Deborah Kelley (left) and undergraduate students in Newport, Oregon, on Aug. 9 at the end of the first leg of the cruise.
Mitch Elend/University of Washington
Deborah Kelley (left) and undergraduate students in Newport, Oregon, on Aug. 9 at the end of the first leg of the cruise.

UW researchers, engineers and students are on a annual expedition to the Oregon coast, where they’re working to maintain a deep-ocean observatory called the Cabled Array. The array brings power and broadband internet to the seafloor and waters above.

The cruise, funded by the National Science Foundation, left July 25 from Newport, Oregon, and will be back Aug. 29. Deborah Kelley, UW professor of oceanography, is chief scientist on the cruise that recently began its second leg.

While at sea, a deep-sea robot will brave the crushing pressures and cold temperatures, while the team works day and night to direct the dives and prepare equipment above water. The researchers will be removing marine life from instruments and swapping out sensors that collect hot spring fluids and DNA samples. The team is posting regular updates from the ship.

Read more at UW Today »