Dave Aragon (Rutgers) and the boat crew from Kalpitiya Diving prepare to deploy glider RU29 from Trincomalee, Sri Lanka on August 12, 2018. The University of Western Australia, the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) of Sri Lanka, and Rutgers worked together to deploy RU29 as part of the International Indian Ocean Expedition – 2. RU29 is now flying Indian Ocean Leg 2 of the Challenger Glider Mission from Sri Lanka to Mauritius.

An all-female team from the Saba Research Group met their glider off the coast of Long Island, NY to clean off biofouling and collect water samples to compare to the glider pH sensor that is measuring ocean acidity. The glider was deployed on July 5 east of Georges Bank and will continue on to be recovered near Atlantic City, NJ at the end of August.

Typhoon Soulik, currently a category 3 storm, approaches Japan and Korea. Rutgers glider RU22 is deployed ahead of the eye in the Yellow Sea off of Korea’s Jeju Island. Glider RU22 is looking for ocean processes similar to those discovered by Rutgers gliders during Hurricanes Irene and Sandy in the Mid Atlantic. RU22 was deployed by Rutgers Professor Travis Miles as part of the KOREA-US Joint Program Agreement (JPA) between KIOST and NOAA. Typhoon Soulik, August 22, 2018 Typhoons Soulik and Cimaron, August 22, 2018 Travis Miles on the coast of Jeju Island, South Korea, as Soulik approaches

via British Antarctic Survey The seas around the Antarctic Peninsula are biologically extremely rich, but are climatically sensitive, having experienced some of the fastest warming globally in recent decades. A special issue of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A published this week (14 May 2018) puts this region in the spotlight with a combination of the latest research on how it is being affected by environmental change. The special issue brings together contributions from international marine scientists from 28 institutes who study the region’s ocean dynamics, biology, chemical oceanography and biogeochemistry. As well as presenting new research, this issue contains synthesis papers, and a “horizon scanning” introduction to address the outstanding research questions and knowledge gaps that exist in the field. Read more at the British Antarctic Survey » For the West Antarctic Peninsula theme issue click here »

Four days before Superstorm Sandy made landfall in New Jersey, scientists from the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences launched a data-collecting, submersible robot glider in front of the massive storm. Read the full article here.

An international team of scientists and students has just completed the first of three legs in a three-year effort to be the first to navigate an autonomous underwater robot completely around the Indian Ocean. The mission was conducted as part of the global Challenger Glider Mission as a contribution to the Second International Indian Ocean Experiment (IIOE-2). At sea operations were conducted by Rutgers University and the University of Western Australia, with shore support provided by scientists from the US, UK, Australia, Spain, South Africa, Brazil, Germany, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Leg 1 from Perth, Australia to Colombo, Sri Lanka was flown by Rutgers underwater glider RU29, setting a new undersea world record for distance, covering the 7,570 km in 330 continuous days at sea. RU29 beat the team’s previous world record of 7,420 km set by Glider RU27 in the historic first crossing of the North Atlantic in 2009. RU29 is already the first underwater glider to circle the South Atlantic from 2013 to 2016. RU29 will soon begin the second leg of the Indian Ocean circumnavigation on a similar 7,500 km mission from Sri Lanka to South Africa. Glider RU29 is re-christened Challenger with Indian Ocean water at the University of Western Australia glider port in Perth, Australia. L to R: Chip Haldeman, Rutgers glider pilot; Nick D’Adamo, Head – Perth Programme Office of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO and IOC IIOE-2 Coordinator; Scott Glenn, Rutgers Professor; Charitha Pattiaratchi, University of Western Australia Professor; Dr. Christopher Back, Liberal Senator for Western Australia and Chair, Senate Foreign Affairs, Defense & Trade Legislation Committee; and Dennis Stanley, UWA Glider Pilot. On board the glider are flags from participating nations, including the United States, Australia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Spain, Germany, Brazil and South Africa, plus a challenge coin from NOAA Administrator, Dr. Kathryn Sullivan. Glider RU29 is deployed on November 4, 2016 offshore Perth, Australia from a recreational diving vessel with Rutgers divers in the water and University of Western Australia scientists on board the ship. The track (red) of RU29 from Perth, Australia to Colombo, Sri Lanka. A swimmer from the Sri Lankan recovery vessel is the first to touch RU29 on September 30, 2017 after 330 days at sea. RU29 is lifted aboard a Sri Lankan whale watching vessel by a team from the Sri Lanka, Australia, and the U.S. RU29 is prepared for a welcoming ceremony in Colombo, Sri Lanka organized by Prof. Chari Pattiaratchi (right). Dr. Asha de Vos (left) served as Master of Ceremonies. Displayed flags include U.S., Sri Lanka and Rutgers (on stands), NOAA and Explorers Club (side of table), and the international partners (tabletop). A traditional Sri Lanka oil lamp was lighted to open the ceremony. Challenger Ocean Glider Welcome Ceremony, Colombo, Sri Lanka. October 2, 2017. Left to Right: Dave Aragon, Rutgers University; Travis Miles, Rutgers University; Michael Cragun US Embassy Representative; Hon Eran Wickremaratne, Sri Lankan State Minister for Finance; Hon Bryce Hutcheson, Australian High Commissioner; Chari Pattiaratchi, University of Western Australia; and Scott Glenn, Rutgers University.

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