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Final Broadcast

May 22, 2014

WHOI biologist Tim Shank (front), engineer Casey Machado (behind Shank), and graduate student Santiago Herrera (yellow shirt) view live, high-def video of the deep seafloor during the final dive of hybrid remotely operated vehicle Nereus. Later during the May 10, 2014 dive, the vehicle imploded in the Kermadec Trench, more than 6 miles below the surface of the sea. Nereus was a one-of-a-kind vehicle built to probe the deepest reaches of the ocean. During its career, it provided unique samples of sediments and organisms and superb images and video that will help scientists answer fundamental questions about how life survives in the extreme conditions of extreme depth. (Photo by Ken Kostel, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)