you remember the viral Argentinian deep-sea expedition I was tooting about here? https://flipping.rocks/@nev/114959376410378452

well the next expedition started a few days ago! they're just a little bit north, in Uruguayan waters. mostly Uruguayan researchers, but a few folks from the Argentina one are returning! more info: https://schmidtocean.org/cruise/visualizing-the-deep-off-uruguay/

ROV SuBastian is currently streaming from Rio del Plata Cañón, 1700-1600m below sea level. here, well into the aphotic (lightless) zone, marine "snow" falls gently on a landscape of strange and brilliantly colourful creatures. current divestream: https://youtu.be/do9jTSkzr4w (see https://www.youtube.com/@SchmidtOcean/streams for all divestreams)

#UruguaySub200 #DeepWaterUruguay

just a smattering of the weird and beautiful sea creatures they've encountered so far:

also for some reason tons of the crabs have been mating? one of the scientists made a joke about the "kiss cam"

awww it is the birthday of one of the scientists who has been on the mic answering questions and commenting on the stream, and they all sang "feliz cumpleaños" ("happy birthday") to him in the control room

one of the great things about streams like these (there are several organizations that do them!) is that they really humanize scientists for people who maybe thought of them as eggheads in white lab coats somewhere. you hear them joking, snacking, trying to figure out what they're looking at, cooing at a cute octopus, getting really excited about some obscure thing like a well-executed sediment sample.

oh shiiiiit today we're over 3000 km below sea level on the ABYSSAL PLAIN. The three words she really wants to hear: "Possible chemosynthetic environment." https://youtu.be/xjtyz-u9FK4

#UruguaySub200 #DeepWaterUruguay

oh shit guys we hit the edge of the map gotta turn back

Some of the creatures encountered so far today in a very short time span:

- the very relatable-looking "lizard-fish", as chat declared
- someone called this squishy pink lump "albondiga" (meatball)
- a wonderfully vivid camarón
- chat dubbed this "tortafrita" (the Uruguayan version of the fried flatbread called sopaipilla).

once again, the current divestream is at https://youtu.be/xjtyz-u9FK4

smh a menstrual cup at the bottom of the sea, truly no place on earth is safe from pollution /s

Side note: I can't hear the very common Spanish word "entonces" without thinking of Toonces, the Driving Cat from SNL: https://youtu.be/5fvsItXYgzk

They came across a chemosynthetic clam (edit: cf. family Vesicomyidae, thanks clamman) and chat lost its shit: "Habemus almeja!" "Almeja por Fabri!" (I think Fabrizio, the scientist whose birthday it is, was hoping for a clam?)

However to the dismay and confusion of both chat and scientists, it seemed to break into pieces as they were lowering it into one of the bio-boxes with the scoop.

It's an emotional rollercoaster down here.

(Chat, seemingly trying to find the silver lining, is getting hype about sediment: "ARENITA PARA LETI" ["sand for Leticia", the sedimentologist]. It's funny because it is nothing but sediment as far as the eye can see)

(cc @dantheclamman)

I did not want to learn that Uruguay, like parts of Canada, also has milk in bags by the ROV coming across a milk bag at the bottom of the ocean

Oh my goodness. At the very end of the stream, just as they were about to start hauling the ROV up, this beautiful squid appeared and put on a show for the camera. How perfectly magical and serendipitous.

Video starts here: https://youtu.be/xjtyz-u9FK4?t=27808

edit: squid not octopus, thanks @MugsysRapSheet

OMG. Right now the ROV is visiting a naufragio (shipwreck)! The destroyer _ROU Uruguay_, originally a US Navy ship from WWII, was intentionally sunk in 1995 when it reached end of life.

Livestream & more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCEoF066PDQ

#UruguaySub200 #DeepWaterUruguay

The fish called "hake" in English has such a lovely Spanish name: la merluza.

In chat:
- "In my head the 'Titanic' song is playing"
- "The same thing is happening to me hahaha"

Someone else says their 82-year-old grandfather is very excited to see this because he once visited the ship on a school trip.

Every single inch of the shipwreck is carpeted in sea creatures. One of the scientists and an ROV operator, both familiar with shipwrecks, remarked that they were surprised by the vivid colours and rich variety. The destroyer is now "the creator of life," quipped head scientist Alvar Carranza.

New #UruguaySub200 #DeepWaterUruguay divestream just started! Today, the Montevideo submarine canyon. https://youtu.be/rwmk4-72LaU

Expedition website (en Español): https://uruguaysub200.udelar.edu.uy/
Schmidt Ocean page (in English): https://schmidtocean.org/cruise/visualizing-the-deep-off-uruguay/

Side note: like Argentines, Uruguayans also seem keenly interested in what foreigners think of mate. 🧉

Chat is also irresistibly charmed by being referred to as "radioescuchas" (radio listeners) by the scientists. They also say "pibalvos", "pibalbis"…I do not know if it is slang or an in-joke I missed.

edit: someone in chat kindly explained that it is a portmanteau of "pibe" (kid) and "bivalvo" (bivalve)