Oceanus Online Archive
Why Did the El Faro Sink?
WHOI deep-sea vehicles and scientists played critical roles in searching the seafloor and locating the voyage data recorder of El Faro, the ship that sank in 2015 during Hurricane Joaquin, killing all 33 crew members.
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After Overhaul, Jason Is Stronger Than Ever
Jason, the workhorse remotely operated deep-sea vehicle, underwent a top-to-bottom overhaul that dramatically increased its capabilities.
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To Track a Sea Turtle
A WHOI engineer and biologist devise an autonomous system to track and film sea turtles beneath the surface, revealing a turtle’s eye view of the world.
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Beneath the Sea, the Galápagos Reveal More Marvels
The Galápagos Islands have offered biologists a natural laboratory ever since Charles Darwin’s day, but they’re also a frontier for geologists and volcanologists to test theories. The thirteen major volcanic […]
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A New Eye on Deep-Sea Fisheries
Imagine that officials charged with setting deer-hunting limits had to assess the herd’s abundance by flying over forests at night. That’s a little like what the National Marine Fisheries Services […]
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Through the Looking-Glass of the Sea Surface
Scientists are using new technology to make previously impossible measurements at the turbulent ocean surface—a crucial junction for energy exchange between the air above and the sea below.
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A Smarter Undersea Robot
Some say it is lethal to cats. WHOI scientists say it would be a boon for autonomous undersea robots.
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Bringing a Lab to the Seafloor
Scientists can’t really know if new oceanographic instruments will really work until they try them in actual conditions in the real ocean. In this case, the rubber hit the road at the bottom of the sea.
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‘Covering’ Alvin‘s History
The Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History in Weston, Mass., is having an exhibit of postal covers and artifacts related to the submersible Alvin’s 50th anniversary Oct. 3 to Nov. 2.
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High-tech Dives on an Ancient Wreck
When sponge divers first chanced upon the shipwreck off the Greek isle of Antikythera in 1900, they couldn’t have known that it would become the richest ancient shipwreck ever discovered.
But […]
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Alvin‘s Fun Facts
Here are answers to some of the questions people have asked about the deep-sea research submersible in its first half-century.
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Alvin‘s Animals
From orange octopi and furry yeti crabs to the largest known anemone, pilots and scientists diving in the Alvin submersible continue to find amazing marine creatures.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Chris German
From the beginning of 2011 to May 2013, Alvin, the U.S. science community’s only human-occupied submersible dedicated to deep-sea research, underwent a major overhaul and upgrade to greatly enhance its capabilities. […]
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At 50, Alvin Gets an Extreme Makeover
The deep-sea research submersible Alvin returned to service in March 2014 after undergoing an historic overhaul that significantly enhanced its capabilities.
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Bringing Alvin Back on Board
Crew members of the research vessel Atlantis play crucial roles in recovering the submersible after its day on the bottom of the ocean.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Don Peters
More than 100 people at WHOI played roles in redesigning and reconstructing the new Alvin. Don Peters, senior engineer, headed the team that reconfigured the sub to accommodate a larger sphere and added weight.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Logan Driscoll
The new Alvin has a new, slightly larger personnel sphere. Still, getting all the necessary equipment to fit inside the sphere took a Herculean effort.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Durante & Skowronski
The new Alvin has a new, slightly larger personnel sphere. Still, getting all the necessary equipment to fit inside the sphere took a Herculean effort.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Bruce Strickrott
Now that the newly upgraded Alvin has resumed operations, a pilot and scientist describe how some of the new features of the submersible are changing the way they are using the vehicle.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Humphris & Strickrott
Now that the newly upgraded Alvin has resumed operations, a pilot and scientist describe how some of the new features of the submersible are changing the way they are using the vehicle.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Anthony Tarantino
Anthony Tarantino, assistant project manager for the upgrade, explains the electrical systems in the new Alvin.
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Rebuilding Alvin: Rod Catanach
Engineer Rod Catanach describes the fabrication, testing, and installation of the syntactic foam that provides buoyancy for Alvin.
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Ready, Set, Dive
Before scientists go to work in the morning at the bottom of the ocean in the submersible Alvin, a team of engineers, pilots, and ship’s crew performs a carefully orchestrated choreography.
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