During the 2023 Shakedown + EXPRESS West Coast Exploration, we will use our two-bodied remotely operated vehicle (ROV) system, which includes ROVs Deep Discoverer (pictured here) and Seirios.
Methane Seeps
Image courtesy of Ocean Exploration Trust - Cruise NA095. Download larger version (jpg, 3.7 MB).

One of the features we expect to explore during the 2023 Shakedown + EXPRESS West Coast Exploration are methane seeps. These seeps provide food from chemical energy and structure for deep-sea animals to live on, increasing the biodiversity at such sites. This image shows a mass of snails (gastropods called Neptunea) and their egg masses (the yellow towers) using clumps of tubeworms as a place to anchor at a seep site within Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, off the Oregon coast.