DEEP-SEA EXPLORATION

Earth's oceans cover more than 70% of the planet. They contain huge reservoirs of important life-giving nutrients that participate in global biogeochemical cycles, and are some of least explored areas of our planet. It's also thought that life began here on Earth in deep-sea habitats like hydrothermal vents. Thus, exploring and preserving the oceans is critical to our understanding of life in the universe. 

There are a vast number of tools that have been developed for ocean exploration, but some of the most critical tools for exploring the deep sea are remotely-operated vehicles (ROVs) and deep-submergence vehicles (DSVs). These vehicles allow us access to seafloor habitats to sample, place experiments or colonization devices, and obtain high-definition video that can be live-streamed across the planet. 

Anywhere you go in the deep-sea, you are bound to find the coolest life on the planet. Some of the most diverse and abundant life on the seafloor, however, can be found at deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. These habitats support chemosynthetic bacteria and archaea, which form the base of the food chain. They provide food for a variety of animals and many of them do it using endosymbiosis!

Although most Ocean Worlds in our Solar System are very cold and icy, some of these have evidence of hydrothermal vents in a liquid water ocean. This is exciting because it means life could be present on these planets or moons, too! If we ever found evidence of life here, or even if we didn't, we would know more about why we are here on this planet and how we came to be. More importantly, we might know the answer to "Are we alone?"