Todd Gregory co-pilots as the vehicles reach 6,000 meters. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Exploring Puerto Rico’s Seamounts, Trenches, and Troughs. Download larger version (jpg, 1.5 MB).
Todd Gregory co-pilots as the vehicles reach 6,000 meters. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Exploring Puerto Rico’s Seamounts, Trenches, and Troughs. Download larger version (jpg, 1.5 MB).
Dive 9: Puerto Rico Trench - South Wall
Highlights from Dive 9, which was the first time ROV Deep Discoverer (D2) had reached it rated depth of 6,000 meters. Unfortunately, we were not able to stay long at that depth, as the ROV pilots noticed a problem with the mineral oil levels in the high voltage compensator system on D2, so we recovered the vehicles early. Video courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Océano Profundo 2015: Exploring Puerto Rico’s Seamounts, Trenches, and Troughs. Download (mp4, 46.2 MB)
Today’s dive was the first time ROV Deep Discoverer (D2) has reached it rated depth of 6,000 meters. As the ROV descended, the control room was crowded with the engineers who designed and built the ROV. They proudly watched as D2 slowly approached 6,000 meters. Unfortunately, we were not able to stay long at that depth, as the ROV pilots noticed a problem with the mineral oil levels in the high voltage compensator system on D2, so we recovered the vehicles early, in case the low oil volume was a symptom of a bigger problem. Once the ROV was on deck the engineers did not find an obvious problem, so they will continue to monitor the compensator levels closely for the next couple dives.
