Seirios seen from Little Hercules in near surface waters.

White-tip shark cruising by umbilical cord between Seirios and Little Hercules while in near surface waters.

Little Hercules seen above the bottom from Seirios

Little Hercules being deployed from the OKEANOS EXPLORER

Little Hercules seen above the bottom from Seirios

Seirios photograped from Little Hercules in the water column.

Seirios photograped from Little Hercules while still secure to the ship pickup cable that can be seen trending vertically to its top.

Little Hercules seen above the bottom from Seirios

Little Hercules seen above the bottom from Seirios

Samples collected in the vicinity of hydrothermal vents are incubated at 90 degrees Celsius (195 F), almost boiling temperature, in an attempt to grow microbes associated with the diverse hydrothermal vent environment.

Photomicrographs of a subsea thermophile isolated from deep-sea hydrothermal fluids. This organism eats sulfur and hydrogen and fixes its own carbon from carbon dioxide. (A,B) Scanning electorn micrographs, and (C,D) transmission electron micrographs in thin sections.

Reminiscent of a NASA mission, scientists and engineers monitor navigation and observations of Seirios and Little Hercules in control room.

Reminiscent of a NASA mission, scientists and engineers monitor navigation and observations of Seirios and Little Hercules in control room.

Little Hercules seen above the bottom from Seirios

Little Hercules seen above the bottom from Seirios

Little Hercules photographs its own shadow as it hovers above the bottom.

The propellers and rudders of the OKEANOS EXPLORER are seen from Little Hercules during a recovery operation. A white tip shark cruises in the distance on the right side of the image.

Little Hercules seen above the bottom from Seirios

Seirios photographed inspecting what appears to be a wood plank on the bottom

Clear white holothurian crawling on seafloor.

The feeding tentacles of a holothurian hoping to catch marine snow debris and then inserting each arm with material into its mouth. Apparently in a strong current.

White starfish on a silty bottom

Pinkish anemone

Large pinkish purple holothurian, sea urchins, a large gastropod, and a few fish

Pinkish purple holothurian and sea urchin. Small tube worms protrude above the seafloor and a small purple anemone.

An aggregation of sea urchins apparently devouring a fairly large dead creature.

Closeup of sea urchins and small crustaceans devouring

Carpet of sea urchins

A large pompom anemone, a smaller anemone, and brittle stars make the boulder in the foreground their home. The boulder to rear is colonized by Venus flower basket glass sponges, brittle stars, and another pompom anemone ( Liponema brevicornis).

Closeup of mouth orifice of anemone

Large pinkish sea anemone on mud and sand substrate

Brisingid starfish on mud and sand substrate. A small btittle star, some small anemones, small tube worms, and holothurians are also seen.

A brisingid starfish and a cowcod? rockfish

Holothurians, brittle stars, small tube worms, and at least one rattail fish.

Holothurians, a large starfish and numerous burrows

Sea urchins adhering to broken cable (perhaps remnant of an oceanographic equipment failure), large translucent white holothurians and smaller pinkish red holothurians, and one large brittle star.

The anemone-like corallimorphian Corallimorphus pilatus

The anemone-like corallimorphian Corallimorphus pilatus

Orange starfish with fuzzy appearance

Closeup of surface of fuzzy orange starfish

Clear white anemone with galatheid crab hiding underneath. White tube worms seen to left

A white lustrous bivalve shell and numerous squat lobsters. Tube worms are also seen.

A pompom anemone on a rock, numerous holothurians, an urchin and a small bamboo coral.

Oddly contorted brittle stars, holothurians, and numerous other life forms

A birsingid starfish with legs upraised.

Red bristle worms.

Arms of white starfish extending out from excavted hole in sediment

A large white anemone and numerous small brittle stars with a small red shrimp to the left

A feather star and a very odd white creature compose of semi-overlapping plates

Small red burrowing anemone. Many of these were seen in the study area.