Another research cruise took her back to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland in May 1971.

The Navy made available a nuclear submarine for each research cruise.

After a winter of preparation, this resulted in what was by that time the most ambitious oceanographic research cruise ever.

It was used for greater depths during the research cruises of 1903 and 1904.

Dr. Hollister's research took him around the world, and he was chief scientist on 21 of his nearly 30 research cruises for Woods Hole.

The first known specimens were collected during a series of research cruises in the Coral Sea, conducted by France and Australia in the 1990s.

The HOT program recently celebrated its 20th year in operation and the 200th research cruise occurred in February 2008.

A number of countries have committed their best research vessels, and in the 2003-2005 and 2007-2010 field phases a number of research cruise were conducted.

The presence of the gas was confirmed last month during a research cruise by scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and several universities.

Dr. Weeks said he hoped the research cruise would help explain what was going on.