The claw on the manipulator arm of remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer reaches towards an interesting sponge collected at 1,199 meters (3,934 feet) depth during the eighth dive of the second Voyage to the Ridge 2022 expedition. This Polymastia sponge was one of several samples collected over the course of the dive.
Reaching Towards A Sponge
Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Voyage to the Ridge 2022. Download larger version (jpg, 1.2 MB).

The claw on the manipulator arm of remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer reaches towards an interesting sponge collected at 1,199 meters (3,934 feet) depth during the eighth dive of the second Voyage to the Ridge 2022 expedition. This Polymastia sponge was one of several samples collected over the course of the dive.