May 5, 2015

A Five-Minute Taste of Deep Sea Exploration

NOAA’s research ship Okeanos Explorer and its ROV Deep Discoverer (aka D2) wrapped up their latest exploration of the seafloor and marine canyons around Puerto Rico last week.

By Jennifer Frazer

Join Our Community of Science Lovers!

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

NOAA’s research ship Okeanos Explorer and its ROV Deep Discoverer (aka D2) wrapped up their latest exploration of the seafloor and marine canyons around Puerto Rico last week. Not all of the video logs summarizing their dives are up yet, but I thought this one gave a particularly nice taste of the geology and fantastic lifeforms the scientists encountered.

A quick viewing note: sclerites are another name for hard sponge spicules, and the ones the narrator is referring to with amazement are actually best seen at 2:06 — where they are the straight white lines you see embedded in the polyp at lower left — before she actually talks about them in the audio.

On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

A few more of the videos posted so far are worth a peek for the curious. Dive 8 was an engineering dive whose video log shows in under 2 minutes how much ocean exploration can resemble space exploration. It also features a terrific Go-Pro selfie of Deep Discoverer with shrimp at 0:53. And on Dive 2, the team encounters a new creature in my book: a deep sea slime star at 2:22! Chris Mah once again weighs in.

You can check out the rest of the video logs, which I understand will be posted in their entirety in the next week or so, here.

It’s Time to Stand Up for Science

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.

I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.

If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.

In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.

There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.

Thank you,

David M. Ewalt, Editor in Chief, Scientific American