NOAA deep ocean research ship makes rare visit to Seattle

SEATTLE — In a canyon off the Washington Coast, red jellyfish float 3,000 feet below the surface.

Five thousand feet down, a tiny octopus makes its way along a rocky outcrop.

Humans can see them thanks to the remote-operated vehicle sent into the ocean from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship Okeanos Explorer, the only federal ship dedicated to ocean exploration.

“These vehicles have seen things that no one has ever seen before,” said Jeremy Weirich, Director of NOAA Ocean Exploration.

The ship, commissioned in Seattle in 2008, is back for the first time, having just explored some of the deepest places off the Pacific Northwest coast.

“We dove a canyon off of Oregon and a canyon off of Washington and we saw completely different biological communities,” said Alexis Weinnig, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, one of the scientists aboard the Okeanos Explorer.

Crew members steer the ROV from a control room and operate the cameras.

Mechanical arms sometimes collect samples from the sea floor.

Up in the wheelhouse, Captain Colin Little makes sure the ship stays in place.

“We have a number of thrusters and controllers that are able to keep the ship very precisely positioned,” Little said.

Video of each dive is sent back live to researchers all over the world, who can talk with the scientists aboard.

The video is also available to the public through the NOAA website.

NOAA Ocean Explorers is offering free public tours of the ship on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Pier 46 on the Seattle waterfront, just south of the ferry dock.

©2023 Cox Media Group