OOI Open House in Pacific City, Oregon

Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Audience for John Delaney's Talk

John Reardon, L3-MariPro (facing camera), Pete Barletto, OOI University of Washington (holding bottle), David Blau, TE SubCom (back to camera)  "christening" the shore end of the OOI undersea cable that was landed on July 12, 2011.

--Photo by Allison Fundis, OOI Education and Public Engagement Liaison, University of Washington

"Christening" the first cable landed

Captivated by Cables

A visitor at the OOI Open House on July 13, 2011 at the Kiawanda Community Center in Pacific City, Oregon, leans in for a closer look at the submarine cable display provided by TE SubCom.

--Photo by Mitchell Elend, OOI Science Technician,University of Washington

Captivated by Cables

From noon to 3 pm on Wednesday, July 13, the OOI hosted an Open House at the Kiawanda Community Center in Pacific City, Oregon. On display were underwater video from one of the OOI study sites, the hydrothermal vents of the Juan de Fuca ridge; posters describing OOI science; a glider from Oregon State University; and OOI staff to explain the displays and answer questions.

A packed house listened to a presentation given by Dr. John Delaney, Professor of Oceanography, University of Washington, and Director and Principal Investigator of the regional component of the OOI. Other guest speakers were Dr. Timothy Cowles, Vice President & Director, Ocean Observing Programs, Consortium for Ocean Leadership; Dean Mark Abbott of the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State; and Mark Labhart, member of the Tillamook County Board of Commissioners.

The Open House was followed by a brief outdoor ceremony at the OOI cable landing site where Pete Barletto, University of Washington Chief Operating Officer of the OOI Regional Scale Nodes, John Reardon, OOI Regional Scale Nodes Program Manager for L3-MariPro; and David Blau, Director Shore End and Terrestrial Cable forTE SubCom, described the cable landing process and "christened" the cable with a bottle of Oregon sparkling wine.

We thank our sponsors for support of the OOI cable landing events: L3-MariPro, TE SubCom, CoastCom Inc, and Tillamook Light Wave.

--Nancy Penrose, OOI Communications Coordinator, University of Washington