"The Buzz" Blog

November 2008 - Buzz talks about the Today Show's Visit to the bottom of the ocean

Ann Curry travels to the bottom of the ocean in the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute's (WHOI) deep sea manned submersible "Alvin". "Alvin" is an amazing craft. It has been in service for nearly fifty years. It has captured some incredible never seen before images, brought back ground breaking data and has been invaluable to the research of the ocean.

"Alvin" is capable of many things, but is very limited in others. As you can see diving two miles down in the cramped sub puts three people in some awkward and uncomfortable positions! On board the OceansWide support ship with our remotely operated deep sea research vehicle flying far below we will safely take unlimited numbers of students, educators, researchers and the community on exploratory dives deep into the ocean to see all or more of the adventures these three people in the manned sub have seen.

The huge difference is we will be watching safely from the comfort of our control room on board the support ship. Students and educators ashore will view the streaming footage in real time from their classrooms and soon we will even be able to log on and participate from our homes! This will give our students the ability to work side by side with the scientists, journalists and crew. Imagine the confidence, amazement and excitement this exploration and discovery will give our children as they travel to the bottom of the ocean. Not only will they see these images, but they will document the action and capture the adventure as they become part of history in the exploration of the ocean. Imagine what could be accomplished in the next fifty years!