Nereus, 1 Of 4 Submersibles To Reach Depths Of Mariana, Is Lost

Enlarge this image toggle caption Advanced Imaging and Visualization Lab/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Advanced Imaging and Visualization Lab/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Over the weekend, scientists with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution confirmed that Nereus, one of only four submersibles to have reached the depths of the Mariana Trench, suffered a catastrophic implosion.

The unmanned vehicle was on day 30 of a 40-day mission to explore the Kermadec Trench northeast of New Zealand. It dove to depths ranging from 6,000 to 11,000 meters deep. When it imploded, the vehicle was under pressure as great at 16,000 pounds per square inch.

Built in 2008, Nereus was in its sixth year of service.

"Nereus helped us explore places we've never seen before and ask questions we never thought to ask," Timothy Shank, a WHOI biologist who helped dream up the vehicle said in a statement. "It was a one-of-a-kind vehicle that even during its brief life, brought us amazing insights into the unexplored deep ocean, addressing some of the most fundamental scientific problems of our time about life on Earth."

University of Southhampton biologist Jonathan Copley wrote about Nereus on his blog. The loss of this kind of vehicle is "utterly crushing" for the researchers undertaking the expedition, he says. But there is no other way to obtain certain knowledge about the deep ocean, but to send something down there.

The current Hades expedition, for example, had captured hours of videos of individual animals that thrive in the great depths of the ocean.

As Ken Kostel, a writer for WHOI, wrote, Nereus was lost "doing what it was intended to do."

Just before it imploded, it had just collected "a sea cucumber for the respirometer." Six miles below the surface, the vehicle was getting ready to head to the underwater elevator.

And then, the camera went to black.

Kostel concludes: