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Jason On Deck

December 30, 2013

The remotely operated vehicle Jason, shown here during a 2011 cruise, will soon head out aboard research vessel Atlantis on a Dive and Discover cruise to study the ecosystem of hydrothermal vents at a site in the Pacific Ocean about 600 miles south of Manzanillo, Mexico. Jason will work nearly full-time during the expedition, staying on the seafloor for days at a time and sending samples to the surface on buoyant “elevators” that rise to the surface when a handler releases them by remote control. Pilot and expedition leader Matt Heintz will lead the Jason team to gather samples of fluids and microbes from the vents.(Photo by Cherie Winner, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)