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Sweet Hitchhiker

This sea urchin was collected from the ocean floor near the Galapagos Rift in June 2002. The hitch-hiking urchin was found in the basket on the front of the Alvin submersible only after all the other samples had been removed. It is very small this microscope photo belies the size of a body that is only about 1 centimeter in diameter. (Photo by DSV Alvin dive crew, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)