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One of the most exciting parts of our job is going to places that no one has ever been before and seeing things that no one has ever seen. It turns out, we were making that far harder than it needs to be. It turns out that we can do all this from home! Several of the big names in deep-sea exploration live-stream (or dive-stream if we’re being cute). With just a few seconds delay, you can see deep-sea exploration as it happens and may be present for very significant finds. You never know what you’re going to find down there.

“The Okeanos Explorer ROV feed today showed some scientists admiring a fish on the ocean floor. We found a deep sea fish and told it it was beautiful.” Live-stream inspired art by C. B. Sorge - cbsorgeartworks.tumblr.com

The big players in this space are the Schmidt Ocean Institute, Nautilus Live from the Ocean Exploration Trust and Ocean Exploration/Okeanos Explorer from NOAA. We are lucky enough to chat with Kasey Cantwell, the Operations Chief of the NOAA Ocean Exploration Expeditions and Exploration Division. We talk about the amazing opportunities this new way of doing science presents. From allowing 300 experts to take part, to swapping out your expert team when you find something unexpected and even the physical and societal barriers that can be removed. But it’s not just about getting science done, it’s about sharing these experiences with everyone. Online communities are forming around these streams and illustrations, poetry and memes are just as valid outputs.

In recent news we hear how preparations are going for Alan’s upcoming cruise. We talk about the octopus garden providing a nice warm spot to brood eggs, living underwater for long periods of time and the evolution of early vamperoids.

No episode would be complete without our regular check-in with Don Walsh to hear about his involvement with the early days of ROV and AUV research.

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