RICHARD American Sāmoa/PRIAs 2023 Cruise
Follow the NOAA RICHARD mission as we map the ocean floor and deploy scientists to conduct coral reef assessments around American Sāmoa and the Pacific Remote Island Areas.
Images from the Reef Assessment and Mapping Mission to the Central Pacific shown in the Reef Assessment and Mapping in the Central Pacific story map.
The crew packs the Rainier while it is docked in Honolulu. We need to take fuel, food, and all of our scientific equipme...
Operational training ensures that the scientists are prepared for our upcoming mission. Candace Alagata practices launch...
Members of the NOAA Fisheries office in Hawaiʻi send the Rainier on its voyage with a big aloha! Wishing all on board fa...
NOAA divers and Rainier's hyperbaric chamber operators practice emergency procedures in the unlikely event of a dive acc...
The ship has reached Howland Island, the first survey location! Scientist Joy Smith takes a photograph of the reef every...
Scientist Ari Halperin installs a calcification accretion unit (CAU) next to a subsurface temperature recorder (STR). Th...
Scientist Joao Garriques finds himself surrounded by a school of black jacks (Caranx Lugubris). This many fish make it h...
Schools of small colorful anthias cloud the waters on the south side of Baker Island's shallow reef before it drops into...
Scientist Jan Willem Staman takes thousands of images over a field of Acropora corals during a Structure from Motion sur...
A giant grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus) hangs out under a school of black jacks (Caranx lugubris). Giant groupers can ...
Using thousands of images from a Structure from Motion survey, scientists create a three dimensional model of a reef. By...
NOAA ship Rainier floats offshore of Tutuila Island. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Dama Torres-Puliza
American Sāmoa Government Officials, members of the Office of Sāmoan Affairs, and students toured the ship while it was ...
A new team of divers have joined the NOAA Ship Rainier at Pago Pago ready to kick start Leg 3! Our team will be conduct...
The team woke up to a lovely sunrise over Swains Island and ideal conditions for launching and recovering small boats. T...
Chief Scientist, Dr. Courtney Couch, prepares to take digital photographs of the reef surface in the shallows off Swains...
We are calling the 3rd leg of the RICHARD mission the Benthic Leg. "Benthic” refers to anything associated with or occur...
This colorful hermit crab shelters amidst the branches of a cauliflower coral (Pocillopora meandrina). Corals not only b...
The team says goodbye for now to the beautiful pink hues of Swains Island having successfully completed all the planned ...
After their last safety check, the benthic divers backroll off the small boat in their SCUBA gear to begin surveys. Cred...
Rose Atoll is a National Marine Monument and a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Refuge. Though uninhabited by humans, Rose Atoll c...
Scientist Joao Garriques measures the size and condition of corals encountered along a transect. In the shallow reefs ar...
After a long day of benthic surveys at Taʻū, our divers visit Big Momma! This massive Porites is one of the largest cor...
Dive officer and chamber supervisor Mikey Kent enthusiastically awaits the benthic divers’ return to the ship after a lo...
Benthic divers were surrounded by reef squid during one of their safety stops today. It is always mesmerizing to watch c...
Every day we assess ocean conditions for the safety of our divers. Extra precautions are required during deployment and ...
Corals rely on partnerships with algae to survive. Algae live in the surface tissue of the corals and make food for them...
The twin volcanic islands Ofu and Olosega kept our divers busy underwater as they revealed a high diversity of coral spe...
Our dive team observed many different species of coral in Fagatele Bay---a National Marine Sanctuary since 1986. These b...
Sea conditions were a bit rough during the last days of diving operations. Here, the NOAA Ship Rainier conducts a power-...
Today was the last day of operations for the benthic team, having successfully met all of our surveying goals. The team...
Another team of scientists has joined the Rainier! While the last team’s focus was on gathering coral data, this group w...
On our way to Baker Island, the Rainier made a brief stop at the remote island of Kanton, a part of the island nation of...
Although we only have fish divers onboard currently, we start this leg's cruise updates with a jellyfish! Interesting fa...
This school of blackfin barracuda (Sphyraena quenie) briefly interrupted their early morning commute to check out our di...
A curious grey reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) passes over the transect line while scientist Mia Lamirand takes ...
Large table corals make excellent hiding spaces for fish like the blue-lined squirrelfish (Sargocentron tiere) during th...
A school of mimic goatfish (Mulloidichthys mimicus and some M. vanicolensis) swims over a large field of coral. Mimicry ...
Whitley's splitfin (Luzonichthys whitleyi), fusilier damselfish (Lepidozygus tapeinosoma), and other species of anthias ...
On our last day of diving, we deployed two sound traps around Howland to record the sounds of the reefs. Fish Team Lead,...
This survey site at Baker Island has vibrant coral and schools of fish. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Jeff Milisen
After ship repairs, we are finally underway again! During our transit, we prepare equipment including subsurface tempera...
Pictured here are 2 subsurface temperature recorders (STR): the one we installed in 2018 and its replacement installed t...
Fish surveys involve counting, identifying, and sizing all the fish that swim into a survey area – which can be harder t...
A diver reels in a transect line after installing instruments that will measure reef growth and erosion. These structure...
Sometimes it is challenging to find a secure location for the instruments! Scientist Ari Halperin finds a well-protected...
Scientists survey different depths of reef to get an accurate picture of overall reef health. We encounter all kinds of ...
A diver from our Ocean and Climate team installs a new temperature logger and retrieves the old one that has been collec...
Coral reefs come in all shapes and sizes! Here a diver swims over a large pillar of coral while counting fish. Credit: N...
This buoy is attached to an instrument that measures pH levels in the water. Our local partners from the National Marine...
A diver swims towards the survey area carrying many pieces of equipment to perform a fish survey. The reel has a line th...
After surveying, a diver reels up the transect line. This line defines the area where the divers count and identify fish...
A diver takes photographs of the reef to analyze later. These photos tell us how much coral is present on the reef, how ...
Leg 7 begins! During our in port in Apia, the capital and largest city of the Independent State of Sāmoa, we conducted a...
Operations began with a misty morning departure from Tutuila. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Ray Boland
Today divers from the ocean and climate team and fish team got in the water at Ofu and Olosega to recover and install sc...
Across the U.S. Pacific, the fastest growing crustose coralline algae can be found at Rose Atoll because of the favorabl...
The lagoon at Rose Atoll is 1.2 miles wide and up to 65 feet deep. It is almost completely enclosed, with a narrow chann...
Fagatele Bay in Tutuila is home to diverse fish and coral populations. Branching Acropora corals are the perfect habitat...
Divers assess conditions on the north shore of Olosega before the small boat launch. Passing squalls didn't stop the tea...
Fish divers learn to identify hundreds of fish species in preparation for surveys, but sometimes an unusual suspect snea...
Divers measure reef growth by surveying both reef building organisms (like corals and crustose coralline algae), and ero...
On October 14, 1993, a long-line fishing vessel ran aground on the southwest arm of Rose Atoll. Remains from the site ha...
This helpful cleaner wrasse tends to a yellow pufferfish off the island of Ofu. Cleaner wrasses can remove and eat paras...
Getting up early to prep dive gear lends itself well to catching some epic sunrises. This morning's over Aunuʻu did not ...
Our fish team divers encounter some colorful and inquisitive coral reef fish in American Samoa. Pictured here: a dark-fi...
Tau is the easternmost volcanic island of the Samoan Islands. During the summer, the south shore is pounded by waves (to...
An adorable juvenile lemonpeel angelfish says hello to divers. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Nate Hayes
Sharing science with the community is an important part of our mission. When the Rainier docked in Pago Pago Harbor in T...
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