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SeaBED Away

August 30, 2011

WHOI Scientist Hanumant Singh (left) and graduate student Clayton Kunz steady a SeaBED autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) as it is hoisted above the deck of the icebreaker Oden during the Arctic Gakkel Vents Expedition (AGAVE) in the summer of 2007. Singh and his colleagues developed the vehicle specifically for deep-ocean dives beneath the ice cover of the Arctic Ocean and, on this cruise, equipped it to search for hydrothermal vents. Once water samples confirmed chemical signs of hydrothermal activity, the team programmed one of two SeaBED vehicles to conduct a detailed search of the seafloor nearby. (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)