Transect Expedition to Assess Land-to-Sea Habitats via Interdisciplinary Process Studies (TEAL-SHIPS) is a collaborative program funded by UNC System Research Opportunities Initiative. This oceanographic study brings together researchers across North Carolina universities to sample ecosystem properties from the Cape Fear River plume to the Gulf Stream and the processes within.
Our BLOG page is live, and updated shortly after each expedition by a student blogger!
Project Goals
- Characterize the habitat gradient from coastal NC into the Gulf Stream, through physical, chemical, and biological seasonal snapshots.
- Determine food web interactions from archaeo-/bacterio-plankton to nekton through observations, rate measurements, and isotopic composition.
- Define a baseline of seasonal transitions to initialize model predictions of future ecological changes.
Timeline
- Expedition 8 (March, 2027)
- Bonus: Shake-down trials on UNCW’s new vessel, R/V Osprey! (TBD)
- Expedition 7 (October, 2026)
- Expedition 6 (August, 2026)
- Expedition 5 (February, 2026)
- Expedition 4 (November, 2025)
- Expedition 3 (August, 2025)
- Expedition 2 (May/June, 2025)
- Expedition 1 (February, 2025)
Institutions
Vessels
Our home at sea is the The R/V CAPE HATTERAS, owned and operated by Cape Fear Community College. Built in 1981, R/V CAPE HATTERAS has a long history of service to oceanography operating along the North American east coast from Nova Scotia to the Caribbean as a Regional Zone Research Vessel. The vessel was previously operated by the Duke/UNC Oceanographic Consortium and scheduled by UNOLS (University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System). Cape Fear Community College purchased the ship in March 2013. The vessel is being retired in late 2026 and CFCC will be receiving a new vessel. For Expeditions #7 and 8, TEAL-SHIPS will therefore switch to the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) vessel, R/V SAVANNAH operated out of Skidaway Oceanographic Institute with the University of Georgia.
Data Collected
TEAL-SHIPS is interdisciplinary, meaning our exploration includes researchers in physical, biological, and chemical oceanography. We also participate in data sharing and community outreach. Some of our sampling efforts include:
- Food web structure (from microbes to fish)
- Gulf Stream transport
- Nutrient concentrations and rates
- Water mass delineations
- Organic matter composition (including microbial metabolites)
- Microbial metabolism (transcriptomics, metabolomics, rate measurements)