Tag: The Incredible Shrinking Cups

It’s the final cup in our series. Posting these images has been a fun way to reminisce about our adventures in the Cayman Abyss and hopefully give you a small glimpse into the more whimsical side of deep-sea research. To finish of the series, here is my favorite cup: That’ll do, pig, that’ll do.  

It’s true! There are no giant tube worms (Riftia pachyptila) at the Mid-Cayman Spreading Center (but there are smaller tube worms). What all this about?

We visited some truly majestic hydrothermal vents. What’s all this about, anyway?

There’s some seriously cool geology down at the world’s deepest known hydrothermal vents. What’s this all about?

We’re going into the Cayman Abyss! What’s this all about?

Isis checking out the Beebe Vent Field. Or Piccard, if you drive on the right side of the road. Whats this all about?

We actually watched an Oceanic White-tip take several lunges at the ROV Isis on her way down. Sadly, she was only visible on the umbilical camera (a low-res upward facing camera we use to watch the status of the ROV’s tether), which we don’t record. What’s all this about?

The anemones around Beebe weren’t quite this colorful, but they were still fantastic. What’s this all about?

What’s this all about?

One of the great traditions among deep-sea scientists is the shrinking of polystyrene cups by sending them down to our research sites. Polystyrene (or Styrofoam) is mostly empty space. When sent to the bottom of the sea, the massive pressure (an additional atmosphere for every 10 meters depths) squeezes the air out of these empty spaces … Read More “The Incredible Shrinking Cups: Welcome to the Cayman Abyss” »