The Rainbow Fish Abyssal Probe Successfully Explores the Ten-Thousand-Meter Abyss – Ocean Exploration Enters a New Era ...

Shanghai, December 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/

        On December 27, 2016, good news came from the scientific research vessel Zhang Jian, which was conducting operations in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. A deep-sea scientific exploration team composed of the Hadal Science and Technology Research Center (Hadal Center) of Shanghai Ocean University and the Shanghai Rainbow Fish Marine Technology Co., Ltd. (Rainbow Fish Company) utilized three independently developed full-ocean-depth probes (landers) to successfully carry out a series of scientific research operations in the ten-thousand-meter abyss. This marks a substantial step forward for Chinese scientists in exploring the "unknown deep-sea world of humanity."

Underwater footage at 10,890 meters captured by Rainbow Fish 1 lander shows a gathering of deep-sea organisms

Preparations before the test of Rainbow Fish 2 and Rainbow Fish 3 landers

Macruran hadal macrofauna collected from the seafloor of the Mariana Trench by Rainbow Fish 3 lander

On December 27, the deep-sea scientific exploration team, formed by the Hadal Center of Shanghai Ocean University and the Shanghai Rainbow Fish Company, successfully carried out a series of scientific research operations in the ten-thousand-meter abyss using three independently developed full-ocean-depth probes (landers). This marks a substantial step forward for Chinese scientists in exploring the "unknown deep-sea world of humanity."

Leader of this deep-sea exploration scientific expedition -- Professor Cui Weicheng, Director of the Hadal Center, introduced that this scientific expedition mainly aims to systematically conduct scientific surveys and evaluate the deep-sea environmental impact across several hadal trenches deeper than 6,500 meters in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, spanning a total of three months from December 2016 to February 2017. On December 27, when the team was conducting operations in an abyssal trench between 7,000 and 10,000 meters in the high seas of the southwestern Pacific, they used three independently developed ten-thousand-meter-class landers to successfully carry out a series of scientific research operations at ten-thousand-meter depths (diving as deep as 10,890 meters), obtaining extremely valuable biological, microbial, and seawater samples as well as visual data from the abyss. At the same time, this sea trial also verified that the three ten-thousand-meter-class landers independently developed by Chinese scientists fully met their design goals, successfully passed the ten-thousand-meter sea trial, and are capable of conducting a series of scientific research operations at ten-thousand-meter depths.

The scientific community refers to areas of the ocean below 6,500 meters as the hadal zone, one of the last unexplored regions on Earth. The hadal zone represents an unknown marine ecosystem, and ignorance of this region can hinder humans from making correct decisions regarding the development and utilization of ocean resources. Therefore, it is more urgent than ever to promptly explore the hadal trenches and enhance understanding of their ecosystems, especially as terrestrial resources become increasingly depleted and large-scale exploitation of marine resources is imminent.

Exploring the hadal zone requires support from advanced marine technology equipment. Full-ocean-depth landers, unmanned deep-sea submersibles, and manned deep-sea submersibles are the most anticipated deep-sea scientific research tools for scientists. However, due to technological and financial challenges, these are currently very scarce internationally. The United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom have each developed full-ocean-depth unmanned submersibles and landers in the past, but few remain operational today. The three full-ocean-depth landers and one full-ocean-depth unmanned submersible developed by the Hadal Science and Technology Research Center of Shanghai Ocean University mark China as the third country in the world to master full-ocean-depth unmanned submersible technology, and also the first to possess the capability of coordinated operations using both unmanned submersibles and multiple landers, making a significant contribution to global scientific research on hadal trenches.

Commander Cui Weicheng confirms the GPS deployment location of Rainbow Fish 1 lander in the Mariana Trench with the ship captain (second from right is the captain, third from right is Cui Weicheng)

Cui Weicheng explained that the operational platform centered around the manned and unmanned deep-sea submersibles of "Rainbow Fish" will be the world’s first full-ocean-depth "Hadal Science and Technology Mobile Laboratory," providing a public platform for continuous and systematic hadal scientific research by Chinese and international marine scientists. The full-ocean-depth "Hadal Science and Technology Mobile Laboratory" is jointly established by the Hadal Science and Technology Research Center of Shanghai Ocean University and Shanghai Rainbow Fish Marine Technology Co., Ltd. through a dual-innovation model of "state support + private investment" and "industry-academia-research interaction." The entire project consists of a 5,000-ton scientific research mother vessel "Zhang Jian," one ten-thousand-meter-class full-ocean-depth manned submersible (HOV), one ten-thousand-meter-class full-ocean-depth unmanned submersible (ARV), and three ten-thousand-meter-class landers.

Chief scientist Xu Yunping discusses the Mariana Trench seabed sediment samples obtained by Rainbow Fish 2 lander with sea trial commander Cui Weicheng (left is Xu Yunping, right is Cui Weicheng)

In the future, the "Hadal Science and Technology Mobile Laboratory" will provide a research platform for Chinese and international marine scientists to explore the deep-sea world. It will enable systematic scientific surveys of all 26 hadal trenches over 6,500 meters deep worldwide, collect big ocean data, deep-sea biological and microbial resource samples, establish a hadal organism DNA database, drive a series of hadal life science studies, explore the origins of life, and make positive contributions to humanity's exploration of the unknown deep-sea world.