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Today's update is provided by Jean Marcus, from the University of Victoria. Area of Study: 21º N, East Pacific Rise Site: Hanging Gardens Our day got off to a bit of a slow start.
Our usual 6:30 a.m. launch was delayed as the ROV
Tiburon’s robotic arm was misbehaving. The ROV had to come
back on deck for some last-minute repairs, but the ROV
pilots fixed it quickly, and we were back in the water by 9 a.m. It is
no small task to keep such a complex and sophisticated piece of machinery
operating smoothly! Even with daily maintenance, trouble-shooting is a
major part of successfully operating a deep-sea submersible.
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signposts to point you in the right
direction! There are, however, telltale signs that you’re getting near:
typical deep-sea species such as sponges and surpulid worms tend to
increase in density near vent sites to take advantage of the localized
productivity. During our search, we stumbled across a beautiful
“golf-ball” sponge (Chondrocladia sp.) perched on the edge of a
wall. To me, this animal looks like something right out of the 1970s! The
biology of this particular species is unknown, but it may be a carnivorous
sponge that feeds on living prey like other species of the Cladorhizidae.
After admiring the sponge for several minutes, our search for Hanging
Gardens continued…
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