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The Worst Thing I Ever Saw Underwater (and Why it Matters This Week)

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An enormous scar on the bottom of the Bering Sea's Pribolof Canyon at 1,000 feet left by a trawl net leaves a path of destruction miles long, having ripped corals, sponges and everything else in its path from the bottom. (Photo: David E. Guggenheim)

An enormous scar on the bottom of the Bering Sea’s Pribolof Canyon at 1,000 feet left by a trawl net leaves a path of destruction miles long, having ripped corals, sponges and everything else in its path from the bottom. (Photo: D. Guggenheim)

On Friday, August 3rd, 2007, I landed the Deepworker submersible at 1,052 feet in the second largest underwater canyon in the world, Pribilof Canyon in Alaska’s Bering Sea. In the distance, I saw the lights of the other submersible, piloted by Michelle Ridgway.

As we both sat on the bottom conducting life support checks and communicating with the Greenpeace ship, Esperanza above, I peered through the dome and saw something strange. I reported that I had landed on what appeared to be some sort of geologic stratification — unusual layers and grooves of sediment in parallel lines across my path. What in the world was this? We hadn’t seen anything like it. Read more

Deep Reflection: Alone in the Dark at 1,300 Feet Below

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DeepWorker 6 filming Giant grenadier (Albatrossia pectoralis)

I am inside a tiny, 1-person submarine beneath the Bering Sea, hundreds of miles offshore from the Alaskan coast. There are 1,300 feet of water between me and the surface. I’m here as part of a Greenpeace-led expedition to shed new light on the unexplored depths here.

It’s freezing cold, completely dark, and forbidding and it’s utterly beautiful. Read more

Beneath the Deadliest Catch: Beauty & Mayhem Under the Bering Sea

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The Ocean Doctor on WebTalkRadio.netSeptember 6, 2010: We return to Alaska’s Bering Sea aboard the Greenpeace ship “Esperanza” and take the DeepWorker 1-person submarine down to nearly 2,000 feet where we’ll find the best and worst things The Ocean Doctor has ever seen underwater. We also visit with Greenpeace Oceans Campaign Leader, John Hocevar aboard the Esperanza.

The Ocean Doctor airs weekly on WebTalkRadio.net. Want to listen on your iPod, iPhone or mp3 player? Download the mp3 file or subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss a single episode. See the complete list of episodes.

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