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NEWPORT, Ore. - A team of scientists and educators from Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport has left for Antarctica on a research project to deploy an array of undersea hydrophones.

These hydrophones, developed at the OSU center, will record the sounds of undersea earthquakes and volcanoes, moving ice sheets, and even the vocalizations from large baleen whales, according to Robert P. Dziak, an associate professor at the university who also works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"This new ocean-sensor technology will use cold water-capable, deep-ocean hydrophones to provide the first-ever comprehensive record of the sounds of Antarctica," Dziak said. The team will recover the hydrophones on a follow-up cruise in 2006.

Bill Hanshumaker, a Sea Grant marine educator, is accompanying the researchers and will post progress reports online beginning Dec. 5. The team will post images, sound files and logs of the trip as part of the project, which is called "Sounds of the Southern Ocean." The cruise, a component of NOAA's Ocean Explorer program, will conclude on Dec. 13.

Project updates will be posted on the cruise website, http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/05sounds/welcome.html, and on an Oregon Sea Grant website, http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/extension/hanshumaker/ocean_explorations.html.

The Southern Ocean surrounds Antarctica and serves as a conduit between the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. Yet because of severe climatic conditions, much of this ocean basin remains unexplored, Dziak said.

"Polar regions play key roles in the global environment and one goal of our project is to document linkages between changes in the Antarctic ice sheet and the volcano-tectonic seafloor processes in the region," Dziak said.

After arriving in Punta Arenas, Chile, the project team is scheduled to fly to King Sejong, a Korean research station, on the Barton Peninsula of King George Island on Dec. 3. From there, they will board a Russian research vessel, the Yuzhmorgeologiya, Dec. 6, which will take them to the Bransfield Strait for deployment and testing of the hydrophones.

The research team also includes Haru Matsumoto, a NOAA engineer who helped develop the hydrophones and will coordinate the hydrophone installation; and Sara L. Heimlich, a NOAA marine mammal specialist, who will conduct visual and acoustic surveys of marine mammals. Both work at OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center.