These are deployments during 2011 arranged chronologically (colors are same deployment)

Jan 4, 2011-- Recover D-ESP from MARS

 March 31, 2011 -- Deploy Moe w/PCR to M0 (ISUS and CTD).  This deployment to test adaptive sampling and overlaps with Kana and CANON Apr 18-29.

April 1 -- ship ESP Bruce (no PCR) to WHOI.

April 19 -- ESP-Bruce (no PCR, no ISUS, but with accelerometers) deployed at 43' 2.074" N, 70' 36.828"W. Depth 5-9m.

Lost communication sometime b/w 8-9am EST on May 17.
Iridium tracker checked, and it stopped transmitting May 11.
Sent boat out for look on May 18. Found buoy, but note radar deflector sausage is missing here and here.

Sunday, May 22 rec'd following email:

Hello Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute:
 
I just wanted to let you know that one of your research ESP NEO buoys washed up on Crane Beach in Ipswich, Massachusetts (42 41'07.48"N, 70 45'46.21"W), found  8:00 am (eastern time) this morning (5/22/2011), see attached photos.  The equipment attached  to the buoy did not appear to be damaged.  I notified personnel at The Trustees of Reservation, owners of the property (thetrustees.org), and they said they would go out and retrieve the buoy.
 
There was no PI contact listed on the buoy, and I couldn't find any information about ESP NEO on your website. So, I'm emailing the three of you assuming you would know who in your group oversees the project and equipment.
 
-Rob Vincent
rvincent13@gmail.com
603-828-5316  

Photos of damage taken by Rob Vincent:  Photo 1; Photo 2; Photo 3; Photo 4

Map of locations:  http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=213220825771739778963.0004a40bdd601babc291d

May 23.  Attempted recovery of ESP.  Message from Roman:

    We went out to the site where espbruce was moored and attempted to find it.  The weather was very poor and water was very turbid.  Using the ships depth finder we found a promising target.  In difficult conditions the divers performed a search but espbruce was not found.
    We recovered the mooring.  It looks like the cable was pulled straight out of the cone.  The top mast is bent but I cannot say if this was caused by a rough landing on the beach or boat impact.  There are no dents or gouges on the mooring.  The radio box is dry and antenna looks ok.
    Thursday the RV Gulf Challenger may be able to survey the area with a side scanning sonar.  This will be a much better way to search for espbruce. 

Message from Roman May 26:

    ESPbruce was located at  43° 02.0740 N   70° 36.8447 W at ~ 10m depth.  This position is about 19 yards from the waypoint.  So looks like it wasn't dragged and has maintained seal integrity.  We will attempt to recover it this weekend if we can get the RV Tioga.  If not will recover with the RV Connecticut on june 7th weather permitting.
 

Dates for a recovery kept moving as weather and scheduling problems arose.  Finally, Roman reported on June 15:

ESPbruce was recovered today with no visible external damage. The EM cable strain relief is still on the cable.  The recovery operation used two ships the RV Gulf Challenger and it's sister the RV Tioga.  The Challenger supported the the side scan survey and the Tioga supported the divers and lifting of the core package and its anchor.
    The side scan sonar operator advised me at the beginning of the day that he believed the esp package would be found on the bottom.  He based this opinion on the data secured by his colleague almost two weeks ago.  From his read of that run, he believed that the instrument was 15m off the bottom at that time.  Depth at this site is 49m.  He felt that the instrument was slowly sinking and that by today it was surly be on the sea floor.
    Todays side scan survey took approximately 90 minutes.  They had acquired a strong signature on the core and calculated that it was at a depth of 65 feet (~20m). The package  was still located within 10m of the original deployment site.  They dropped a marker line with a float as close to the calculated position as possible.
    At this point divers equipped with twin 80 cu ft Nitrox cylinders and electric scooters dived on the marker.  They had 70 minutes of search time.  After 42 minutes an orange sausage float attached to a spectra lift line appeared.  Then 10 minutes later a second lift bag attached to the EM cable appeared.  The divers surfaced after a total bottom time of 62 minutes.  Eight minutes to spare.  We recovered the divers.  They reported that the depth of top of the can was at 26 feet (~8m) right where it was supposed to be.
    Recovery went smoothly using a single winch equipped with a capstan attachment.  By alternately shifting the load from drum (used to lift anchor) and capstan (used to lift instrument we recovered the package and the anchor safely.

May 2 -- Recover MOE from M0 on Zephyr.  Also recovered in-situ incubators for Stanford.

July 6 -- Ship by truck D-ESP and supplies for JdF cruise.  To Newport, OR.

July 13 -- Sail for Axial and JdF (1 day late due to weather getting up to Newport)

July 20 -- recall D-ESP.  Recover all instruments.  Two more days for Dave Clague.  Ship returns July 23.

Aug 17 -- Matson picks up loaded ESP van.  Genset on truck putting out >530V so our reefer unit will not start.  Decide to send due to late hour and ship leaving tomorrow.  Van wt. w/ all ESP-Drifter gear: 15,000 lbs.

Sep 9 -- Drifting ESP deployed from Kilo Moana N of Station Aloha.  Running Bruce w/ MFB ?.

Sep 17 -- Drifting ESP recovered.  Gear shipped Oct 7 (via DHX and Matson), arrived at MBARI Oct 12..

Nov 2 -- Install ESP Gordon w/PCR on Santa Cruz Pier.  no CTD/ISUS data.  Running water quality assay Kevan Yamahara developed.

Dec 19 -- Recover from Santa Cruz Pier

DSCN1299.jpg (image/jpeg)
DSCN1320.jpg (image/jpeg)
MBA_ESP_NEO 001.jpg (image/jpeg)
MBA_ESP_NEO 002.jpg (image/jpeg)
MBA_ESP_NEO 004.jpg (image/jpeg)
MBA_ESP_NEO 005.jpg (image/jpeg)