Oceanus Online Archive
Alvin‘s Fun Facts
Here are answers to some of the questions people have asked about the deep-sea research submersible in its first half-century.
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Alvin‘s Animals
From orange octopi and furry yeti crabs to the largest known anemone, pilots and scientists diving in the Alvin submersible continue to find amazing marine creatures.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Chris German
From the beginning of 2011 to May 2013, Alvin, the U.S. science community’s only human-occupied submersible dedicated to deep-sea research, underwent a major overhaul and upgrade to greatly enhance its capabilities.…
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At 50, Alvin Gets an Extreme Makeover
The deep-sea research submersible Alvin returned to service in March 2014 after undergoing an historic overhaul that significantly enhanced its capabilities.
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Bringing Alvin Back on Board
Crew members of the research vessel Atlantis play crucial roles in recovering the submersible after its day on the bottom of the ocean.
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Happy 50th Birthday, Alvin
Five years before we landed a man on the moon, a stubby submersible was built to take people to the bottom of the ocean. Alvin was commissioned on June 5, 1964.
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Trailblazer in the Ocean
On June 5, 1964, a stubby submersible with a not-so-bold name was commissioned on the dock of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, marking the beginning of a new era of deep-sea exploration
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Rebuilding Alvin: Don Peters
More than 100 people at WHOI played roles in redesigning and reconstructing the new Alvin. Don Peters, senior engineer, headed the team that reconfigured the sub to accommodate a larger sphere and added weight.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Logan Driscoll
The new Alvin has a new, slightly larger personnel sphere. Still, getting all the necessary equipment to fit inside the sphere took a Herculean effort.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Durante & Skowronski
The new Alvin has a new, slightly larger personnel sphere. Still, getting all the necessary equipment to fit inside the sphere took a Herculean effort.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Bruce Strickrott
Now that the newly upgraded Alvin has resumed operations, a pilot and scientist describe how some of the new features of the submersible are changing the way they are using the vehicle.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Humphris & Strickrott
Now that the newly upgraded Alvin has resumed operations, a pilot and scientist describe how some of the new features of the submersible are changing the way they are using the vehicle.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Anthony Tarantino
Anthony Tarantino, assistant project manager for the upgrade, explains the electrical systems in the new Alvin.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Rod Catanach
Engineer Rod Catanach describes the fabrication, testing, and installation of the syntactic foam that provides buoyancy for Alvin.
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Ready, Set, Dive
Before scientists go to work in the morning at the bottom of the ocean in the submersible Alvin, a team of engineers, pilots, and ship’s crew performs a carefully orchestrated choreography.
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Uncovering the Ocean’s Biological Pump
Dan Ohnemus clearly remembers the highlight of his fourth-grade class in Bourne, Mass. He and his classmates made a satellite call to scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) who…
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Drug Discovery in the Ocean
WHOI scientists are investigating a wide range of unexplored microbes that produce chemicals with potential therapeutic value.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Jonathan Howland
The 25th installment in our series on the people at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who helped design and build the new and improved version of the submersible Alvin.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Phil Forte
A new installment in our series on the team of people at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who helped design and build the new and improved version of the submersible Alvin.
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Of The River and Time
The Fraser River in western Canada is flowing with tiny time capsules. Inside them is a fascinating history of Earth’s landscape and climate. For the past four years, I have…
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A River Runs Through It
The geochemical journey of carbon from the atmosphere to the river.
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Jet Stream Gets Fish in Hot Water
WHOI scientists traced a heat wave in the North Atlantic, and the disruption of fisheries that it caused, to an unusual pattern in air circulation months earlier.
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Detours on the Oceanic Highway
WHOI graduate student Isabela Le Bras is exploring newly discovered complexities of the Deep Western Boundary Current, a major artery in the global ocean circulation system that transports cold water south from the North Atlantic.
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