OPB: Battling crabs 250 miles off the Oregon Coast, while studying an underwater volcano

“OPB science reporter Jes Burns shares a strange tale of “crabotage” that emerged as scientists aboard the research vessel Thompson tried to answer complicated questions about the Axial Seamount.” Read the whole story.

Alvin lowered into the water off Atlantis, swimmers on top

On Wednesday, June 29, 2022, human occupied vehicle Alvin submerged for the first time since returning to port for repairs in the fall. This was a tethered wet test, an opportunity to make sure the sub is ready for diving at sea. “We go through all the systems and make sure they are working,” said…

Alvin on a crane being loaded onto R/V Atlantis

Human Occupied Vehicle Alvin is getting ready to set sail on R/V Atlantis in July to resume work to certify the sub’s new maximum dive rating of 6,500 meters (4 miles). Watch the livestream of the vehicle loading here. We’ll keep you updated as the trip unfolds with regular blog posts and pictures.

The Escanaba Trough is about 200 miles off the coast of northern California, according to NOAA’s expedition site. A team of scientists explored the area “in order to characterize the hydrothermal sulfide system within the trough” and to “learn more about the hydrothermal minerals, fluids, and organisms that live near active and inactive hydrothermal settings…

Peter Girguis holding a deep sea specimen.

Hear from Harvard University Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology—and frequent NDSF Vehicle User—on what draws him to study the creatures of the deep sea. See if you can spot all three vehicles—Alvin,Jason, and Sentry. Watch here.

When Human Occupied Vehicle Alvin’s sea trials came to an unexpected halt last November, engineers on Atlantis and at WHOI wasted no time in setting stage for the sub’s eventual return to the operation.

Learn how data collected from NDSF vehicles is moving science forward. Here are some talks featuring our vehicles at the upcoming 2022 Ocean Sciences Meeting. 28 February CT06 02 12:45pm: C-spec: a deep sea laser spectrometer for measuring the carbon system (dic and pco2), Beckett Colson, MIT-WHOI Joint Program #ROVJason 1 March DS07 02 10am:…

People in a conference room talking to people on zoom, ocean floor imagery and people's faces on zoom.

WHOI geochemist Chris German helped organize virtual planning sessions recently for AUV Sentry dives during the third of three expeditions to study seismicity along the Gofar transform fault in the eastern Pacific. Joining German, who is a co-principal investigator of the 4CAST GOFAR project, in WHOI’s AVAST (Autonomous Vehicles and Sensor Technology) facility for Sentry…

Hydrothermal vent and tube worms in the Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California.

Watch video from a ROV Jason and AUV Sentry cruise on the R/V Roger Ravelle to the Guaymas Basin the Gulf of California. This cruise was lead by Chief Scientist for Deep Submergence Anna Michel.