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Deep Presence

February 17, 2015

WHOI biologist Tim Shank (center) and then-MIT-WHOI Joint Program student Santiago Herrera watch live seafloor video from the lab’s Exploration Command Center during a 2013 cruise on the NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer to explore deep canyons off the northeast U.S. This was Shank’s fourth year conducting a research cruise remotely, as “shore side lead scientist.” Using the remote vehicle Deep Discoverer and the ship’s telepresence capabilities, Shank’s team discovered widespread deep coral ecosystems and chemosynthetic seep sites in several canyons. Shank now also uses WHOI’s new, advanced telepresence site, the Coleman and Susan Burke Ocean Observing Operations Room. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)