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Deep Diver

May 11, 2012

The hybrid remotely operated vehicle (HROV) Nereus is a one-of-a-kind vehicle that can operate either as an autonomous, free-swimming robot to conduct wide-area surveys, or as a tethered vehicle for close-up investigation and sampling of seafloor rocks and organisms. On its maiden dive in May 2009, the vehicle successfully reached the deepest part of the world’s ocean—Challenger Deep in the western Pacific Ocean. During its second expedition in October 2009 it investigated hydrothermal vents along Earth’s deepest mid-ocean ridge in the Cayman Trough. In 2013, as part of the newly funded HADES project, Nereus will be used to conduct the first systematic study of life in ocean trenches—the deepest marine habitat on Earth. (Photo by Advanced Imaging and Visualization Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)