NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer will begin two months of dives using unmanned remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, to explore marine protected areas in the central Pacific Ocean. Starting on Aug. 1, anyone with an internet connection can virtually explore the deep sea with scientists and researchers from their computer or mobile device.
Beginning April 10, scientists aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer will begin a series of 20 dives to investigate previously unseen depths of the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean – and the public can follow along online.
During dives that are expected to go as deep as 3.7 miles, a sophisticated unmanned submarine, called a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, will broadcast live video from the seafloor, allowing anyone with Internet access to watch the expedition as it unfolds.
Alan Leonardi, Ph.D., a physical oceanographer and meteorologist who has served as deputy director of NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Lab (AOML), has been named director of NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER). Leonardi is slated to begin on Oct. 6.
Using undersea robots, satellites and high-speed Internet to send live video from the seafloor to audiences ashore, a team of NOAA-led marine archeologists discovered a ship’s chronometer where time has stood still for about 200 years at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
During a recent Gulf of Mexico expedition, NOAA and partners discovered an historic wooden-hulled vessel which is believed to have sunk as long as 200 years ago.
Through telepresence technology, satellite, and high-speed Internet pathways between ship and shore, scientists ashore view information from sensors and high-definition cameras as it is collected at sea.