Breaking the Ice

Engineer Casey Machado from WHOI’s Deep Submergence Laboratory guides the group’s newest vehicle, Nereid: Under Ice (NUI) into a test pool in the Coastal Research Lab recently. The remotely operated vehicle is designed to travel long distances underwater, including under sea ice. These areas are difficult to access with ROVs, but by leveraging existing light-fiber tethering technology from the HROV Nereus, the Nereid may finally be able to reach this relatively unexplored part of the ocean.(Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)