(Very) Deep Sea Animals of the Marianas Abyssal Plain
The photo album was created by the NA179 onboard Communications Team.
During the NA179 expedition, we dove ROVs Atalanta and Little Hercules to some of the deepest points in Nautilus history. The first Little Hercules dive of the season (L1014) took us over 5,800 meters deep on the abyssal plain habitat in the far northeastern corner of the US EEZ in CNMI. This area has never been explored by vehicles before. While some may think the deep abyssal plain is bereft of life, these photos prove just how wrong that sentiment is. From crustaceans to fish to mollusks to sea cucumbers, we saw an amazing diversity of life living amongst the sediment.
Deep-Sea Habitats in the Mariana Islands I
This expedition will focus on exploring the Mariana region- one of the ocean's most tectonically and volcanically dynamic locations, marked by the Earth’s deepest oceanic trench, some of the most active submarine volcanoes, and some of the oldest seafloor on the planet.
