribbontail ray (Taeniura meyeni) swim through their survey. Our divers identify, mea...
A school of surgeonfish swims through a survey dive in Aguijan. Pictured here are Acanuthurus nigricans, Ctenochaetus sp...
An excited diver from our fish team swims over a large mounding coral (Porites lutea) in Windward Guam. Photo: NOAA Fish...
A tug boat escorts the Rainier out of the Guam Navy Base in the Apra Harbor. The benthic leg has officially started! Pho...
Scientists happily await a small boat pick up after a successful day of diving operations. They took images and surveyed...
A benthic diver plunges into the sea for another coral reef assessment around the beautiful Puntan dos Amantes on the we...
A benthic diver carefully assesses and identifies coral along a transect in Guam. In the foreground, diverse coral colon...
A beautiful early morning view of Aguijan Island while we are underway to Tinian—our next coral reef assessment area. Ph...
Every morning, scientists and crew members gather on the Rainier fantail to discuss the day's boating and diving operati...
Close-up of the crown-of-thorns seastar's poisonous spines that protect its body. These animals feed on coral tissue—too...
A well-camouflaged blue-eyed coral crab (Cymo quadrilobatus) living within the branches of an antler coral (Pocillopora ...
Scientists identify and measure coral colonies along a transect. They also note predation from crown-of-thorns seastars,...
A massive and truly majestic cathedral-like structure - built by colonies of Porites rus corals - rises from a submerged...
Corals have a high diversity of intricate and beautiful surface structural arrangements that determine how they interact...
The Maug Islands' submerged volcano and caldera environments are more acidic than other regions of the ocean. Many peopl...
Branching colonies of Pocillopora corals grow over the massive structure built by Porites corals. The Porites also grow ...
Divers 'discuss' coral taxonomy by writing on their slates to communicate. Scientists use special paper that doesn't tea...
NOAA Ship Rainier within Maug Atoll. Photo: NOAA OMAO
The benthic leg of our cruise is officially complete, having successfully met all of our surveying goals. Here is our fa...
The fish team took full advantage of the day in port by brushing up on their fish ID skills by going out for a training ...
Scientists identify and measure a large coral colony using a new method, called carbonate budgets, that will tell them i...
Steephead parrotfish (Chlorurus microrhinus) feed on algae that grow on the reefs. They scrape rocks and corals clean wi...
A diver finds an elusive painted sweetlip fish (Plectorhinchus picus). These solitary fish like to hide under ledges or ...
The NOAA Ship Rainier anchored overnight in front of Mount Pagan. The active volcano was spewing gasses and ash as recen...
Two divers install a temperature recorder on the outer reef of Maug's submerged caldera. In the foreground is a structur...
Divers spotted a pair of threeband pennantfish (Heniochus chrysostomus) during a survey dive. These uniquely shaped butt...
The ocean and climate change team conducts another Structure-from-Motion (SfM) survey at a site in Guam. One diver remai...
A large school of parrotfish swim over the reef in Guam. These are mostly filament-finned parrotfish that feed on algae ...
A team of divers works at a permanent monitoring site in Pagan Island. They are collecting temperature loggers that have...
A diver deploys at a survey site to count and identify reef fish around Pagan Island. He holds his mask securely in plac...
This neon temperature logger deployed at a reef will record ocean temperatures for the next 3 years, providing valuable ...
Divers from the Ocean and Climate Change Team wrap up a survey at Pagan Island and begin their ascent to the surface. Th...
Divers use tools underwater to help install and remove instruments. When the tools are heavy, the divers use a special l...
NOAA's motto is 'Safety First!' Here the dive chamber supervisor ensures that the hyperbaric chamber is up and running a...
Divers also double as boat crew members. Here, scientists prepare the lines that tether the dive boat to the ship so tha...
The Fish Team gathers to conduct a safety assessment before launching in their small boat. Today they will be working ar...
The NOAA Ship Rainier is ready for the dive boats to return from a successful day of surveying. Photo: NOAA Fisheries/Ra...
The Ocean and Climate Change team cleans gear on the back deck of the ship. These weights were recovered after spending ...
Collecting fish biomass data can be hard work! Step one: count the fish. Scientist Ari Halperin was finishing his survey...
This is a close-up shot of Galaxea coral. Each polyp is an individual animal, but together they form a colony. Photo: NO...
One of the small boats leaves the NOAA Ship Rainer and prepares for a day of field work and water sampling. Photo: NOAA ...
Juvenile damselfish hover above an Acropora colony. If they sense a threat, they will dive down and take refuge among th...
A diver carefully lays a transect tape over a coral colony to record its width. Attention to detail is crucial and we ma...
The coxswains patiently wait their turn to be picked after a day of field work. As an integral part of our team, they dr...
Not all sites are easy to survey! This diver navigates through large rock formations to safely retrieve an instrument. P...
A crinoid, a relative of sea stars, sea urchins, and brittle stars, sways with the current, providing shelter for a scho...
A member of the Ocean and Climate Change Team installs a new sub-surface temperature recorder (STR). Photo: NOAA Fisheri...
A scientist carefully swims above a shallow portion of the reef, capturing every formation in this Structure-From-Motion...
A crown-of-thorns sea star has devoured most of this coral colony, leaving stark white branches in its wake. In small nu...
A pink anemone fish (Amphiprion perideraion) peeks out from the protection of its anemone as a fish diver conducts a sur...
A scientist free-dives in the shallows to deploy a temperature logger with Pagan in the background. Photo: NOAA Fisherie...
The scientists have beautiful conditions for their surveys around Pagan today! The Rainier lowers a small boat while the...
Fish scientists collect water samples in between dives. The package of electronic instruments is carefully lowered to ho...
Scientists and crew attend morning safety briefings to discuss the plan for the day. The topic today is the conditions a...
Scientists use good old-fashioned elbow grease to collect water samples and retrieve their instruments. Photo: NOAA Fish...
A vibrant sea fan stands amidst a school of small fish on a Pagan reef. Photo: NOAA Fisheries/Andrew Gray
A diver pauses as a stingray swims through his survey area. Rays are cartilaginous fishes, so they are included in our f...
Barracuda surround divers on a safety stop. Photo: NOAA Fisheries/Joy Smith
Whitetip reef sharks don’t need to move to breathe so they often sleep on the seafloor during the day. Photo: NOAA Fishe...
Divers confirm identities of fish they observed during a dive. We are always learning and doing our best to make sure ou...
Scientist and crew discuss recovering and deploying an array of long-term acoustic recorders used to listen for cetacean...
The acoustic array is deployed and ready to collect data off of Saipan. Photo: NOAA Fisheries/Ari Halperin
Scientist Ari Halperin explains how we retrieve ocean chemistry information from one of our instruments. Scientists and ...
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