Today there was much cause for rejoicing on the Atlantis! As you may have read here earlier in our expedition, we fought with the stuck data logger on the head of the observatory (CORK) at Site 1027. We tried numerous strategies to pull that thing out, a task that also went unfinished last summer using the JR. We had deployed a special tool – a top hat extraction tool, developed just for this task, to pull it out. JASON had pushed and pulled and turned and twisted, to no avail, before chief scientist Andy Fisher decided that we should move on and complete other work before continuing any longer.

Today we returned to 1027 to try again. Using a new strategy of pulling directly with Medea (JASON’s assistant ROV, so to speak) and applying direct upward pressure – something that required special permission from shore to try – the team was able to successfully unlodge the stubborn top hat, along with the data logger! After it was freed, it was floated up to the surface and all hands came out on deck to watch the crane pluck it from the seafloor and place it gingerly on the deck of Atlantis. There was much cheering by all!

This is a major success and made everyone quite happy. Cheers to innovation, perserverence, and hard team work!