Underwater Lab

Scientist Konstantinos Kormas from the University of Thessaly, technician Ellen Roosen (foreground), and SSSG tech Allison Heater recover a Deep SID instrument during a Dive & Discover cruise in the Mediterranean Sea in 2011. Deep SID (submerged incubation device) is a robotic mini-laboratory that collects samples of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, archaea, and protists, and runs experiments on them at depths up to 1,000 meters. In this case, the instrument provided the first in-place look at grazing by protists on bacteria. The yellow color indicates that Deep SID successfully mixed a preservative into its incubation tubes before the instrument was retrieved. (Photo by Cherie Winner, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)