Preparing for deployment at dawn

As dawn breaks over the central Pacific ocean, we prepare to deploy a rosette containing 31 acoustic communication units (black cylinders). We will lower this rosette to a depth of 3.5 miles beneath the waves before testing to make sure that each one of the communication units works. These units will be installed on the ocean bottom seismometers (seen here stored on the back deck) and will allow the ship to communicate with these sensitive instruments as they detect remote earthquakes once they have been deployed on the seafloor. 

Photo credit: Zach Eilon