Cayman Islands (Global Adventures): The first expedition to search for deep-sea hydrothermal vents along the Mid-Cayman Rise has turned up three distinct types of hydrothermal venting, reports an interdisciplinary team led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). While hydrothermal activity occurs all around the world, the diversity of the newly discovered vent types, their geologic [...]

Shin-Da Harbor (Global Adventures): The Taiwan Ocean Research Institution (TORI) hopes that Iver2 will to establish an ocean information database and network. The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) will allow the institution to map and photograph the ocean floor using side-scan sonar and an onboard camera system. During a 4-year research initiative, TORI hopes to develop [...]

Greifswald (Global Adventures): The Caribbean did have a much larger landmass 40 to 50 million years ago, scientists from the University of Greifswald in Germany say. At depths between 2,625 to 3,281 feet (800 and 1,000 meters), they discovered seamounts made up from fossilized coral in the Hess-Escarpment in the central Caribbean. The 620-mile linear [...]

Paris (Global Adventures): French investigators said that they were able to narrow the search area for the flight data recorders of AF447, a scheduled commercial flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on 1 June 2009, killing all 216 passengers and 12 crew members (Global Adventures reported here). A [...]

Honolulu (Global Adventures): The first underwater vehicle totally powered by renewable energy was tested by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Solo-Trec, which stands for Sounding Oceanographic Lagrangrian Observer (SOLO) Thermal Recharging (TREC), uses temperature differences in the ocean to recharge its batteries. After five years of development, scientists started [...]

Rio de Janeiro (Global Adventures): The search for wreckage of Air France flight 447 continues. In the deadliest accident in the history of Air France, the Airbus A330-200 crashed into the Atlantic on June 1, 2009. The plane, registered as F-GZCP, was on a routine flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris when it disappeared [...]

Falmouth (Global Adventures): A $1.1 Million remotely controlled deep-sea robot was lost at sea off the coast of Chile, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) said in a press release. Scientists believe that the 15-year-old Autonomous Benthic Explorer (ABE) may have suffered a catastrophic implosion. The vehicle was on its 222nd research dive at a [...]