Nature
PUBLISHED
It’s pretty amazing to think there’s still so much of the oceans we have yet to explore. But as if that wasn’t awesome enough, you can actually watch scientists explore one of the world’s deepest and most mysterious areas in real-time from your computer at home.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.The live-streams comes from the the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), whose Okeanos Explorer ship is currently probing the Mariana Trench with the help of satellites. This underwater area of the western Pacific Ocean lies east of the Philippines at a depth of over 11 kilometers (7 miles). That’s deeper than the height of Mount Everest.
Using their three high-definition live-streams, you can be among the first people in the world to see the area, along with the remnants of its geological history and its unknown biological life. Among their travels, they’ve already found a wealth of surprises, including undiscovered corals, parasites, jellyfish, crustaceans, fish, and – fairly depressingly – even a can of beer.
The broadcasts will run until July 10 on NOAA's YouTube channel, although they will only broadcast when the Okeanos Explorer is working on its daily operations. So to catch the show, you’ll have to tune in during their day’s work, which usually runs from 08:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time in Fiji (4:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. EDT / 9:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. BST).
Check out the live-streams from the vehicle's three cameras below.
Camera 1
Camera 2
Camera 3
