An international team of scientists spent two weeks exploring deep waters off the coast of Chile. They set out to characterize the microbial and macrofaunal communities surrounding the Atacama Trench. The researchers observed incredible biodiversity, collected samples for further study, and located Chile’s deepest and most northern cold seeps. At 2836 meters deep, the seeps … Continued
Searching for tiny bubbles of methane percolating from the seafloor in the deep Ocean takes a dedicated team of scientists and engineers, a robotic guide, and a healthy dose of patience and persistence. During the #AtacamaTrenchAncients expedition, an international team of scientists searched for and found the deepest methane seep documented off the coast of … Continued
Dr. Armando Azua-Bustos of the Centro de Astrobiologíca has studied the Atacama Desert for the last decade and led the #AtacamaTrenchAncients expedition to explore the deep waters adjacent to it. When we think of life in the Ocean, we imagine octopuses, whales, and other charismatic megafauna. Still, in reality, the vast majority of life in … Continued
In the past decade, Chile has actively promoted the establishment of expansive marine protected areas, including the Nazca-Desventuradas Marine Park, the Juan Fernández Sea Protected Area, and the Juan Fernández Marine Park. These areas are among the largest marine protected zones globally. The biodiversity in these regions exhibits a remarkable level of endemism, with around … Continued
What does it take to truly see the seafloor? Turns out, you must listen! Researchers on R/V Falkor (too) are testing a sonar system new to scientific seafloor mapping: Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Sonar (InSAS). Combining bathymetric data with acoustic imagery allows scientists to paint an incredibly detailed picture of the seafloor using sound beams. InSAS … Continued
From a delicate box of seashells gifted by her mother, to otherworldly ecosystems at deep-sea hydrothermal vents, Marine Biologist Verena Tunnicliffe has spent more than four decades studying our Ocean. Driven by a passion to understand the nature and functions of novel communities, she shares her experiences working on interdisciplinary teams and how diverse voices … Continued
You can’t see anything at the bottom of the ocean without the help of technology. Sailors originally created seafloor maps using weighted ropes, known as lead lines, that they would throw over the side of ships; the rope went slack when it hit bottom. After recording the depth, the sailors would create rough topographic maps … Continued
Dive into a world of unparalleled natural beauty and biodiversity in this ROV highlight reel from the #CliffReefs expedition. Our awe-inspiring journey took us through two of the most pristine and protected areas in the world, where we were fortunate to document amazing displays of nature’s splendor. The expedition’s multidisciplinary team worked to map and … Continued
A mountain range starts off the coast of Galápagos Islands and ends south of Costa Rica — as part of the Galápagos Marine Reserve, it exists in one of the largest marine protected areas in the world. In this near-pristine underwater habitat, deep-sea corals are extremely important, providing homes for fish, crustaceans and a host … Continued
“What we don’t sometimes realize is that under the water, we have this amazing topography. So you have valleys and hills and mountains, ravines, crevasses – you have places where continental plates are rubbing against each other, and that creates an entirely new space… it is a big three-dimensional connected area.” The #CliffReefs team is … Continued
