Wide Eye Productions just wrapped up a shoot in the South Pacific on board an oceanographic research vessel. The shoot documented a study of the Samoan Passage, a deep underwater canyon and “choke point” in the Pacific Ocean. University of Washington Oceanographer Matthew Alford contributed this report about the voyage. You can read more of his Samoan Passage blog, here.
A strange feeling going back to Samoa on a very rainy day after this most strange cruise. We accomplished our primary goal of obtaining a new high-resolution map of the seafloor in our study region.
We also obtained about 500 GB of wonderful footage of our work, filmed by our most excellent vidoegraphers.
We demonstrated the viability of the concept of Crush Cam. Many people wrote in after the article on the UW Today website suggesting items to crush in the future. I plan to obtain some funds to properly develop an underwater camera and lighting system, using pressure cases that will not endanger the CTD or other instruments.
Because of the implosion, we were not as successful as we had hoped in obtaining pilot measurements for next summer’s cruise. However, we did obtain some. We confirmed the flow is strongly northward – and initial indications are that it might be as strong as 30 cm per second, which is hugely energetic and fast for an abyssal flow. We also got some valuable estimates of the vertical scales of the overturns – which is jargon for saying how strong the turbulence and mixing is and our ability to observe it with our tools.
Most importantly, we are all safe and sound. And we did not lose any of our instruments (though we damaged some).
Now, it’s time for some relaxation – John and I will now check into a surf resort on the south shore of the island of Savaii. Forecast is for a small south swell – 4’ at 15 seconds – so I’m hoping for some fun. I also can’t wait to see my wife and daughter, just after that.
