Exploring the Depths: Eduardo Ochoa’s Journey
Eduardo Ochoa, a doctoral student at ViCOROB/UdG, is participating in a four-week research cruise organized by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI, PI Dan Fornari), from January 6th to February 2nd.. The cruise is part of a multi-year project to study and map a submarine volcano that scientists believe will erupt in the next five years. The study area is in a part of the East Pacific Rise (EPR), and lies to the west of Costa Rica.
Vicorob has been collaborating with the WHOI in this effort since 2020, when we participated in a first cruise out of three planned (2021, 2023 and 2025).
Eduardo Ochoa is the computer vision specialist on the current cruise. He is responsible for taking images of the hydrothermal vents and then creating 3D models of these structures. The 3D models are used to study changes over time. On this cruise, the images will be taken by the DSV Alvin, WHOI’s manned deep-sea research submarine. This submarine is famous for its involvement in the 1986 exploration of the wreck of the RMS Titanic.
As part of his activity, Eduardo dived aboard Alvin on a mission that took more than 8 hours, reaching the bottom of the ocean at a depth of 2500 meters. The images he collected are spectacular, both from the seabed and from inside the submarine.
For more information:
EPR science cruises : https://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/map-epr/
AlVIN: https://www.whoi.edu/what-we-do/explore/underwater-vehicles/hov-alvin/