Wireline Issue 26 Winter 2013

This hydroid, Corymorpha glacialis , is very rarely seen and lives in cold water. This specimen was found in temperatures of minus one degree celsius and at a depth of 1,080 metres below sea level in the Tornado field, west of Shetland, in 2009. The discovery broke records as the largest individual found of this species at water depths greater than ever before

Hidden depths A pioneering partnership forged a decade ago between the UK offshore oil and gas industry and the scientific community continues to reveal the hidden depths of the undersea environment. Wireline delves deeper into the inner workings of the SERPENT Project.

A s unbelievable as it may of the moon than we do about our undersea environment. “It’s thought that more than 99 per cent of the ocean f loor still remains unexplored,” says Dr Daniel Jones of the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in Southampton. seem, scientists believe we know more about the surface

Shining a light on the most inaccessible seabed locations around the UK – and the world – the SERPENT Project (Scientific and Environmental ROV Partnership using Existing Industrial Technology)

“It’s an important UK ‘export’ – it was born here, but it’s now a truly global programme.”

harnesses the technological capabilities of the offshore oil and gas industry.

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