WHOI research associate Sean Sylva with the isobaric gas-tight (IGT) sampler, just prior to sending it to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. The sampler was developed at WHOI to collect fluids from hydrothermal vents, but its ability to hold materials at very high pressures made it the ideal device to gather oil and gas spewing from the broken Deepwater Horizon wellhead. Behind Sylva is one of the remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, that wielded the sampler. The ROV is owned and operated by the commercial firm Oceaneering.

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