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Going Camping

The Camera Sampler, or “CAMPER,” towed vehicle is lowered over the stern of the icebreaker Oden during engineering tests in June 2007 in the Arctic Ocean. CAMPER was designed to be lowered to the seafloor to scoop or vacuum up rocks, sediments, and living creatures. The vehicle was built as a complement to two new autonomous underwater vehicles built specifically for the difficult challenges of operations in the Arctic ice. Researchers hope to discover exotic seafloor life and submarine hot springs in a region of the ocean that has been mostly cut off from other ecosystems for at least 26 million years. (Photo by Hanumant Singh, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)