The little sub that could: Woods Hole tests the limits of science with ‘Alvin’ submersible
Swimmers Matt Skorina and Kaitlyn Beardshear prepare Alvin for recovery after a dive. Skilled divers attach lines that allow for the 40,000-pound vehicle to be winched back up to the research vehicle Atlantis after a day of exploration. (Photo by Marley Parker ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
There is brief discussion about the difficulty of getting the zoomed-in camera to center on the animal, resting on a seafloor puckered with ancient pillow lava at the Mid-Cayman rise - a divergent plate boundary at one of the deepest points on the floor of the Caribbean Sea, near the Cayman Islands.
"Let's go nice and slow with this. Nice and slow," the first scientist says, his voice measured and calm. "Ok...line it up for the shot."