you remember the viral Argentinian deep-sea expedition I was tooting about here? https://flipping.rocks/@nev/114959376410378452
well the next expedition started a few days ago! they're just a little bit north, in Uruguayan waters. mostly Uruguayan researchers, but a few folks from the Argentina one are returning! more info: https://schmidtocean.org/cruise/visualizing-the-deep-off-uruguay/
ROV SuBastian is currently streaming from Rio del Plata Cañón, 1700-1600m below sea level. here, well into the aphotic (lightless) zone, marine "snow" falls gently on a landscape of strange and brilliantly colourful creatures. current divestream: https://youtu.be/do9jTSkzr4w (see https://www.youtube.com/@SchmidtOcean/streams for all divestreams)
just a smattering of the weird and beautiful sea creatures they've encountered so far:
also for some reason tons of the crabs have been mating? one of the scientists made a joke about the "kiss cam"
awww it is the birthday of one of the scientists who has been on the mic answering questions and commenting on the stream, and they all sang "feliz cumpleaños" ("happy birthday") to him in the control room
one of the great things about streams like these (there are several organizations that do them!) is that they really humanize scientists for people who maybe thought of them as eggheads in white lab coats somewhere. you hear them joking, snacking, trying to figure out what they're looking at, cooing at a cute octopus, getting really excited about some obscure thing like a well-executed sediment sample.
oh shiiiiit today we're over 3000 km below sea level on the ABYSSAL PLAIN. The three words she really wants to hear: "Possible chemosynthetic environment." https://youtu.be/xjtyz-u9FK4
