A deep sea mission of genuine exploration From being a totally
unimaginable feature of the deep ocean throughout most of human
history to being shown live on global television earlier this
week, hydrothermal vents have never been so well understood. Now
back on dry land after broadcasting on the latest work on the
research ship James Cook in the Cayman Trough, I'm still picking
up messages from people amazed at getting such an extraordinary
vision of the reality of the deep sea. Technology is
transforming the way in which we can view our planet. The star
of the show is ISIS, the remotely-operated vehicle equipped with
HD cameras despatched as an emissary into the unlit depths. With
remarkable accuracy, the pilots on the James Cook used an
acoustic navigation system to "fly" the robot over the rock
three miles (4.8km) down towards the oases of life thriving
around the vents. The clarity of the images was astonishing -
laying bare everything from the spindly grey-brown chimneys,
rising at crooked angles, to the