Canyon Explorers

Yesterday, on the second anniversary of the founding of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monument, WHOI deep-sea biologist Tim Shank, submersible pilot Buck Taylor, and photographer Luis Lamar (left to right) became the first people to descend into the monument’s Lydonia Canyon. The trio explored the canyon using the submersible Nadir from Alucia, a research and exploration vessel operated by OceanX Media. Shank has been active for six years studying the biological diversity of the canyons, which were formed at the end of the last Ice Age, when water from melting glaciers carved deep clefts into the continental shelf, rivaling those of the Grand Canyon. (Photo by Ken Kostel, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)