November 7, 2020: Sample Collection
Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2015 Hohonu Moana. Download larger version (jpg, 1.1 MB).
The manipulator arm of remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Deep Discoverer is used to place a piece of an unknown Corallium coral species collected at 2,078 meters (6,818 feet) depth in one of the bio boxes on the ROV during the 2015 Hohonu Moana: Exploring Deep Waters Off Hawaii expedition.
The expedition marked the first time physical samples were collected using Deep Discoverer. Limited rock samples were collected to provide more information about the origin and age of the seamounts and geologic features in the region. Biological sampling was limited only to potential new species or new animal records for the Hawai’i region, so the team was surprised by the total number of samples collected – 70 – highlighting how much remains to be explored and discovered in our deep ocean.
From: Mission Summary.