Galatheid crab, also known as a "squat lobster" at Old Flow vent (1519 meters), just east of the '98 eruption area.

NOAA Ship Ron Brown/ROV ROPOS
Science News

Science Report - Monday, July 23, 2001
Ship's position: 45 59.6'/-130 01.2'

ROPOS dive 625 was focused on putting down and recovering a number of different experiments at the Marker 33/Cloud vent site on the 1998 lava flow, including the interactive fluid sampler for its short-term deployment at Cloud vent. The next ROPOS dive (#626) will be our first visit to the CASM vent field since 1999. CASM is located at the northern edge of Axial caldera and was the first hydrothermal vent discovered on the Juan de Fuca Ridge, back in 1983. The vent area includes several high-temperature chimneys covered with lush tubeworm communities. It has remained active since it was discovered but was markedly rejuvinated following the 1998 eruption. The area has never been very well mapped, so ROPOS will collect Imagenex sonar data during the dive (so that a high-resolution bathymetric map can be made), utilizing the acoustic transponder net we deployed a few days ago for precise navigation. In addition, we will visit the vent sites at the end of the dive for a quick reconnaissance. Another dive will return to CASM for fluid sampling in a few days.