Scientific and Environmental ROV Partnership using Existing Industrial Technology (SERPENT)

• Offshore oil well drilling impacting deep-sea habitats are photographed in real-time.
• Impacted sponges have been photographed potentially partially recovering from sedimentation over 40 days.
• Partnering with industry allows us to make real-time observations to better understand impacts.

The first documented seasonal migrations of fish across the deep-sea floor has been revealed in research published today, involving NOC authors.

The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) has launched a new collaborative way of working with the oil and gas industry. NOC will provide innovative science and technology to enable industry to work safely and efficiently, with minimum impact on the marine environment.

The NOC’s Daniel Jones identified this bizarre looking marine creature as a Siphonophore. It belongs to a group of aquatic animals that include corals and jellyfish, some specimens have reached lengths of 40m!

The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) and the SERPENT project have contributed to a major new exhibition at the Natural History Museum, which opened on Friday 28 May.