[leadin]The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ship Okeanos Explorer is live-streaming video from its remote-operated vehicle, diving to the deepest points on Earth.[/leadin]
Known as Challenger Deep, the pitch black areas being explored stretch nearly seven miles below the water’s surface and remain one of the most bizarre places on the planet. The mission began April 20th and will run through July.
While these mysterious reaches have produced shocking scientific finds – like the angler fish, blobfish, and viperfish – the Okeanos Explorer expects to learn more about “extreme life living in the deepest oceanic trench on the planet, enormous mud volcanoes, active hydrothermal vents, chemosynthetic communities, and possibly deep-sea coral and sponge habitats.”
Still, if you watch it at night, it’s plenty spooky. Switch between cameras one, two, and three for best viewing.
