On Wednesday, 23 October 2013, Folger Pinnacle platform received its last maintenance and clean-up service for the year; the right in time before the November storms will be surging across the coast again. The experienced divers from Pelagic Technologies and the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre swapped the Folger ReefCam (also known as Outreach camera) for an overhauled and nicely cleaned one, installed several test instruments (development of the Ocean Networks Canada Innovation team) and, finally, thoroughly cleaned all instruments hosted on the Folger Platform.
Stunning improvements in the data quality were observed in the 3D Camera Array (see picture), and also the current-meters provide now more...
The evening of May 22, 2013 is fair and sunny. The seas are calm, and the atmosphere on board is cheerful. This afternoon, we finished the last tasks on the NEPTUNE Canada portion of the Ocean Networks Canada Installation and maintenance cruise. We are on the long transit back to Saanich Inlet to continue the last 2 days of work on the VENUS network. Thanks to the Tully crew and the ROV crew, along with all the cruise participants for making the operations a success!
Folger Pinnacle instrument platform, part of Ocean Networks Canada's Folger Passage site, is now back online, streaming data and video from 23 m below sea level in Folger Passage.
The Folger Pinnacle instrument platform was installed on August 23, 2010 and connected on February 2, 2011 by a combined team of Pelagic Technologies divers, the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre (BMSC), and Ocean Networks Canada. Since then, a wealth of data has been gathered by instruments affixed to this 23m deep platform. However, in recent months, Dilumie Abeysirigunawardena, one of our data specialists, noticed a drop in the instruments’ data quality and sensitivity. Some stopped working altogether, while signals from others have gradually diminished. (See, for example, the drop-off in irradiance from our light sensor below – you’d normally expect June to be brighter than February!)
Our Folger Pinnacle instrument platform is now up and running after a team of divers plugged in the extension cable connecting it to Folger Passage node and the rest of the NEPTUNE Observatory last week. Glenn Hafey of Pelagic Technologies made the actual connection after he and his 4-man team dove 23m to the platform from the Bamfield Marine Science Centre’s 9.8m aluminum dive support boat, the Barkley Star.
