TEAL-SHIPS

News

  • Coming Soon! Expedition #7 “Sev-annah!”

    October 18-24, 2026

    We will be returning to the R/V Savannah with plans to leave the dock this time and complete our usual transect. Since this port adds a day of transit in either direction, we will be adding some opportunistic stations at the Charleston Bump and profiling the shelf break. Stay tuned!

    We plan to post daily cruise blogs during this trip!

  • Permission to Board!” Open House at UNCW’s Center for Marine Science

    October 3, 2026

    TEAL-SHIPS will host a booth at CMS’ annual Open House. This year, the theme is “Permission to Board!” Celebrating UNCW’s new research vessel, the R/V Osprey. Reservations to tour the vessel are fully booked, but come chat with us about the type of research that we do on vessels like this!

  • Science Communication and Coffee at Trinity Landing

    October 1, 2026

    Our neighbors at Trinity Landing Retirement Community have been very supportive and interested in the type of research and student education TEAL-SHIPS does. Today, students and scientists have been invited over for a coffee hour to talk more about student research opportunities and connect with our neighbors. Thank you Trinity for the invite!

    Seniors also colored cups in May for us to crush at sea (see Outreach Link for more details and the story book), so we will be returning their shrunken art projects to them as well!

  • Expedition #6 (FR): “Farewell to Hatteras”

    August 2026

    We’re doing it! Cruise 6 is back on the books, now for a summer timepoint. Summer has been productive with sample processing from the last year of work, but we are anxious to get back out there. This cruise promises to be eventful: nearly every group that has ever requested samples from our program is participating this cruise, we are recovering our mooring that has been measuring the current of the Gulf Stream (see Feb 2025 below), it will be our last time aboard the R/V Cape Hatteras before she is retired, and there are a few fun surprises even the science team doesn’t know about yet. Check back through mid August and cross your fingers for us that this trip will be successful!

    The R/V Cape Hatteras has had a long career supporting scientific research. She is currently owned and operated by Cape Fear Community College. The captain and crew of the Hatteras have been wonderful to work with: helping us build our transect, indulging our operations, and working with us to train students. We very much appreciate all we have been able to accomplish aboard with this team and will be so sad it is our last cruise. To learn more about the ship and it’s history, see https://cfcc.edu/marine-technology/r-v-cape-hatteras/. CFCC’s new vessel is expected to arrive later this year.

    R/V Cape Hatteras sails into the sunset on TEAL-SHIPS Cruise #2 in May 2025. PHOTO BY: JEFF JANOWSKI/UNCW

  • Expedition #6: “Six on Savannah” POSTPONNED

    May 2026

    After several attempts at a spring cruise, we made it to the R/V Savannah in Georgia! We were so excited for a new experience on a UNOLS vessel but, sadly, were unable to go out. At least we got to see the ship and we are looking forward to working with this vessel and crew for future cruises! In the meantime… it’s back home with all our gear (the sad part) for now. Stay tunned.

  • Expedition #5: “Fin-tastic Five”

    Jan 2026

    TEAL-Shippers kicked off Year 2 with hopes of completing most of the transect- a challenge in the winter. Last year, on Cruise 1, the researchers made it to Station 3C despite rough waves and sea sickness. This year, we hoped to make it to Station 4 on the inner edge of the Gulf Stream, but despite feeling better on board, rough weather and unpredictable storm systems prevented us from making that far out and we returned to port early, just in time for North Carolina to experience it’s largest snow storm in 36 years!

    To the third graders who sent us cups- the cups are safe! We will try again in May to get to a deep enough station to crush the cups and mail them to your teachers before the end of the school year!

  • Jan 2026: TEAL-SHIPS presents at neighboring Trinity Landing Senior Center

    UNCW’s Dr. Bradley Tolar and postdoc Melanie Cohn presented about the goal of TEAL-SHIPS to gain a better understanding of ocean currents, the food web, physical circulation and weather.

    Tolar and Cohn shared the microbial world of archaea and how they adapt to the changing environment with Trinity Landing residents.

  • Expedition #4: “For the Love of Water”

    Nov 2025: Third grade students from Chardon Local Schools are learning about “Why scientists study the ocean”.

    Six classrooms will be sending questions for the TEAL-SHIPS Cruise #4 participants to answer. The kids will also send styrofoam cups they have colored for us to crush by sending to the bottom of the ocean! Oceanographers will crush foam cups once a cruise at their deepest station by filling a net with the crafts and tying the net to the CTD rosette which is sent down to the ocean floor for water collection. The immense pressure of the ocean pressing down on the cups causes them to shrink. Coloring cups is a fun activity to help the science team stay sane and bond and the resulting “crushed cups” are like a trophy for oceanographers!

    We look forward to interacting with the students from:

    • Mrs. Dinko’s Class (Munson Elementary)
    • Mrs. Burress’ Class (Munson Elementary)
    • Mr. Buemi’s Class (Munson Elementary)
    • Mrs. Woodrow’s Class (Munson Elementary)
    • Mrs. Gillette’s Class (Park Elementary)
    • Mrs. Force’s Class (Park Elementary)
    • Mrs. Whiting’s Class (Park Elementary)

  • Collaborative Science in Action: Drifter Deployment to study the Gulf Stream and Hurricane Impacts.

    Aug 15-18, 2025

    • TEAL-SHIPS co-PI Ata Suanda was sent 9 drifters by NOAA’s Global Drifter Program (GDP).
    • Drifters report sea surface temperature, pressure, wave height, and more to an open-source data base that is commonly used in weather and storm prediction models.
    • There were few drifters present in the Gulf Stream, so TEAL-SHIPS deployed several across our transect, filling in the data gap. See the path that they’ve taken here.
    • Coincidentally, Hurricane Erin is expected shortly after our August cruise, and these drifters were providing data featured by the Storm Center Communications with GeoCollaborate to track the storm. See the project shout-out and how the data was used here.

  • Expedition #3: “Third Time’s the Charm”

    Aug 2025

    • The 3rd time was indeed, the charm! We visited every single station, had great weather, and no issues sampling! Visit the Cruise Blog to see our science party at work!
    • We also deployed 9 drifters ahead of Hurricane Erin, a record-breaking first major storm of the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season. The drifters are actively feeding data into storm prediction models as the hurricane passes by the Outer Banks.

  • Expedition #2: “Double Trouble”

    May/June 2025

    • Reached all 6 stations on the transect
    • Successful mooring deployment
    • Beautiful weather
    After the CTD controller was rendered unusable, Crew and Science Party rigged a mechanism to fire individual niskin bottles above an instrument profiler, allowing science to continue. PHOTO BY: JEFF JANOWSKI/UNCW

  • TEAL-SHIPS External Media Coverage following Expedition #1

    Feb-Mar, 2025

  • Expedition #1: “The Shakedown”

    Feb 10-13, 2025

    Researches departed on the R/V Cape Hatteras of Cape Fear Community College for the first of 8 transects to the Gulf Stream. The team sampled the first 3 of 6 Major stations, testing instrumentation, applying new protocols, and the first of their data. Stormy weather and a “confused sea-state” put the team to the test!

  • TEAL-SHIPS Project Announced!

    Jan 2025

    Read more from the University of North Carolina Wilmington at: https://uncw.edu/research/projects/transect-expedition/

  • UNCW ROI Project: TEAL-SHIPS Awarded!

    Jul 2024

    “UNC System announces grants for groundbreaking research” as part of the UNC System Research Opportunities Initiative (ROI)

    TEAL-SHIPS Transect Expedition to Assess Land-to-Sea Habitats via Interdisciplinary Process Studies, Principal investigator: Dr. Bradley Tolar

    • ROI focus area: Coastal marine sciences
    • Award amount: $1.5 million over three years
    • Institution: University of North Carolina Wilmington
    • Collaborating institutions: East Carolina University, NC State University, UNC-Chapel Hill

    TEAL-SHIPS will initiate a strategic research partnership for coastal and marine science within the UNC System that establishes a seasonal interdisciplinary expedition to study coastal land-sea habitats from the Cape Fear River to the Gulf Stream.