High-tech subs taking scientists beneath waves

Nekton's science team is anchored off the remote Alphonse Atoll, some 400 kilometers south of Victoria, the Seychelles' capital. Key to their research are two submersibles that can dive up to 300 meters. They're equipped with a number of sensors, cameras, and sampling tools.

Alphonse (Seychelles): Scientists from the Nekton "First Descent" Indian Ocean mission are carrying out tests around the remote Alphonse Atoll, part of the Seychelles. Researchers are expected to spend seven weeks surveying underwater life, using 17 different research tools, including two submersibles that will reveal the secrets of a world deep beneath the waves.

The Nekton science team is anchored off the remote Alphonse Atoll, some 400 kilometers south of Victoria, the Seychelles' capital.

Key to their research are two submersibles that can dive up to 300 meters. They're equipped with a number of sensors, cameras, and sampling tools.

The yellow submersible - named Kensington Deep - is what's called a "surveyor".

With powerful lights and advanced video systems, this sub will take the lead in exploration.

Pilot Robert Carmicheal has been working on subs for years, diving on numerous wreckages and scientific missions.

For all submarines, safety is paramount.

"It's perfectly designed for transect surveys, exploration, and going down and spending six to eight hours at depths of up to 1,000 feet, with a 96-hour life support system built into it," he says.

The second sub on this mission is called a "sampler".

It has the same operational capacities but is equipped to conduct various scientific missions.

A Niskin Rosette samples water at various depths, a CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, Depth) instrument lets scientists get "eyes" in the water, and a mechanical arm, operated by the pilot, allows science teams to retrieve a small number of specimens from locations they explore.

The acrylic bubble that protects the pilot and its passenger is perfectly adapted to seawater and feels almost invisible underwater.

That allows the science team to totally immerse themselves into their surveys.

"This sub is remarkable at getting close to subject matters and that's what makes it so scientifically-relevant," says Carmicheal.

The two submersibles will collect scientific data from dive sites around the Seychelles but will also beam live pictures back to the surface.

Everyone on board hopes these pictures will rival Carmicheal's fondest memory from a dive: being surrounded by great white sharks.

"Very interesting engagement between the sharks because it appeared to have never seen a submarine before, especially two people sitting inside of it," he recalls.

"And they literally just came up put their eye right to the sub and looked straight in at you. They're great whites! They're 16 feet long and they're very large."

(With inputs from APTN)