The essays below will help you to understand the goals and objectives of the mission and provide additional context and information about the places being explored and the science, tools, and technologies being used.
By Tamara Frank
Scientists will use their combined expertise in bioluminescence, taxonomy, visual ecology, imaging and molecular biology, together with the remotely operated vehicle, the Global Explorer, to continue studies of the deep-sea benthic environment in the Gulf of Mexico.
Read moreBy Sönke Johnsen
In addition to being beautiful, bioluminescence is common and almost certainly important in the open ocean.
Read moreBy Tamara Frank
Most deep-sea animals do not have color vision. They have a single, blue-sensitive, visual pigment because 1) as you go deeper through water in the ocean, all the colors disappear except for blue and 2) most bioluminescence is blue.
Read moreBy Tamara Frank
It’s critically important for the research on this expedition that we collect live animals in excellent condition, and Deep Sea Systems Global Explorer remotely operated vehicle will allow us to do so.
Read moreBy Eddie Widder
The Medusa lander is an upgrade of the Eye-in-the-Sea system that gave us phenomenal footage of deep-sea animals in their natural environments on previous expeditions.
Read moreBy Charles Messing
The Gulf of Mexico supports an extraordinary range of deep-sea habitats associated with a similarly broad diversity of seafloor features.
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