Return to the North Atlantic

Mission Overview

In March 2020, the OTZ team set sail aboard WHOI's new state-of-the-art research ship, the R/V Neil Armstrong, to study the deep waters of the North Atlantic.

On this cruise, scientists aimed to collect data on the biomass and biodiversity of the region's ocean twilight zone, piece together the area's key food webs, and gain new insight on the effects that the OTZ has on carbon in the atmosphere.

Over the course of this six-day voyage, the team worked around the clock to collect water samples for eDNA analysis, as well as collecting samples of individual organisms using WHOI's towed MOCNESS net.

The scientists also released and recovered MINION floats,  deployed the ISIIS imaging system twice daily, and used Mesobot t0 autonomously collect samples and images from the OTZ, setting the stage for future crusises.