Significant work is under way as the R/V Thompson is loaded and the robotic vehicle ROPOS is mobilized for the VISIONS '14 expedition, which is scheduled to sail on Sunday, July 13.
TheThompson was at the University of Washington dock for two days for science equipment loading, before moving to Pier 90 on the northern edge of downtown Seattle for ROPOS mobilization.
Student participants have been helping with the loading. For some of them it is their first taste of the kind of work required to prepare for a major oceanographic at-sea expedition.
The weather in Seattle is beautiful, even though it's a tad hot for this part of the world: a predicted high of 90 today!