Deep-Sea Habitats in the Mariana Islands I

E/V Nautilus will spend the rest of July and half of August exploring the deep sea of the Mariana Islands. In addition to the scarcity of abyssal surveys east of the Mariana Trench, only a few ancient seamounts here have been surveyed with deep-submergence vehicles. This summer, our ROV dive surveys will collect continuous visual and environmental data, as well as physical samples, to support studies of the region's biodiversity and geological context.