Explore an Underwater Volcano Live in HD

For decades, viewing the bizarre underwater ecosystems at seafloor hydrothermal vents has been the privilege of scientists shoehorned into submersibles or researchers steering diving robots.

Now, anyone online can watch live high-definition video of marine life at the Mushroom vent, a 12-foot-tall chimney sitting 5,000 feet below the ocean's surface. The HD camera is part of a $239 million National Science Foundation project to install a permanent, cabled observatory at Axial Seamount, an underwater volcano located 250 miles offshore of Oregon at the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Other cabled sites along the West Coast seafloor will help scientists explore earthquakes, climate change and methane deposits Read more...