You want to see strange new worlds, places which have never been visited by any human being? Observe creatures, which seem to be coming from a different planet?
Well, all you need to do is, to sit down on your sofa, start YouTube, and go to the live streams of oceanexplorergov, the channel of OER. NOAA’s Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER) is the USA’s first and only federal program dedicated to expanding our understanding of the ocean through systematic exploration, targeted research, and the use and advancement of undersea technologies. If you're looking for the official source of information about OER, please visit http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/
OER is using a converted naval vessel, that is equipped with a remote controlled dive robot system.
The 2 robots, Sirius and Zeus, are connected with a cable and also connected to the ship the same way. They can dive to a depth of over 18,000ft. Zeus, the main robotic unit, is equippet with state of the art video cameras, as well as a remote controlled hydraulic arm to collect samples. Sirius, a smaller unit, is also equipped with video cameras and usually hovers about 50ft above Zeus, to provide a overview of the area Zeus is operating in.
In all, oceanexplorergov delivers 3 live streams: of the main Zeus camera, of the Sirius camera, and one that shows the display of the navigation computer of the system. On the audio side, the dives are commented by various OER scientists, who deliver profound information to the things that are seen. Although, I've heard them say things like "wow, I have no idea what that is". But that is not from a lack of expertise - just some stuff down there is so unknown to anyone yet.
Overall, they operate in campaignes of about 2 weeks at a time, in which they dive almost every day, except the ship transits to a different region or the weather does not permit diving.
Here the direct YT links to the streams:
Stream 1 (main):
Stream 2:
Stream 3:
The next dive is sheduled for today, in relative shallow waters - "only" at around 1,800ft. The action starts at about 21:00 GMT.
So, if you are interested in seeing something really unusual... Catch you later on the sea floor! :)
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From @beatminister