NSIKAN AKPAN:

I'm in a plastic pod in the middle of the ocean off Bermuda's southeast coast. This thing is smaller than a Volkswagen Beetle.

As six-foot swells toss our tiny submersible, I think, this was a terrible idea. Then, suddenly, the pod tips forward. The descent begins. The rocking slowly stops, as the ocean swallows us.

All that's left is peace. No more e-mails. No claustrophobia. Just the whole ocean spread in front of us and a scientific quest.

ScienceScope visited Bermuda to travel hundreds of feet underwater with the privately funded Nekton mission and to see the threats harming more than a third of the planet's coral reefs, because some coral may adapt by going deeper.