LiveScience Image Gallery

Under the Pacific: Images from the Visions 2005 Project

Visions '05 Expedition/Neptune Project/U. of Washington/NSF

White Octopus at Mothra

This rare white octopus was caught on camera during a dive on the Mothra hydrothermal vent field. Click to enlarge.
Visions '05 Expedition/Neptune Project/U. of Washington/NSF

A stalked Crinoid

This animal is an echinoderm (related to sea stars) called a crinoid. Its feathery arms capture food that drifts down from above. Click to enlarge.
Visions

By the Wind Sailor

This By the Wind Sailor, Velella velella, is a type of colonial jelly. Click to enlarge.
Visions '05 Expedition/Neptune Project/U. of Washington/NSF

Tubeworms and Palm worms

Tubeworms (Ridgeia piscesae) and palm worms (Paralvinella palmiformis) live in the warm water that diffuses out of the sulfide chimneys. The hydrogen sulfide in the hydrothermal fluid supports microbes that feed these organisms. Click to enlarge.
Visions '05 Expedition/Neptune Project/U. of Washington/NSF

Tubeworms and Spider crabs

Spider crabs (Macroregonia macrochira) feeding on tube worms (Ridgeia piscesae). Click to enlarge.
Visions '05 Expedition/Neptune Project/U. of Washington/NSF

Debbie Kelley and the Stowaway

Co-chief scientist Debbie Kelley brings the stowaway spider crab in the main lab. Click to enlarge.
Visions '05 Expedition/Neptune Project/U. of Washington/NSF

Humpback whale

Photograph of a humpback whale in the water. Click to enlarge.
Visions '05 Expedition/Neptune Project/U. of Washington/NSF

Phytoplankton

Biologists believe that bacterial plankton accounts for 80% or more of all photosynthetic activity in the open ocean. Click to enlarge.
Visions '05 Expedition/Neptune Project/U. of Washington/NSF

Mothra sulfide structures

Typical landscape of tall, slender sulfide structures in the Mothra hydrothermal vent field. Click to enlarge.
Visions '05 Expedition/Neptune Project/U. of Washington/NSF

Brittle star

This delicate brittle star came all the way up from 2150 meters depth attached to an instrument retrieved by the elevator. Click to enlarge.
Visions '05 Expedition/Neptune Project/U. of Washington/NSF

Crab reaching to touch Jason`s Arm

Curious crabs commonly crawl onto equipment. This one, located on the side of the sulfide chimney called Roane, has extended nearly its entire body out away from the wall of the chimney to reach one of the arms of the robotic vehicle Jason. Click to enlarge.
Visions '05 Expedition/Neptune Project/U. of Washington/NSF

KECK short-period Seismometer

Short-period seismometer in the Mothra Hydrothermal Field 2005. Click to enlarge.
Visions '05 Expedition/Neptune Project/U. of Washington/NSF

Smoker with Worms

Shown above is a smoker with worms. Click to enlarge.
Visions '05 Expedition/Neptune Project/U. of Washington/NSF

Microbes

Shown above are microbes. Click to enlarge.
Visions '05 Expedition/Neptune Project/U. of Washington/NSF

Remote Access Sampler - Close Up

This is a close-up of the RAS intake installed in a hydrothermal vent. The bare teflon intake line is protected inside a titanium tube to avoid clogging during deployment. A mini-temperature recorder attached to the intake tube records temperature every 15 minutes for the duration of the deployment. Click to enlarge.
Visions '05 Expedition/Neptune Project/U. of Washington/NSF

360°C Chimney called Sully in the Main Endeavour Hydrothermal Field

This 360°C vigorously venting black smoker chimney isolated in the Main Endeavour Hydrothermal Field. Known as 'Sully', this chimney has undergone dramatic changes since it was perturbed by a series of earthquakes in 1999-2000. Prior to 2002, its tubeworm communities were not present on this chimney. Click to enlarge.