Cruise Report: EX-14-04 Legs 2 & 3, Our Deepwater Backyard: Exploring the Atlantic Canyons and Seamounts (ROV and Mapping)

The Our Deepwater Backyard: Exploring Atlantic Canyons and Seamounts expedition (EX-14-04 Legs 1-3) was a combined mapping and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) expedition to the canyons and seamounts of the Northwest Atlantic that took place between August 9 and October 7, 2014. Operations during this 46-day at sea expedition included a combination of ROV dives in support of NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) and it’s partner priorities as well as exploratory mapping operations targeting areas containing no or poor quality modern mapping data. During the expedition, Legs 2 and 3 focused on the U.S. Northeast Canyons, inter-canyons, and seamount areas while exploring six seamounts and nine canyons. During the expedition, 16 Deep Discoverer ROV dives were conducted from 376 m to 4689 m water depth for a total of 120 hours of bottom time, and surveyed using EM 302 multibeam sonar 15,161 square km over 26 days at sea. This report contains summaries of the operations, including mapping operations, outreach activities, and cruise schedule. All data associated with this expedition have been archived and are publicly available through the NOAA Archives. 2020 Ocean Exploration Program Submitted https://doi.org/10.25923/cgd6-pq50 Public Domain 1877