Nature
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Down in the deep sea, not only can you encounter a whole host of unusual-looking ocean creatures, but also some incredible ocean rock formations.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.In a canyon north of Moloka'i, in the Hawaiian islands, the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Hercules captured footage of columnar basalt at around 1,700 meters (5,577 feet) deep. While the columns may look human-made, they are formed when the basalt – which is an igneous rock – cools in a certain way as lava, forming these unique hexagonal columns. The team can be heard discussing the unusual formations and even describe the layers as a "bunch of pizza boxes".
The ROV, belonging to the Ocean Exploration Trust for their Nautilus exploration program, recorded footage that may be the clearest images ever of these funky columns, according to the Miami Herald. The ROV was part of a 14-day expedition to test new wide-field camera array systems on different topographical features.
Later on in the video a grumpy-looking monkfish is sitting on the rocks. Monkfish are a species of angler fish in the family Lophiidae, said the Ocean Exploration Trust on their website.
The expedition will aim to collect lots of data on the topography of the seabed. As well as testing this new wide-field camera the team will also test out Rapid Automatic Image Categorization, an artificial intelligence software to help them annotate the videos in real time.
As well as these incredible rock formations the team will also test the system on hydrothermal vents, World War II wrecks, and deep-sea coral gardens.
Join the deep ocean expeditions via live streaming at www.NautilusLive.org along with free interactive classroom programs.
