Among the cracks of the pillow lavas and above them were numerous fish - bluenose, roughy, and alfonsino. The fish were, no doubt, once the target of the snagged fishing lines observed at the summit of Rumble V.

Large schools of mau mau fish call the summit of Giggenbach volcano home.

A fish called an armourhead stargazer rests on the seafloor of Rumble V volcano. This sighting, at 770 meters, was surprisingly deep for this species.

A brilliant orange coffinfish appears to scowl at PISCES V submersible as the sub invades its territory. This fish commonly rests on the bottom, using its fins like legs.

An anemone on relatively young lava flows at Volcano W.

An angler fish lies in wait on young lava flows from Volcano W. This species was previously unknown to inhabit New Zealand waters.

A deepsea shark called a prickly dogfish swims by PISCES V at Rumble V volcano.

The pink and green algae covering the rocks at the summit are able to grow because sunlight can reach these shallow depths.

This huge grouper, over 1 meter in length, was a constant companion of PISCES V as it traversed the summit of Giggenbach volcano.

Bamboo whip coral and a deep sea ophidioid fish at 1245 meters depth on the Bahama Escarpment.

Large branching bamboo corals .

A whip-like colony of a bamboo coral extends more than 2 meters from the face of a ledge at 1700 meters depth.

An anglerfish swims up from its typical resting place on the bottom at approximately 1400 meters depth in Exuma Sound.

A red paragorgia coral being overgrown by a yellow zoanthid ( a colonial anemone) vand sponges on a wall at 1560 meters depth on the Bahama Escarpment.

Several brittle stars have their arms wrapped around the branches of an octocorallian (Plexauridae) sea fan at 1120 meters depth in Exuma Sound.

A spiraling bamboo coral grows upward off a vertical wall at 1500 meters depth; pink brittle stars can be seen on the colony and a large white sponge grows behind it.

Large branching bamboo corals flank a delicate chrysogorgiid coral, Metallogorgia melanotrichos.

A red galatheid crab perches on a black coral at 1470 meters depth on the Bahama Escarpment. A large white sponge is in the right center of the image.

Two tripod fish sit facing the current at 1960 meters depth in the Northeast Providence Channel near Eleuthera Island.

A sea spider creeps along the top of a ridge at 1960 meters depth in the Northeast Providence Channel near Eleuthera Island.

As ALVIN Launch Coordinator for the dive, pilot Gavin Eppard pays close attention as the sub is gently lowered into the Gulf of Mexico.

Final safety checks are carefully run through before the ALVIN submersible descends to the seafloor. The research vessel ATLANTIS II and the ALVIN crew often spend 8 months per year at sea.

The ALVIN submersible begins its descent to the bottom. Photo #1.

The ALVIN submersible begins its descent to the bottom. Photo #2.

The ALVIN submersible begins its descent to the bottom. Photo #3.

The ALVIN submersible begins its descent to the bottom. Photo #4.

The ALVIN submersible begins its descent to the bottom. Photo #5.

Bacterial mats, mussels, and tubeworms are common at cold seeps. This image from Atwater Valley site 340 in the Gulf of Mexico was captured with a downward-looking camera mounted on the ALVIN.

This photomosaic is a careful compilation of multiple images taken of a mussel bed with the downward looking camera on the ALVIN. This is only a small part of the entire mussel mosaic.

A small orange crab near a few scattered tube worm individuals at 2180 meters depth in Atwater Valley.

A large galatheid crab clings to coral stalks.

Small naturally-occuring oil droplets that have seeped through the sediment.

Just after starting the ascent to the surface, ALVIN captured this image of a coral garden with galatheid crab and large anemones.

The front of the ALVIN submersible up against a rocky outcrop with tubeworms and mussels scattered along the base. On the front of the submersible, in the "basket", are two mussel pots with a series of twelve sediment cores in between.

Encounters of the third kind. A brave octopus fights off an alien intruder. This stunning octopod, Benthoctopus sp., seemed quite interested in ALVIN's port manipulator arm. Those inside the sub were surprised by the octopod's inquisitive behavior.

Scientists discovered several communities of football-sized mussels, Bathymodius brooksi, at Mississippi Canyon 853 during ALVIN dive 4178. This is the biggest B. brooksi specimen ever collected. Upon close inspection, you may be able to see stains from the oil that is sometimes found in the sediment around seeps.

Sailor's delight - watching the mesmerizing motion of dolphins playing in the bow wave of the ATLANTIS II.

Not a moment is wasted on modern oceanographic ships. Beam trawl being conducted at night off the WHOI research vessel ATLANTIS II.

Sea snail observed by ROV. Possibly a Midas slit shell.

Sea snail observed by ROV. Possibly a Midas slit shell.

This was the largest colony of white bamboo coral (Keratoisis flexibilis) observed on the expedition. It measured approximately 4 feet wide and 3 feet tall.

The cup sponge Hyalonema sp. The cup sponge is a type of glass sponge with a stalk of long glass spicules supporting the "goblet" head. Glass sponges are some of the oldest colonial animals (metazoans) on Earth, arising after bacteria and single-celled organisms.

An orange Lophelia discovered during this expedition.

Closeup view of the white bamboo coral (Keratoisis flexibilis) showing the coral 's extended feeding polyps. This coral and other filter feeders orient so that they are perpendicular to the current, positioning themselves to be in the flow of food carried in the current.

The lovely slit shell, Perotrochus amabilis, inhabits a rubble strewn area between 850 and 700 feet depth along the Tennessee Bioherm 1, a mound that extends from the sea bottom at a depth of 1,000 feet to within 550 feet of the surface.

At 66 meters depth on McGrail Bank, this field of red algal coralline nodules is covered with the red platelike alga Peyssonnelia inamoena and representatives of of the brown algal genus Dictyota.

A single colony of bright-white Lophelia pertusa coral. Lophelia requires hard substrate for attachment and growth and this large boulder provided the necessary substrate. A variety of anemones share this habitat.

Most algae need a hard substrate upon which to anchor with their holdfast. In silty mud bottoms they must compete for space on available shell debris with other organisms , as shown here by the red alga Graciliara blodgettii at 100 meters depth on McGrail Bank.

Some areas of Bright Bank are blanketed by dense mats of the spongy green alga Codium repens as shown here at 60 meters depth.

The tether management system sits on top of this ROV during deployment and recovery of ROV. It is suspended by the support vessel above the ocean floor during dives. It manages the tether line for the ROV as it moves down to the ocean floor, ensuring that it doesn't drag along the bottom, and is also used fo r sample storage as can be seen by the various baskets hanging from the frame.