EXPLORING THE OCEAN

DIVING BELL 1551

DIVING SUIT – FRENCH 1882

HELMET DIVING SUIT LEAD SOLED BOOTS

JIM SUIT DEEP DIVING

DEEP DIVING

WET SUITS AND DRY SUITS

SURVIVAL SUIT Aboard Thompson 2003

We can learn something of the history of the ocean by look at the sediments at the bottom of the sea – these might contain skeletons of animals, volcanic dust and dirt from the land. The CORER is a hollow tube that can be dropped to the bottom of the ocean to collect cylinders of this material for later study.

Analyzing core samples

The Nansen Bottle is used to collect samples at any depth The Nansen Bottle is used to collect samples at any depth. It carries thermometers to show the exact temperatures at the depth the water sample is taken.

Courtesy of REVEL (Copyright REVEL2000).

Bottom grab

Secchi disc

Plankton net

CONSHELF III Jacques Cousteau

Scripps Oceanographic Institution FLIP Scripps Oceanographic Institution

(University of Washington) SRV THOMAS THOMPSON (University of Washington)

HOV: HUMAN OPERATED VEHICLE ALVIN

Early ALVIN

(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) SRV ATLANTIS (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Tourist submersibles ATLANTIS Hawaii

AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLES AUVs AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLES

Remote Environmental Monitoring Units. REMUS Remote Environmental Monitoring Units. In June 2003, this custom-designed REMUS swam several hundred feet below the Catskill Mountains and Hudson River to inspect a 45-mile section of the Delaware River aqueduct. The TIV completed the 15-hour survey, emerging from the aqueduct with 160,000 digital photographs and 600 gigabytes of data that fills 150 DVDs. All this data is being analyzed by engineers to determine where the tunnel leaks.

JAGUAR This robotic vehicle was designed to hover in place—like a helicopter or hummingbird—and collect photographs and high-resolution sonar maps of deep ocean vent sites. “Autonomous” vehicles are programmed aboard the ship and put into the water through a hole in the ice.

HROV: Hybrid Remotely Operated Vehicle: Nereus Scientists will be able to explore remote regions of the ocean (to 10,972 meters or36,000 feet). The HROV is designed to help scientists with many research needs using a single tool.  Scientists will use the HROV for their entire mission, from seafloor surveys to sampling of rocks or deep-sea animals. Traditionally, a separate vehicle is used to conduct surveys, while another vehicle performs the close-up work and sampling. The HROV will simply transform between its two modes of operation to accomplish all these tasks.

The new Sentry autonomous underwater vehicle meets the submersible Alvin during a testing expedition off Bermuda in April 2006. Sentry is a robotic underwater vehicle used for exploring the deep ocean; it will often be used to complement Alvin by surveying large swaths of ocean floor to determine the best spots for close-up exploration. Sentry is slated to join the National Deep Submergence Facility in 2008. (Photo by Chris German, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Also known as the "plume mapper," the Puma autonomous underwater vehicle uses sonar, lasers, and chemical sensors to search wide areas near the ocean floor and detect the telltale temperature, chemical, or particulate signals from hydrothermal vent plumes. The AUV is part of a tag-team with Jaguar, with Puma being deployed first to conduct wide surveys, like a bloodhound finding a scent to find the source of mineral-rich, warm waters from the seafloor.

SeaBED is an AUV that can fly slowly or hover over the seafloor to depths of 6,000 feet (2,000 meters), making it particularly suited to collect highly detailed sonar and optical images of the seafloor. SeaBED flies about 8 feet (2.5 meters) above the seafloor, flashing its strobe light and snapping a photo every three seconds. It maintains a constant altitude and speed of a ½ knot.

The space-aged looking ABE was one of the first autonomous, robotic vehicles used for deep ocean exploration. Maintaining a constant altitude and precision navigation, ABE is programmed to fly back and forth over the seafloor (which scientists call "mowing the lawn"), surveying the seafloor with sonar to create high-resolution bathymetric maps. (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

TOW CAM - camera system is towed 100 to 300 meters behind the ship at speeds of 1/4 to 1/2 knot, the equivalent of walking at a leisurely pace. After launch researchers work from the ship's lab, where they “fly” the TowCam about 5 meters (16 feet) above the seafloor. They track its depth and altitude, as well as water temperature, and water clarity, or turbidity. This information comes through a cable that links the TowCam to the ship. The cable also allows scientists to raise and lower the camera if they encounter deeper valleys or large rocks on the seafloor. Can store up to 1800 images. Used at night when ALVIN is used during day.

The DSL-120A is an underwater vehicle that is tethered to the ship by a long fiber optic cable. Scientists use the DSL to map underwater terrain. However, instead of using light to map the bottom, it uses sound.