WHOI scientist Joan Bernhard and colleagues from MBARI and WHOI tested whether a proposed method to remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sequester it in the deep sea would damage single-celled benthic organisms called foraminifera. Using a remotely operated vehicle, the scientists pushed specially-constructed cylinders into seafloor sediments more than 3,000 meters (9,000 feet) deep in Monterey Bay, Calif. They directly injected a CO2 hydrate slurry onto the sediments, left them in place for a month, then retrieved them to determine survival of the cells. (Photo courtesy of Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)[back]
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