The 5 Deeps Expedition Team held a party on 9th September 2019 to celebrate the successful completion of The 5 Deeps mission aboard the DSSV Pressure Drop. This team have travelled 46,000 miles in 10 months to dive in 13 deep ocean locations. Brian Gamet was personally invited for the support he provided the team with the installation (and even fabrication of gondola parts!) for the Kongsberg MBES in Curacao last year at the very beginning of their expedition.
The cocktail party was held by Victor Vescovo to thank the teams involved and showcase some of the data and experiences the team had at Full Ocean Depth in the world’s 5 deepest ocean trenches. This Expedition team was the first to dive all 5 in the Atlantic, Southern, Indian and Arctic Oceans. Victor himself, was the first to achieve multiple dives to the bottom of the Challenger Deep. The presentation was attended by Captain Don Walsh PhD who was the first individual to dive the Challenger Deep in the 1960s.
The scientific endeavours of the Expedition was led by Dr Jameison of Newcastle University. His team are thrilled that several new species of fish and crustacean have been found, and to have had the unique opportunity to explore the collective of the 5 deepest trenches. This has revealed some spectacular insights to geological and ecological similarities between the trenches that could not have been discovered before; insights that the science team will be unpacking possibly for years to come.
Close to our hearts, the hydrographic survey team led by Cassie Bongiovanni, have been successful in mapping over 5 trenches and fracture zones for the first time. They collected over 646,500 km squared of data (an area greater than the countries of France and Iceland combined). The total amount of new MBES data coverage is over 300,000 km squared an area the size of Italy. And in the process they discovered over 30 new seafloor features.
What an achievement, our congratulations to the entire team! Our thanks for the chance to participate, and for a fantastic party last night!
