Day 38 – E.T. Phone Home!

29 days ago we placed five buoys on the bottom of the sea to listen to marine mammal sounds. Today, we returned to these sites and recovered our data treasures.

When we positioned the mooring, the bridge team precisely recorded the positions where the buoys were placed. Today, the ship’s captain navigated the vessel over each position, at which point, the scientific engineering team sent an acoustic signal to the acoustic release on the mooring. The acoustic release (thankfully) “responded” back with a signal that it “heard” the release command and its hook came undone. The large yellow and orange buoys then propelled the hydrophone to the surface, sending signals to the ship at each 100 meters on it ascent. Once the floats surfaced, the ship was positioned alongside, and the ship’s sailors recovered the buoys with the bow crane.

A smooth, successful operation - thanks to all the crew!