Sonsub technician preparing ROV for launch.

Seaweeds are pressed on herbarium sheets for further study and repository in botanical Herbaria. The species that Dr. Suzanne Fredericq is pressing was found at about 66 meters depth in the West Flower Garden Banks and represents a new record for the Gulf of Mexico.

Sonsub pilot Maurice Rivard at far right flying the Innovator ROV during surveys at Viosca Knoll, with Sonsub technician Keith Hyatt and scientist Sandra Brooke providing guidance. The red light in the ROV control room provides illumination for those working inside the van without obstructing the images from the video monitors during dives.

USCGC ice-breaker Healy'sBow breaks through Arctic ice!

Anemones and sea cucumbers were observed at the pockmark site in unusually high densities compared to other sites visited during the cruise.

Calanus hyperboereus (up to 7mm in length) is a preferred food of both ctenophores and Bowhead whales.

The Photographic Platform was one of three tools send down to explore the pockmarks on the ocean floor. 820 bottom photos were taken by the photo-platform showing an unusually high density of life.

A magnificent siphonophore.

A close-up of BoreoAtlantic Armhook Squid, Gonatus fabricii.

The fresh fallen snow accumulates in bands on the open water, while the blue and grey melt ponds and puddles cover parts of the ice floe in the background.

"Rotten ice" which is highly honeycombed and melting.

Photos taken underneath the ice surface show both the complexity of the ice structure as well as the stunning shades of blue. When ice floes push together, they form pressure ridges that are visible both above and below the surface forming a complex habitat that supports an abundant and diverse assemblage of organisms.

Ice Divers Katrin Iken (left) and Elizabeth Calvert (right) are about to descend through a small hole in the ice and into the frigid world below.

ice diver Shawn Harper "stands" on the ice ceiling above him. Ice diving on this cruise is different from other types of diving as work is conducted on the ice close to the surface while thousands of meters of blue water unfold below.

Photos taken underneath the ice surface show both the complexity of the ice structure as well as the stunning shades of blue. When ice floes push together, they form pressure ridges that are visible both above and below the surface forming a complex habitat that supports an abundant and diverse assemblage of organisms.

Out at sea on the USCGC Healy for a month, ice diver Elizabeth Calvert gets creative making a birthday card she can digitally send to her mother.

The ROV is deployed off the back of the boat using the Healy's A-Frame.

An operational multi-net used to collect zooplankton samples from different depths in the water column is deployed! The multinet is lowered on a cable that also provides power and communication between scientists on board and the equipment deep in the ocean.

Chain dredge on deck prior to deployment

Brenda Holladay looking for benthic creatures in fine mesh dredge material.

Operations on the ice from the Coast Guard ice breaker HEALY.

Transportation to and from the ship while conducting science operations on the ice was via the man lift.

Scientist conducting operations on the ice next to the Coast Guard ice breaker HEALY.

US Coast Guard Cutter HEALY operates with a compliment of two Coast Guard HH-65B Dolphin Helicopters in addition to Healy's normal equipment and crew. The Aviation Detachment (AVDET) is aboard Healy to assist with logistics, science support and other missions as requested by the command. This is AVDET 162, the last polar AVDET mission of the Coast Guard.

All personnel and scientific equipment for the cruise are brought aboard exclusively by helicopter. Exact numbers of people to be moved, equipment and baggage weights, numbers of boxes and contents are all listed and evaluated. As one aircraft drops off bags ashore, it picks up equipment and returns it to the ship. This continues until all baggage and personnel are transported.

SAR over ice

USCGC Healy cuts through young Arctic ice during the first day the cruise is underway.

Multi-year ice floes and numerous cloud layers with the sun low on the horizon.

Panoramic view of the USCGC Healy supporting science and dive operations in the Arctic.

Panoramic view of the bottom surface of ice floes and under ice divers deployed from the USCGC Healy.

Submersible PISCES IV being launched from the University of Hawaii research vessel KA'IMIKAI-O-KANALOA .

Submersible PISCES IV in water. Here it has just ascended from a dive. Swimmers help recover it and connect it to ropes that pull it towards the ship.

University of Hawaii research vessel KA'IMIKAI-O-KANALOA at the pier. This vessel was the research platform for this 24-day cruise from Honolulu to Midway Island.

Several monk seals were spotted on Midway Island where the science party spent two days waiting for their flight back to Honolulu.

A large primnoid octocoral (sea fan), one of many new species of corals discovered during this expedition.

Armorhead fish (Pseudopentaceros wheeleri) are most common in the northernmost part of the Hawaiian Archipelago and are potential prey for monk seals.

Corals and sponges were very abundant and diverse on the seamounts. This garden-like scene is at 1,800 meters depth. Some of the sponges, like the one in the center-right of the image were enormous and grew to at least 3-meters tall.

The seamount communities were both diverse and dense as seen here where the substrate cannot be seen below the life forms.

This 3 meter long false cat shark (Pseudotriakis acrages) was observed in Nihoa Canyon at 1,200 meters depth.

A goosefish (Sladenia remiger) sits on a rock in a submarine canyon. It uses its modified dorsal fin to lure unsuspecting fishes to its mouth.

Sharks (Squalus mitsukurii) at a bait station off Maro Reef at 350 meters depth.

An unidentified species of eight-armed squid drifts in mid-water.

Crab (Neolithodes sp.) investigating a scavenger trap.

This spiny clam was collected from a seamount using the PISCES IV submersible.

Shrimp (Heterocarpus sp.) and eels (Simenchelys sp.) caught in a scavenger trap.

PISCES V on the surface off the Hawaiian coastline.

Small white jellyfish not much larger than a thumb.

A mid-water pteropod or sea butterfly, Corolla sp.

Aurelia aurita jellyfish

Aurelia aurita jellyfish