The remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Tiburon is our most crucial piece of equipment. It is shown sitting on the closed moonpool doors of our ship, the R/V Western Flyer. 

• Larger image of the Tiburon with the components labeled
• Specifications for the vehicle

The benthic toolsled is attached to the bottom of the ROV for our geology dives. Its components are the manipulator arm and the sample drawer. The sample drawer is shown open on deck, full of rocks. Normally it is closed when the vehicle is operating and is opened only when a sample needs to be stowed. Partitions in the drawer help us keep the rocks in order. The rocks often look alike, all covered in manganese, but the conditions and chemistries of the eruptions are different,  so it is important to keep the samples separate so we know where each came from. 

A clam has just been vacuumed into the suction tube, and will be deposited into the biojar on the right by reversing the suction pump. The biojar lid will be closed with the manipulator. The white PVC has now all been painted black so it won't appear so bright in the video.

This equipment is used to vacuum glass particles and larval animals from cracks and crevices. The carousel of small plastic jars fitted with wire mesh will be mounted in the benthic toolsled. The hose will be held by the ROV's manipulator and a suction will be drawn by the pump (out of view). 

The box fits in a partition in the sample drawer. It is shown open, with an animal being placed into it by the ROV's manipulator. When the lid is closed, the box will hold water to protect the animals inside.

A sediment core has just been taken. The push-core is held by the ROV's  manipulator. The core tube will be put back into its holster on the swing arm, which will then be rotated back alongside the vehicle, out of the way. Back in the lab, the sediment will be extruded from the core tube and sieved.

Canvas bags on a T-handle for collecting gravel or other materials that fall out of a push-core.

Held by the ROV's manipulator, the wire on the right is placed into the fluid emitted from a hydrothermal vent to record the temperature.

Held and triggered by the ROV's manipulator, this bottle will keep the water sample inside at the pressure at which it was collected so the gases don't escape. The gases can then be extracted in the lab.

Two water sampling bottles are hung from the side of the Tiburon. They are pictured in the closed position, full of water. They were deployed in the open position and were tripped by a command from the pilots, which flipped closed the large seals at the top and bottom. After the vehicle is on deck, water is collected by opening the small white port near the bottom.

This device is used to collect volcanic glass fragments from the surface of a flow. It is made of about 450kg of lead and steel and is launched over the stern of the ship on a long, long wire. Fragments of rock that break off of the lava flow on impact are trapped in wax-tipped  mounted around the crusher. The wax is melted in the lab to liberate the rock particles for analysis.