Deep-Sea Habitats in the Mariana Islands I

While diving with ROV Little Hercules over 5,800 meters deep on the abyssal plains of the Western Pacific, we found this piece of marine debris that most certainly came from humans. It's a solemn reminder that our impacts on the global ocean are far-reaching.

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.