Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

In March 2021, I had the privilege of documenting a milestone in deep-sea exploration: the first Bermuda-based open-ocean dives of Mesobot, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s cutting-edge autonomous vehicle designed to follow and film midwater organisms without disturbing them.

As the expedition’s videographer, photographer, and writer, I joined a team of scientists and engineers off the coast of Bermuda to capture the story of this remarkable robot—and the mysterious world it was built to explore. From sunrise deployments on deck to shimmering bioluminescence glimpsed in the deep, I chronicled Mesobot’s journey as it descended into the twilight zone for its inaugural mission.

The resulting media offers a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges and triumphs of deep-sea fieldwork, as well as the technological breakthroughs that are allowing us to observe ocean life in ways never before possible.

Dive into the story here: