🌊🚢 Meet R/V Atlantis— a research vessel pushing the boundaries of human exploration. Owned by the US Navy, operated by #WHOI, and significantly funded by the National Science Foundation, Atlantis is the only ship in the U.S. Academic Research Fleet equipped to launch and support the human-occupied submersible #Alvin! Strong national support for ocean research infrastructure like Atlantis strengthens US leadership in ocean exploration. 📲Learn more: go.whoi.edu/RVAtlantis | Woods Hole Oceanogra

#WHOI deep-sea biologist Tim Shank and ALVIN pilot Bruce Strickrott were exploring a deep-sea hydrothermal vent field along the East Pacific Rise (~200 miles off of western Mexico) when they turned off the vehicle lights and saw the vent chimneys silhouetted by a research camera system known as the MISO elevator. ALVIN is the only human-occupied submersible in the US capable of bringing three people as deep as 6500 meters, or nearly four miles! 📲Check out more mind-blowing milestones from ALVIN