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Robotic Explorer

The new Puma autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) uses sonar, lasers, and chemical sensors to search wide areas of the ocean floor to detect the telltale signals from hydrothermal vent plumes. Researchers from WHOI depart today from Svalbard on a 40-day expedition to detect such plumes and the unusual seafloor life that may congregate around them. You can follow the expeditions with daily dispatches online and through local museum events. (Photo by Hanumant Singh, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)