Greetings from the CCGS Tully
The fantail of the Tully, loaded up with OBS before departing the dock in Port Angeles, Washington.
Writing you from the CCGS John P. Tully, en rout to the seafloor just offshore Haida Gwaii! Saying that we are excited to be embarking upon this experiment is an understatement.
The Tully’s primary job for the next month will be to deploy and recover Ocean Bottom Seismometers, that can record the sound source on our sister ship, the Langseth. The data collected by these OBS will be used to create detailed images of the Queen Charlotte Fault and surrounding crust.
A cartoon map of the Salish Sea and Juan de Fuca straight as found outside a bank in Port Angles. Click on the image to get a perspective view of Haida Gwaii, offshore British Columbia. Where we’re started and where we’re headed.
After much planning, permits, and logistical efforts, it is thrilling to have left the dock in Port Angeles en rout to our study are. It’s been a bumpy year of cancelled cruises, quarantines, testing protocols, and unusual travel, but from the moment we arrived at the dock, things have been falling into place.
In a little over a day, we’ll be arriving at our first OBS deployment station. The Science party, OBS Technical team, Captain and Crew of the Tully are all poised and ready. For now however, all we have to do is double check, and triple check that the instruments are configured, enjoy the world-class hospitality of the Tully crew, and get some rest. Once we arrive at our first station - we’ll be working around the clock to deploy the first 16 OBS that make up our first, north-south transect (experiment map).
Since arriving on the ship, I’ve been so impressed and grateful for the Crew and Science Party’s “Can Do” attitude - and I have a feeling that this experiment is going to be a huge success because of them.
We were welcomed to the open ocean, after leaving the Straight of Juan de Fuca this afternoon by a group of humpback wales (not given justice in the above fuzzy photos), spouting and slapping their fins off the Port Bow. Seemed to be a sign of what good things are to come. Looking forward to getting started.
More updates coming soon!
Emily Roland - Chief Scientist aboard the John P. Tully