During six dives in Alvin, the team collected sediments and samples of the corals and filtered the brown material off of the corals for analysis. “Collecting samples from the deep ocean is incredibly challenging, and Alvin is crucial to this kind of work,” said lead author, chemist Helen White of Haverford College. Added WHOI biologist Tim Shank, "We hope our continued monitoring of this site, including time-lapse imaging, will give us insight into the potential for long-term recovery." (Image courtesy of Chuck Fisher, Pennsylvania State University, and Timothy Shank, WHOI. Deep-sea time-lapse camera system provided by WHOI-MISO.)[back] |