Exploring the Arctic Seafloor

  • By David Levin & Peter Tyson
  • Posted 06.01.09
  • NOVA scienceNOW

Imagine being the first person ever to lay eyes on a remote landscape or to discover life-forms that no one knew existed. That was the case on a 2007 expedition to the Gakkel Ridge, one of the mid-ocean ridges that ring the globe like stitches on a baseball. Here, see first-ever photos and video from the bottom of the top of the world and experience that "first-ever" sensation for yourself.

Launch Interactive

See some of the first imagery ever shot on the Arctic Ocean seabed—and what it's telling us about living at ext...

Credits

Image and Video Credits

(map)
© WGBH Educational Foundation
(Oden breaking ice, CAMPER, PUMA)
© Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
(sea sponge, yellow bacteria mat, pyroclastic debris, cirrate octopus video, video of unidentified fauna at a hydrothermal vent, deep-sea shrimp video)
© Advanced Imaging and Visualization Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
(Oden in ice floes video, helicopter scouting video, Oden time lapse video, rescuing PUMA video)
© Devin Ruddick, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Related Links

  • Mystery of the Gakkel Ridge

    Scientists journeying deep beneath Arctic sea ice discover a world never before seen.

  • Gakkel Ridge: Expert Q&A

    Marine ecologist Tim Shank answers questions about the Gakkel Ridge, the 2007 Woods Hole expedition, and more.

  • Glowing in the Dark

    See a menagerie of bizarre ocean organisms that use bioluminescent light to lure prey, mate, and more.

  • Exploring the Arctic Seafloor

    Learn what some of the first imagery ever shot on the Arctic Ocean seabed tells us about life in extreme environments.

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