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Aug. 16, 2025
Making our unique souvenirs
Making our unique souvenirs
Drawing with our creativity
Ready for deep-sea adventure
After compressing under the pressure at ~2000 meters depth
Aug. 13, 2025
First dredge, Full Buckets!
First dredge, Full Buckets!
The most exciting moment is seeing what we collected from the seafloor
Quick first-look classification of the rocks
Cutting the rocks to reveal the hidden treasures inside
Aug. 12, 2025
The last OBS was recovered and group photo
The last OBS was recovered and group photo
Aug. 3-12, 2025
Scientific talks during the transit
Scientific talks during the transit
Ｗe had scientific talks every day! Everyone was welcome to share, whether it was about their own research or fun scientific topics. It was a great chance to learn cool stuff!
Aug. 9, 2025
Hello Shark!
Hello Shark!
A shark showed up and stayed right next to OBS for a while. Maybe shark is just curious, or maybe it wants to join us!
Try to find the shark in the picture!
Aug. 2, 2025
Successfully recovered the first OBS!
Successfully recovered the first OBS!
After ~7 hrs of transit, we successfully recovered the first OBS! Welcome back home!
Jul. 22, 2025
SaLOON OBS recovery cruise underway!
SaLOON OBS recovery cruise underway!
After many delays, R/V Kilo Moana is finally on the way to American Samoa. We will meet her in Pago Pago and pick up 29 ocean-bottom seismographs in the Samoa-Tonga region.
Click here to see the latest position of the R/V Kilo Moana!
Jan. 3, 2025
OBS recovery cruise scheduled for July 14–30, 2025
OBS recovery cruise scheduled for July 14–30, 2025
We will sail with R/V Kilo Moana to recover all the 29 OBSs deployed in 2023. If time permits, we will also dredge some seafloor basalts. An Apply-to-Sail program is open to all graduate students, postdocs, and others <10 years post-PhD who are based in US institutions.
Sept. 8, 2024
Interview With Shawn: The SaLOON Project!
Interview With Shawn: The SaLOON Project!
https://natsci.msu.edu/news/2024-08-a-science-sea-cruise-with-shaw-wei.aspx
Dec. 22, 2023
Party!
Party!
We had a nice meal onshore! Though our chef on the ship is the best!
Dec. 21, 2023
Group Photo & The Last Onshore Day
Group Photo & The Last Onshore Day
Thank you, everyone, for contributing to this project!
Bye, R/V Thomas Tompson!
Dec. 13, 2023
Ocean Bottom Souvenirs
Ocean Bottom Souvenirs
By attaching the net full of painted foam cups to the basket, our souvenirs went on a high-pressure journey to the ocean bottom!
Dec. 7, 2023
Dredging Procedures
Dredging Procedures
We dredged rocks by scraping the ocean-bottom mountains with a basket!
Here are the pictures showing the basket and our processing procedures:
We first clean all the tiny rocks on the deck to avoid any sample contamination and wait for the basket to come up:
Then gambling and opening up the gift from the ocean:
Then, we cut the rock samples using the saw with water. The professionals will tell which samples are valuable at the first stage.
Rock samples are dried with towels and infrared lamps. After recording all the information, we could seal the bags!
Dec. 5, 2023
The Last OBS Has Been Successfully Deployed
The Last OBS Has Been Successfully Deployed
Nov. 22, 2023
With The US Embassy’s Charge D’ Affaires In Samoa
With The US Embassy’s Charge D’ Affaires In Samoa
We had a visit today from the Charge d’ Affaires Ms Horiuchi at the US Embassy in Samoa.
Here we are showing her the ocean bottom seismographs we will deploy.
Had a glance at our ship with a rainbow over it. Finally, our science crew met up (missed you, Matt on the savaii ferry!). Ended the day with a great dinner!
Oct. 31, 2023
Zooming into the Dregibility Script
Zooming into the Dregibility Script
Had an awesome Zoom chat on 10/30/23! Big shoutout to our PIs Shawn and Matt.
Brennen, the code genius, walked us through his dregibility script. Learned a ton, and super grateful to be working alongside these champs. Here’s a quick pic of our crew!”
Oct. 30, 2023
Ship Information
Ship Information
For more information, visit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RV_Thomas_G.Thompson(T-AGOR-23)
Oct. 2, 2023
Tickets Booked And Hotel Reserved
Tickets Booked And Hotel Reserved
We’ve booked air tickets for Apia, Samoa and hotel rooms for the upcoming cruise. Our cruise will leave Apia on Nov. 24 and get back to Apia on Dec. 21. Looking forward to the seagoing expedition!
Mar. 2, 2023
Thomas G. Thompson!
Thomas G. Thompson!
The cruise for our OBS deployment and dredging is changed to 11/23/2023-12/23/2023. We will sail with R/V Thomas G. Thompson from Apia, Samoa to Apia. Let’s hope there is no further delay and we’ll get all permits and clearance smoothly.
Nov. 11, 2022
Kilo Moana!
Kilo Moana!
The cruise for our OBS deployment and dredging is tentatively scheduled from Oct. 8, 2023 to Nov. 12, 2023. We will sail with R/V Kilo Moana from Suva, Fiji to Pago Pago, American Samoa. Let’s hope there is no further delay and we’ll get all permits and clearance smoothly.
Sept. 1, 2020
Funded By NSF!
Funded By NSF!
Our proposal has been funded by the National Science Foundation! https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1928946
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