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Alvin Gets the Once-Over

A curious “Dumbo” octopus (Grimpoteuthis) investigates deep-submergence vehicle Alvin during a dive to hydrothermal vent fields in the East Pacific Rise in November, 2007. During this research cruise aboard R/V Atlantis, biologist Lauren Mullineaux headed a team studying dispersal of larvae from vent areas and colonization of fresh vent fields by tube worms and other deep-sea creatures. The dive was the first for Skylar Bayer, who was a Summer Student Fellow at the time and later became a student in the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography. Bayer wrote a daily blog about her experiences on the cruise.(Photo courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Archives)