April 30, 2021: Sample Collection
Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Deep Connections 2019. Download larger version (jpg, 1.1 MB).
The robotic arm of remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer reaches out to collect a sample of unidentified coral during a dive in the Gully Marine Protected Area, which protects the largest submarine canyon in the Western North Atlantic.
In a deliberate contrast with sampling that typically occurs on conventional research expeditions, the objective of exploration sampling that occurs on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer expeditions is solely to achieve a broad characterization of a dive site, including the physical, chemical, geological, and biological environments in the area of interest. Exploration sampling is intended to acquire a limited number of physical specimens to provide a general representation of the biological and geological settings for a given dive site or area of interest. Collected samples are freely available upon request following an expedition.