In one of the first underwater dives from the research vessel Okeanos Explorer, about 5 million viewers watched live images of corals, fish, and other living organisms found on the ocean floor in waters that are part of the Marine Sanctanuary of American Samoa and Rose Atoll Monument.
At any time of the day, more than 180 scientists are clicking onto the live stream of the Okeanos Explorer 2017 American Samoa Expedition:Suesuega o le Moana o Amerika Samoa to see the latest discoveries and give opinions on whether or not they are new species never seen before.
The dives are conducted by a Remote Operated Vehicle with instant streaming available on the net.
Last Friday at the Tauese P. Sunia Ocean Center, more than 170 local elementary, high school and and college students got to see the mission’s discoveries and interact with the scientists on board the Okeanos Explorer.
KHJ News followed up with an interview session on Saturday with scientists Dr. Matt Jackson and Santiago Hererra and Kelly Elliot, the Expedition C
oordinator.
Since the mission is exploring areas which have not been traversed before, or very little is known of, the discoveries being made will add to scientific knowledge of what lies beneath the ocean floor in this part of the Pacific.
According to Dr. Hererra and Ms Elliot it’s very possible that any rare finds will be given Samoan names.
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The link to the okeanos expedition is oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/
